THE ILIAD

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 THE ILIAD

Homer

Translation, Introduction, and Notes

by
Barry B. Powell

Foreword
by
Ian Morris

New York Oxford

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Homer.
[Iliad. English]
The Iliad : a new translation / Homer ; translated by Barry B. Powell.
pages. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-932612-9
I. Powell, Barry B. II. Title.
PA4025.A2P69 2013
883’.01--dc23
2013005120

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To Sanford Dorbin, poet, friend, athlete

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 Table of Contents
List of Maps and Figures
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Translator
Maps
Homeric Timeline

Introduction
BOOK 1: The Rage of Achilles
BOOK 2: False Dream and the Catalog of Ships
BOOK 3: The Duel Between Menelaos and Paris
BOOK 4: Trojan Treachery, Bitter War
BOOK 5: The Glory of Diomedes
BOOK 6: Hector and Andromachê Say Goodbye
BOOK 7: The Duel Between Hector and Ajax
BOOK 8: Zeus Fulfills His Promise
BOOK 9: The Embassy to Achilles
BOOK 10: The Exploits of Dolon
BOOK 11: The Glory of Agamemnon and the Wounding of the Captains
BOOK 12: The Attack on the Wall
BOOK 13: The Battle at the Ships
BOOK 14: Zeus Deceived
BOOK 15: Counterattack
BOOK 16: The Glory of Patroklos
BOOK 17: The Fight over the Corpse of Patroklos
BOOK 18: The Shield of Achilles
BOOK 19: Agamemnon’s Apology
BOOK 20: The Duel Between Achilles and Aeneas
BOOK 21: The Fight with the River and the Battle of the Gods
BOOK 22: The Killing of Hector
BOOK 23: The Funeral of Patroklos
BOOK 24: The Ransom of Hector

Bibliography
Credits
Pronouncing Glossary/Index

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 List of Maps and Figures

Maps
MAP1: The Aegean
MAP2: Mainland Greece
MAP3: The Troad
MAP4: The Catalog of Ships
MAP5: Origins of Heroes
MAP6: The Trojan Catalog
MAP7: The Mediterranean
MAP8: The Ancient Near East

Figures
0.1. The first seven lines of the Iliad
0.2. Sophia Engastromenos wearing the Jewels of Troy
0.3. The superimposed settlements of Troy from c. 3000 BC to c. AD 100
0.4. The walls of Troy
1.1. The rage of Achilles
1.2. The taking of Briseïs
2.1. Nestor
2.2. A typical Greek warship
2.3. Lapiths and Centaurs
3.1. Helen and Priam
3.2. The duel between Menelaos and Paris
4.1. The “lion-hunt” dagger from the shaft graves of Mycenae, c. 1600 BC.
4.2. Greek against Greek
5.1. The wounded Aeneas
5.2. Ares
5.3. Spring
6.1. Bellerophon
 6.2. Hector and Andromachê
7.1. The duel between Ajax and Hector
8.1. Zeus and his emblem, the eagle
8.2. Trojan War scene
9.1. Embassy to Achilles
9.2. Kastor and Polydeukes
10.1. Mycenaean armor
10.2. Capture of Dolon
10.3. The killing of Rhesos
11.1. Gorgo
11.2. “Cup of Nestor”
11.3. Achilles and Cheiron
12.1. Trojan and Greek warriors fighting
12.2. Other Trojan and Greek warriors fighting
13.1. Poseidon in his chariot
13.2. Poseidon as Kalchas
14.1. The wedding of Zeus and Hera
14.2. The duel between Hector and Ajax
15.1. The arming of Hector
15.2. Ajax defends the ships
16.1. Patroklos and Achilles
16.2. Death of Sarpedon
16.3. Kebriones
17.1. Hector and Menelaos fight over Euphorbos
17.2. Fight over Patroklos
18.1. Thetis consoles Achilles
18.2. Peleus wrestles Thetis
18.3. Hephaistos prepares arms for Achilles
19.1. Achilles receives the arms from Thetis
19.2. Achilles and Briseïs
19.3. Achilles’ horses
20.1. Achilles
20.2. Zeus and Ganymede
21.1. The Skamandros River
21.2. Apollo and Artemis
22.1. Achilles kills Hector
22.2. Achilles drags Hector
23.1. Achilles kills the Trojan captives
23.2. The funeral games of Patroklos
24.1. The Judgment of Paris
24.2. Achilles and Priam

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 Foreword

B orn in an age of expansion and out of a mood of melancholy, the Iliad is

the offspring of a world very different from our own. But although the era
that created it has long since vanished, the poem itself has lived on.
Dictated by Homer to a scribe writing on papyrus, for ninety generations it
was copied and recopied onto parchment and paper. In the last generation or
two it has been spread even further by radios, the cinema, and the Internet.
It has inspired painters, more poets, sculptors, and screenwriters; and now
Barry Powell, one of the twenty-first century’s leading Homeric scholars,
has given us this magnificent new translation.

The Iliad is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. The hard

truth is that we know next to nothing about its poet. In the nineteenth
century some classical scholars even suggested that Homer had never
existed at all; the poem, they argued, was the creation of an editorial
committee, stitching together shreds and patches of verse composed by
wandering minstrels whose names are now lost. After reading this
translation, though, you will see why this has always been a minority view.
The Iliad’s unity of theme, form, and language speaks clearly of a single
creative genius, whom ancient writers always called Homer.
Homer probably lived in the eighth century BC, in the very years during
which Greeks were adapting a writing system used in Phoenicia (roughly
the same area as modern Lebanon) to create a script from which all modern
alphabets descend. Writing had been around for a very long time by this
point, going back all the way to 3300 BC in what we now call Iraq, but—as
Barry Powell has forcefully argued in a series of books and essays across
the last twenty-five years—this new Greek script was highly unusual.
Most methods of writing began their lives as accounting systems, used to
keep business and bureaucratic records, and only gradually acquired the
flexibility to record literature. The Greek alphabet, by contrast, seems to
have been linked to literature from its earliest days. Whoever designed the
Greek alphabet set aside certain signs to represents vowels. Hardly any
other scripts did this, because separate signs for vowels were not necessary
for bookkeeping; but for recording the sounds and quantities of poetry, they
were essential.
This seems not to have been an accident. Greek is almost unique among
ancient scripts in that most surviving examples from the first generation or
two of its use are fragments of poetry, not managers’ tallies. It is hard to
avoid the conclusion that Greeks created their alphabet in the eighth century
primarily to write down poetry; or even, as Professor Powell proposed in
his groundbreaking book Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet
(1991), that they created it specifically to write down Homer’s poetry.
Homer seems to have been the greatest of the oral poets of eighth-century
Greece, composing epics as he performed, much like modern jazz, blues,
and rock guitarists compose their music as they perform. Around 800 BC,
some genius—Powell calls him “The Adapter”—decided to modify the
writing system currently in use in Phoenicia, adding vowels to make it
better suited to recording poetry accurately. In recording sessions that must
have gone on for months, the Adapter had Homer dictate his inspired poetry
and used the new alphabetic technology to immortalize first the Iliad and
then the Odyssey.
These extraordinary events were only possible because Homer and the
Adapter lived in an age of expansion. Around 850 BC, the wobbles and tilts
in the earth’s axis as it rotates around the sun began pushing the world into
a new era of climate, moving from what geologists call the Sub-Boreal
period into the Sub-Atlantic. The Sub-Atlantic was slightly cooler and
wetter, producing stronger winter winds that carried more rain off the
Atlantic and into the Mediterranean Basin. Because the biggest problem
facing farmers in the ancient Mediterranean was always that rainfall was
low and unreliable, this shift was generally a good thing, and by 800 BC
population was growing rapidly.
The number of people in Greece probably doubled during the eighth
century, with dramatic consequences. There was more fighting, of the kind
we see in the Iliad, as towns squabbled over land; more effective
governments took shape, to resolve leadership meltdowns like the quarrel of
Achilles and Agamemnon; and hungry Greeks began trading further and
further afield, having the kind of adventures that Homer sang about in the
Odyssey. Trade brought Greeks into the East Mediterranean Sea and
Phoenicians into the Aegean Sea, and in one (or both) of these settings
Greeks learned about the Phoenician script, which, thanks to the Adapter,
ultimately made our text of the Iliad possible.
But if the Iliad was the child of an age of expansion, it was also born out
of a mood of melancholy. Homer grew up and learned his craft in a
landscape dotted with the ruins of a better, vanished age. Five hundred
years before his own time, Greece had been filled with glorious palaces.
Their rulers had exchanged gifts with the pharaohs of Egypt, fought with
bronze spears from swift-moving chariots, and overseen the economies of
broad kingdoms.
Around 1200 BC, however, the great palaces—Mycenae, Pylos, Tiryns,
Knossos— all burned to the ground. Despite more than a century of
scholarship, we still do not know why. It is one of history’s greatest
mysteries. Earthquakes, climate change, migrations, and new kinds of war
might all have been involved. Whatever the cause, Greece’s great kings
disappeared after 1200 BC, taking their sophisticated armies, bureaucracies,
and artists with them. The population of Greece shrank by at least half. The
impoverished survivors clustered in the shadows of the burned palaces or
migrated to islands and mountaintops that seemed to offer safety. A Dark
Age set in.
No written records from before 1200 BC survived for Dark Age Greeks to
read, and at some point—we will never know exactly when—Greeks
stopped thinking of the men who had built the mighty walls that now stood
in ruins as regular, fleshand-blood people. By the eighth century BC, the
shift in ideas was complete: Greeks now reimagined the long-lost lords who
had ruled the ruined palaces as hêrôes, semidivine supermen who had
communed with the gods and been bigger, faster, stronger, and above all
angrier than the mortals of today.
A great cycle of legends grew up. Some tales probably did reflect fairly
accurate memories of the warriors of yesteryear, while others were surely
entirely fictional. Singers who knew all the stories and could perform them
at feasts and festivals were in great demand, and over time they raised their
craft to the level of artistry that we see in the Iliad. Gradually, the web of
tales of the Heroic Age expanded to weave every town and village in
Greece into a seamless story, stretching from the origin of the universe to
the great wars at Thebes and Troy in which the hêrôes destroyed
themselves.
 Since the Trojan War, Greeks concluded, it had all been downhill.
“Would that I were not among the men of [the following] generation,” the
poet Hesiod lamented around 700 BC, “for now is truly a race of iron. Men
never cease from work and sorrow by day or from death at night, and the
gods lay harsh troubles on them.” And things, he added, would only get
worse. All too soon, he explained, the goddesses Shame and Indignation,
“their sweet bodies wrapped in white robes, will flee this earth with its wide
roads and forsake man for the company of the deathless gods. Bitter
sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no help against evil.”
The Greeks of the eighth century BC became obsessed with the lost
Heroic Age. When they accidentally disturbed ancient tombs, they left
offerings in them. They set up shrines to honor the hêrôes of legend,
worshiping them and giving them rich gifts. Odysseus received sacrifices in
a cave on Ithaca, Menelaos and Helen enjoyed a shrine just outside Sparta,
and even Agamemnon got his own cult center at Mycenae. And when truly
great men died in the late eighth century, they might be buried in styles that
mimicked the funeral of Patroclus in the Iliad, complete with sacrificed
horses, funeral mounds and stelai, and bronze urns to hold their cremated
bones.
Historians argue endlessly over just why interest in the hêrôes exploded
like this in the eighth century BC, but the most plausible theory may be that
the upsurge of interest in the legendary past was a reaction against the pace
of change in the eighth-century present. Claude Lévi-Strauss, the most
famous anthropologist of the modern era, once remarked that other societies
are “good to think with,” meaning that spending time among the very alien
cultures of the Amazonian rainforest helped him see his own homeland, of
France, in entirely new ways. Perhaps the Heroic Age worked much like
this in eighth-century BC Greece: By reflecting on the causes of the Trojan
War or on why Achilles rejected Agamemnon’s gifts, Homer and his
audiences reached a deeper understanding of the traumatic events of their
own age.
We will never know for sure. But whatever it was that drove Homer to
dictate the sixteen thousand lines of the Iliad and the Adapter to write them
down, between them they created a classic in the fullest sense of the word.
The poem spoke first and foremost to the expansive, melancholic concerns
of eighth-century Greeks, but its appeal has proved timeless. Although
thousands of years have passed since the little city-states of Greece
disappeared and hundreds more since the Industrial Revolution swept away
the agricultural lifestyles that Homer took for granted, we still care about
the fates of swift-footed Achilles, man-killing Hector, long-dressed Helen,
and Odysseus of the many turns. And now, thanks to Barry Powell’s
extraordinary translation, we can enjoy them all afresh.

Ian Morris
Palo Alto, California

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 Preface

Icalled
n 1956 in Sacramento, California, when I was a teenager, I saw a movie
Helen of Troy about some war that took place long ago—but when?
where? who were these people, and what where they fighting about? The
movie excited in me a burning desire to learn the answers to these
questions. Looking back, I see the story had something to do with a
beautiful blonde, that was clear, but what I remember best is a warrior
running across the plain and suddenly an arrow piercing his throat in a
wondrous image of terrible violence. What was this war anyway?

From that moment I conceived my lifelong passion for what turned out to
be the Homeric poems. I drifted away to other interests, but in college I
came back to the story I then knew to be based on Homer’s Iliad. I learned
Greek, wrote a doctoral dissertation on the Odyssey, and for years taught
Homer in college. I wrote several books on Homeric problems. But never
did the force of these early questions disappear: When did this war really
take place? Did it ever take place? What were they fighting about? Did
Achilles ever live? What about Helen of Troy? The answers were by no
means obvious and are still hotly debated today.
Yet despite the interest of such historical questions, what matters most
are the poems themselves, the stories they tell and the language they are
told in. Without them we would have no Trojan War, no Helen or Achilles,
or Ajax, or Paris, nor the tragedy of Hector. The poems are the thing, and
when Charles Cavaliere of Oxford University Press suggested to me rather
out of the blue that I translate the Iliad, I welcomed the opportunity. When I
told friends about this project, they said, “But hasn’t Homer already been
translated many times?” Yes, sure, I tried to explain, but not by me—here
was a chance to put into English what the Greek had come to mean to me,
how it sounded, what the words meant, what was their power that had,
indirectly, entranced me as a youth through the medium of film. Too often
in modern translations the translator tries to impose a modern sensibility on
the style, as if in this way Homer can be made “relevant.” I have avoided
such affectations, trying always to communicate in a lean direct manner
what the Greek really says, to put in English how Homer in Greek might
have sounded to a contemporary listener.
Probably because of the film Helen of Troy (Warner Brothers, 1956), I’ve
been interested in my career in how the Iliad was represented in art in the
ancient world, the distant antecedent of our own cinema. After all it was the
Greeks who first told stories in art, and they did so inspired by the Homeric
and similar poems. Helen of Troy is only a modern cinematic version of this
ancient tradition. In my translation I want to show some of these images,
selecting two or three pictures from ancient art for each book to show how
the Greeks and Romans visualized Homeric events. This translation is
unique in being illustrated by ancient art.
I’ve also written an Introduction that summarizes scholarship on the
Homeric poems, a digest of over fifty years of reflection. About Homer
there will always be somebody somewhere who thinks absolutely anything,
but in the notes to my translation I have attempted to give common-sense
answers to problems of Homeric interpretation. The reader’s experience
with the Iliad is further enriched by a companion website, which includes
audio files of key passages that I read aloud, overviews and plot summaries
for the poem’s twenty-four books, and PowerPoint slides that include
outlines and all the maps and photographs in the translation.
Homer’s Iliad is a very odd poem, so difficult to comprehend in its
astonishing range and complexity. I hope that this translation will open to
many its beauty and glory, a song about a war fought long ago. There is
always war, and the issues are always the same: anger, glory, honor, hate,
love, death, terror, violence, and forgiveness. The Iliad is about all these
things. It is about ourselves. That is why it is so interesting.
Santa Fe, 2013

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 Acknowledgments

M y thanks to Sandy Dorbin, who read the entire manuscript and made
more suggestions than I can count. John Bennet, William Aylward, Richard
Janko, Ian Morris, Margalit Finkelberg, and William Johnson read the
Introduction and translation and saved me from many indiscretions. Finally,
my wife Patricia suffered through the whole thing with characteristic good
cheer.

I also wish to thank the following readers, in addition to those who

wished to remain anonymous, who read early samples of the translations.
Their advice was excellent, for which I am very grateful, and I have
attempted to make use of their many fine suggestions: Jonathan Austad,
Eastern Kentucky University; Michael Calabrese, California State
University, Los Angeles; Joel Christensen, University of Texas at San
Antonio; Susan Gorman, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences; William Johnson, Duke University; Erin Jordan, Old Dominion
University; Rachel Ahern Knudsen, University of Oklahoma; Carolina
López-Ruiz, The Ohio State University; Lynn Wood Mollenauer, University
of North Carolina– Wilmington; Nicholas D. More, Westminster College;
Clementine Oliver, California State University, Northridge; Joseph Pearce,
Ave Maria University; Andrew Porter, University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee; J. Aaron Simmons, Furman University; Richard L. Smith,
Ferrum College; Nancy St. Clair, Simpson College; Paul Scott Stanfield,
Nebraska Wesleyan University; Dr. Eric Waggoner, West Virginia Wesleyan
College; Carolyn Whitson, Metropolitan State University
Many have helped in the production of this book, but I would like to
thank especially John Challice, vice president and publisher of Oxford
University Press, who supported the book from the beginning; Marianne
Paul, the production editor, who did so much to insure a good product, and
for which I am very grateful; Kim Howie, who devised an outstanding
design; and Michelle Koufopoulos, who has been helpful in many ways.
Above all, I want to thank Charles Cavaliere, whose notion it was in the
first place to bring out a new translation of the Iliad. He inspired the project,
then guided it with diligence and imagination.

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 About the Translator
BARRY B. POWELL is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics Emeritus
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he taught for thirty-four
years. He is the author of the widely used textbook Classical
Myth (8th edition, 2014). His A Short Introduction to Classical Myth (2001,
translated into German) is a summary study of the topic. Homer and the
Origin of the Greek Alphabet (1991) advances the thesis that a single man
invented the Greek alphabet expressly in order to record the poems of
Homer. Writing and the Origins of Greek Literature (2003) develops the
consequences of this thesis. Powell’s critical study Homer (2nd edition,
2004, translated into Italian) is widely read as an introduction for
philologists, historians, and students of literature. A New Companion to
Homer (1997, with Ian Morris, translated into modern Greek) is a
comprehensive review of modern scholarship on Homer. Powell’s Writing:
Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization (2009, translated into
Arabic and Greek) attempts to create a scientific terminology and taxonomy
for the study of writing. The Greeks: History, Culture, Society (2nd edition,
2009, with Ian Morris, translated into Chinese) is a complete review, widely
used in college courses. The recent textbook World Myth (2013) reviews the
myths of the world. Powell has also written novels, poetry, and screenplays.
He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife and cats.

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 Maps

MAP 1 The Aegean

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MAP 2 Mainland Greece

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MAP 3 The Troad

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MAP 4 The Catalog of Ships

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MAP 5 Origins of Heroes

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MAP 6 The Trojan Catalog

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MAP 7 The Mediterranean

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MAP 8 The Ancient Near East

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 Homeric Timeline
c. 1200 BC Fall of Troy
Dictation of the Homeric poems
c. 800 BC
Invention of Greek alphabet
from 566 BC Panathenaic festival
c. 450 BC Herodotus
c. 200 BC Alexandrian Vulgate
c. AD 950 Venetus A
c. AD 1500 First printed edition of the Iliad, in Italy
from AD 1598 Chapman’s English translation of Homer
AD 1715–1720 Translation by Alexander Pope
AD 1788 Publication of Venetus A by Villoison
AD 1795 Wolf’s Prolegomena ad Homerum
AD 1871 Heinrich Schliemann digs at Troy
c. AD 1930 Milman Parry
AD 1991 Connection of invention of alphabet with recording of
Homeric poems

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 Introduction

Idesigner,
n 1928, Bruce Rogers (1870–1957), probably the greatest American book
and his associates in England contracted with the famous
Lawrence of Arabia (1888–1935), writing as T. E. Shaw, to do a translation
of Homer’s Odyssey. Lawrence’s military glories were in the past, and he
was soon to die in a motorcycle accident. He began work in 1928, but it
took much longer than he expected. Here Lawrence is explaining to Rogers
in a letter why he is taking so long:

I see now why there are no adequate translations of Homer. He is

baffling. Not simple, in education; not primitive, socially … There’s a
queer naivety in every other line: and at our remove of thought and
language we can’t say if he’s smiling or not … I have tried to squeeze
out all the juice in the orange; or what I thought was the juice. I tried to
take liberties with the Greek: but failed. Homer compels respect.
I must confess he has beaten me to my knees. Perhaps if I did much
more I might be less faithful. The work has been very difficult: though
I’m in a Homeric sort of air; a mud-brick fort beset by the tribes of
Waziristan, on a plain encircled by the hills of the Afghan border. It
reeks of Alexander the Great, our European forerunner who also loved
Homer.
But, as I say, it has been difficult.1

Though Lawrence was unsure of the quality of his translation of the

Odyssey, the backers of the project were enthusiastic. They went on to
produce Lawrence’s Odyssey in November 1932, one of the most handsome
books ever manufactured.

THE DIFFICULTY OF HOMER

Lawrence was right: Homer is baffling. Everything about him defies
expectations. He knows about too many things. It is often impossible to be
sure what tone he intends. What are these gods doing here? Is he being
funny? What is the joke? Why is this passage here? Where do all these
names come from? Or he is savage, or sad, or beautiful.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are alternate realities. You can slip into this
world of Homer and taste his food and smell his fires and endure his
sufferings and enjoy his humor and never be afraid that it is going to end,
because it seems to go on forever. It is a complete world—engulfing, like
life itself, but somehow more real.
Achilles comes to question the bases for action that his society takes for
granted, the heart of the story of the Iliad. But the Iliad is just as interested
in the long boasting speeches of its heroes and in sudden gruesome death on
the battlefield as in any moral dilemma. Some five thousand lines or fully
one third of the poem consists of descriptions of battle: 318 heroes are
killed, 243 of them named. It is all set in a coherent world where the
relationships between the characters are clearly drawn, including
relationships with the gods, who are powerful characters in their own right.
But you cannot just sit down and read the Iliad and the Odyssey cold
without guidance about their historical, geographical, and literary
background. This I provide in the form of notes, which explain unusual
usages and sometimes points of plot and character or obscure references.
The purpose is to make Homer approachable, understandable.
It is a strange world, far removed in ethics and in expression from our
own. It is huge, vast. It is a world certainly of long ago, but in every way
recognizable, both socially and psychologically. It is a world in which the
problems that men and women face are similar to those we ourselves
experience. In a sense the men and women in Homer are ourselves, living in
a world torn by violence, sexual passion, and revenge. Sometimes we live
in such worlds, too. It is this odd mix of the alien and the familiar that gives
Homer his charm. For thinkers and poets in the ancient world, Homer was
always the touchstone, the inspiration and model for thought and
expression. But Homer is baffling, and one has to wonder how he ever
became a classic.
In Greek, the language is extremely odd. As a student I was told
constantly that Homer was easy to read, at least in comparison with other
Greek authors, but Homer is by no means easy to read. Every ninth line
occurs a word that never appears again in Homer, or in many cases in the
whole range of Greek literature. There are all kinds of unparalleled forms,
driven by the unusually complex meter. The illusion that Homer is easy to
read comes from the fact that there are many phrases and whole lines that
are repeated again and again, but he is nonetheless not easy to read.
He composes in a complex meter called dactylic hexameter. Dactylic
hexameter consists of six strong beats, each followed by either another
strong beat or two weak beats, and looks like this in a standard scheme:

“Dactylic” comes from the Greek daktylos meaning finger, because it has
a long joint and two short joints. Hexameter means that there are six of
these fingerlike units per line. But the last unit is always strong-strong (—
—), probably because the poet feels the end of the line.
Because Greek is naturally iambic—a short beat followed by a long—it
is not clear how dactylic hexameter verse can have come into being in
Greek. Once it was thought to be taken from a preGreek language, but this
now seems uncertain. In any event, the complicated demands of dactylic
hexameter, which go against the natural rhythm of the language, seem to
account for many of the puzzling and unprecedented grammatical forms
found in Homer. This analysis of the Homeric meter depends wholly,
however, on a written text. As an oral poet—someone who created his song
without the aid of writing—Homer himself would not have been conscious
of the meter, except as a feeling. (For the whole issue of oral poetry—what
it was and how it worked—see below.)
You can never be free with the meaning of the Greek, as Lawrence says,
because Homer casts a spell over you, compelling obedience. He beats you
down. It is all very odd.

WHO WAS HOMER?

Absolutely nothing is known about the historical Homer, but he certainly
existed. He composed the Iliad and the Odyssey and maybe other poems.
His name looks like it means “hostage,” and all sorts of fantastic
biographical details have been wrapped around this etymology, and other
etymologies, too. In fact we are not sure what the name Homeros means.
Presumably it was the poet’s name. Otherwise why was it attached to his
poems?
By “Homer” in this book I mean the composer of the Iliad and the
Odyssey, the oldest poems in alphabetic writing in the world. In the ancient
world poems other than the Iliad and the Odyssey were attributed to Homer,
including a lost Thebaïd on the war at seven-gated Thebes. A group of lost
poems, some anonymous, built around the saga of the Trojan War, were
called the Cyclic Poems, because they were thought to be told in a circle
(kuklos) around the Iliad and the Odyssey. We have summaries of their
content. The Cyclic Poems explained what happened before and after the
Trojan War and appear to have been composed later than the Iliad and the
Odyssey. They were short, widely circulated and performed, and inspired
the majority of illustrations with Trojan themes that appear on Greek pots
from the seventh to the fourth centuries BC, some of which are included in
this book. Such illustrations are one way we have of reconstructing what
those lost poems said. It must be that the Iliad and Odyssey were too
massive, and too rarely performed in toto, as compared with the very much
shorter poems of the cycle that found a far wider circulation.
Other poems in a similar style were also attributed to Homer. A collection
dedicated to the gods called the Homeric Hymns has survived, but except
for the hymn to Aphrodite they appear to have been composed mostly later,
and we do not know who the poets were. The Iliad and the Odyssey
survived entire, in spite of their inordinate length, because they were the
oldest poems in the Greek alphabet, and they were the best poems, as
everybody knew.
Many places claimed to be Homer’s birthplace, but the AEGEAN islands of
CHIOS and IOS and the nearby settlement of SMYRNA on what is today the
coast of Turkey were especially popular candidates (seeMap 1: places found
on any of the maps will be indicated by SMALL CAPS the first time the name
appears). Old handbooks say that he was an Ionian poet—that is, he lived in
IONIA on the coast of central ASIA MINOR (in modern Turkey). The main
reason for thinking this is that his language is mostly in the Ionic dialect, a
form of speech spoken in Ionia, in the central Aegean islands, and on
EUBOEA, the long island off the east coast of Greece.
But there are many forms in Homeric language that come from another
dialect called Aeolic, spoken north of Ionia in Asia Minor (including
Smyrna), on the island of LESBOS, and on the mainland in THESSALY.
Evidently the tradition of poetry that Homer inherited came through
Thessaly, the homeland of Achilles, and was passed down into Euboea,
where Ionic was spoken. Several features of Homeric language tie it to the
West Ionic branch of the dialect, spoken on Euboea, rather than to its East
Ionic branch, spoken on the coast of Asia Minor. From dialect alone the
island of Euboea is the most likely location of Homer’s creative activity,
wherever he was born, and there are other strong reasons for placing Homer
on Euboea, where his poems were probably written down.
Homer, however, was certainly familiar with Asia Minor, and even with
the site of Troy. For example, he knows that you can see the peak of
SAMOTHRACE over the island of IMBROS from the Troad. In similes he shows
a familiarity with MOUNT MYKALÊ on the west coast of Asia Minor, with the
KAYSTRIOS river that flows near EPHESUS (Maps 1, 6). Homer’s
geographical knowledge is wide. He knows about the northern Aegean,
including the islands of IMBROS, Samothrace, Lesbos and TENEDOS, and he
speaks about the HELLESPONT (or DARDANELLES) and inland PHRYGIA, and
regions south to LYDIA and far south to LYCIA (Maps 1, 3, 6), and even to
SIDON in PHOENICIA (in modern Lebanon). He also knows about the central
Cycladic island of DELOS, CYPRUS, CRETE, and EGYPT (Maps 7, 8). In the
Odyssey he seems to have firsthand knowledge of ITHACA and the
surrounding islands and mainland THESPROTIA, and ELIS, and Nestor’s
kingdom of PYLOS (Map 2).
Homer knows about all these places. He seems to have lived at the time
of aggressive Greek sea travel out of the settlements of CHALCIS and
ERETRIA on the island of Euboea in the eighth century BC. Chalcis and
Eretria lay across a plain and fought the earliest historical war in Greece, in
which many overseas communities were involved, even as in the Iliad. The
Euboean port was at AULIS, on the mainland across the very narrow EURIPOS
strait. The Achaean expedition to Troy was launched from Aulis, according
to Homer, not a logical port for a story in which the Greek commanders
come from the Argive plain far to the south, but logical for a Euboean
audience.
In the early eighth century BC the Chalcidians and Eretrians were the
wealthiest and most adventurous of all the Greeks. They began the tradition
of Greek colonization (although other cities were involved), sailing to
CHALCIDICE in northeast Greece (named after Chalcis; Map 1); evidently to
an emporium at a place called AL MINA at the mouth of the ORONTES RIVER
in northern SYRIA (Map 8), where their ceramics are found and local
inhabitants used West Semitic (that is, Phoenician) writing; and in the other
direction to far-off ITALY. There, on the island of ISCHIA in the bay of
Naples, then called PITHEKOUSSAI (“monkey island”), they were involved in
a multi-ethnic trading enclave in c. 800–775 BC, from which the earliest
Greek colony at CUMAE on the mainland across the bay was founded,
apparently named after a settlement on the east coast of Euboea (Maps 2,
7). The natural audience for the Odyssey, which describes dangerous sea
travel in the far West, were Euboeans who had actually made that journey,
evidently in search of iron and copper ores. “Chalcis” means copper or
bronze; “Eretria” means city of rowers.
Around 800 BC or slightly before someone invented the alphabet on the
basis of the preexisting Semitic syllabary—a writing system whose symbols
indicate only whole syllables (discussed later). This invention seems to
have taken place on Euboea, probably in Eretria, where Semitic speakers
were living side by side with Greeks. There we find a mixture of
inscriptions in West Semitic, on the one hand, and in the oldest alphabetic
writing in Greece, on the other, dated c. 775–750 BC. Other very early
fragmentary inscriptions come from a nearby site called Lefkandi, which
may have been an earlier settlement of the Eretrians. These short
inscriptions consist of only a few letters. Recently inscriptions from the late
eighth century, some metrical, have been found at METHONÊ in Macedonia,
an Eretrian outpost. From Ischia in Italy, from about the same time, we also
find Semitic writing mixed with Greek, and c. 740 BC one of the earliest
Greek alphabetic inscriptions of more than a few words, including two
perfect hexameters and an apparent reference to the cup of Nestor in Iliad
Book 11 (see Figure 11.2). Among the earliest surviving alphabetic writing
in the Greek world is a literary reference.
Here is the puzzle of the Homeric poems: You cannot have Homer
without the alphabet, but in Homer’s world there is no writing. He does
refer to writing once, but seems not to understand what it is.

THE TEXT OF HOMER

Investigation into the origin of the text of Homer constitutes the famous
“Homeric Question” (from the Latin quaestio, “investigation”), a central
topic in the humanities for over two hundred years. When did these two
very long and complex texts come into being? Where and why? How and
by whom? What did those texts look like?
The Homeric poems are improbably long—the Iliad around sixteen
thousand lines and the Odyssey around twelve thousand. The Odyssey takes
place later than the Iliad and knows the Iliad intimately: No stories told in
the Iliad are repeated in the Odyssey, but several events foretold in the Iliad
are described in the Odyssey, for example, the death of Achilles. The poet
seems to be finishing various stories in the Odyssey that he began in the
Iliad. Perhaps the only element of Homeric criticism that all scholars agree
on is that the Odyssey came after the Iliad. From a time in which there was
no reading public, it is impossible than any poet could have been so familiar
with the Iliad unless he were himself its composer. Both poems are by the
same man—Homer—as tradition always maintained.
In spite of much speculation, no one has been able to offer a persuasive
model for the circumstances of the performance of the complete Iliad and
the Odyssey, although portions of the poems were presented at the
Panathenaia in Athens in the sixth century BC, nearly two hundred years
after their composition. In the seventh and sixth centuries BC, the heyday of
Greek lyric poetry, written texts were prompt books for memorized
reperformance. They were studied in the schools but never “read” for
pleasure, as we read Homer today. This is true of Pindar, too, from the early
fifth century BC. He sold written copies of his poems, some of which
survive, to clients around the Mediterranean, who performed them to the
accompaniment of song and dance. Herodotus and Thucydides from the
mid-fifth-century BC still produced works to be listened to as someone read
them aloud, as far we can tell. If Homer belonged to the eighth century BC
—he was always said to be Greece’s oldest poet— his poems, or parts of
them, could have been memorized for reperformance, but we must admit
that we have no idea what these poems were for, what purpose they
originally served. They appear as if from nowhere, wrapped in mystery.

THE ALEXANDRIAN VULGATE

Homer has been the object of curiosity and study since the sixth century BC
when a Greek living in southern Italy named Theagenes (whose works are
lost) is reported to have explained the battles of the gods in the Iliad as
allegories for natural phenomena. It was not until the third and second
centuries BC in Alexandria, Egypt, that the first real inquiry arose on the
Homeric texts. There, in the Mouseion, the “temple to the Muses,”
librarians tried to establish an official text from the many variant versions.
Our text goes back to this “official” Alexandrian text and is, practically
speaking, identical with it.
It is a remarkable situation. The Ptolemies, Macedonian descendants of a
general of Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), ruled Egypt as a personal
possession. They were rich beyond dreaming. To prove the cultural
superiority of the Greeks over the subjugated Egyptians, with all their
exaggerated claims to cultural achievement, the Ptolemies funded, on
foreign soil, the world’s first comprehensive library of alphabetic texts.
Using their power and prestige, the Ptolemaic librarians bought and
otherwise obtained texts of all the famous poets of the past, including
Homer. They seem to have amassed around 500,000 texts.
The Ptolemies obtained Homeric texts from various cities, from
Marseilles in France to Sinopê on the Black Sea, the so-called “city texts,”
and also from individuals. A third textual tradition is called the “common”
(koinê) text, perhaps a generic text in common circulation, but we are not
really sure. There is reason to think, on the basis of the way some words are
spelled in the Athenian style, that the “clean text” the Alexandrians
prepared is based on a text retrieved from Athens. This might also accord
with the tradition that something was done to the text of Homer in Athens in
the sixth century BC (discussed later).
Homer is strongly represented in Egyptian papyrus finds that come from
this time (c. third to first centuries BC), although there are many more
fragments from the Iliad than from the Odyssey. Some of these papyri were
once used to mummify crocodiles! Many fragments seem to be from school
editions. They sometimes vary from the standard text in having different
forms of words and alternate phrasings and sometimes extra or “wild” lines.
The wild lines almost invariably repeat other lines or are made up from
other lines. They never add to the narrative. The origin of the wild lines
seems to be scribal in nature: A scribe copying the text inadvertently adds
lines or repeats other lines that he knows.
The Alexandrian scholars Zenodotus of Ephesus (active c. 280 BC) and
Aristophanes of Byzantium (c. 257–c. 180 BC), and especially Aristarchos
of Samothrace (active c. 220–240 BC) somehow established a text that did
not have the wild lines. The wild lines disappear from the papyrus
fragments around 150 BC. From this time on there is a fixed number of lines
to the poems.
Perhaps the librarians at Alexandria exerted so much prestige that after
their editorial work copyists brought the book industry into line with the
scholarly exemplars, but it is not at all clear how work in the library
governed the book trade; there must have been some connection. This clean
text that the Alexandrians prepared we call the vulgate, the basis for all
medieval and modern texts. We do not have it directly, but we infer it. There
is no extra-Alexandrian textual tradition for the Homeric poems.
In addition to throwing out the wild lines, the Alexandrian librarians went
on to question many other lines in Homer, placing a mark beside a line
when they thought it suspicious, the origin of our word athetesis. So began
the venerable tradition of wondering about the real meaning of many words
in Homer and whether this or that line was “genuine.” But though the
Alexandrians marked lines as being suspicious, they seem never to have
prepared a text that actually omitted such lines.
We might contrast the situation of Homer’s text with that of the very long
epic, the Sanskrit Mahabharata, the “great story of the Bharata dynasty,”
the longest epic poem in the world with over ninety thousand verses, long
passages in prose, and 1.8 million words. According to tradition, it was
composed by one Vyasa, who supposedly also composed various sacred
texts. We cannot date Vyasa accurately, although he may belong to the time
when writing was introduced into India about 600 BC. He was presumably a
man who had something to do with fixing the Hindu epic poem in writing,
but the Mahabharata contains demonstrably much later material and in fact
exists in many versions. The poem did not settle down into something like
its modern form until AD 400, one thousand years after Vyasa.
The Iliad and the Odyssey, unlike the Mahabharata, exist in single
versions, not in many. Early papyri of Homer, and early quotations and
misquotations, do not represent different versions of the poems. There is a
single text undergoing occasional corruption in the usual manner.

BEFORE AND AFTER THE VULGATE

Unfortunately, we know very little about the condition of the text of
Homer’s poems from the time of their composition, c. 800 BC, to the
Alexandrian version, c. 150 BC. The Alexandrian version is pretty much the
same as a modern text, but what went before?
Evidence from Greek art, mostly paintings on pots, suggests that the Iliad
and the Odyssey were widespread in the Greek world beginning c. 675 BC.
We cannot, however, always be sure whether such illustrations depend on
literary exemplars or on lost oral songs. In any event it is clear that Homer
had become a cultural yardstick by the late sixth and early fifth centuries
BC, especially in the city of Athens, where most of our information comes
from. From the fourth century, Plato (424–348 BC) and Aristotle (384–322
BC) and other authors quote Homer frequently, but they are careless in their
quotations, and their text often differs from ours. It is not clear that such
writers are looking at a manuscript of Homer so that the quotations are
evidence for the text of Homer at this time. More likely such writers are
quoting from memory. Greek education consisted of memorizing passages
of Homer and other poets. Every literate Greek had Homer somewhere in
his head.
We cannot penetrate beyond the veil of the stabilization of the text by the
Alexandrian scholars. Their text of Homer is our text—what seemed right
to them is what we have. The original text of Homer cannot be recovered. It
existed, but it cannot be found.
In the fifth century AD, knowledge of Greek disappeared from Western
Europe and did not return until Italian bibliophiles brought Greek
manuscripts from Constantinople in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The learned Dante Alighieri (AD 1265–1321) knew about Homer and the
Trojan War, but he knew no Greek. While we do not have the edited text of
the Alexandrian scholar Aristarchos of Samothrace (third century BC), the
oldest surviving complete text of the Iliad incorporates many marginal
commentaries from his writings, called scholia. This text is now kept in
Venice and called Venetus A.
Venetus A seems to have appeared in Italy sometime in the fifteenth
century. It is a large, beautiful, and extremely expensive vellum (calf’s hide)
manuscript written in the tenth century AD in Constantinople. The
manuscript also has a summary of the lost poems of the so-called Cyclic
Poems. Venetus A was forgotten until 1788, when a French scholar (Jean-
Baptiste Villoison) published an edition of the text and the previously
unknown scholia—a publication that began the modern era in Homeric
scholarship.
 The scholia seemed to prove that the Alexandrians had created our
modern text, but, still, what was the ultimate origin of this text?

THE HOMERIC QUESTION

Previously, the universal assumption by scholars was that Homer had
created his poems in a fashion similar to Vergil and Dante and Chaucer, all
direct heirs to the technological revolution of the invention of the alphabet,
about which early scholars knew absolutely nothing. Homer had taken a
pen to paper and composed his poetry, just as had Vergil, Dante, and
Chaucer.
After the publication of Venetus A, a German scholar, Friedrich August
Wolf (AD 1759–1824), revolutionized Homeric studies in his famous
Prolegomena ad Homerum of 1795. Wolf was the creator of the modern
science of “classical philology,” the careful study of language to reveal the
truth about the classical past. He presented drastic evidence about the
poems that shocked his contemporaries and directly contradicted
Aristarchos’ conviction that the poems had a unity and a unified origin.
Wolf noticed that nowhere in Homer is there any reference to writing,
except in the story of the hero Bellerophon’s exile in Iliad Book 6, when
Bellerophon carries tablets bearing “ruinous signs” (sêmata lugra) to his
host in Lycia. But in later Greek, “writing” is never referred to as “signs”
(sêmata). Evidently Homer is reporting a story that contained a detail he did
not understand.
Homer must come from a time when there was no writing in Greece,
Wolf argued, otherwise he would in some place have mentioned it. In fact
there are several passages that cry out for the use of writing, if Homer knew
about it. Because it is quite impossible to memorize twenty-eight thousand
lines of poetry, what appears to be the unity of the Iliad and the Odyssey is
in reality a compilation of short, oral songs capable of being memorized,
Wolf thought.
There were reports in various ancient writers that the Athenian tyrant
Peisistratos (d. 527 BC) or his son Hipparchos (d. 514 BC) had brought “the
Homeric epics” to Athens and ordered the rhapsodes, in their performances
at the Panathenaic Festival, “to go through them in order,” each taking up
where the last left off. The implication is that the various episodes were
accustomed to be performed out of sequence. It must have been at this time,
in Athens, that the Iliad and the Odyssey were created by unknown editors
from earlier separate, short, orally preserved songs capable of
memorization, Wolf thought. The poems had been “stitched together”
(based on a popular but inaccurate understanding of rhapsode as meaning
“song-stitcher”). This hypothetical event came to be known in Homeric
scholarship after Wolf as the Peisistratean Recension.
Wolf formalized the point of view, already old, that the Homeric texts
must be anonymous compilations. This view is known in Homeric criticism
as Analysis: the theory that the poems were created by different poets at
different times. The theory was modeled on contemporary eighteenth-
century biblical criticism, which had discovered different layers to the
certainly edited first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch).
Analysis was predominant in the nineteenth century, especially in
Germany, and well into the twentieth and is still embraced by some
scholars. For generations scholars subdivided the poems, and even the lines,
into this or that layer, ignoring or ignorant of the material conditions that
would make such editorial activity improbable. There were no desks in
Homer’s world, or studies, or libraries, or a reading public. There was no
scribal class dedicated to protecting a religious vision, nor record of the
people, nor a bureaucratic state. If there was so much editorial interference
going on, we would expect more than a single version of the Iliad and the
Odyssey, as we get with the Indian Mahabharata. But all evidence testifies
to a single version.
Analysis was opposed by the minority Unitarian view, which held that
the poems were the creation of a single intelligence at a single time.
Whereas the Analysts made use of narrative and logical inconsistencies (of
which there are a good number) to establish the lines of demarcation
between allegedly originally discrete poems, the Unitarian position looked
past such flaws in a theory of unitary composition, although accretions and
alterations were probable. Everything about the poems betrays careful
design, they argued—not always the design that will pass a modern
scholar’s muster, but an intelligent design all the same. You never forget
when reading Homer that a single personality stands behind the plan of the
plot and its arresting expression.
The Unitarians also complained that if the poems are made up of separate
parts, or if they began as a core that was expanded, then why is there no
agreement on where the divisions lie between the originally separate songs?
And if someone makes up extra lines, or changes words, how do such
additions and changes enter the textual tradition? Someone bent on
interpolation must recopy the entire poem, or the portion he is altering, and
then that copy must somehow become the canonical version—the one that
everybody else copies, in direct ancestry to the text that the Alexandrians
inherited, the vulgate.
No doubt the poems suffered various distortions in their transition
between an archaic orthography to a modern one, but to copy the complete
Iliad and Odyssey is no mean feat, requiring many months of sustained
daily labor. It is extraordinary that after two hundred years of argument, not
one single line of Homer’s poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, can be proven
to be an addition to the original text (which in any event cannot be
reconstructed).
The Unitarians tended to be poets, such as Goethe and Schiller, the
Analysts to be scholars. The Analyst position held all the prestige in this
argument.

THE ORAL - FORMULAIC THEORY

Throughout the debate, no attention was paid to how a written text comes
into being or to the nature of the writing system that made the Homeric
poems possible. With surprising naiveté, scholars assumed that Homer was
like the professors themselves, toiling away in a dim light, crossing out
words, improving the expression, adding favorite lines and incidents.
Somehow, poems once oral became written poems, for unclear reasons;
these were then manipulated further, for unclear reasons.

MILMAN PARRY AND ALBERT B. LORD

This discussion was turned on its head by the writings of a young American
scholar, Milman Parry (1902–1935), who studied the creation of oral poetry
in Bosnia- Herzegovina in the early 1930s. Milman Parry was born in
Oakland, California, and studied classics at the nearby University of
California in Berkeley, where he earned a BA and MA.
Parry became interested in the Homeric Question as an undergraduate.
How did these poems really come into being? What does the trail look like
that extends backward from Venetus A to a manuscript that touched the
poet’s hand? Parry’s remarkable discoveries were to revolutionize Homeric
studies as well as the study of many other literatures.
When Parry began his work, the prevailing view was the Analyst position
—that the poems were the result of a long period of accretion and editorial
redaction. In early academic studies Parry showed how the formulaic style,
which all commentators on Homer had noticed, was not compatible with
the theory that Homer’s poetry had been created in writing. Parry was
interested in such noun-epithet combinations translated as “Achilles the fast
runner” and “wine-dark sea” and “Hector of the flashing helmet” that are so
striking to a reader. An epithet is a descriptive term accompanying a noun.
Epithets occur again and again and with little respect to the context. For
example, Achilles is described by the epithet “fast runner” even when he is
sitting down.
In meticulous fashion, Parry showed how the epithets vary not in
accordance with the demands of the narrative but in accordance with the
position of the name in the metrical line. So different epithets are attached
to the same name in accordance with where in the metrical line the name
appears—at the beginning, middle, or end.
Not only does the system show extension, in which there are different
epithets for many characters for different positions in the line, but it shows
thrift, because usually there is but a single epithet for a single position in the
line. Such stylistic features are impossible, and in fact are unknown, in
poems created in writing. Hence Homer’s poetry was created without the
use of writing.
In 1924 Parry traveled to Paris and enrolled at the Sorbonne, where he
studied under the great linguist Antoine Meillet (1866–1936). In 1923
Meillet had written the following (quoted in Parry’s first French thesis,
1925):

Homeric epic is entirely composed of formulae handed down from

poet to poet. An examination of any passage will quickly reveal that it
is made up of lines and fragments of lines which are reproduced word
for word in one or several other passages. Even those lines of which
the parts happen not to recur in any other passage have the same
formulaic character, and it is doubtless pure chance that they are not
attested elsewhere.
 Meillet thought that such features might be distinctive of orally
transmitted epic in general and suggested to Parry that he observe a living
oral tradition. In 1933–35 Parry traveled with his assistant Albert B. Lord
(1912–1991) to Bosnia-Herzegovina. There Parry made original studies of
many illiterate, mostly Muslim singers, who spoke Serbo-Croatian, a
southwest Slavic dialect.
Parry made many recordings on primitive recording equipment, and he
took down poems by dictation, several as long as the Odyssey. His and
Lord’s collection of oral documents is still today the largest ever made in
the field. He discovered that although his informants claimed that they
could reproduce a song word for word at different times, in fact their songs
were always different. There was no fixed text, because of course a fixed
text depends on a written version.
Until the fieldwork of Parry and Lord, the theory of the oral origins of the
Homeric texts had depended on Parry’s rigorous analysis of the language of
the text, but the theory was supported by Parry and Lord’s unprecedented
experiments in the contemporary world. Parry argued that Homer, like the
Serbo-Croatian poets, composed orally by means of “formulas” instead of
“words.” Parry defined a formula as “a group of words that is regularly
employed under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential
idea.” For example, such phrases as “dawn with her rosy fingers” or “wine-
dark sea” occupied a certain position in the metrical line and enabled the
singer (in Greek aoidos) to compose rapidly. Because of formulaic thrift—
one formula with a certain metrical pattern occupying a certain place in the
line—such a system could not be the creation of one man. It must depend
on a tradition to which the singer had access. An oral tradition (from Latin
“hand over”) is a system of transmission of cultural material from
generation to generation through vocal utterance without the assistance of
writing, in this case of stories about heroes. Of course the formulas in oral
traditional speech did allow internal substitutions and adaptations in
response to narrative and grammatical needs, and eventually Parry fixed on
the notion of a “formulaic system” that contained both constant and variable
elements.
The purpose of such a system of ready-made diction was to enable
composition in performance so that the traditional features of Homer’s
language became proof of its oral origins: The poems are not memorized,
but created anew in performance from traditional material and diction
every time the songs are sung. Parry’s thesis seemed to explain the highly
unusual “artificial language” (German Kunstsprache) in which Homer
composed, the so-called “epic dialect” that no Greek ever spoke. Basically,
the dialect is Ionic (spoken on the central west coast of Asia Minor, on the
islands, and on the island of Euboea), but as we have seen, it incorporates
features from other dialects (especially Aeolic). Parry thought this epic
language must have emerged over a long period of time through exposure to
various dialectal forms that proved useful in the construction of the poetic
line. Such features could only have come into being through generations, as
a collective inheritance of many singers.
Parry died before he could systematically compare the technique of
South Slavic poetry with Homer’s. His work attracted little attention until
the publication in 1960 of The Singer of Tales by his assistant Albert B.
Lord, the most influential work of literary criticism of the twentieth century.
Lord summarized his teacher’s discoveries, made original contributions of
his own, and examined other non-Greek poems to discover their oral
features. Lord also wrote about the singer’s apprenticeship. He described
the study of an aspiring illiterate singer as a young boy under an illiterate
master up until the time of his mastery of the craft. Lord went on to
describe other features of oral-traditional style, for example the story
patterns that governed whole epics, and the building blocks of individual
epics, the type scenes.
Type-scenes are blocks of words in which typical events are arranged in
the same order and often with the same words. Typical type-scenes in
Homer include Arming, Battle, Travel, Speeches, Sleeping, Dreams, Divine
Visitation, Conference, Assembly, Supplication, Dressing, Oath-Taking,
Bathing, and Seduction—and there are others.
For example, in an arming scene the warrior first puts on his shin guards
and breastplate, then he takes up his sword, shield, helmet, and spear—
always in that order. When somebody arrives for a feast there is always a
seating of the guest; a servant brings water for washing; a table is placed
before the guest; a servant provides bread and other foods; and a carver
hands around meat and gold cups. Then:

They put forth their hands to the good things set ready before them.
But when they had cast off all desire for drink and food …
 All such type scenes can be fleshed out or compressed in accordance with
the dramatic requirements of the narrative. They are common in the South
Slavic epic that Parry studied, as well as the theme of Withdrawal and
Return that determines the overall story of the Iliad, a theme also attested in
the traditions of medieval England, Russia, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and
Central Asia.

THE ORAL STYLE

The theory of oral composition was used to explain the various narrative
inconsistencies of which Analysts had made so much, for the dictating poet
has no way to go back and correct “errors,” nor any interest in doing so. It
also explained the use of such out-of-context epithets as “blameless
Aigisthos” to describe the murderer of Agamemnon, or “Achilles the fast
runner” while he sits calmly in his chair. It also could explain the inordinate
length of the Homeric poems, because when an oral poet dictates his text
released from the exigencies of a live performance, free to elaborate his tale
at will, the songs can become very long. The Iliad and the Odyssey are far
longer than ordinary oral poems and were probably never performed as we
have them. When Parry took down texts by dictation, the process gave the
informant time to think, to expand, to add, just as we find in the Iliad and
the Odyssey. Neither Homer nor his audience cared about the various
inconsistencies that so troubled the Analysts. After all, there was no written
text to check up on, and who cared anyway? Inconsistencies, repetition, and
formulas or formulaic phrases were signs of the oral style.
The thrust of the Parry-Lord school is that Homer was like the Serbo-
Croatian singers. He was illiterate. He composed the Iliad and the Odyssey
at some early time, and his words were taken down by somebody who
understood how to write down Greek. The Parry-Lord model has become
orthodoxy in a modern understanding of the genesis of Homer’s poems.
Oral Theory was initially criticized because it appeared to make the fount
and origin of Western culture a slave to a mechanical system. Where was
there room for the genius of poetic invention if the lines were made up of
preset expressions? and preset events? The contribution of individual
creativity appeared to be submerged in a collective poetic tradition.
However, the units of expression that Parry and Lord identified in oral verse
are no more restrictive to expression than is the large but finite store of
“words” (conventionally understood) in literate traditions. The oral-
formulaic language is just that: a language, subject to the morphological
and grammatical restrictions of any language, which in this case happens to
include metrical expression.
This is why scholars were unable to define clearly what was meant by a
“formula.” Noun-epithet formulas were easy to find, but other formulaic
expressions slipped away as one tried to pin them down. That could have
been the only outcome, just as the attempt to define a conventional “word”
has proved impossible. Language is a flexible medium depending on
invisible templates that generate the form on the surface. Language is not
mechanical but a human faculty whose origins and functioning are poorly
understood.
We think of poems as being made up of words, but linguists cannot
define a “word” except as something found in dictionaries. The concept
“word” is a product of literacy. For the illiterate singers of Bosnia-
Herzegovina, a “word” is a unit of meaning, not a typographical convention
that depends on the technology of writing. Further questioning of the Serbo-
Croatian bards revealed that by “word” the singer could mean several lines,
a scene, or even a whole poem. Any spectrograph reveals that speech is a
continuous stream of sound, with peaks and valleys, a wave, not a sequence
of separable sounds. So Homer’s song was a continuous stream of sound,
roughly reconstructible from a system of written symbols that crudely
encode aspects of the phonology of this sound.
What Parry/Lord did not explain is how a dictated oral song became a
text, a stream of symbols on a piece of papyrus.

HOMER AND THE ALPHABET

The eastern coast of the Mediterranean—modern Lebanon and northern
Syria— was a mosaic of coastal city-states like TYRE and SIDON (MAP 8),
whose inhabitants spoke a West Semitic dialect belonging to the same
language family as Hebrew and Arabic. They traded with the Euboean
Greeks in the late ninth and eighth centuries BC, in Syria at AL MINA, on the
Greek mainland, and in ISCHIA in Italy, and no doubt in such other places as
southern SPAIN, SARDINIA, and NORTH AFRICA and with other groups, like the
peoples of ETRURIA. They used a writing often called the “Phoenician
alphabet,” but these Semites did not call themselves Phoenicians, nor was
their writing alphabetic. It was a sort of syllabary of around twenty-two
signs, each of which represented a consonant, with an implied vowel to be
supplied by the speaker. No doubt some western Semitic speakers
intermarried with the illiterate Greeks, and their children were bilingual
speakers of Greek and Semitic dialects. In Ionia, the founder of Greek
philosophy Thales (seventh–sixth centuries BC) was said to be the child of
an Examyes and Kleoboulinê, both Phoenician nobles.

THE INVENTION OF THE ALPHABET

The western Semites had a tradition of taking down texts by dictation,
which may explain why all the elements in their system of writing are
phonetic—that is, they have a sound attached. This is not true of the earlier
Egyptian and cuneiform systems, which contained many nonphonetic
elements. There is a clear example of creating a poetic text by means of
dictation in a note attached to a poem on Baal written c. 1400 BC in the
earliest attested use of West Semitic writing, from the emporium of UGARIT
(in so-called Ugaritic cuneiform, not in West Semitic script), on the coast in
North Syria (Map 8). The appended note remarks on the names of the priest
who dictated the text and the scribe who took it down.
Evidently somebody—his name may have been Palamedes according to
Greek tradition—knew the West Semitic writing and was heir to the
tradition of taking down a poetic text by dictation. If for unknown reasons
he tried to do this with an extremely famous poet named Homer, he soon
discovered that West Semitic syllabic writing was unable to preserve the
rhythm of the Greek in which the poetry resided (Semitic poetry works on
different principles). If you applied the West Semitic system to write down
the first line of the Iliad and separated the words by dots as the Phoenicians
did, in Roman characters it would look something like this:

MNN•D•T•PLD•KLS

or for the Greek alphabetic:

MENIN AEIDE THEA PELEIADEO AKHILEOS

You cannot pronounce a text written in West Semitic writing unless you
are a native speaker because the sound of the spoken word is never given—
only hints about its sound. West Semitic writing could not, and did not,
encode Homer’s poetry, which was so rich in vowel sounds and subtle
rhythms.
It was the meter’s dependence on the alternation of vocalic qualities that
gave the adapter, our Palamedes, his idea. He redesigned the West Semitic
system into a system consisting of two different kinds of signs: one group
pronounceable, the five vowels signs; and one group unpronounceable,
what we call consonants. The inventor added the inviolable spelling rule
that a sign from the long unpronounceable group must always be
accompanied, before or after, by a sign from the short pronounceable
group. Only in this way do you get a pronounceable syllable, though not
one accurately reflecting what we think of as “long” and “short” syllables,
which the vowels signs did not distinguish. The adapter also added three
new signs to the series of unpronounceable signs: ϕ, χ, and ψ.
The adapter’s spelling rule revolutionized human culture. It is the writing
that we use every day of our lives, but its initial purpose seems to have been
to make possible a written record of poetic song. To judge from very early
and unexpected inscriptional finds in hexametric verse on baked clay and
stone, the Greek alphabet was from the beginning used for just this purpose,
to notate the rhythms of the Greek hexameter.
We must be talking about the poems of Homer, for otherwise it is hard to
explain the coincidence of the sudden appearance of a writing that encoded
the approximate sound of the voice, capable of encoding dactylic
hexameter, with the sudden appearance of a poetry that depended on just
those sounds. As F. A. Wolf noticed in 1795, alphabetic writing is not
referred to a single time in Homer, who wrote verse that delights in the
description of everyday life. This is because Homer lived at a time when
alphabetic writing was unknown or known only to a few. Apparently the
few who possessed alphabetic technology in the eighth century BC were
applying its power to record the songs of aoidoi. Hesiod, very close in time
to Homer and also an oral poet, seems to have been the second singer
whose songs were recorded—the Theogony and the Works and Days and, a
poem that only exists in fragments, The Catalog of Women. It only occurred
to someone, perhaps in the seventh century BC, that you can create poetry
from scratch in writing by using this same technology.
Homer comes like a shot out of the blue, at a time when most of Greece
was an impoverished backwater. Instead of temples and pyramids, the
decorated pot was their greatest cultural contribution. There was no state,
no scribal class. Suddenly there are 28,000 lines of complicated verse
inscribed on expensive papyri—more, in fact, when you count the poetry of
the near contemporary Hesiod and the Cyclic Poems that soon followed.
The invention of the Greek alphabet c. 800 BC was the third most
important invention in the long history of the human species after the
discovery of fire in the primordial past, and the invention of writing itself c.
3400 BC in Mesopotamia. The Greek alphabet was the first writing that
could be pronounced by a nonnative speaker. It is a technology that allows
the re-creation of a rough phonic equivalent of speech, even if you do not
know the language. The Greek alphabet was the first system of writing
capable of preserving Homer, and it seems to have been designed for this
very purpose. Attempts to place Homer later than the early eighth century
on the basis of archaeological data are inconclusive; on balance, we must
place Homer at the time of the alphabet’s invention in the early eighth or
late ninth century.
It is wrongheaded to be concerned with the elegance or crudeness of
expression, as many commentators are, when to the composer and those
who heard him sing it is all a continuum of rhythmical sound. The poet
must carry his listeners along on the path of song, and nothing else matters.
Palamedes’ epoch-making invention transformed Homer’s poems from an
oral version to a cold, roughly phonetic abstraction. Gesture, intonation, and
musical accompaniment, so essential to oral song, are lost—they are not
part of the alphabet. So we should not imagine that we “have the poems of
Homer”: We have a symbolic representation of some of the phonetic aspects
of the language of Homer.

WHY HOMER IS IMPORTANT

In circumstances almost unimaginable today, probably on the island of
Euboea, in Eretria, among the very wealthy Euboean international traders
where alphabetic writing first appears archaeologically, we should suppose
that two men, the poet and his scribe, worked together for many months to
create the Iliad and the Odyssey. We must remember that after the recording
of the poems, only one man in the world, the adapter, could read them.
Nothing is known directly about Homer because he lived in a time when
there were no records of any kind: no libraries, no readers, no records.
There were only the Homeric poems and, later, the poems of Hesiod. They
were the object of study for, at first, a tiny, then a rapidly growing literary
and social elite, men who understood the rules of alphabetic writing well
enough to memorize portions of these poems for representation as
entertainment at the feast.
At first Euboeans were this elite, leaders in wealth and international
trade. Early Greek inscriptions present a remarkable unprecedented use of
writing. In the East, “literacy”—the ability to manipulate a system of
symbols with partial ties to speech— is entirely in the hands of a scribal
class, special men who have devoted their lives to the mastery of the
symbolic system. The power and wealth of these scribal classes was very
great, and they are not always separable from the ruling elite themselves.
In Greece, by contrast, “literacy” is in possession of amateurs without
connection to the power structure of a state, which scarcely exists. These
amateurs are interested in poetry and never in business. As far as we know,
Greek alphabetic writing was never used for economic purposes of any kind
until about 600 BC, two hundred years after its invention. It was used
preeminently for poetic expression, to judge from the inscriptional finds.
But we should be surprised that Homer ever became the classic. His
poems are much too long, and sometimes it is hard to retain the narrative
thread in them. The expression is exaggerated, with wild and improbable
similes, strong emotion directly expressed, and a seemingly inexhaustible
taste for gore. Yet the Iliad and the Odyssey are by far the most studied of
ancient texts, then as now. Only the intersection of the invention of the
Greek alphabet, the technical means that made Homer’s poems possible,
and the greatness of Homer himself can explain this oddity.
From the beginning of alphabetic literacy—from the beginning of the
Western world—the Homeric poems have been at the core of Western
education. They, or portions of these poems, were the books that one read
when learning to read. Still today, every course in Western Civilization
begins with the Iliad and the Odyssey. The invention of the Greek alphabet
in order to record the poetry of Homer, and then Hesiod, is the single most
important event in the history of the Western world. That is why Homer is
important.

THE FIRST TEXT OF HOMER

Texts of the Homeric poems are easy to find, in print constantly since the
first printed edition in Florence in 1488. Because it is a material thing, a
text has a certain appearance, not only the texture and color of the paper or
leather, but also the conventions by which the signs are made. Early printed
editions of the Iliad were set in typefaces made to imitate Byzantine
manuscripts, with its many abbreviations and ligatures (in which more than
one letter is combined into a single sign). No ancient Greek could have read
such a text, nor can a modern scholar do so without special training, not
even a professor who has spent an entire life reading and teaching Greek.
In the nineteenth century, modern typefaces and orthographic
conventions replaced typographic conventions based on manuscripts
handwritten in Byzantium before the invention of printing, but in no sense
did such modern conventions attempt to recreate the actual appearance, or
material nature, of an ancient text of Homer. For example, the forms of the
Greek characters in T. W. Allen’s standard Oxford Classical Text, first
published in 1902 (the basis for this translation), imitate the admirable but
entirely modern Greek handwriting of Richard Porson (1759–1808), a
Cambridge don important in early modern textual criticism. Complete with
lower- and uppercase characters, accents, breathing marks, dieresis,
punctuation, word division, and paragraph division, such Greek seems
normal to anyone who studies Greek today. Here are the first few lines of
the Iliad from the Oxford Classical Text:

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ᾽ ἐτελείετο βουλή,
ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε
Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.
Iliad 1.1–7

If you study Greek today and take a course in Homer, you will be
expected to be able to translate such a version. You are reading “the poems
of Homer.” In fact the orthography is a hodgepodge that never existed
before the nineteenth century. A full accentual system, only sometimes
bearing meaning, does not appear until around AD 1000 and is never used
consistently. The distinction between upper and lower cases is a medieval
invention. Porson’s internal sigma is drawn [σ], but in the classical period
the sigma was a vertical zigzag Σ (hence our “S”), and after the Alexandrian
period always a half-moon shape c (the “lunate sigma”); the shape σ
appears to be Porson’s invention. The dieresis, two dots over a vowel to
indicate that it is pronounced separately (e.g. προΐαψεν), is a convention of
recent printing. Periods and commas are modern, as is word division,
unknown in classical Greek.
The Oxford Classical Text would have mystified Thucydides or Plato.
The much earlier first text of the first seven lines of Homer, if we take
account of inscriptional evidence from the eighth and seventh centuries BC,
seems to have looked something like this:
In this earliest form of Greek alphabetic writing there is no division of
words (giving rise to many later false divisions), nor other diacritical
devices, such as capitalization or periods, to indicate the function of a word
in a sentence. In fact there are no words, but a continuous stream of
symbolic signs to match the continuous stream of sounds. There is no
Homeric word for a discrete “word” (the Homeric epea, from which comes
epic, means an utterance, as in “may I have word with you”). There are only
five vowel signs, which do not indicate “length” (as the later omega, “long
o,” was distinguished from omicron, “short o”). Doubled consonants are
written as single consonants. The writing was boustrophedon, “as the ox
turns,” that is, it went from right to left, then left to right, imitating both the
plowing of a field and the endless road of song. There are no accents.
FIGURE 0.1 The first seven lines of the Iliad. This reconstruction is
based on what we know about the earliest Greek orthography.

In reading such a text in an archaic alphabet, the exchange of meaning

from the material object to the human mind takes place in a different way
than when we read Homer in English or Greek today. The Greek reader of
the eighth century BC decoded this writing by the ear, whereas we read by
the eye. First the reader heard the sounds behind the signs, then he
recognized what was being said. One thousand years after Homer the
Greeks still did not divide their words.
When we read Greek (or English), by contrast, we are deeply concerned
with where one word begins and another ends, and how the word is spelled.
The appearance of our texts carries meaning, as when a capital letter says
“a sentence begins here” or a period says “a sentence ends here” or a space
says “a word ends here.” Our text is directly descended from an ancient
Greek text, yes, but the alphabetic text works for us in a different way.
When modern editors attempt to recover an original text of Homer, they
never mean that they are going to reconstruct a text that Homer might have
recognized. Rather, they mean that they are going to present an
interpretation of how an original text might be understood according to
modern editorial bias. What appears to be orthography in a modern text,
“the way something is written,” is really an editorial comment on the
meaning and syntax. If editors gave us Homer as Homer really was, no one
could read it.

THE GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF ORAL SONG

Earlier criticism approached the text of Homer with little understanding that
it is the dim mirror in alphabetic writing of a once continuous stream of
sound with its own internal logic, with little respect for what we term the
rules of grammar or the rules of metrics. The alphabetic representation of
this stream of sound is only approximate because the relationship between
systems of writing and speech are approximate. The song is like a stream,
but the alphabetic signs are like buckets.
We examine with intense interest the grammar and the style and the
“words” of the Homeric text, but they prove surprisingly slippery. In the
Greek of Homer there are constantly grammatical constructions that make
no sense, and words of mysterious formation, and words whose meaning is
never clear. To interpret the “language” of Homer is regularly to find
reasons for exceptions to the rules—exceptions in scansion, construction,
and meaning.
A tradition of textual exegesis that explains forms and usages and
discusses alternatives is now over 2300 years old, but it is based on a
misunderstanding of the relationship of the original text to the oral song that
underlies it. The text is not the song, but a symbolic representation of the
phonetic aspect of the song. The many “rules of Homeric scansion” are a
form of special pleading: In fact Homer only scans roughly, as with all oral
poetry, and such “rules” only attempt to find regularities in a sea of
flexibility.
In the very many grammatical and other irregularities of the Homeric
vulgate we glimpse behind the text the continuous stream of highly stylized
sound that came from the poet’s mouth. And we glimpse the many, many
inaccuracies in the scribe’s efforts to reduce the sound of the song to a
phonetically symbolic representation. Thinking that Homer was like us, that
he wrote down his big poems as Vergil wrote the Aeneid, laboring over
every word and scene, earlier scholars were led into a labyrinth of false
speculation. To him the poem was a continuous stream of sound, with a
rhythmical feeling behind the sound. He did not have time to think about
refined effects.
For this reason it is easy to find places in the poem that are “not very
good,” that do not follow the rules of grammar or scansion, or even logic.
Homer is telling a story as vividly as possible within a conventional
medium that evolved as a means of public storytelling. This medium, the
technique of oral composition, exists for a single purpose: to tell a riveting
story.

HOMER AND HISTORY

In the Iliad Homer sings a tale set in the days of the Trojan War, and the
Odyssey records its aftermath. Naturally, one wonders if there was ever a
Trojan War, and if so, when, and what was it about?

GREEK HISTORY
Intensive study of the archaeological and literary evidence in the last 150
years has revealed a good deal about historical periods in ancient Greece. In
rough terms, the third and second millennia BC (3000-1000 BC) are the
Bronze Age and the first millennium (1000 BC-) is the Iron Age, named after
the metals commonly used, but we may break the schema down further.
In the late third millennium BC, the earliest European civilization arose
on the island of Crete, called the Bronze Age Minoan Civilization by its
discoverer, Arthur Evans (1851–1941), after the legendary King Minos. The
ethnic affinities of the Cretans are unknown, but they are often thought to
come from Anatolia (modern Turkey). They certainly were not Greek-
speakers. They built palaces of astonishing elegance and size, decorated
with frescoes of beauty and charm. They administered their kingdoms with
the help of a writing system called Linear A, inspired by writing in
Mesopotamia but independent of such systems. The writing has not been
deciphered, but the signs seem to represent syllables, not alphabetic letters.
The heyday of the Minoan Civilization was from about 2000 to 1400 BC,
when dwellers on the Greek mainland, the Mycenaean Greeks, appear to
have conquered them or to have moved in after some natural catastrophe.
The Greeks’ arrival on the mainland from somewhere to the east may have
been around 2300 BC, and they reached a height of power between c. 1600
and 1150 BC—the Bronze Age Mycenaean Period. They had a system of
syllabic writing called Linear B, a modification of the earlier Minoan
Linear A. Linear B is preserved on a large number of clay tablets. The
writing, now deciphered, is an early form of Greek, but the clay tablets
record only administrative accounts and no literature of any kind.
Sometimes names known from Homer appear in the Linear B writings.
From early in this period come the royal burials at Mycenae discovered by
Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890) in 1876, which contained pristine burials
with intact skeletons and a huge amount of treasure in the form of gold
masks, vessels, and weapons of astonishing sophistication and beauty (see
Figure 4.1). Agamemnon, ruler of Homer’s Greeks in Homer’s Iliad, came
from Mycenae, which Homer calls “rich in gold,” and in fact Schliemann
was looking for Agamemnon’s stronghold.
Then about 1200 BC a catastrophe of unknown nature befell the whole
area around the Aegean (but not Mesopotamia or Egypt) that lasted for
about four hundred years—the Iron Age Dark Ages. Linear B writing
disappears along with the palaces that it served. The catastrophe is
somehow connected to marauding bands of seafarers called the Sea
Peoples, who devastated the entire east Mediterranean and attacked Egypt
around 1200 BC. Some think that the famous Philistines of Palestine were
Mycenaean Greeks from Crete who belonged to the coalition of Sea
Peoples and who settled in the Near East at this time; in fact Philistine
pottery bears a striking resemblance to Mycenaean pottery.
The invention of the Greek alphabet c. 800 BC ended the Dark Ages and
began the Archaic Period, which lasted about three hundred years, until the
Persians attacked Greece in 490 and 480 BC. Both epic and lyric poetry
flourished during this period, but little survives except the poems of Homer
and Hesiod. The Persian invasions began the Classical Period in Greek
culture. The great figures of Greek alphabetic culture who lived during the
Classical Period include Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, Pericles, Herodotus, Thucydides, and others. The death of
Alexander the Great in 323 BC marks the end of the Classical Period and the
beginning of the Hellenistic Period, when, thanks to Alexander, Greek
culture became world culture. The death of Cleopatra in 30 BC is usually
taken as the end of the Hellenistic Period and the beginning of the Roman
Period.
SCHLIEMANN’S TROY
If there ever was a Trojan War, it must have taken place in the late
Mycenaean Period, where, in fact, ancient commentators always placed it
(as if they had any way of knowing). The Dark Ages were too backward
and impoverished to have sponsored an undertaking of this magnitude.
Homer could have known about such a war through the oral tradition,
which is continuous and could easily reach back over the four hundred
years of the Dark Ages to the Mycenaean Period. After all, Mycenae was a
village c. 800 BC, but in 1200 BC it was the center of unimaginable power.
Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman who set out to find
Troy against the certain views of scholars who dismissed the war as
folklore, no more real than the poet Homer himself. Impoverished as a
youth and poorly educated as a young man, Schliemann earned a fortune in
Europe and then in Sacramento, California, where in 1851 he was a banker
during the gold rush. He had a talent for languages and learned fourteen of
them during his life, including Turkish and Arabic. Because he was in
California when it became a state, Schliemann became an American citizen.
After the gold rush, Schliemann moved to Russia (where he had lived
earlier) and greatly increased his wealth through international trade. At one
time he controlled the trade in indigo, a dye. Schliemann retired in 1858 at
age 37 and thereafter devoted his life to proving the historicity of the
Homeric poems, a driving passion conceived in early childhood.
FIGURE 0.2 Sophia Engastromenos wearing the Jewels of Troy.
Having divorced his first wife in an Indiana divorce court, Schliemann
married seventeen-year-old Sophia Engastromenos (1852–1932) in 1869,
despite the thirty years difference in age. Here she is shown wearing
jewelry that Schliemann found in 1873 in a level of the city that we now
know is much too early for the Trojan War, c. 2400 BC. Schliemann called
the cache “Priam’s Treasure.” Schliemann smuggled the jewelry out of
Turkey and gave it to the University of Berlin. Feared lost after the Russian
sack of Berlin in 1945, the jewelry emerged at the Pushkin Museum in
1994, but who owns it remains a matter of international dispute.

Schliemann searched in northwest Asia Minor for a likely site until he

met a British expatriate named Frank Calvert, whose family owned half of a
promontory at a place called Hissarlik, about five miles from the
Dardanelles. Hissarlik is Turkish for “fortress.” Calvert, who worked as a
consul for the British and the Americans, was interested in the problem of
the site of Troy. He was convinced that the mound at Hissarlik held its
ruins, where earlier in the century others had looked for Troy. Calvert had
conducted modest excavations there but had not discovered much.
Schliemann began work on Hissarlik in 1870 and continued until 1873.
With his superior resources, he dug deep into the hill, uncovering massive
walls and thousands of artifacts: diadems of woven gold, rings, bracelets,
earrings, necklaces, buttons, belts, brooches as well as anthropomorphic
figures, bowls and vessels for perfumed oils, daggers, axes, and jewelry
(See Figure 0.2). He declared that he had discovered Priam’s Troy.
Schliemann conducted later excavations at Troy between 1878 and 1890,
when he died.
Though Schliemann had misdated his finds on Hissarlik, the
identification of Hissarlik with the Troy of Greek legend fits fairly well
with Homer’s own descriptions, and in fact with ancient tradition. The first
Roman emperor, Augustus (63 BC–AD 14), established a city called New
Ilium that encompassed Hissarlik, a fact established even before Frank
Calvert and Heinrich Schliemann. After 150 years of debate, a consensus
has emerged that Hissarlik is in fact Homer’s Troy. Schliemann wrote many
books, he warred with the professors, and he sometimes lied about his
achievements; after all, he had been a trader in a turbulent time. But he
discovered the Greek Bronze Age, about which nothing was known
formerly.

WAS THERE A TROJAN WAR?

There are nine separate settlements on Hissarlik, one of the most
complicated archaeological sites in the world. “Priam’s Treasure” (Figure
0.3) belongs to the second city, evidently destroyed by fire around 2250 BC
—much too early, on balance, for mythical chronology. Probably Homer’s
Troy was the sixth city, which had astounding walls, or an early phase of
the seventh city, apparently destroyed by enemy action around 1190 BC (See
Figure 0.4).
The site may be referred to in tablets from the Hittite capital near Ankara
where it is called Wilusa, that is, Ilion, the usual name for Troy in the Iliad.
In 1995, in the level of the seventh city, the only example of writing ever
found at Troy was discovered: a biconvex bronze seal with the parts of two
names written in a special Hittite writing (called Luvian “hieroglyphs”)—
one the name of a scribe and the other the name of a woman.
But what do we mean by “Trojan War”? If we mean a war caused by a
queen’s infidelity, avenged by an outraged husband whose brother in the
ninth year of the campaign came into conflict with his best fighting man,
we must confess that the question is not a historical one. We can never
know whether such behavior motivated a campaign or not. Homer lived
four hundred years after the event, evidently, and had no concept of history.
In the study of oral traditions throughout the world, it is clear that patterns
of folktale quickly overlay the reporting of actual events, so that “what
really happened” soon becomes irrecoverable. We have in the Iliad a tale
about the anger of a man whose honor was slighted. The Iliad is a story
about anger and its devastating consequences, as the first lines of the epic
make clear. The Trojan War is simply background to this moral tale.

FIGURE 0.3 The superimposed settlements of Troy, from c. 3000 BC to

c. AD 100. The enlarged illustration shows Troy VI, c. 1300 BC. (After
drawing by Christof Haussner)

There is an oral tradition in which one singer teaches another and so

passes on old songs. The Homeric tradition seems to have centered on the
Boeotia/Euboea/ Thessalian circuit. The Boeotian entry in the Catalog of
Ships (Book 2) is by far the longest. Alphabetic writing was invented on
Euboea, where Ionic was spoken. Achilles is from Phthia in Thessaly. Aulis
is the Boeotian/Euboean port from which overseas expeditions to southern
Italy were launched in the early eighth century BC. The Homeric formulaic
language has an underpinning of the dialect spoken in Thessaly, as if the
singers who carried this tradition had once been from Thessaly before their
song was taken over by Ionic speakers. A tradition of stories about the
Thessalian hero Achilles, the best of the Achaeans, has fallen under the
spell of a probably older cycle of stories about a war fought against an
overseas mercantile center of power, Troy. This other cycle of stories, with
heroes from Argos in the Peloponnesus leading an Argive campaign, must
go back to the time of the Trojan War itself. No one sings about glorious
deeds performed in an imaginary war.
FIGURE 0.4 The walls of Troy. The translator standing before the walls
of the sixth city at Troy.

So there was a Trojan War, that is, an Argive campaign launched against
the city of Troy sometime in the Late Bronze Age. Some of the names of
the fighting men may be historical, but we can know nothing of the details
of the war. The story Homer tells is in any event older than any historical
war, going back to Mesopotamian song and the story of Gilgamesh and his
friend Enkidu, whose death Gilgamesh indirectly caused, as Achilles
indirectly caused the death of his friend Patroklos. Every once in a while
details from this far-distant past peer through, but the Iliad is certainly not a
poem about the Bronze Age. Together with its companion the Odyssey, it is
a poem that appealed to the interests of the adventurous, wealthy, seafaring
Euboean Greeks of the early eighth century BC.

HOMER’S WORLD
There are two parallel worlds in the Iliad, each imagined with breathtaking
vividness. One is the world of the everyday, told best in the similes and in
the description of Achilles’ shield (Book 18). The other is the world of
heroic valor, where all armor is made of bronze (Homer lived in a
subsequent age of iron) and there is a kind of glitter hanging over
everything. In the heroic world the gods are just around the corner, at the
edge of vision, or standing right in front of you in the appearance of a
mortal.

THE HUMAN DILEMMA

Achilles’ mother was a goddess, Thetis. Aeneas’ mother was a goddess,
Aphrodite. Zeus stole Ganymede, a son of Tros after whom Troy was
named, because of his great beauty. Aphrodite snatched Paris from the
battlefield and placed him in Helen’s boudoir. Achilles’ horses talk, telling
him he soon will die. The god Hermes drives Priam’s chariot to the camp of
the Greeks. Homer works hard to suppress the fairytale, any-wondrous-
thing-can-happen side of his story, but it keeps creeping in.
Homer has inherited, no doubt from the Near East, stories filled with
fantastic goings-on, but his hardheaded rationalist sensibility—or rather,
that of his audience—makes him constantly suppress such elements. Still,
the story begins with a plague that an angry god sends against the Greek
camp. Patroklos, Achilles’ friend, dies when Apollo strikes him on the back
and his armor flies off so that he stands naked before Hector and the
Trojans. Athena takes on the form of Deïphobos, Hector’s brother, and
makes Hector think he has a helper when he has none. The gods are
ridiculous parodies of men and women, but they are behind all that
happens. Nothing happens by chance in this heroic world. Humans occupy
a kind of middle ground. Humans know that they are plaything of the
whimsical gods. Humans can only take on a certain attitude: I’m going to
die anyway, so I might as well live courageously while I’m alive. The gods
are behind everything that happens, except the choices you make in a crisis.

GLORY, PRIZE, AND HONOR

To be a man you must earn kudos, “glory,” and timê (tē-mā) “honor.” Then
you achieve aphthiton kleos, “undying fame.” You defeat your enemy, the
evil fate of death, by achieving this fame, this kleos. Everything in this
world of fighting men is kudos and timê leading to kleos.
You get kudos, glory, by killing an enemy. You take his bloody armor, his
power, his own glory, and now it is yours. The armor becomes your geras,
your “prize.” Everybody admires you in the possession of your prize and it
gives you timê. Timê means what you are worth, your value. It is the
modern Greek word for “price.”
Achilles is the best there is: at killing other men and taking their armor,
and at sacking cities and taking all the prizes within, the women and the
loot. Surely he has earned aphthiton kleos, “undying fame.” There is a
confusion between kudos, glory; geras, prize; and timê, honor. They are
inextricable, really one and the same thing. The Iliad is a study in the
hazards of making the pursuit of timê, honor, the goal of human life.

CHERCHEZ LA FEMME
Thucydides (c. 460–c. 300 BC), in his realistic analysis of the Trojan War
(Thuc. 1.3–12), notes that in the time of the war there was no common
name for the Greeks, later called the Hellenes. Homer calls them
indifferently “Achaeans,” “Danaäns,” and “Argives.” Achaeans and
Danaäns are probably tribal names, and Argives refers to their origin on the
plain of Argos, which surrounds the great Bronze Age site of Mycenae (see
Map 2). Thucydides takes the lack of a common name for the Greeks as
proof of the lack of unity of the Greeks in early times, as no doubt it does.
Thucydides also notes that, being camped on one spot for ten years, the
Achaeans were in constant need of supplies and needed to divide their
otherwise overwhelming force by raiding nearby communities. Perhaps this
is the reason that Achilles has raided the village of THEBES (no connection
with mainland THEBES) somewhere at the foot of MOUNT IDA, in the Troad
behind TROY (Map 3), though Homer does not give any reason for the raid.
As we later learn, Achilles killed King Eëtion, the ruler of Thebes at that
time, and, it turns out, six of his sons, brothers of Andromachê, Hector’s
wife, who came from Thebes. He also took the woman Chryseïs captive,
who for some reason was in Thebes at that time.
Chryseïs was not a native of Thebes but came from the town of nearby
CHRYSÊ (krī-sē). Chryseïs just means “daughter of Chryses,” because girls
did not necessarily have their own names, but were named after their
fathers. Chryseïs’ father, Chryses (“he of Chrysê”), seems to take his name
from the town. Perhaps Chryseïs was married to someone in Thebes and
that is why she was there when Achilles sacked the town.
Similarly, in a raid on another town nearby, LYRNESSOS, Achilles has
taken captive a second woman, Briseïs, “the daughter of Briseus.”
Lyrnessos, we later learn in an odd detail, was inhabited by Cilicians.
CILICIA is far away, in today’s central coastal region of Turkey opposite
CYPRUS (Map 8), and so we do wonder about this.
Apparently the custom was to gather all the spoils taken in a raid and
divide it equally. Every man then got his geras, his prize, which also
established his timê. According to custom, the man who actually captured
the city and its wealth did not distribute the spoils, but the community of
fighters, the “sons of the Achaeans,” awarded the booty, and hence
determined a man’s timê. The sons of the Achaeans had awarded Chryseïs
to Agamemnon and Briseïs to Achilles.
Women have little intrinsic value outside sexual and other domestic
service, but they are the external, visible testimony to the fighting man’s
timê. Achilles repeatedly claims as his right to Briseïs the division by “the
sons of the Achaeans,” not the fact that he had captured her in the first
place.
 THE PLOT: THE RAGE OF ACHILLES
Chryeïs’ father Chryses is a priest of Apollo with special influence where it
counts. The poem begins when Agamemnon rudely sends the priest Chryses
away from camp, although he has come to offer a fair ransom for his
daughter Chryseïs. In retribution Chryses reminds Apollo of what the god
owes him. Apollo hears Chryses and sends a plague on the Achaean camp.
To appease the god, Agamemnon absolutely must now give up the girl,
that is clear. But he must obtain another geras somehow or else he will lose
timê, and a king without timê is a contradiction in terms. Agamemnon has
the most power, and therefore he must have the emblems of that power.

THE DOUBLE BIND

In a few lines Homer creates the impossible situation at the heart of a great
plot. Agamemnon is caught in a double bind. No matter how he acts, he is
going to lose. But he must act, even though only evil can result from his
action, and there is nothing he can do about it. Agamemnon must act
arbitrarily in his own interest and by his action subtract from a fellow
warrior’s timê. By his act he must therefore commit an injustice, but not to
act would be unjust too. What is justice anyway? This is the central
question of Greek philosophy, here foreshadowed in the Iliad.
Agamemnon has come into this desperate position through his brutish
and stupid exercise of power. He should never have sent the father Chryses
away. He should have taken the face-saving ransom, an opportunity to be
generous with his power; he would have survived the affront. Instead, he
flaunted his lust to the father’s face and bitterly insulted him, careless of the
consequences to himself and all his men.
The direct result of Agamemnon’s peremptory and unpopular behavior is
disease. Now that the Achaeans are dying of disease, in addition to being
worn down by the daily grind of war, the chance for face-saving is over.
The prophet Kalchas instructs that the girl go back without ransom, and
with an offering besides. Agamemnon’s back is to the wall. He snarls like a
mad dog. He feels the trap and lashes out, saying he will take someone
else’s prize, if she must go back, even that of the hothead Achilles.
And so begins the rage, the first word of the poem (mênin)—the emotion
that drives the plot. Rage can be a wonderful feeling, and highly useful on
the field of battle, but when it is turned against one’s compatriots, it brings
only destruction.
Achilles draws his sword halfway from its sheath when Agamemnon
makes his threat. He wants to kill Agamemnon, as Agamemnon fully
deserves, but Athena catches Achilles by the hair and restrains him.
Here is a problem of the chain of command, of authority. Agamemnon
claims the greatest authority because “he rules over more people.” But he
also claims to derive his authority from Zeus himself, as exemplified by the
scepter that Agamemnon carries. The scepter was made by Hephaistos, then
delivered to Zeus, then given to Hermes, who brought it to the mortal line
of Pelops and his two sons Atreus and Thyestes, and finally to Atreus’ son
Agamemnon. Odysseus uses this very scepter, snatching it from the inept
hands of Agamemnon when, later in the poem, Odysseus calms the host and
forces them back to their seats. The scepter is magical, it has power. It was
made by the gods and deserves respect, and Agamemnon clings to it in his
argument with Achilles.
Agamemnon claims to be “best of the Achaeans” because of his pedigree
as son in a line of Zeus-fostered kings. This claim is the legitimation of his
power. But Achilles denies the claim, saying that the title “best of the
Achaeans” belongs to the man who is best in war, that is, to himself.
“Achilles always wants to put himself above all others,” Agamemnon
complains.
Achilles’ advisor Athena tells him that if he relents, if he does not kill
Agamemnon, then three times as many prizes will come to him later, and
the timê that comes with them. On that understanding, Achilles relents.

THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES

Chryses may love his daughter, but in refusing the ransom Agamemnon has
taken away Chryses’ timê. The whole motive for the Trojan War is the harm
done to the timê of Menelaos and Agamemnon when Paris took Helen, as
Achilles takes care to remind Agamemnon in an angry speech. Here is
irony, Achilles notes—they are camped on the windy plain, dying from war
and disease, trying to restore timê to the sons of Atreus, lost when Paris
took Helen. Now Agamemnon is taking Achilles’ girl, depriving Achilles of
his own timê in the very same way!
Achilles stalks to his tent. He calls to his mother Thetis. He asks that she
claim a favor from Zeus. Zeus must oversee the slaughter of Achilles’
fellow Greeks by the Trojans in revenge for the outrage that Agamemnon
has done to Achilles’ timê, an insult unprotested by his fellow captains. For
this, they deserve to die.
Thetis does as her son asks, Zeus agrees, and in the next eight books of
the Iliad we are treated to the exploits of various Greek heroes. Although
the Greeks are supposed to be driven back through the will of Zeus, they
are, in fact, winning on the battlefield. Homer seems to have better narrative
resources for Greek victories than Trojan ones. In the whole poem more
than three times as many Trojans are killed as Greeks. Nonetheless, several
of the captains finally are wounded, and in Book 9 the Greek leaders,
desperate, send an embassy to Achilles to beg him to return to the war,
which they are losing without him. Agamemnon says he is sorry. He offers
Achilles all the prizes that anyone could ever want, plus many women,
including Briseïs, whom Agamemnon says he has never touched.
Agamemnon also offers Achilles marriage with one of his own daughters.
To everyone’s surprise, Achilles turns down the offer flat. He scorns the
gifts and the chance to marry into the house of Atreus. Prizes are there for
the taking, but once death comes upon you, there is no going back. What is
the use of honor on such a basis? “I have no need of this honor (timê)! I
think that I am honored in the allotment of Zeus,” Achilles says.
With this claim, Achilles explicitly rejects the ethical system on which
the heroic code is based, its code of values. He knows that he is a good
man, in fact “best of the Achaeans,” and Zeus knows it too. He does not
need the esteem of his compatriots, who can go to hell as far as he is
concerned. He has the inner certainty of his own righteousness.
In rejecting the social values of the world he lives in, Achilles sets
himself up for unimaginable loss.

THE RESOLUTION OF THE PLOT

When Hector attacks the wall that protects the Achaean camp and burns one
of the ships, Achilles’ friend and aide Patroklos complains that Achilles is
too hard in his anger toward Agamemnon. Achilles therefore allows
Patroklos to relieve the Greek forces, wearing Achilles’ own armor, as if
Achilles himself had returned to the fight. But Hector falls on Patroklos
under the walls of Troy and kills him.
In regret and sorrow for the loss of his beloved friend, Achilles forgets
his anger toward Agamemnon, based on slighted honor, and transfers it to
Hector, based on the lust for revenge. In an astounding display of energy
and power, he kills Trojans left and right, and in a surrealistic scene even
fights the river Skamandros. At last he corners Hector and kills him.
Though Achilles drags Hector’s corpse around Patroklos’ bier daily, his
heart is not at peace. The gods are offended by Achilles’ impious behavior,
and at Thetis’ instruction Achilles releases the corpse to Priam, whom the
god Hermes, in disguise, has led to Achilles in the night bearing ransom. In
a forgiving spirit, Achilles sees in Priam the plight of his own father Peleus,
who will soon lose his only son (himself!), and he understands that all
humans are united in their suffering. Achilles gives up his rage. Priam
returns the corpse to Troy, the women lament it, and the Trojans bury
Hector, tamer of horses. The story is over.

SHAME CULTURE, GUILT CULTURE

The moral realm of the Greeks in Homer’s Iliad is familiar enough. The
world is a violent and dangerous place. Everywhere is rapine—rape,
enslavement, and death in horrible ways. All social power is in the hands of
the men, who organize to protect their own helpless women and children.
First they build walls, then they subscribe to a moral system wherein every
man strives for honor and the good opinion of his fellows. Unafraid of
death, which is inevitable, they never turn away from the enemy but fight to
the end of their lives.
Anthropologists call this a “shame culture,” similar to Japanese society
where the sanctions of shame are called bushido, “the way of the warrior.”
During World War II American and British soldiers learned to their sorrow
the power of this code. Shame comes from falling short of an ideal pattern
of social conduct. Opposed to it is a “guilt culture,” such as our own, in
which guilt is the consequence of transgression against the laws of God.
The sanctions of shame are external (“prize,” geras). The sanctions of guilt
are internal (feelings of remorse).
The enemy has come for the Trojans in their black ships. The Achaean
raiders have no families to protect. They live by the same warrior code as
the Trojans and are determined to destroy the city and take everything in it.
In this dangerous and violent world, Achilles alone sees the emptiness of
heroic values, that they lead nowhere. It does not matter what others think
of you. To Achilles the sanctions of right action are internal; he gets his
honor from Zeus. But he is a man alone, without anyone with whom he can
share his superior moral vision.
Tragedy is a literary genre, but as a type of story it is one in which the
protagonist becomes ever more isolated from the society around him, until
at last in death he is completely alone. The Iliad is often called a tragedy
because it follows the pattern of the progressive isolation of the protagonist.
Achilles’ crisis plays out against the backdrop of a doomed city. He knows
that his own death must soon follow Hector’s. Everything is sadness and
gloom.

PLOT AND THE ILIAD

Homer seems to have been the inventor of plot in literature: There are no
true plots in the older literary traditions of Mesopotamia, Canaan, and
Egypt. In the stories from these Near Eastern cultures, first one thing
happens, then something else, then something else, in an inorganic
sequence. The earliest example of plot as we understand the term today is in
the Iliad.
As Aristotle (384–322 BC) observed, a plot has three elements. As the
first element, a scene is set, a situation. Then something happens to turn the
plot in a certain direction. In the second element, the consequences of what
has happened are worked out. Sometimes there is a midpoint, a crisis of
some kind. In the third element, something else happens which brings the
story to its resolution.
In the Iliad the first element is the situation in the Greek camp. Then
something happens to change everything: Achilles withdraws from the war.
In the second element, the war rages and many are killed. As a midpoint, an
embassy is sent to Achilles to beg his return, but he refuses (if he had
agreed, it would have ruined the plot!). The fighting resumes as before.
Then the story turns again as Patroklos is killed. Achilles returns to exact
his revenge on the Trojans. The plot is resolved when Achilles accepts
Priam’s ransom and abandons his anger, seeing in the old man—his bitter
enemy—the community of suffering that unites all humans. The plot is
resolved with this moral vision.

THE POWERS BEYOND

The power of the warriors who live by the heroic code is challenged by
another group of men: the priests, specialists in dealing with the irrational
spirits who stand behind the horrible things that surround us. Hector is the
exemplar of the warrior, defending his city and women and children within
it. Kalchas and Chryses exemplify the priests, whose power does not
correspond with the warriors’ power and often opposes it. “Prophet of evil,
never have you said a word pleasing to me! You only like prophecies of
evil! Never have you uttered a word of good, nor brought a good thing to
pass,” Agamemnon says to Kalchas when Kalchas orders that Agamemnon
return Chrysëis.
In his prayer to Apollo to destroy the offending Greeks, Chryses appeals
to the religious principle “I give, that you might give” (Latin do ut des). He
burned thighpieces to the god and roofed his shrine. Therefore Apollo owes
him and should send plague to the Greek camp. When the gods show so
much displeasure at Achilles’ treatment of Hector’s corpse that they
command that he relinquish it, it is because in life Hector always burned the
thigh bones of oxen to them: He gave to them, now they give back to
Hector.

FATE
Hector’s sacrifices did not, however, forestall his death because his death
was fated. The usual Greek word for fate is moira, which means a
“portion,” evidently the portion of meat that one is given at the division of
the meat (another Greek word is aisa, which means the same thing). This
usage must come from a time of food shortage when it mattered a lot what
cut of the sacrificed animal one received.
Everyone has a moira that “spins the thread” of one’s fate, the day of
death. Achilles’ great complaint in the embassy to him is that “Moira is the
same for one who hangs back as for one who is a strong fighter.” When
Hector is about to go into battle, he says to his wife Andromachê that no
man will send him to Hades before the fated day: “But no man, I say, has
escaped moira, neither coward nor brave man, once he has been born.”
Moira determines all outcomes and even Zeus is powerless against it.
When tempted to spare his son Sarpedon and, later, Hector “beyond fate,”
Hera and Athena remind Zeus that “a man being mortal, has long ago been
doomed by fate (aisa).” As modern warriors say, “every man has a bullet
with his name on it.” You will die when you are destined to die, not before
and not after.
Because one’s day of death is already appointed, and even Zeus cannot
change it, it is useless to complain or attempt to change moira. One can
only live like a man and face death like a man. There is a prophecy about
Achilles that he tells to the embassy: His goddess mother has told him that
he can choose between two fates—to live either a long pedestrian life or a
short glorious one. Achilles makes a good rhetorical point when he repeats
this prophecy, but, given his nature, he has only one choice, that is pretty
clear.

THE GODS
The gods have complex origins. So Zeus is the “cloud-gatherer” because in
origin he is the god of storm who clings to the top of mountains, where
clouds gather and where there were many shrines to Zeus. He has an
invincible weapon in the thunderbolt. He is the strongest of the gods. The
quality of a nature god always attaches to Zeus, but we know him in Homer
as the head of a royal household, his power somewhat beleaguered by a
covey of conspiring women who are always trying to outwit him. It is true
that Zeus could suspend Hera from the sky with ankles tied to her feet, as
he threatens (Book 8), but, still, she is getting her way in the inevitable
destruction of Troy, a city that Zeus loves. The city is doomed, and even
Zeus cannot save it.
The court of the Olympians is like an aristocratic court on earth. There is
a headman, who supposedly has all the power, but his female consorts
conspire to diminish it. So Hera schemes to prevent Zeus from doing what
Thetis wishes, another persuasive female. Homer undoubtedly excited
admiration and hilarity from his eighth-century audience of aristocratic
males when Zeus threatens to lay his heavy hands on Hera to bend her to
his will. This is what they would like to do to their own wives.
The gods once revolted against Zeus’s power, we learn, a plot thwarted
only by Thetis, Achilles’ mother, whose importance as a goddess must have
once been very high. That is why Zeus owes Thetis a favor, in this case to
bring about the destruction of the Greek army. The story about Thetis
saving Zeus from binding by Hera, Poseidon, and Athena is unknown
elsewhere and is related to the “myth of the war in heaven,” so prominent in
Greek and Near Eastern myth. The sea-spirit Thetis must be a very old
goddess, going back to the primordial Tiamat of Babylonian myth, who
represents the waters from which the world was made.
The whole picture we get of a family of squabbling gods, modeled after a
human family of quarrelsome adults, derives from Mesopotamia. It is a
poetic fiction colored occasionally by cult practice, but Homer’s gods by no
means reflect the actual practice of Greek religion. We cannot be sure of the
origin of this Mesopotamian poetic fiction, but it is already very old when it
first appears in Sumerian documents from around 2500 BC, nearly two
thousand years before Homer.
In the Mesopotamian version the gods are not as clearly defined as in
Homer, but they inhabit similarly restricted spheres of action. The sky-god
controls the storm; the sex goddess governs sex and, in Mesopotamia, war
(Athena takes over this function in the Greek tradition). The water god is
clever and can sneak things by one, a function split off into Hermes in the
Greek tradition, the wayfarer god. Death is a goddess in Mesopotamia, and
Persephone or Hades in Homer, though Homer has little interest in these
figures.
The gods are thoroughly involved in the action of the Iliad, always part
of the picture. The gods sponsor certain warriors in their triumphs, as when
Athena stands beside Diomedes and guides his missiles to their mark (Book
5). The gods’ power to determine outcome in battle makes possible such
improbable, and comical, events as Paris disappearing from the field in a
mist cast by Aphrodite. He turns up in Helen’s boudoir and makes love to
her as her husband snorts around on the plain! The gods’ behavior is often
meant to provoke a laugh, as in the ludicrous Battles of the Gods in Books 5
and 21, but at other times the gods’ interaction is deadly serious, as when
Athena takes on the appearance of Hector’s brother to give Hector false
confidence in the final duel with Achilles.
Apollo, the son of Leto and Zeus, is a complex god who favors the
Trojans, along with his mother and sister, Artemis. He is the second god to
appear in the Iliad after Zeus. As the bringer of plague, Apollo motivates
the action of the Iliad from the start. The priest of Apollo, Chryses, calls
him Apollo Smintheus, seeming to mean “he of the mouses,” because mice
bring plague. Remains of a temple to Apollo Smintheus have actually been
found in the Troad, probably inspired by this opening passage. Before
modern times, almost yesterday, the origin of disease was always thought to
be an invasion from the other world, probably by the spirits of the dead.
That is why Apollo “shoots from a long ways off.” His arrows are the
arrows of disease: invisible, mysterious, deadly, coming from nowhere. In
the family of gods he serves the same role as the aoidos, the “singer” or
“oral poet” in human society, entertaining by singing and plucking his lyre.
Apollo’s reasons for favoring Troy are never clear, as are those of his
divine rivals Athena and Hera, whom Paris scorned in the Judgment of
Paris, when he gave the prize for being the fairest to Aphrodite. In fact King
Laomedon of Troy cheated Apollo and Poseidon when he did not pay them
for building the walls of Troy. Logically Apollo, like Poseidon, should be
against the Trojans—but he is not. The etymology of Apollo’s name is
unclear, but he may be related to a Hittite god. His association with Troy
may go back to some historical reality.
Athena, who favors the Greeks, constantly opposes Apollo, even in small
things, as when Apollo knocks the whip from Diomedes’ hand in the chariot
race at Patroklos’ funeral games. Athena darts in, picks it up, and hands it
back. Athena is mentioned more times than any other god in the Iliad
except Zeus. She is constantly rousing warriors to the fight, and in Book 5
dons a full suit of armor to fight against her fellow gods. She is also the
inspirer of cultural productions, of handicrafts and arts of all kinds. She
stands behind the aristeia, or “moment of glory,” of Diomedes, who
wounds Aphrodite in a famous scene in Book 5.
Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual (usually illicit) passion, is alternately
powerful and weak. She flees to her father for comfort when wounded, but
it is Aphrodite who has set off the war by bringing Paris and Helen together.
Hera, as sponsor of marriage through her role as queen of the gods, is
Aphrodite’s natural enemy, though she makes use of Aphrodite’s services
when Hera wishes to seduce her own husband in Book 14. Aphrodite has
given up the war-like attributes of Inanna/Ishtar, her Mesopotamian model,
but is a lover of the war-god Ares according to the Odyssey. Aphrodite has
an affection for Trojans: for Anchises, father of Aeneas; for her son Aeneas,
whom she saves from the battle; and for Paris, who awarded her the prize in
the Judgment of Paris, whom she saves in his duel with Menelaos.
Aphrodite’s lover Ares, probably “he who brings harm,” is a minor god,
the most despised of all Olympians by Zeus. Often his name is just a
metaphor for “battle” or “slaughter,” as when warriors are said to “stir up
Ares” or “glut Ares with blood” when they die.
 Though in later Greek myth Hermes is a thief, stealing secretly through
the night, in the Iliad he is a herald and guide, leading Priam’s chariot and
wagon through the Greek forces in the last book of the Iliad, a scene
reminiscent of a descent into the underworld. The gods do propose that he
“steal” away the corpse of Hector, but then they reject their own proposal.
He is a proper “soul-guide” (psychopompos) in the last book of the
Odyssey, where he leads the breath-souls of the dead suitors into the House
of Hades. We might think of him as a trickster god who presides over
boundaries.
Poseidon is a major figure in the Iliad, a son of Kronos and Rhea, and
younger brother to Zeus and Hades. Once, we are told, the three brothers
split up the world among them: Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, and
Hades the underworld. Poseidon’s name might mean “husband of the
Earth,” though “Earth” in his name is very doubtful. He is god of the sea,
over which he rides in his chariot, and as god of earthquakes he is called the
“earth-shaker.” For some reason he is also a god of horses, from which his
epithet “dark-maned” may derive. He and Apollo are the only gods who
strike dignified postures in the comical Battle of the Gods (Book 21).
Poseidon is unashamedly pro-Achaean, giving as reason that Laomedon
had not paid him (or Apollo!) for building the walls of Troy. Normally he
obeys Zeus’s commands, but in Books 13 and 14 he goes against Zeus’s
explicit prohibition against divine intervention. His antecedent in
Mesopotamian stories is the storm-god Enlil, represented in the Greek
stories by both Zeus and Poseidon, but Poseidon is characteristically Greek;
the lives of the ancient Greeks were dominated by travel on the dangerous,
storm-riven seas, an opportunity for experience unknown to the land-
encircled Mesopotamians. His name is attested in Linear B inscriptions
from Pylos.
Hephaistos is the god of fire and all the wondrous things that fire makes
possible: exquisitely made handicrafts and, in the Iliad, the magical shield
of Achilles. There are intelligent robots living in his chamber that move by
themselves. Hephaistos is lame because real blacksmiths often were lame,
and he is the bumbling butt of laughter. Yet he made the shining houses in
which the gods live, and they could not do without him. It is Hephaistos
who calms the quarrel between his mom Hera and his dad Zeus in Book 1.
The story about Hephaistos being thrown from heaven is told twice in the
Iliad (Books 1 and 18), with significant variation. It is the only time in all of
Homer that we are given two versions of a myth. Either his father Zeus
threw him from heaven, and so made him lame, because Hephaistos took
Hera’s side in an argument, or Hera threw him from heaven, horrified that
he had been born lame.
Artemis, the huntress, the lady of wild beasts who rejoices in arrows, is
on the Trojan side, along with her brother Apollo and her colorless mother
Leto. Artemis plays little part in the action but is often referred to as the
cause of death among women. When a woman died for no apparent reason,
she was said to have fallen to the arrows of Artemis, as a man fell to the
arrows of Apollo.
Hades is more a place than a god. The House of Hades is where you go
when you die. And yet, as one of the three sons of Kronos, Hades shared
control over the world with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon.
The gods are like humans, only grander, more beautiful—and much more
powerful. In one characteristic they differ: They will never die. Hence their
activities lack seriousness and their behavior is often comical. Achilles
knows that he will die; there is nothing funny about that.

HOMER’S AUDIENCE
We can tell a lot about Homer’s original audience, the men he would
ordinarily have sung to. The Odyssey presents several descriptions of
singers in action, and we can extrapolate from them that Homer’s audiences
were all male; only one woman is ever present, a queen, at a song in the
Odyssey. His audiences were older men rather than younger men, who
knew what it is like to fight in hand-to-hand combat. They are warriors and
seafarers. They have a taste for gore and moral conflict. They are
preoccupied with male issues of honor and nobility. They have a taste for
the rhetorical, which is why we get so many fancy speeches in the Iliad—
one half of the Iliad consists of speeches.
Homer’s audience loves long and detailed descriptions of ordinary
procedures, as when Homer describes the yoking of Priam’s wagon and
chariot (Book 24), or when he describes how Odysseus built a raft to leave
the island of Kalypso (Od. Book 5). Homer’s audience has plenty of time
and enjoys a leisurely pace. To judge from descriptions in the Odyssey,
there really is no other form of entertainment in this world, only the song of
the aoidos, the singer, who always performs after a banquet. The audience
wants the song to go on and on so they do not have to face the hardships
and tedium of everyday life. King Alkinoös in the Odyssey begs Odysseus
to continue with his tale, though it is late at night (Od. Book 12).
Homer’s audience has a strongly developed sense of humor and finds the
behavior of the gods absurd and quite funny. They are monogamous but
resent the institution, hence the constant complaints about Hera’s
henpecking of her poor husband Zeus. (Mesopotamian society, by contrast,
was polygamous.)
When the pompous Agamemnon makes a fool of himself by urging his
men to go home, supposing they will oppose his cowardly suggestion and
shout, “No, no, we must fight on!” but instead they all rush pell-mell to the
ships—this story appeals to men who have actually been at war, who know
abject fear and terror. Evidently Homer has set up this whole scene, which
does not advance the narrative, simply as a means to get a laugh.
No doubt Homer’s audience were the “captains” (basileis) who had a
proper contempt for those not of their class. Thersites, in Book 2, is the
model for all that the basileis despise. His physical ugliness testifies to his
worthlessness. Most of the words used to describe his ugliness are unknown
elsewhere. Thersites is the parodic opposite of Achilles. Thersites makes the
same complaints against Agamemnon that Achilles does: Agamemnon has
plenty of bronze and women in his tents, he always takes his pick, and he is
a greedy boor. Yet without Achilles’ stature as a warrior, lacking Achilles’
good looks and fine upbringing, Thersites’ complaints are the thoughtless
complaints of a little man whose power to do evil must be nipped in the
bud. Thus does Odysseus whip him with Agamemnon’s Zeus-descended
scepter, to the laughter of Homer’s aristocratic audience.

ON TRANSLATING HOMER
The audience can absorb only so much information so fast, but the singer
cannot stop his delivery, he cannot be silent for long. His task is to replace
the listener’s thoughts with his own words, and so the words must come
constantly. Thus in Homer an audience always “listens and obeys,” and
when characters speak, “he spoke and he addressed them.” The pervasive
use of such amplified expression, and of epithets, enhances the audience’s
comprehension.
To enjoy our modern Homer, we must teach ourselves to accept this
repetitive, formulaic style, evolved in order to help the poet create his
rhythmic line on the fly in oral composition.

THE REPETITIVE STYLE

Not only are many lines repeated somewhere, but sometimes whole
passages. For example, when in the poem a message is given, the listener
knows that it will be repeated word for word when delivered. The fixed
epithets attached to heroes and gods lengthen the line and slows the rate of
the delivery of information while reminding the audience what this
character is best known for. The epithet puts the character in context. Hence
“Achilles the fast runner” or “resourceful Odysseus” takes longer to say
than “Achilles” or “Odysseus” while reminding us of what sort of men
these are. The epithet is part of the meaning, a capsule biography. And there
is something evocative about “wine-dark sea” that “sea” alone does not
convey.
The translator faces the temptation to ignore these epithets entirely and
translate “Achilles the fast runner” simply as “Achilles.” This would
produce a translation that is not very fair to the poet-singer, obscuring the
reality of the origin of these poems as oral compositions. Another strategy is
to always translate the epithets in a different way, for example “swift-footed
Achilles” or “Achilles the fast runner” (for the Greek podas ôkus, “swift as
to his feet”), again hiding the origin of the text as an oral poem.
I have followed a middle way: using the epithets, thus making clear that
this poem is composed in an oral style, but sometimes allowing a different
wording, or ignoring the epithet altogether, in accordance with modern
taste. Still, we have to adjust to the repetitive style if we want to read a
translation of Homer. Homer is an oral poet and he is singing in an oral
style, a style utterly practical but grounded in the practicalities of oral
presentation.

A STYLIZED WORLD
Homer’s world is a stylized world. Emotions are exaggerated or expressed
in concrete imagery that strikes us as strange. Gods and goddesses zip in
and out of the story with perfect credibility. Eating is highly ritualized, and
Homeric heroes do a lot of eating. Everything is strange about this world,
yet recognizable. A translation must acknowledge this strangeness.
The extraordinarily long and often unexpected similes relieve the tedium
of carnage and open a window into another world, giving a different point
of view, often pastoral or peaceful. The similes are odd, because the poet
feels as if he can create alternate worlds in the midst of his original alternate
world. They abound with beautiful images from the natural world,
especially of magnificent predators to whom the warriors are compared. But
they also delay the progress of the narrative.
Such is a hallmark of Homer’s oral style, to stretch things out by
interposing all kinds of delaying tactics. He inserts episodes and diversions
of every kind to put off what must come. Evidently Homer was encouraged
when dictating the Iliad and the Odyssey to make the songs as long as
possible for reasons we can only imagine. Milman Parry seems to have had
a similar experience with Avdo Mejedovich (c. 1870–1955), his best singer,
who at Parry’s encouragement sang The Wedding of Smailagich Meho,
about as long as the Odyssey.
Words have a different range of meaning in Greek than in English,
especially those referring to feelings. The Greek does not distinguish
between emotional and mental categories as we do, so we must seek
parallels in English that correspond to the nuance in the Greek. For
example, there are several words that indicate the things that go on inside a
person’s chest, but Homer is very imprecise in his use of these words, and
they must constantly be translated in different ways.
So thumos means something like the air that you breathe in, but it comes
to mean the heart, as in grieved “at heart” or “in spirit,” as in “he was
troubled in his spirit.” But at other times thumos means the life, the breath-
soul that departs from the body when you die, like the psychê, really
“breath,” the air or “breath-soul” that leaves a dead inert body. But thumos
can also be the seat of thought. The word kêr probably means the organ the
“heart,” but it is also commonly used to designate the place where decisions
are made, like thumos. The word phrên, or in the plural phrenes, may also
designate a specific internal organ, but whether this is the lungs or the liver
or something else is never clear, and often phren(es) can mean “heart,” like
thumos or kêr. The word êtor is another word that refers to the place of
feeling in the chest, not thinking, as in “grieving at heart.”
 The meaning of these vague terms varies according to the context, but it
is clear that the Homeric Greeks saw the basis for thought, decision, and
action as taking place in the chest. After all, it is emotion, not thought, that
drives men to behave in certain ways, just as emotion lives in the stomach
and in the heart even today. And it is emotion that drives the story of the
Iliad.
Translations reflect the taste of their times. Since the seminal translation
of George Chapman (1559–1634) in iambic heptameter (seven feet, all
iambs), published in full in 1616, there have been around 131 translations
of Homer’s poems into English. Alexander Pope (1688–1744) took 11 years
(1715–1726) to complete his translation in rhymed couplets, which suited
the prevailing conviction that rhyme was what characterized poetry, raising
it above pedestrian prose.
In modern poetry, rhyme is avoided as something that stands in the way
of direct expression. But Homer seems wrong as prose—after all, it is a
poem composed in dactylic hexameter. Again, I have chosen a middle way,
adopting a rough five-beat line in this translation. My focus is on the
meaning of Homer’s words and how they would sound today in
contemporary English.
Homer’s style may be strange, but it is always simple, direct, and sensual.
I have tried to reproduce these qualities in this new English translation.
Flexibility within accuracy has been my principle. I have often added
personal names to replace pronouns, because Homer’s use of pronouns can
be very unclear.
Translating the meaning of the text does not necessarily imply a word-
for-word rendering. After all, Homer’s thoughts are rendered in a different
language with very different habits of expression. Still, I hope to convey the
sense of each word and phrase in the Greek, without prettifying or
embellishing. I am not concerned with sounding “poetic,” or beautiful, or
clever, because that would be to falsify the plain style of the original Greek.
Yet much of the stylistic beauty of Homer’s poetry comes from his use of
words in unexpected or startling ways, a feature I try to preserve.

TRANSLITERATION AND PRONUNCIATION OF NAMES

There are two traditions in transliterating classical names, the Latin and the
Greek. The Latin spellings come through the Latin language and impose
traditional rules of Latin spelling. In Greek spellings, the names are
transliterated more or less as they are written in Greek, but using Latin
characters. The Latin tradition lies behind English dictionary usage, because
Latin was once the language of the educated classes in England and the
United States. So in dictionaries the names are “Achilles,” “Priam,”
“Helen,” and “Ajax.” In the 1950s, however, a fashion began of using the
Greek spellings, so that it is “Akhilleus,” “Priamos,” “Helena,” and “Aias.”
The trouble with using the Greek forms, however, is their lack of
familiarity. The trouble with using all Latin forms is that they look too
fussy, old-fashioned.
In this translation I have followed the practice in transliteration of the
excellent The Homer Encyclopedia, edited by Margalit Finkelberg
(Wiley/Blackwell, 2011). “Achilles,” “Priam,” “Helen,” and “Ajax” are too
familiar to be changed, but except for these major players, and for place
names, I give the names of subordinate characters in the Greek spelling:
“Kalesios” not “Calesius.”
Two other conventions are observed: Where the upsilon in Greek is
pronounced in English as /i/, I have transliterated the upsilon as [y], not [u].
I have used a dieresis, two dots over a vowel [ï], to indicate when adjacent
vowels are to be pronounced separately: Eëtion, Alkathoös. I have
transliterated the Greek [x] as [ch]. When the final vowel of a name is to be
pronounced, I write it with a caret on top: Niobê, Astyochê. Final es is also
pronounced, as in Achillēs.
There is a fair amount of uncertainty as to how to pronounce Greek
names in English, and even professionals can be unsure. Moreover, Greek
names are pronounced differently in, for example, England and the United
States. Certainly an ancient Greek would be puzzled at the ordinary English
pronunciation of his or her name. There is little agreement on how to
pronounce the vowels, so one hears the name of the Athenian playwright
Aeschylus pronounced as e-schylus or ē-schylus or sometimes ī-schylus. Is
the famous king of Thebes called e-dipus or ē-dipus? With many names,
however, there is a conventional pronunciation, which I give in parentheses
in the Pronunciation Glossary at the back of the book.
Another problem is the accent—where to stress the word. Greek relied
chiefly on pitch and quantity, whereas English depends on stress. Because
of the influence of Latin on Western culture, the English accent on proper
names follows the rule that governs the pronunciation of Latin: If the next-
to-last syllable is “long,” it is accented; if it is not “long,” the syllable
before it is accented. For many it will be easiest simply to consult the
Pronunciation Glossary, where the syllable to be accented is printed in bold
characters.

OceanofPDF.com
1 Quoted in Joseph Blumenthal, Bruce Rogers: A Life in Letters, 1870–1957
(W. Thomas Taylor, Austin, TX, 1989), pp. 130–131.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 1. The Rage of
Achilles

The hedestructive
rage° sing, O goddess, of Achilles, the son of Peleus,
anger that brought ten-thousand pains to the
Achaeans and sent many brave souls of fighting men to the house
f Hades and made their bodies a feast for dogs
nd all kinds of birds. For such was the will of Zeus.
5

Sing the story from the time when Agamemnon, the son
f Atreus, and godlike Achilles first stood apart in contention.
Which god was it who set them to quarrel? Apollo, the son
f Leto and Zeus. Enraged at the king, Apollo sent an
vil plague through the camp, and the people died.
10
or the son of Atreus had not respected Chryses, a praying
man. Chryses had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans
o free his daughter. He brought boundless ransom, holding
n his hands wreaths of Apollo, who shoots from afar,
n a golden staff. He begged all the Achaeans, but above all 15
e begged the two sons of Atreus, the marshals of the people:°

“O you sons of Atreus, and all the other Achaeans,

whose shins are protected in bronze, may the gods who
 ave houses on Olympos let you sack the city of Priam!
May you also come again safely to your homes. But set free
20
my beloved daughter. Accept this ransom. Respect
he far-shooting son of Zeus, Apollo.”

All the Achaeans

houted out that, yes, they should respect the priest
nd take the shining ransom. But the proposal was not
o the liking of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus.
25
rusquely he sent the man away with a powerful word:
Let me not find you near the hollow ships, either
anging around or coming back later. Then your scepter
nd wreath of the god will do you no good! I shall not
et her go! Old age will come upon her first in my
30
ouse in Argos, far from her homeland. She shall
curry back and forth before my loom and she will
ome every night to my bed. So don’t rub me
he wrong way, if you hope to survive!”

So he spoke.
The old man was afraid and he obeyed Agamemnon’s 35
ommand. He walked in silence along the resounding
ea. Going apart, the old man prayed to his lord
Apollo, whom Leto, whose hair is beautiful, bore:
Hear me, you of the silver bow, who hover over
CHRYSÊ and holy KILLA, who rule with power
40
he island of TENEDOS°—lord of plague!° If I ever
oofed a house of yours so that you were pleased
r burned the fat thigh bones of bulls and goats,
hen fulfill for me this desire: May the Danaäns° pay
or my tears with your arrows!”
45

So he spoke in prayer.
hoibos° Apollo heard him, and he came from the top
f Olympos with anger in his heart. He had on his back a bow
nd a closed quiver. The arrows clanged on his shoulder
s he sped along in his anger. He went like the night.

He sat then apart from the ships. He let fly an

50
rrow. Terrible was the twang of the silver bow. At first
e attacked the mules and the fleet hounds. Then he
et his swift arrows fall on the men, striking them
with piercing shafts. Ever burned thickly the pyres
f the dead. 55

For nine days he strafed the camp with his

rrows, but on the tenth Achilles called the people to assembly.
he goddess with white arms, Hera, had put the thought
n his mind, because she pitied the Danaäns, when she saw
hem dying.

When they were all together and assembled,

Achilles, the fast runner, stood up and spoke: “Sons of Atreus, 60
think we are going back home, beaten again, if we
 scape death at all and war and disease do not together
estroy the Achaeans. So let us ask some seer or
oly man, a dream-explainer—dreams are from Zeus!—
who can tell us why Phoibos Apollo is angry. 65
s it for some vow, or sacrifice? Maybe the god
an accept the scent of lambs, of goats that we kill,
erhaps he will come out to ward off this plague.”
o speaking he took his seat.

Kalchas arose, the son of

Thestor, by far the best of the bird-seers, who knows 70
what’s what, what will happen, what has happened.
He had led the ships of the Achaeans to Ilion° by his seership,
which Phoibos Apollo had given him. He spoke to the troops,
wishing them well: “Achilles, you urge me, you whom Zeus
oves, to speak of the anger of Apollo, the king who strikes 75
om afar. Well, then I will tell you. But first you must
onsider carefully. You must swear to me that you will
efend me in the assembly and with might of hand. For I’m
fraid of enraging the Argive who has the power here, whom
ll the Achaeans obey. For a chief has more power against
80
omeone who causes him anger, a man of lower rank.
Maybe he swallows his anger for a day, but ever
fter he nourishes resentment in his heart, until he
rings it to fulfillment. Swear then, Achilles, that you will
rotect me.”
85

The fast runner Achilles answered him:

Have courage! Tell your prophecy, whatever you know.
y Apollo, dear to Zeus, to whom you yourself
ray when you reveal prophecies to the Danaäns—not so
ong as I am alive, and look upon this earth, shall anyone
f all the Danaäns lay heavy hands upon you 90
eside the hollow ships, not even if you might mean
Agamemnon, who claims to be best of the Achaeans.”

The seeing-man, who had no fault, was encouraged,

nd he spoke: “The god is not angry for a vow, or sacrifice,
ut because of the priest whom Agamemnon dishonored 95
when he would not release the man’s daughter. He would not take
he ransom. For this reason the far-shooter has caused these pains,
nd he will go on doing so. He won’t withdraw the hateful disease
om the Danaäns until Agamemnon gives up the girl with
he flashing eyes, without pay, without ransom, and until he leads 100
holy sacrifice to Chrysê. Only then might we succeed in
ersuading the god to stop.”

So speaking, he sat down. The heroic

on of Atreus, Agamemnon whose rule is wide, then stood up,
eeply troubled by the words of Kalchas. His black heart
was filled with a tremendous rage, and his eyes shone 105
ke blazing fire. First he addressed Kalchas, his eyes filled
with hate: “Prophet of evil, never have you said a word
leasing to me! You only like prophecies of evil! Never have
ou uttered a word of good, nor brought a good thing to pass.
And now you say in your ‘prophecy’ before the Danaäns that 110
he far-shooter causes us sorrow because I refused to take
he shining ransom for the daughter of Chryses! Because I prefer
o keep her in my house! In fact I like her better than Klytaimnestra,
my wedded wife. She is no inferior in beauty, in looks,
r in character, or in her skills in handwork. Nonetheless, I am
willing 115
o let her go, if that is best. I’d rather that the folk prospered than
perished. But you’d better get another prize for me. It’s not right
hat I alone of all the Argives be without a prize!
is not right, for you see that my prize goes elsewhere.”°

Then answered him Achilles, the fast runner, like a god: 120
Son of Atreus, most honored sir, most greedy of all!
How are the Achaeans, who are generous, going to give you a prize?
We have no wealth stacked in a warehouse, but everything
we’ve taken in our raids has been given out a long time ago.
We can’t gather this stuff up again. Look—give up 125
he girl to the god. Then the Achaeans will give you three
r four times as much loot, if Zeus grants us to sack the high-walled
ity of Troy.”

King Agamemnon answered as follows:

Don’t Achilles—though of good birth and ‘like to a god’—
on’t try to trick me with your mind! You will not get past me, 130
nd you will not persuade me. Do you want to stand there,
ourself with a prize, while I sit without one? Do you order me
o give up this girl? If the great-hearted Achaeans will give me
prize, fitting it to my heart, so that it will be of equal
alue … but if not, I will myself take your own prize! 135
 r I will go to Ajax and take his, or I will go to Odysseus
nd take his prize. The man will be angry, no matter who.
ut let us think this over at some later time. Come,
et us draw a black ship into the shining sea.
Let us get together appropriate rowers and load up 140
sacrifice, and let us place Chryseïs of the lovely cheeks
within.° Let one man who knows what to do be the leader,
ither Ajax, or Idomeneus, or brilliant Odysseus—or you,
on of Peleus, most ferocious of men. Then with our sacrifice
we might calm the far-shooter.” 145

But Achilles, the fast runner,

lowered from beneath his brows and said: “Shameless fool!
Greedy, how now can your speech gladly persuade any
f the Achaeans either to go on an ambush or to fight
n the hand-to-hand? I at least did not come here to war
ecause of the Trojan spearmen. They have done nothing
150
o me. They have not taken my cattle, nor horses.
Not in Phthia° with its very rich plowlands,
he nurse of men, have they laid waste the harvest.
or many are the shadowy mountains that lie between us,
nd the echoing sea. No, we followed you—you dog 155
without shame!—that you might be happy, that you
might win honor from the Trojans for Menelaos—
nd for yourself! Dog! You don’t ever think about that,
o you? Are you troubled by that? You threaten yourself
o take my prize, for which I labored sorely? 160
he sons of the Achaeans gave her to me. I never
et a prize equal to yours, when the Achaeans take some
opulous city of the Trojans, though I myself
 ear the hard brunt of the fighting. When the spoils
re divided, your prize is always bigger. I get 165
ome small, little darling thing and slouch off
o my ships, worn out with the war.
“Okay, I’m off
o Phthia. I think it’s better to head away in my beaked ships
han to hang around here and pile up endless wealth
or you, while I remain without honor!” 170

The king over men,

Agamemnon, then said in reply: “Go then, if that’s what you
want to do. Don’t stay on my account. There are plenty who
will honor me, and Zeus above all, whose wisdom is great.
You are most hateful to me of all the god-reared chieftains!
You ever love contention and war and battle. If you are strong,
175
hat is because some god gave you the gift. Go home with
our ships and your companions. Rule over the Myrmidons! \
don’t like you, I don’t care if you are angry.
“But I tell you what
m going to do. Just as Phoibos Apollo takes away Chryseïs—
nd I’ll send her in a ship with an escort—even so
180
will myself come and take the high-cheeked Briseïs,
our prize, that you might know how much stronger I am
han you, and so that any other may think twice
efore saying that he is my equal and liken himself to me
o my face!”
185

So he spoke. A great hurt arose inside

he son of Peleus, and his heart within his shaggy
reast was divided in two ways, either to draw his sharp
word from his thigh, break up the assembly, then kill
he son of Atreus, or whether he should stop his anger,
ridle his tumult. While he pondered in his heart and in his spirit,
190
e drew out the great sword from its scabbard, but Athena came
om heaven—the goddess Hera of the white arms sent her
ecause she loved and cared for both men equally.

Athena stood behind him and she seized the son of

eleus by his light-colored hair. Only he could see her.
195
 FIGURE 1.1 The rage of Achilles. The seated Agamemnon holds the
scepter of authority and sits on a throne, his lower body wrapped in a robe.
Achilles, in “heroic nudity,” pulls his sword from its scabbard (“heroic
nudity” is an ancient artistic convention of unclear meaning, whereby
heroes are shown without clothes). Athena seizes Achilles from behind by
the hair. Roman mosaic from Pompeii, c. first century AD.

He was amazed. He turned around, and right away he recognized

allas Athena.° Her eyes shone with a terrible light. He spoke
o her words that went like arrows: “Why have you come,
aughter of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish?°
To see the insolence of Agamemnon, son of Atreus? 200
ut I will tell you this, and I think it shall come
o pass—through his insolence he will quickly lose his life!”

Flashing-eyed Athena° answered him: “I have come

om heaven to stop your anger, if I can persuade you.
White-armed Hera sent me, because she loves
205
nd cares for both of you. So come, let go
f this contention. Unhand your sword. Abuse him
with words. Tell him how things will be. For I promise you
hat this will come to pass: You shall one day have
hree times as many gifts because of this violence.
210
Hold back, trust us.”

Achilles, the fast runner, answered:

What can I do but obey the two of you, goddess,
ven though I am seething? It is better that way. The gods
sten to him who obeys.” And he stayed his heavy
and on the silver sword-hilt, and back into the scabbard
 215
e thrust the great sword, not disobeying the word of Athena.
he went off to Olympos to the house of Zeus who carries
he goatskin fetish, to be with the other gods.

But the son of Peleus again spoke violent words

o the son of Atreus. In no way had he abandoned his anger: 220
Drunkard, dog-eyes, with a deer’s heart—you don’t arm with
our people and go out to war, nor dare in your heart to go on
n ambush with the best of the Achaeans. To you that is death!
Much better to take your ease in the broad camp of the Achaeans
nd steal the gifts from whoever opposes you. Devourer 225
f the people, ‘king,’ you rule worthless men. Otherwise
his would be your last act of insolence, O son of Atreus!
“But I will tell you, and swear a great oath: By this scepter,
which will never grow leaves or shoots since first it left
ts stump in the mountains. It won’t again grow green. The bronze 230
as stripped its leaves and bark, and now the Achaeans
old it when they judge, when they guard the laws given
y Zeus—this oath will be mighty among you! One day
he longing for Achilles will be great among the sons of the Achaeans!
But you will not be able to ward off evil, though your sorrow 235
great, when many fall dead at the hands of man-killing Hector.
You will gnaw your hearts that when angry you did not honor
he best of the Achaeans!”

So spoke the son of Peleus,

nd he threw the scepter on the ground, fitted with nails
f gold. Then he sat down. But the son of Atreus on his side
 240
ill steamed with anger when Nestor stood up, whose voice
was sweet, the clear-voiced speaker of the men of Pylos,
om whose tongue flowed a sound sweeter than honey.
wo generations of mortals had passed away in his time,
men begotten and raised with him in sandy Pylos, but now 245
e was king in the third generation. He hoped to calm things
own: “Alas, I think a big sorrow has come to the land
f the Achaeans. If Priam and his sons and the other Trojans knew
bout you two quarreling, they would greatly rejoice—you two,
est in counsel and best in battle! Listen—you are
250
oth younger than I. When I was young, I mixed with men
more warlike than you. They never looked down upon me.
have never seen such men since, nor shall I, men such as
eirithoös and Dryas, the shepherd of the people, and Kaeneus
nd Exadios and Polyphemos, like a god, and Theseus, the son
255
f Aegeus,° a likeness of the deathless ones. Most powerful of men
aised on the earth were these men. Most powerful they were.
hey warred with the wild beasts° in the mountains and destroyed
hem. I came from Pylos, far, far away, to mingle with
hese men who had summoned me. I fought to the best of
260
my ability. I say that no one today who walks the earth
ould have fought these men. They listened to my advice,
nd believed it. So you believe it too. It is better that you do.
“You, Agamemnon, though strong, do not take this girl,
ut let it go—the sons of the Achaeans first gave her to him.
265
And you, son of Peleus, do not wish to contend head-on with a king.
A chief who bears the scepter holds a special honor,
ne to whom Zeus has given glory. If you are a stronger
ghter, and your mother is a goddess, yet he is more powerful
ecause he rules more men. Son of Atreus, you stop your anger.
 270
beg you—let go your wrath at Achilles, who is like a
uge wall to the Achaeans in the midst of destructive war.”

King Agamemnon answered him as follows:

You have spoken as is fit, old man, everything you say.
But this man wants to be over everyone. He wants
275
o be king over all, to rule every man, and to boss
veryone around. But there is someone who is not persuaded!
ust because the gods who live forever made him a spearman,
o they also egg him on to go around casting insults?”

But shining Achilles broke in and said: “Surely 280

would be called a coward and of no account if I were
o yield to you in everything that you say. You may give others
our commands, but give no orders to me. I don’t think
will obey you. And I will tell you something else.
Think it over. I shall not come to blows over the girl,
285
either with you nor with anyone else, the girl whom
ou have and now take away. But of my other
ossessions laid up beside my swift black ship,
ou shall carry away not a thing against my will.
Go ahead and try it!—then these too will know. 290
wiftly your black blood will run down my spear!”

And so these two struggled with savage words.

hey stood up. The assembly dissolved beside the ships
 f the Achaeans. The son of Peleus made his way
o the huts and his well-proportioned ships. He went with 295
atroklos, the son of Menoitios, and his companions.

But the son of Atreus dragged a swift ship to the sea.

He chose twenty oarsmen. He loaded a sacrifice for the god.
He placed high-cheeked Chryseïs in the boat.
Odysseus, the devious man, went along as leader.
300
hey mounted the boat and sailed the watery paths.

Now the son of Atreus urged the people to purify

hemselves. They purified themselves and threw the waters
hey washed with into the sea. Then they sacrificed to Apollo
erfect bulls and goats beside the shore of the sea 305
hat grows no crops. The scent spun, twisting in the smoke,
o heaven. And so they labored throughout the camp.

But Agamemnon forgot not the quarrel in which he

rst threatened Achilles. He called to Talthybios and Eurybates,
is heralds and busy comrades in arms: “Go to the tent of 310
Achilles, son of Peleus. Take the high-cheeked Briseïs
y the hand and lead her here. If he won’t give her,
will myself go there with a large band of men and take her.
his will be shivery for him!”

So speaking he sent
 he two men forth, and he laid on a solemn command. 315
hey walked in silence along the sea that grows no crops.
hey came to the tents and ships of the Myrmidons. They found
im sitting beside his tent and black ship. Achilles
was not happy to see them. The heralds stood there terrified,
n awe of the king. They did not speak nor ask questions. 320

But Achilles knew in his heart, and he said the following:

Greetings, heralds of Zeus and the messengers of men.
ome closer. It’s not your fault, but Agamemnon’s, who sent
ou forth on account of the girl Briseïs. But come,
atroklos of Zeus’s line, bring out the girl. Give her 325
o them to take away. And may these two men
e witnesses before the gods and before all men who die,
nd before that arrogant king—if ever in time to come
ou need me to ward off a destructive fate from the troops …
Why, the man is mad! He does not know how to
330
ook before and after so that the Achaeans may fight
n safety beside the ships.”

So he spoke. Patroklos
beyed his companion and brought high-cheeked Briseïs
om the tent and delivered her to the men. Again they walked
long the ships of the Achaeans, and the girl went with them 335
nwilling.
 But Achilles burst into tears, and he withdrew
part from his companions. He sat on the shore beside

FIGURE 1.2 The Taking of Briseïs. Achilles sits in a chair holding his
spear while Patroklos, his back turned to the viewer, a sword slung over his
shouder, hands over Briseïs to Agamemnon’s men. To the far left stands
Talthybios with his herald’s wand. Achilles’ tutor Phoenix stands behind his
chair. Four armed warriors stand at the back against the wall of the tent.
Roman fresco from Pompeii, c. first century AD.

he gray sea. He stared over the huge deep.

He raised his arms and prayed to his dear mother:
Mother, because you bore me to a short life, Olympian 340
eus, who thunders on high, ought to have put honor
n my hands. But he has given me no honor at all. For the
on of Atreus, whose rule is wide, has dishonored me.
He has come and taken my girl.”
 Thus he spoke, tears
treaming down his face. His revered mother heard him 345
s she sat beside her aged father in the depths of the sea.
wiftly she came forth like a mist from the gray sea. She sat
own before him, as he wept. She took him by the hand
nd she spoke his name: “My son, why do you weep?
What sorrow has come to your heart? Tell me, don’t hide it, 350
hat we both may know.”

Then, groaning heavily spoke

Achilles, the fast runner: “You know! Why do I need
o tell the whole story when you already know? We went
o Thebes, the sacred city of Eëtion.° We burned it to the ground
nd took everything. The sons of the Achaeans then divided the
loot 355
mong themselves. For the son of Atreus they chose
hryseïs, whose cheeks are beautiful. Chryses then came
o the fast ships of the bronze-shirted Achaeans, a holy man,
priest of Apollo the far-shooter. He wanted
o free his daughter, and he brought boundless ransom, 360
olding the wreaths of Apollo the far-shooter
round a golden staff. And he begged all the Achaeans, and
bove all the two sons of Atreus, the leaders of the people.
All the Achaeans shouted we should respect the holy man
nd accept the shining ransom. But Agamemnon, the son 365
f Atreus, did not like this, and he roughly sent the man
way, and he lay on a strong word. Angry, the old man
went off. Apollo heard him as he prayed,
ecause he was dear to the god, and he sent an evil
 haft against the Argives. The people died like flies. 370
he missiles of the god fell everywhere through the broad
amp of the Achaeans. A knowing prophet explained
he doing of the god who strikes from a long way off.
traightaway I was first to insist that we appease the god,
ut anger seized the son of Atreus. He stood straight up
375
nd lay down a threat, which now has come to pass.
he bright-eyed Achaeans are taking Chryseïs in a fast ship
o Chrysê, and they have gifts for the god. As for the other girl,
riseïs, the heralds have taken her from my tent,
he whom the sons of the Achaeans gave to me. 380
“But you, if you can, protect your son. Go to
Olympos and beg Zeus, if ever you have pleased him
n word or in something you’ve done. For I often heard
ou boast in my father’s halls that you alone
f the gods fended off disaster from the son of Kronos,
385
e of the dark clouds, when the other Olympians
wanted to tie him up—Hera and Poseidon
nd Pallas Athena. But you went to him and set him
ee from the bonds, having swiftly called to high Olympos
he hundred-hander whom gods call Briareos, but men call 390
Aigaion. He was stronger than his father.° He sat
own beside the son of Kronos, glorying in his power.
he blessed gods were frightened of him and did not bind Zeus.°
“Remind him of this incident. Sit by his side.
eize his knees—to see if he might help the Trojans
395
en the Achaeans by the prows of their ships, their backs
o the sea. May they die like dogs! Thus may all share
n the wisdom of their chief, and Agamemnon, the wide ruler,
may know that he went insane when he dishonored
 he best of the Achaeans.” 400

Thetis answered him, pouring

own tears: “O my child, why ever did I bear you,
orn to sorrow? I wish that you might have stayed
y the ships without weeping, without pain, since your life
fated to be all too short. As it is, your fate is soon
pon you. You are more wretched than all men. 405
herefore I bore you, in our halls, to an evil life.

“I will make your request of Zeus, who delights

n the thunder. I will myself ascend Olympos, clad in snow,
o see if I can persuade him. You stay here, nursing
our anger, beside the swift ships. Don’t fight any more. 410
Yesterday Zeus went to Ocean, to the Aethiopians who do
o wrong, to a feast, and all gods went with him. On the twelfth day
e will return to Olympos. Then I shall go to the bronze-tiled
ouse of Zeus. I will take him by the knees and I think I will
ersuade him.” 415

So speaking, she went off. She left Achilles

here in his rage on account of the slim-waisted woman,
whom Agamemnon took away by force, against his will.

But Odysseus came to Chrysê with the sacrifice.

When they got inside the deep harbor, they folded up the sail
 nd placed it in the black ship. They quickly loosened
420
he ropes and let down the mast into the mast-holder. They rowed
o a good mooring. They threw out the anchor stones and bound
p the stern with cables. They went forth on the shore
f the sea, driving before them the sacrifice to Apollo,
who shoots from a long way off. Chryseïs got out 425
f the sea-going boat. Leading her to the altar, the clever
Odysseus placed her in the hands of her father and said:

“O Chryses, the king of men Agamemnon has sent me here

o give to you your child and to perform holy sacrifice
o Phoibos on behalf of the Danaäns, who would like to appease
430
he lord, who brings agonizing pain to the Argives.”

So saying he placed her in Chryses’ arms. The father

eceived his dear child with joy. The men quickly set up
he sacrifice around the altar, made of dressed stone.
They washed their hands and took up the barley grains.° 435
hryses raised his hands on their behalf and prayed
n a loud voice: “Hear me, you of the silver bow,
who hover over Chrysê and sacred Killa and are king
with power over the island of Tenedos. You already
eard me when I prayed to you, and you gave me honor. 440
You mightily struck the Danaäns! So fulfill for me now
my new request: Let go from these Danaäns the destructive
lague!”
 So he spoke in prayer. Phoibos Apollo
eard him. When they had prayed and sprinkled the barley,
hey first drew back the heads of the cattle, then they cut
445
heir throats. They skinned them out. They cut out the bones
f the thighs, covered them in two layers of fat, and placed
aw meat on top. The old man burned them
n splinters of wood. He poured out shining wine
n top. The young men beside him held out their forks 450
with five prongs. When he had burned the thigh bones
nd they had tasted the guts, they cut up the rest
nd spitted the pieces. They roasted the meat with care.
hen they drew it from the spits. When they were done
with their work and had prepared their meal, they ate.
455
Nor did their hearts lack for anything in the equal feast.°

When they had put aside their desire for drink and food,
he young men filled the mixing bowls to the brim
with wine. They poured libations from every cup,
hen distributed the wine all around. They beseeched 460
he god with song, singing the Apollo-hymn,
he young men of the Achaeans, singing a hymn to the god
who works from far away. And he was delighted
o hear them.

Then the sun went down and darkness came.

They slept by the sterns of the ships. When dawn came, 465
preading her fingers of rose, they set out for the broad
amp of the Achaeans. Apollo who works from a long way
ff sent them a favorable breeze. They raised
he mast and spread the white sail. The wind filled
he middle of the sail. The purple waves roared around 470
he keel of the ship as it went. She ran over the waves,
making her way forward. When they arrived at the broad camp
f the Achaeans, they dragged the black ship high on the sand
f the shore. They fitted long props beneath. The men
cattered to their tents and their ships. 475

But the Zeus-nourished

on of Peleus, Achilles, the fast runner, continued to nurse
is anger, sitting beside the fast ships. He never went
o the place of assembly, where men win glory, nor ever
o the war. He wasted away in his heart, remaining idle,
hough he longed for the cry of war and the fight. 480

When twelve days had passed, all the gods, who live
orever, went in a band to Olympos, with Zeus in the lead.
hetis did not forget the request of her son. She arose from
he wave of the sea. Early in morning she went up
o heaven and Olympos. She found the son of Kronos,
485
who sees things from far off, sitting apart from the others
n a steep peak of Olympos, which has many ridges. She sat
own near him and took hold of his knees with her left hand,
while with her right she gripped him beneath the chin.
Beseeching, she spoke to Zeus the king, the son of Kronos: 490
 “Zeus, our father, if ever I have helped you among the
mmortals either in word or in something I did,
ulfill for me this desire. Give honor to my son
who, more than others, is born to a quick death.
But as it is, now the king of men Agamemnon 495
as not given him honor. He has taken away his prize.
He holds it! But give him honor, O Olympian, counselor Zeus.
Give power to the Trojans until the Achaeans honor my son
nd increase his honor.” So she spoke.

The cloud-gatherer
Zeus said nothing, but sat in silence for a long time.
500
As Thetis had clasped his knees, so now she held him
lose, and asked again: “Make me this firm promise,
ow your head to it—or turn me away. You have nothing
o fear, so that I may know how of all the gods I have
he least honor …” 505

Zeus, who assembles the clouds,

was deeply disturbed. He said: “This is a bad
usiness. You will set me on to quarrel with Hera, who
will anger me with her words of reproach. Even as it is
he is always on my back among the deathless gods, saying
hat in the battle I help the Trojans. So leave 510
ow or she may notice something! Yes, I’ll take care
f this. I’ll bring it to pass. Here, let me bow
my head to you so that you will believe me,
or this is the surest sign I give among the immortals—
will never take it back. It is no illusion. It will always
 515
ome to pass, whatever I nod my head to.”

Then the son of Kronos nodded with his brows,

ark like lapis lazuli, and his immortal locks fell all around
he head of the deathless king. Olympos shook.

After the two took counsel together in this fashion, 520

hey departed, Thetis descending from shining Olympos
nto the deep sea, and Zeus went to his house. All the
ods stood up from their seats when he entered. No one
ared to await his coming, but they all stood up.

So he sat there on his throne, but Hera

525
new he had made a deal with Thetis of the
lver ankles, the daughter of the Old Man of the Sea.°
he spoke to Zeus at once, the son of Kronos,
with mocking words: “Who, my clever fellow,
ave you been making deals with? You just love that, 530
o stand apart from me and make judgments about things
hat you have decided in secret. Nor do you ever
other willingly to tell me what you have been up to.”

The father of men and gods said the following:

Hera, don’t hope to know all my thoughts! It will be 535
he worse for you if you do, although I sleep with you.
What you should know, you will know before all other gods
r men. But what I wish to devise apart from
he gods, don’t ask about it. Make no inquiries!”

Hera, with eyes like a cow, the revered one, 540

hen said to him: “O most dread son of Kronos!
What a thing you have said! In the past I have never asked
ou about your affairs, nor made inquiry, but you
ancied anything you like. But now I greatly
ear in my heart that silver-ankled Thetis has led you 545
stray, the daughter of the Old One of the Sea.
he came this morning and sat beside you and gripped
our knees. I think you promised her that you would give
onor to Achilles, that you would destroy a multitude
eside the ships of the Achaeans.” 550

Zeus, who assembles

he clouds, then replied: “You bitch! You have your ideas,
nd nothing gets past you! Nonetheless, there is nothing you can do
bout it. You will only drift further from my heart, which will
e the more shivery for you. If this is what I’m thinking,
must like it. So shut up and sit down! Obey my word, 555
r all the gods in Olympos will do you no good as I close
n and lay upon you my powerful hands!”

So he spoke,
nd the cow-eyed revered Hera took fright. In silence
he took her seat, curbing the impulse of her heart.

The Olympian gods in the house of Zeus were troubled

560
y what had happened, when Hephaistos, known for his craft,
aid this, bringing kindness to his dear mother Hera
f the white arms: “Surely this will be a nasty turn,
carcely to be born, if the two of you quarrel like this
ver men who die. You bring squabbling into the midst
565
f the gods. There will be no pleasure in the feast, when trouble
as the upper hand. I advise my mother, whom I know to be
ensible in her own right, to be kind to our dear father, so that
e does not tangle with her again and stir up trouble at the feast.

Why, what if the Olympian, master of the lightning, wished to

blast 570
s from our seats? For his strength is much the greater.
o—please calm him with gentle words. Then the Olympian
will be kind to us.”

So he spoke, and leaping up he placed

two-handled cup in his mother’s hand, and said to her:
Courage, my mother! Hang on, though you are irritated, 575
r else I may see you beaten with my own eyes.
You are so dear to me, but though grieving you may be unable
o do anything about it. The Olympian is not someone
ou want to go up against. Why, I remember the time
hat I was eager to save you and he grabbed me by the foot
 580
nd threw me from the divine threshold. I fell all day.
When the sun was setting, I landed on the island of LEMNOS,
arely alive. There, after my fall, the Sintian men
uickly cared for me.”°

So he spoke, and white-armed

Hera smiled, and, smiling, she took in hand the cup
585
om her son. Then Hephaistos, moving from left to right,
oured out wine to all the gods, drawing sweet nectar°
om the mixing bowl. An unquenchable laughter
rose among the blessed beings when they saw Hephaistos
uffing along through the palace.
590

So they dined all day

ntil the sun went down. They did not lack for anything
n the equal feast, not the lovely lyre that Apollo
layed, and the Muses sang in beautiful response.°
ut when the bright light of the sun had disappeared,
hey went to lie down, each to his own house,
595
where for each one the lame god, famous Hephaistos,
ad made a palace with his cunning skill. Zeus,
he Olympian, the master of lightning, mounted his own bed.
here it was always his custom to rest, where sweet
leep came to him. He went up and fell asleep,
600
nd Hera of the golden throne slept beside him.

OceanofPDF.com
rage: The Greek word is mênis, an archaic word used only of Achilles and
the gods. It is the first word in the poem and defines its theme.
marshals of the people: That is, Agamemnon and his brother Menelaos, the
leaders of the expedition. Menelaos was married to Helen before her
elopement with Paris, but the injury done by her behavior hurts the whole
family, and Agamemnon has become the supreme leader of the expedition.
Chrysê … Tenedos: See Map 3: The first time that a place name on one of
the eight maps appears in a Book, the name will be in small caps. “Chryses”
is simply “the man from “Chrysê.”
lord of Plague: In the Greek, Chryses calls Apollo “Smintheus,” seeming to
mean “he of the mice,” that is, god of plague because that is what mice or
rats bring (rats are “ big mice” in modern Greek). Remains of a temple to
Apollo Smintheus have been found in the Troad. Apollo “shoots from afar”
because his arrows are the arrows of disease: invisible, mysterious, deadly.
Danaäns (dān-a-anz): Homer indifferently calls the invaders “Achaeans,”
“Danaäns,” and “Argives,” never “Greeks.” The first should mean “the men
of Achaea,” perhaps a general name for Greece (though later a territory
located in the northwestern Peloponnesus), or it is a tribal name; the second
is a tribal name; the third should mean “the men from the city of Argos” in
the Peloponnesus.
Phoibos: An epithet of uncertain origin and meaning, though often
interpreted as meaning “pure, radiant.”
Ilion: Another name for Troy.
prize goes elsewhere: The Greek word is geras, which determines a
warrior’s timê, “honor,” really “value.” The woman, or geras, is the external
and visible testimony to timê, without which life is not worth living.
Chryseïs: Chryseïs means simply “daughter of Chryses,” just as Briseïs is
“daughter of Briseus.” Girls did not necessarily have their own names but
were named after their father. Chryses is the father; Chrysê is the place;
Chryseïs is the daughter.
Phthia: Phthia (thī-a) is the homeland of Achilles in southern THESSALY,
through which the Spercheios river flows. See Map 2.
Pallas Athena: The “Pallas” is sometimes explained as from a Greek word
meaning “to brandish,” so the meaning would be “[spear]-brandishing
Athena.” But probably it is preHellenic, not a Greek name.
 … fetish: The Greek is aegis, which means “goatskin,” maybe in origin
either a shield, or a “medicine” bag containing power objects. In Homer, the
aegis is an object that offers divine protection or inspires terror. In works of
art from a period somewhat later than Homer, the aegis is a cloak with
snake-head tassels and a Gorgon’s head in the center, worn more by Athena
than Zeus. Apollo also carries the aegis (see Figures 7.1, 24.1)
Flashing-eyed Athena: The Greek is glaukôpis but is hard to say whether it
means “flashing-eyed,” “owl-eyed,” or “gray-eyed.” I have chosen
“flashing-eyed” as the most likely interpretation.
–256 Peirithoös … Aegeus: The first names are princes of the Lapith tribe,
who lived in Thessaly. Theseus, son of Aegeus, is from Athens.
According to the story known elsewhere, at the wedding of Peirithoös
the savage Centaurs tried to rape the bride and her attendants. A great
war broke out in which Theseus, a friend of Peirithoös, took part.
wild beasts: That is, the Centaurs, but it is not clear that Homer understood
them to be part horse, part man.
Thebes … Eëtion: Not of course the Thebes in Greece or Egypt; see Map 3.
Eëtion (ē-et-i-on) was king of the Thebes in the Troad. Because Chryseïs
was taken in Thebes and not in Chrysê, perhaps she was married to
someone in Thebes. It is not clear why Thebes is “sacred,” but cities often
are, especially Troy.
his father: Briareos means “strong”; Aigaion, “of the sea,” may refer to
Poseidon, presumably the father of this Hundredhander, the personification
of the power and roar of the sea. The significance of alternate names among
men and gods is unknown. It occurs several times in the Iliad.
bind Zeus: The story about Thetis saving Zeus from imprisonment by Hera,
Poseidon, and Athena is striking. Unknown elsewhere, it is related to the
myth of the war in heaven prominent in Greek and Near Eastern myth. But
why should Thetis have summoned the Hundredhander to Zeus’s aid, one of
Zeus’s mighty allies against the Titans (according to the story told by the 8th
century BC poet Hesiod)? The sea-goddess Thetis must be very old, going
back to the waters from which the world was made, the primordial Tiamat
of Babylonian myth (perhaps the names are related). Her role in saving
Zeus from a divine conspiracy shows her to be more powerful than we
expect from being merely the mother of Achilles.
barley grains: Grains of barley were sprinkled on the sacrificial victim as
part of the religious ritual, perhaps because of barley’s association with
fruitfulness.
equal feast: In an equal feast everyone receives an equal portion so that no
one’s honor is slighted.
Old Man of the Sea: Nereus.
… cared for me: For Lemnos, see Map 1. The Sintians are the native
inhabitants. The story about Hephaistos being thrown from Heaven is told
again (Book 18) with significant variation, the only time in the Homeric
corpus that a single myth is told twice.
nectar: The wine of the gods; its etymology is unknown.
response: Apollo sings for the gods just as singers (aoidoi) like Homer sang
for human courts. Hephaistos is lame because real blacksmiths often were
lame, and he is the bumbling butt of laughter. Yet he made the shining
houses in which the gods live, and they could not do without him.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 2. False Dream and
the Catalog of Ships

Tighthethrough,
other gods and the chariot-charging men slept the whole
but sweet sleep came not on Zeus. He wondered
n his heart how to honor Achilles and destroy many beside
he ships of the Achaeans. This seemed to him the best plan,
o send to Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, a destructive dream.
5

So he spoke to Dream words that sped like arrows:

Go on, go, O Destructive Dream, to the fast ships of the
Achaeans. When you come to the tent of Agamemnon,
on of Atreus, tell him exactly what I tell to you:
Order him swiftly to arm the Achaeans with long hair,
10
or now he can take the city of Troy with its broad roads.
he deathless gods, who live on Olympos, are no more
f two minds about this matter. Hera, with her pleading,
as persuaded the gods to allow the destruction of Troy.”

So he spoke, and Dream went off at Zeus’s 15

ommand. He soon arrived at the swift ships of the Achaeans.
He went to Agamemnon, son of Atreus. He found him
sleep in his tent, a godlike sleep upon him. He stood
 ver his head and, looking like Nestor, son of Neleus,
whom of all old men Agamemnon trusted the most,
20
e said, this dream from heaven:

“You are sleeping, O son

f Atreus, wise tamer of horses. But you ought not,
man of counsel, sleep the whole night through, one
o whom the people turn, you who have many troubles.
But listen: I come from Zeus. Although far away,
25
e cares greatly for you, and he pities you. He orders
ou swiftly to arm the Achaeans with long hair,
or now you can take the city of Troy with its broad roads.
he deathless gods, who live on Olympos, are no more
f two minds about this matter. Hera, with her pleading,
30
as persuaded the gods to allow the destruction of Troy.°
eus has condemned the Trojans to destruction!
Now remember this, and do not forget it when honeyed
eep lets you go.”

So speaking, Dream departed.

He left Agamemnon with a thought of things that would 35
ever come to pass. For Agamemnon thought that on
hat day he would take the city of Priam—what a fool!
He never knew what Zeus intended, how he was
oing to cause, through grievous battle, pain
nd agony among the Trojans and Danaäns alike.
40
 Agamemnon woke up. The divine voice sounded
ll around him. He sat up straight on the edge of the bed.
He put on his soft shirt, a beautiful new one, then put
n his great cloak. Beneath his feet he bound
is beautiful sandals, and over his shoulders he cast 45
is great sword with silver nails. He took up his scepter,
family heirloom—deathless, lasting forever!—
nd he walked along the ships of the Achaeans, clothed
n bronze.

The divine Dawn went to tall Olympos

o proclaim the light to Zeus and the other deathless ones,
50
while Agamemnon ordered his clear-voiced heralds to call
o assembly the Achaeans with long hair. They called,
nd the army gathered in haste. But first Agamemnon
ummoned the wise old men to gather beside the ship
f Nestor, the chief of PYLOS. Having brought them together,
55
e devised a clever plan: “Hear me, my friends! A dream
f the gods came to me while I slept, during the immortal night.
he Dream looked like goodly Nestor in form and height
nd build. He stood right near my head and spoke:
You are sleeping, O son of Atreus, wise tamer of horses. 60
ut you ought not, a man of counsel, sleep the whole
ight through, one to whom the people turn,
ou who have many troubles. But listen: I come
om Zeus. Although far away, he greatly cares
or you, and he pities you. He orders you swiftly
65
o arm the Achaeans with long hair, for now you can
ake Troy with its broad roads! The deathless gods,
who live on Olympos, are no more of two minds
 bout this matter. Hera, with her pleading, has persuaded
he gods to allow the destruction of Troy. Zeus
70
as condemned the Trojans to destruction! Now
emember this, and do not forget it when honeyed
eep lets you go.’
“So speaking, the Dream flew away,
nd sweet sleep released me. Come then, let’s arm
he sons of the Achaeans! But first I want to test 75
he men in speech, as is right. I will urge them to flee
n their ships with many benches, then you, from all sides,
must hold them back with your words!” So speaking,
e sat down.

Nestor stood up before them, the king

f sandy Pylos. Wishing them well, he spoke to them:
80
My dear friends, leaders and counselors of the Argives,
anyone else told us this dream, we would say it
false. We would have nothing to do with it.
ut as it is, the best of the Achaeans has had this dream!
Let us therefore arm the sons of the Achaeans.” 85

So speaking, he led the way from the council.

he scepter-bearing chieftains got up and followed
he shepherd of the people. But all the while the people
were hastening on. Just as the tribes of swarming
ees pour forth from a hollow rock, and in bunches 90
over above the spring flowers, some in clusters here,
ome over there—even so the many tribes from the ships
nd the huts along the deep sea-beach were arranged
n order at the place of assembly, lined up in companies.
And in their midst burned Rumor, urging them on, 95
he messenger of Zeus.

The Argives gathered. The place

f assembly was in turmoil. The earth groaned beneath
he people as they took their seats. The din was terrific.
even heralds, hollering, held them back—“If you
top the hullabaloo, you can hear the god-nourished chieftains!” 100
With haste the people sat down. They arranged themselves
n rows and ceased from their clamor.
 FIGURE 2.1 Nestor. Gray-haired, he had already seen three generations
of men. He wears no armor and holds a staff of authority, appropriate to his
role as advice-giver. On an Athenian red-figure vase, c. 450 BC.

King Agamemnon stood up,

olding the scepter that Hephaistos had made. Hephaistos
ave this scepter to Zeus, the son of Kronos, the king,
nd Zeus gave it to the messenger Hermes, the killer 105
f Argos.° Hermes, the king, gave it to Pelops,
river of horses. Pelops gave it to Atreus, shepherd
f the people. When Atreus died, he left it to Thyestes,
ch in sheep, and Thyestes left it to Agamemnon°
o bear, to rule over many islands and all of Argos.° 110

Now leaning on this scepter, Agamemnon spoke

o the Argives: “My dear fighting-men, you Danaäns,
ou servants of man-devouring Ares—Zeus, the son
f crooked-counseled Kronos, has bound me in a crazy
madness—he is a hard god! At first he promised me,
115
nd nodded his head to it, that we would sack Ilion
with its wonderful walls and then go home. But he
nly contrived a wicked deception! Now he urges me
ack to Argos after losing so many men to war!
suppose this is what Zeus wanted, whose power
120
paramount. He has loosed the crown of many cities,
nd he will loosen others in future times. For his strength
overriding. But it is shameful to learn, and will be for
enerations, how we led to war so many people, and of such
uality, against far fewer men—all for nothing!
 125
“There is no end in sight. Why, if Achaeans
nd Trojans made a sacrifice and swore an oath, and did
head count, and all the Trojans who have hearths in the city
were gathered together, and the Achaeans were divided in groups
f ten, and every group should choose one Trojan to serve 130
he wine at the drinking-party—then many groups
would go without. So many more are we sons
f the Achaeans than the Trojans who live in the city.
“But alas, they have many allies who use the spear,
who constantly strike me and will not let me take
135
his populous city of Ilion, though I desire it. Nine years
f great Zeus have passed. The planks of the ships
re rotten and the ropes are frayed. Our wives and little
hildren sit waiting for us in our halls while the task
or which we came lies undone. So let’s all obey
140
what I say: Let’s sail out of here! Let us return to the land
f our fathers. We will never take Troy with its broad streets!”

So he spoke, and through the multitude he aroused the spirits

n their breasts—of as many men who were not at the council.
The assembly was stirred like long waves of the Icarian Sea° 145
hat East Wind and South Wind have stirred, driving on from
louds of Zeus the father. Or as when West Wind riffles
he towering fields of wheat, coming roughly on, and the ears
f wheat are bowed—even so was the assembly stirred.

With a Huzzah! they raced to the ships° and the dust

150
 ew into the air from beneath their feet. They shouted
o each other to take hold of the ships and drag them
nto the shining sea and to clean out the slipways.
he roar of the men desiring to go home reached to heaven,
nd they laid hold of the props under the ships. 155

Then would
he Argives have defeated fate in their homecoming, but
Hera spoke to Athena: “Good grief, daughter of Zeus
who carries the goatskin fetish, you who are tireless—
he Argives are about to flee to their native earth
n the wide back of the sea. Priam and the Trojans
160
will boast that they possess Helen of Argos, on whose
ccount many Achaeans have died at Troy, far
om their dear native land. But go now among the Achaeans
lothed in bronze. Hold them back with your gentle
words, don’t let them drag the ships, with oars
165
n both sides, into the sea.”

So she spoke
nd flashing-eyed Athena obeyed. She went in a rush
own from the peaks of Olympos. Soon she arrived
t the ships of the Achaeans. She came up to Odysseus,
tanding there equal to Zeus in his counsel. He had not 170
ripped his many-benched black ship, because agony had come
o his heart and his spirit.
 Coming nearby, flashing-eyed
Athena said: “God-nurtured son of Laërtes, Odysseus,
killed at ingenious devices, are you thus all falling
nto your ships, anxious to flee homeward to your native
175
and in your many-benched ships? Priam and the Trojans
will boast that they possess Helen of Argos, on account
f whom many Achaeans have died at Troy
ar from their dear native land. But go now
mong the Achaeans clothed in bronze. Hold back
180
ach man with your gentle words, don’t let them drag
heir ships, with oars on both sides, into the sea.”

So she spoke, and he knew the voice of the goddess

s she spoke. He made ready to run. He threw off
is cloak, which Eurybates° the Ithacan picked up,
185
who waited on him. He went straight to Agamemnon, the son
f Atreus. He seized from him the heirloom scepter—
eathless, forever!—and with it he ran through the ships
f the Achaeans clothed in bronze. Whenever he came
n a chief or a man in some way outstanding, he tried
190
o hold him back, standing beside him and addressing him
with pleasing words: “Surely, it is hardly right
o frighten you, as if you were a man of no account,
ut please sit down and make the rest of your folk
o the same. Believe me, you don’t know what the son
195
f Atreus really means. Why, he is only testing you.
oon he will smash the sons of the Achaeans! It is true
hat not all of us heard what he said in the council. Be careful
e does not grow angry and do harm to the sons of the Achaeans.
Big is the spirit of the god-nurtured chieftain—their honor
 200
from Zeus! Zeus, who counsels wisely, loves them.”

But if he came on a man of the people shouting away,

e struck him with the scepter and called him out: “Sit down
nd be still! Listen to the words of others who are better.
You are worthless for war and a weakling. You are of no 205
ccount in the contendings, nor in the council. We can’t
ll be chiefs. Rule by the many is not good!
We want one boss, one chieftain, to whom the son
f clever Kronos gave the scepter and the laws, that he might
ive good advice.” Thus like a master did he range 210
hrough the army. And again they surged into the place
f gathering away from the ships and the huts, always chattering,
s when a wave of the resounding sea thunders
n the broad beach and there is a roar from the deep.

The others sat down, all except brawling Thersites,

215
who went on scolding, whose mind was filled with disorderly
words to condemn the chiefs, all for nothing, hardly in good form,
ut he said whatever he thought would raise a laugh among
he Argives. Thersites was the most disgusting man who went
o Troy. His legs were bowed, one shorter than the other, 220
nd his shoulders curved inwards over his chest. His head
was pointy and a scant tuft of hair grew on top.
Achilles especially hated him, but also Odysseus,
or Thersites constantly reviled these two men.
 At the moment, however, he attacked goodly Agamemnon
225
with his sharp words, for the Achaeans were furious with
Agamemnon and blamed him in their hearts. In a loud voice
hersites insulted him now: “O son of Atreus, what
wrong? What do you lack? Your tents are filled, I think,
with bronze. You have fine women in your tents,
230
which we Achaeans gave to you as first pick whenever
we attacked some town. Or maybe you still lack gold,
which a horse-commanding Trojan has brought from Troy
s ransom for his son? Maybe I bound him and led him away,
r some other Achaean … or is it a pretty young thing
235
or you to bed, whom you will keep to yourself?
You’ve got no business as our leader to bring
s to pain, the sons of the Achaeans. Sad fools,
miserable pathetic things, you are no men
ut like the ladies of Achaea! Let us go home
240
n our ships and leave this man here in Troy
o ponder his prizes. Then he may know if we
re any good to him or not—he who dishonored
Achilles, a far greater man than he! For he took
hat man’s prize and he holds it. Achilles must know
245
o anger in his heart. He must have set it aside.
Otherwise, O son of Atreus, this would be
our last outrage!”

So spoke Thersites, abusing

Agamemnon, the shepherd of the people. But Odysseus
uickly came up to him, and glowering beneath his 250
rows he put him in his place with a savage word:
Be still, Thersites, fancy with words, clear-voiced
peaker—don’t try and argue with the chiefs, alone
s you are! No one worse than you ever came to Troy
with the sons of Atreus. So don’t go around with ‘chief’ 255
ghtly on your lips, despising them, saying we should all
ail home. No one knows how this will all turn out,
r whether the sons of the Achaeans will return in victory
r defeat to our homes. You stand there insulting Agamemnon,
hepherd of the people, because the Danaän spearmen give 260
im many gifts. You rail on and on—but let me tell you
omething, which surely will come to pass. If again
find you playing the fool as you do now, then no
onger may my head sit on my shoulders, or I
e called the father of Telemachos, if I don’t seize you 265
nd strip off your clothes, your cloak and shirt that covers
our privates, and drive you wailing out of the assembly
o the fast ships in a rain of shaming blows.”

So he spoke, and with the staff he struck Thersites’

ack and shoulders. Thersites bent over. A hot tear
270
olled down his cheek. A bloody welt rose up
n his back beneath the golden scepter. He sat
own, deeply alarmed, in pain, with a helpless
ook on his face. He wiped away a tear.

The Achaeans,
hough they suffered, laughed merrily at his plight.
275
One would say, glancing at his neighbor: “Well, I think
hat Odysseus has done a thousand good things in the council
nd leading us in battle, but now he has done the best
hing of all among the Argives, who has shut up
his foul loud-mouth and stopped his prattle. I don’t
280
hink the proud spirit of Thersites will again urge him on
o speak ill of the chiefs with his insults.”

So spoke
ne common man. But Odysseus, the despoiler of cities,
ood tall, still holding the scepter. Beside him appeared
lashing-eyed Athena, looking like a herald. She urged
285
he people to be quiet so that the Achaeans, both near and far,
ould hear his words and consider his counsel.

With the best

f wishes, Odysseus addressed the troops: “Son of Atreus—
who are king—it looks like the Achaeans now wish to make you
he most despised of mortals, and to reject the promise 290
hey made when they sailed from Argos with its horse
astures, to sack high-walled Troy before returning home.
ike children or widowed women they complain that they want
o go home. Sure, there is trouble enough to make anyone
want to go home. A man away for a month from his wife
295
wishes to return in his well-benched ship, a man whom
wintry storms shuts in and a high sea. But we’ve been
ere nine years! So I don’t blame the Achaeans
or their anger beside the high-beaked ships. Still,
t’s a thing of shame to stay so long, then sail home 300
mpty-handed. So persevere, friends, wait for awhile.
et us learn whether Kalchas has made a true prophecy
r not. For this we well know, all here are witness
o it—at least those whom the darkness of death
as not swept away. 305
“Why, it was only yesterday, or the day
efore, when the ships of the Achaeans were gathered in
AULIS, ready to bring evil to Priam and the Trojans.
We were gathered around a spring, placing on the holy altar
perfect sacrifice to the deathless gods. There was
lovely plane tree above, from which flowed shining 310
water. Then a wondrous sign appeared—a serpent
with a blazing scarlet back, awesome. The Olympian
ad sent him into the light. Sliding from beneath
he altar, it darted toward the tree. A sparrow’s nestlings,
ittle babies, hid beneath the leaves on the topmost branch— 315
ight little babies and the mother who hatched them made nine.
he serpent ate them as they squealed pitifully. The mama
ew around, shrieking for her dear little babies. Coiling,
he serpent grabbed her by the wing as she screamed
round him. When he had eaten the babies and the mother too, 320
he god who sent him made a clear sign: The son
f clever Kronos turned him to stone! We stood there,
mazed at what had happened.

“When the awesome sign broke in

n the sacrifice to the gods, Kalchas immediately made
prophecy: ‘Why have you all fallen silent, Achaeans 325
with the long hair? The wise Zeus has made this great sign
lear. Though slow to come, the tale of this achievement
will never die. Just as this serpent has devoured the eight
ttle babies, and the mother who bore them makes nine,
ven so we will fight for as many years, and on 330
he tenth we will take the city with its broad streets.’
hat’s what Kalchas said. And now all is coming to pass.
o hang in, all you Achaeans with your fancy shinguards,
ntil we take the great city of Priam!”

So he spoke,
nd the Argives moaned aloud, and around the ships
335
rose a great roar as the Achaeans shouted, thrilled
with the advice of godlike Odysseus.

Then Nestor of Gerenia,°

he horseman, spoke to them: “You know you seem
o me like little children. You gather here, and have
o thought of war. Where are the oaths we took? 340
We might as well throw all the plans we made into the fire,
nd the oaths we swore with unmixed wine° while we clasped
ur hands, in which we placed our trust. It is useless to wrangle
with words. That way leads nowhere, although we spend
orever arguing. You, Agamemnon, continue to hold 345
o your unbending purpose, as you always have, and lead
he Argives in their terrible struggle. Those one or two
f the Achaeans who sneak off by themselves and plan
o go home to Argos before we discover if the promise
f Zeus, who carries the goatskin fetish, is right 350
r not—they can go to hell! You’ll get nothing from them
nyway. I tell you that the son of Kronos, supreme in power,
odded in our favor on that day when the Argives sailed
n our swift-traveling ships, bringing death and doom
o the Trojans. There was lightning on the right, a sign of success. 355
o don’t be anxious to sail home before you sleep with a Trojan
woman in payment for your trouble and the pain caused
y Helen. And if someone wants so much to sail
ome, let him take hold of his black many-benched ship—
hen in the sight of all may he die and meet his fate!
360
“But my king, think well on this—believe another!
Don’t cast aside the word I speak. Separate the men according
o tribes, Agamemnon, and clans so that one clan may
upport another, and the tribes too. If you do this, and the
Achaeans follow you, then you will know who among 365
he captains is a coward, and who of the army, and who is
rave. For the clans will compete with each other. You will
now if it is because of the will of the gods that you can’t
ake the city, or whether because of your men’s cowardice
nd ignorance of war.”
370

King Agamemnon then answered him:

Yes, again, old man, you have proven your excellence
n speaking, above the other sons of the Achaeans. By Zeus
he father, and Athena, and Apollo, I wish only
hat I had ten such counselors among the Achaeans.
Then would the city of King Priam soon bow its head, 375
aken and sacked at our hands. But the son of Kronos,
eus who wields the goatskin fetish, has caused
me a lot of woe. He casts me into the midst of strife
nd quarrels. For Achilles and I have fought over a girl,
 peaking vile words. It was I who first got mad. 380
ould we only see eye-to-eye, then there would be no
utting off of evil—no, not for a second.
“But for now,
et every man eat a meal and prepare for war.
harpen your spears, get ready your shields, feed
our horses, the fast runners. See to your cars,
385
hat they are ready for the fight, so that all day long
we may contend in hateful war! There’ll be no break
n the fighting, not even a short one, until the coming
f night puts a stop to the anger of men. The strap
n his wrap-around shield will drip with sweat as it hangs 390
round his breast, and his hand will grow weary holding
he spear. The horse of every man will be wet with sweat
s it pulls the polished car. But if I find someone
anging around the beaked ships, longing to go home,
will give his body to the dogs and the birds!”
395

So he spoke, and the Argives roared aloud, as when

outh Wind, driving on, raises a wave against a towering cliff,
headland against which every kind of wind drives
waves constantly as they come from every direction.
The men stood up and scattered among the ships. They made 400
res in the huts and took their meal. Every man prayed
o his own god who never dies, asking that he escape death
nd the work of Ares. And Agamemnon, the king of men,
illed in sacrifice a fat bull, five years of age, to the son
f Kronos, superior in power.
405
 Agamemnon gathered
o him the elders, the best of the Achaeans: first of all Nestor,
hen King Idomeneus, and also the two Ajaxes and the son
f Tydeus,° and as the sixth came Odysseus, the equal
f Zeus in counsel. Menelaos, who shouted loud in war,
ame without being asked, for he knew in his heart 410
what his brother was going through. They stood around
he bull and took up the grains of white barley.

The good King Agamemnon spoke among them

n prayer: “O Zeus, most glorious, greatest, lord
f the dark cloud, dwelling in heaven—may the sun not set,
415
nd the darkness come before I throw to the ground the hall
f Priam, blackened with soot, and burn the doorways
with consuming fire, and split the shirt of Hector
round his breast, ripping it with bronze, while many
f his close companions, lying in the dust, bite the earth 420
with their teeth!” So he spoke, but the son of Kronos
id not grant him his wish. He accepted the sacrifice,
ut he gave Agamemnon dreadful sorrow.

When they had prayed

nd sprinkled the grains of barley, they pulled back the victim’s
ead, cut its throat, and flayed off the skin. They cut out 425
he thigh bones and covered them with a layer of doubled fat.
On top they placed raw flesh. Then they burned everything
n splints from which the leaves were removed. They spitted
he guts and held them over the flame of Hephaistos.°
When the thigh bones were burned and the innards eaten, 430
hey cut up the rest and placed the meat on spits. They cooked
he meat thoroughly, then drew it off from the spits.
When they had ceased from their labor and prepared
he meal, they ate. No one went without his fill
f food, equally distributed. 435

When they had their fill

f food and drink, Nestor from Gerenia began
o speak: “O son of Atreus, most glorious, king
f men, Agamemnon, let us no longer be gathered here,
or let us longer put off the work that the god
laces in our hands. So come, let’s have the heralds
440
f the Achaeans, clothed in bronze, go through the ships
nd summon everyone together. Let us go too in a bunch
hrough the broad camp of the Achaeans to swiftly stir up
he sharp work of war.”

So he spoke, and King Agamemnon

beyed. Immediately he ordered the clear-voiced heralds 445
o summon to battle the Achaeans with their long hair.
hey did summon them, and quickly the army assembled.
he chiefs around the son of Atreus, divinely nurtured,
an through the crowd and organized them into gangs,
nd among them went Athena with the flashing eye, 450
olding the goatskin fetish, of exceeding value—
geless, deathless! From it hung a hundred tassels
 f solid gold, every one of them finely woven,
very tassel worth a hundred cattle. With it she raced
ike lightning through the mass of the Achaeans,
455
rging them to go forth. She roused strength in the heart
f each man to fight and do battle without end. Instantly
war became sweeter to them than to sail away
n their hollow ships to the beloved land of their fathers.

Just as when a consuming fire ignites the endless 460

orest on a mountain top, and from a distance the gleam
clear, even so the dazzling shining of the wonderful
ronze of the men as they came on reached heaven
hrough the sky. Even as the many tribes of winged birds,
f geese, or cranes, or long-necked swans in the meadow of ASIA,
465
round the streams of the KAYSTRIOS,° flying this way and that,
hrilling in the power of flight they settle with loud cry
ver onward, and the meadow resounds—even so
he many tribes poured forth from the ships and the tents
nto the plain of SKAMANDROS.° And the earth resounded terribly 470
nder the tramp of feet and the feet of their horses. They took
heir stand in the meadow of flower-bound Skamandros, without
umber, as many as there are leaves and flowers in their season.

Or as the many tribes of swarming flies that buzz

round the shepherd’s yard in the season of spring, 475
when milk moistens the pails—so many of the Achaeans
with flowing hair took their stand in the face
f the Trojans, longing to tear them in pieces.
 Even as when a goatherd easily picks out
is own goats scattered wide in the pasture, so did 480
he leaders organize the tribes on this side and that,
eady for battle, and among them King Agamemnon,
is eyes and head like Zeus who thrills to the thunderbolt,
is waist like Ares, his chest like Poseidon. Even as
bull in the herd is by far the greatest of all—
485
or he stands out among the cattle as they gather together—
uch did Zeus make the son of Atreus on that day,
utstanding among many, chief among the fighting men.

Tell me now, you Muses who have houses on Olympos,

or you are divine, you are at hand, you know everything while 490
We hear only the sound about things.° We know nothing.
Who were the leaders of the Argives? Who were their captains?
could never tell the masses, or name them all, not with
en tongues and ten mouths and my voice unbroken and my heart
within made of bronze, if the Olympian Muses, 495
he daughters of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish,
id not remind me of how many there were of those who went
eneath Ilion with its high walls.

Now I will name the captains

f the ships and all the ships themselves.° Peneleos
nd Leïtos led the BOEOTIANS, and Arkesilaos and Prothoënor
500
nd Klonios, who lived in Hyria and rocky AULIS, and Schoinos
 nd Skolos and high-ridged Eteonos, and Thespeia and Graia
nd Mykalessos with its broad dancing places, and those
who lived in Harma and Eilesion and Erythrai, and those
who held Elea and Hylê and Peteon, Okalea and Medeon, 505
well-made fortress, and Kopas and Eutresis, swarming
with pigeons, and Thisbê, and those who held Koroneia
nd grassy Haliartos, and Plataia,° and those who lived
n Glisas, and those who lived beneath the well-made
itadel of THEBES,° and sacred Onchestos with its brilliant 510
rove of Poseidon, and those who possessed Arnê with its rich
ineyards, and those who held Mideia and sacred Nisa,
nd Anthedon, the furthest land. From these places
ailed fifty ships. In each were 120 young men.°

Askalaphos and Ialmenos were the leaders of those who 515

ved in Aspledon and ORCHOMENOS of the Minyans,°
ons of Ares, whom Astyochê bore in the house
f Aktor, son of Azeus, the modest young girl, conceived
f mighty Ares when she entered into the upper chamber.
For he slept with her in secret. Thirty hollow ships 520
ned up with these men.

But Schedios and Epistrophos,

ons of generous Iphitos, the son of Naubolos, commanded
he PHOCIANS, who lived in Kyparissos and rocky Pytho°
nd rugged Krisa and Daulis and Panopeus, and those
who lived around Anemoreia and Hyampolis, and those 525
who lived beside the bright river Kephisos, and those who
ccupied Lilaia at the spring of Kephisos. These men
orty black ships followed.

The commanders of the Phocians

usily arranged the men in ranks, and they armed
hem for battle hard on the left of the Boeotians. 530
he swift son of Oïleus, the Little Ajax, led the
OCRIANS, by no means so great as Ajax son of Telamon,
ut much the less. He was small and wore a linen
orselet, but with the spear he surpassed all the Hellenes°
nd the Achaeans, those who lived in Kynos and
535
Opos and Kalliaros and Bessa and Skathê and lovely
Augeia and Tarphê and Thronion along streams
f the Boagrios. Forty black ships of the Locrians,
who live opposite sacred EUBOEA, followed Ajax.

Then there were the raging ABANTES who held Euboea 540
nd CHALCIS and ERETRIA and Histiaia with its fine vineyards,
nd Kerinthos on the sea and the steep citadel of Dios,
nd those who held Karystos and those who lived in Styra—
he leader of these men was Elephenor, descended from Ares.
His father was Chalkodon. He led the Abantes, of generous 545
pirit. The swift Abantes followed him, who tied their long
air at the back, spearmen longing to smash with their
utstretched ash spears the corselets on the chests of the enemy.
orty black ships followed him.
 Then those
who live in the well-built citadel of ATHENS, the land 550
f great-hearted Erechtheus, whom Athena raised, the
aughter of Zeus, whom the bountiful earth gave birth to,
nd she made him dwell in Athens in her rich shrine.
here the young men of the Athenians, as the years roll on,
ry to win his favor by the sacrifice of bulls and rams. 555
he son of Peteos led the Athenians, Menestheus.°
here never was a like to him upon the earth
or arranging chariots and the men carrying shields.
Only Nestor was his rival, for he was the older man.
Fifty black ships followed Menestheus. 560

Big Ajax led twelve

hips from SALAMIS. He stationed them beside the gangs
f the Athenians.

And they who held ARGOS and TIRYNS

with its fine walls, and Hermionê and Asinê, embracing
deep gulf, and Troezen and Eïonai and vine-clad
EPIDAURUS, and those youths of the Achaeans who held AEGINA 565
nd Mases—the leader of these men was Diomedes, good
t the cry, and Sthenelos, the son of famous Kapaneus.°
With them came Euryalos as the third commander,
man like a god, the son of the chieftain Mekisteus,°
he son of Talaos. But Diomedes, good at the war cry, 570
ed them. Eighty black ships followed these men.
 Those who held the well-founded citadel of MYCENAE,
nd rich CORINTH, and well-founded Kleonai, and who lived
n Orneiai and in lovely Araithyrea, and SICYON,
where Adrastos first was king, and those who lived
575
n Hyperesia and steep Gonoëssa and those
who held Pellenê and those who lived around Aigion,
nd through all Aigialos, and around broad Helikê—
ver all these ruled King Agamemnon, the son
f Atreus, with 100 ships. Much the largest mass 580
f men followed him, and good ones too.
Among them he put on his shining bronze, proud
ke a lord, and he stood out among all the fighting
men because he was the best, and he led
he most men.
585

And those who held the valley

f LACEDAEMON, cut by ravines, and Pharis and
PARTA, and Messê with its many doves, and Bryseiai
nd lovely Augeiai, and those who held Amyklai
nd the citadel of Helos hard by the sea, and those
who held Laäs and lived around Oitylos—his brother 590
Menelaos led them, good at the war cry, with sixty
hips. They were arranged apart. He himself
went among them, confident in his eagerness,
rging them on to war, for he especially wanted
o avenge the turbulence and the pain that Helen 595
ad caused him.
 And those who lived in PYLOS and lovely
Arenê and Thryos, the ford of the Alpheius, and well-founded
Aipu, and those who lived in Kyparisseïs and Amphigeneia
nd Pteleos and Helos and Dorion, where the Muses
ncountered Thamyris from THRACE and put an end 600
o his song as he was coming from Oichalia, from the house
f Eurytos, the man of Oichalia. He boasted he would beat
he Muses themselves in the song, the daughters of Zeus
who carries the goatskin fetish. In their anger they made
im a cripple, then they took away divine song and
605
e forgot how to play the lyre. Nestor from Gerenia
ed them, the horseman. Ninety hollow ships
were lined up for him.

And those who held ARCADIA

nder the steep mountain of Cyllenê, beside the tomb
f Aipytos, where there are men who fight in close;
610
nd those who lived in Pheneos, and who held Orchomenos°
with its many sheep, and Rhipê and Stratia and windy
nispê and Tegea and lovely Mantinea, and those
who held lovely Stymphalos and lived in Parrhasia—
he son of Ankaios, Lord Agapenor, led them,
615
with sixty ships. In each ship embarked many
Arcadian men, knowing in the fight. Agamemnon,
he king of men, had himself given them ships
with good benches to cross the wine-dark sea,
ecause they knew nothing of the sea.
620
 And those who
ved in Bouprasion and shining ELIS,° all that Hyrminê
nd furthest Myrsinos and the rock of Olen and Alesios
ncloses within—of these there were four captains
nd ten swift ships to each, and many Epeians
iled on board. Amphimachos and Thalpios led
625
ome of them, descendants of Aktor, one the son of
Kteatos and the other the son of Eurytos.° Powerful
Diores, the son of Amarynkeus, led the others,
nd the fourth band godlike Polyxeinos led, son of
King Agasthenes, the son of Augeas.
630

And those from

DOULICHION and the Echinai, the holy islands that lie
cross the sea opposite Elis—Meges the equal
o Ares was their leader, the son of Phyleus. Phyleus
he horseman, whom Zeus loved, was his father,
ut angry with his father he had gone to live in Doulichion.
635
ixty black ships followed Meges.

Odysseus led
he great-hearted Kephallenians, who held ITHACA
nd Neritos, covered by forest, and lived in Krokyleia
nd rough Aigilipa, and those who held ZAKYNTHOS
nd lived in Samos, and those who occupied the mainland 640
nd the shores opposite the islands—these men Odysseus
ed, like Zeus in his cleverness. Twelve ships, with red
 rows, followed him.

FIGURE 2.2 A typical Greek warship. Although this illustration is

from the sixth century BC, its features are the same as earlier ships from
Homer’s day. The steersman sits on a kind of platform at the rear of the
ship, to the right, and steers with a large double-oar. The many rowers are
represented as black circles, their shields affixed to the side. At the front of
the ship, on the left, at the water line, is a ram for penetrating enemy craft,
and, above, a chair for the captain (here unoccupied). The sail (not visible
here) is attached to a mast that can be lowered into the belly of the craft on
a kind of hinge when not in use. Ropes hold it in place. There is no jib so
that such ships could only run before the wind; for this reason, much travel
is by rowing. On an Athenian black-figure wine-cup, c. 530 BC.

Thoas led the men of AETOLIA,

he son of Andraimon, who lived in Pleuron and Olenos
nd Pylenê and Chalkis close on the sea, and stony 645
Kalydon. The sons of great-hearted Oineos were
 o more, he himself was dead, and light-haired Meleager
oo had died, on whom it was established that he
would have full power among the Aetolians.° Forty
lack ships followed Thoas.
650

Idomeneus, famous for

is spear work, ruled over the Cretans, those who
old KNOSSOS and Gortyn with its fine walls,
nd Lyktos and Miletos and Lykastos with its white chalk,
nd Phaistos and Rhytion, well-populated towns, and all
hose who lived in CRETE with its 100 cities, these
655
men did Idomeneus lead, famous for his spear work,
nd Meriones, the equal to Enyalios,° the killer of men.
ighty black ships followed these men.

Tlepolemos,
son of Herakles, brave and tall, led nine ships
f the noble Rhodians from RHODES, those who lived
660
n the island of Rhodes in three communities—
indos and Ialysos and Kameiros, with its white chalk.
lepolemos led them, famous for his spear work, whom
Astyocheia bore to the might of Herakles, a woman he
ad led forth from Ephyrê, from the river Selleïs,° when he
665
acked many cities of the god-nourished fighting men.
When Tlepolemos was raised to manhood in the
well-built hall,° he soon killed his father’s uncle, aging
ikymnios, in the line of Ares. Hastily he built ships,
athered a great mass of people, and fled over the sea.
670
Other sons and grandsons of Herakles threatened him.
He came to Rhodes in his wanderings, suffering much,
nd he founded three settlements according to tribe.
eus, who rules the gods and men, loved them and the
on of Kronos poured out wondrous wealth on them.
675

Nireus led three nicely-balanced ships from SYMÊ,

he son of Aglaïa and Charops the king. He was the most
andsome man among the Danaäns who went under Ilion
fter Achilles, the fearless son of Peleus. However,
e was good-for-nothing and few followed him.° 680

And those who possessed Nisyros and KARPATHOS

nd KASOS and COS, the city of Eurypylos, and the
Kalydnian islands°—these Pheidippos and Antiphos led,
he two sons of King Thessalos, a son of Herakles.
Thirty hollow ships followed them.°
685

And those who inhabited

elasgian Argos,° who lived in Alos and Alopê and Trachis,
who inhabited PHTHIA and HELLAS with its beautiful women.
hey were called Myrmidons and Hellenes and Achaeans.°
Achilles was leader of their fifty ships. They did not,
owever, concern themselves with wretched war, 690
or there was no one to lead them into the ranks.
hining Achilles, the fast runner, lay among the ships,
ngry because of Briseïs, whose hair is lovely. He had
 aptured her in LYRNESSOS at great effort, when he
avaged Lyrnessos and the walls of THEBES,° and he
695
verthrew Mynês and Epistrophos, who raged with
he spear, the sons of King Euenos, Selepos’ son. Angry
bout her, Achilles lay idle, but soon he would rise again.

And those who hold Phylakê and flowery Pyrasos,

he holy ground of Demeter, and Iton, mother of flocks, 700
nd Antron, close on the sea, and Pteleos bedded
n grass. The warrior Protesilaos led these men
when he was alive, but before now the black earth held
im fast.° His wife, her twin cheeks torn with grief,
was left behind in Phylakê, his house only half complete.
705
A Dardanian killed Protesilaos as he leaped from his ship, by far
he first of the Achaeans. But his men were not without
leader, though they longed for their commander. Podarkes,
f the blood of Ares, put them in order. He was the son of Iphiklos,
who had many flocks, the brother of great-hearted Protesilaos,
710
hough younger. The warrior Protesilaos was the older
nd the better man. So the people did not lack a leader,
ut they longed for the noble one they had lost. Forty
lack ships followed Podarkes.

Then those who lived

n Pherai beside Lake Boibeïs, and in Boibê and Glaphyrai
715
nd well-built IOLKOS—Eumelos the beloved son of
Admetos led them, with eleven ships. He was the son of
Admetos and Alkestis,° a wonder among women, the most
 eautiful of the daughters of Pelias.

And those who lived in

Methonê and Thaumakia, and who held Meliboia and rough
720
Olizon, Philoktetes was their leader, a great archer,
with seven ships. Fifty men went in each, all of them
mighty archers. But he lay on the holy island
f LEMNOS in terrible pain where the sons of the Achaeans
eft him suffering an evil wound from a deadly water-snake. 725
here he lay in pain. But soon were the Argives
eside their ships to think of Philoktetes the king.°
till, they did not lack a leader, though they missed
heir commander. Medon, the bastard son of Oïleus,°
ut them in order, the son of Rhenê and Oïleus,
730
acker of cities.

And those who held Trikka and craggy

homê, and those who held Oichalia, the town of Oichalian
urytos—their leaders were the fine doctors Podaleirios
nd Machaon, the sons of Asklepios. Thirty ships were arranged
n a row for them. 735

And those who held Ormenion, and the fountain

Hypereia, and Asterion, and the white peaks of Titanos—
urypylos the brilliant son of Euaimon was
heir leader. And forty black ships followed him.
 And those who held Argissa and lived in Gyrtonê,
nd Orthê, and Elonê and the white city of Oloösson—
740
olypoites led them, a staunch fighter, the son of
eirithoös, the son of deathless Zeus. Hippodameia
onceived him by Peirithoös on that day when he took
engeance on the wild beasts and drove them off
MOUNT PELION to the Aithikes.° He was not alone,
745
ut with him went Leonteus of the stock of Ares,
on of high-hearted Koronos, the son of Kaineus.
orty black ships followed him.

Gouneus led twenty-two ships

om Kyphos. With him followed the Enienes, staunch
n battle, and the Peraiboi, who had set up their houses
750
ear wintry DODONA. They lived in the plowed land
ear the desirable Titaressos, which pours its beautiful flow
f water into the Peneios, but it does not mix with the silver-swirling
eneios, but slips on over the water like olive oil. The Titaressos
s a branch of the terrible Styx, the river of oath.° 755

Prothoös, son of Tenthredon, led the MAGNETES,

hose who lived in Magnesia near Peneios and Mount Pelion,
overed with quivering forest. Swift Prothoös
ed them, and together went forty black ships.°
 Such were the leaders of the Danaäns and their commanders.
760
ut who were the best of them—tell me this, Muse!—of the men
nd of the horses, who followed the sons of Atreus?

FIGURE 2.3 Lapiths and Centaurs. In this relief from the Parthenon in
Athens a bearded Centaur seizes the hair of a Lapith youth and prepares to
kill him. Homer calls the Centaurs “wild beasts,” and it is not clear that he
thought of them as half-horse, half-man, as they were always later
portrayed. The Lapith is “heroically nude,” though he does wear a cloak
around his shoulders. This is one of the Parthenon metopes, or carved
 panels, that surrounded the temple high above the line of sight. Marble, c.
430 BC.

Of the horses by far the best were the mares of the son
f Pheres, which Eumelos drove, fast like birds,
ike-colored, of the same age, of exactly the same height.
765
Apollo, whose bow is silver, raised them in Pieria,°
oth mares, bearing the panic of war. As for the men,
ig Ajax, son of Telamon, was best, so long as
Achilles continued his rage. For he was much stronger,
s were the horses that bore the unequaled son of Peleus. 770
ut he lies among his beaked sea-faring ships, enraged
t Agamemnon, shepherd of the people, the son of Atreus.

Achilles’ men made fun along the shore of the sea

y throwing the discus and the javelin and by shooting
he bow. The horses stood beside their cars and munched lotus
775
nd parsley raised in the marsh. The well-covered cars
hemselves were placed in the tents of their owners.
he men, longing for their captain, whom Ares loved,
wandered here and there through the camp. They did not fight.

And so they marched as if the whole earth were scorched

780
with fire. The earth groaned beneath them, as beneath Zeus
who thrills in the thunderbolt when in anger he lashes the land
round Typhoeus in the country of the Arimi, where they say
the couch of Typhoeus.° Even so did the earth groan
reatly beneath the feet of the men as on they came.
785
And swiftly they crossed the plain.

To the Trojans speeded Iris,°

er feet like the wind, as a messenger from Zeus who carries
he goatskin fetish, with a sorrowful message. The Trojans
were holding an assembly at Priam’s gate, all gathered
ogether, both young men and old men. Speedy Iris
790
ood near them and spoke. She made her voice like
he son of Priam, Polites, who was posted on lookout
usting to his rapid feet, on the top of the tomb
f old Aisyetes,° waiting until the Achaeans should pour
orth from their ships. In his likeness, spoke speedy Iris:
795
Old sir, always do you love endless talk as if this
were a time of peace. But relentless war is upon us.
have entered many times into the battles of men,
ut never have I seen such an army, so fine, and of so great
n extent. They are like leaves, or sand, as they march 800
cross the plain to war against the city.
“Hector, I lay
his command on you especially, and please do as I say.
here are many allies in the great city of Priam.
Different are the tongues of different peoples scattered
broad.’° So let each man pass on the word
805
o those whom he commands, then let him lead
orth the men of his city, once he has put them in order.”

So she spoke. Hector recognized the goddess,

nd swiftly he dissolved the conference. They rushed to find
heir armor. All gates were opened. The army rushed out,
 810
he footmen and the charioteers. A great roar rose up.

Now there stands before the city a high mound far out
n the plain, with an open space on either side, which men call Batieia,
ut the deathless ones call the tomb of skipping Myrinê.
There on this day the Trojans and their allies were organized
815
nto companies.°

Great Hector, the son of Priam, whose helmet

ashed, led the Trojans. With him armed the most and the best
f the army, raging with the spear. The brave son
f Anchises led the Dardanians,° Aeneas, whom Aphrodite
ore to Anchises after sleeping with him in the meadows of Ida, 820
goddess with a mortal man. But Aeneas was not alone.
ogether with him were the two sons of Antenor, Archelochos
nd Akamas, skilled in every kind of fight.

And those
who lived in rich ZELEIA on the lowest foothills of IDA
rinking the black water of the AISEPOS, Trojans°— 825
hese men Pandaros led, the son of glorious Lykaon,°
o whom Apollo himself gave the bow.

And they who held

Adrasteia and the land of Apaisos, and who held
ityeia and the sharp mountain of Tereia—Adrastos led
 hem and Amphios, who wore linen armor, the two sons 830
f Merops from PERKOTÊ. Merops was superior to all
thers in foretelling the future. He would not allow
is sons to go to man-destroying war. But the two men
were not at all persuaded, for the fates of black death
rove them on.
835

And those who lived around Perkotê

nd Praktios, and who held SESTOS and ABYDOS and shiny
ARISBÊ—Asios, the son of Hyrtakos, was their leader,
leader of men. His large tawny brown horses
ad brought him from Arisbê, from the river Selleïs.
Hippothoös led the tribes of Pelasgians, mad with the spear, 840
who lived in LARISA° with its deep soil. Hippothoös
ed them, and Pylaios, of the blood of Ares, the two sons
f Pelasgian Lethos, son of Teutamos.

And Akamas
nd the warrior Peiroös led the THRACIANS, all those
whom the powerful stream of the HELLESPONT encloses 845
uphemos was leader of the CICONIANS, spearmen,
he son of Troezenos, nurtured by Zeus, the son of Keas.
yraichmes led the PAEONIANS with curved bows,
om a long way off, out of Amydon from the wide-flowing
AXIOS—the Axios whose water is the most beautiful 850
hat flows over the earth.
 Shaggy-hearted Pylaimenes°
ed the PAPHLAGONIANS, from the land of the Eneti.
he race of wild mules comes from there. These were they
who held Kytoros and lived around Sesamon, and who
ad their famous houses beside the river Parthenios,
855
nd who held Kromna and Aigialos and high Erythinoi.

Of the HALIZONIANS, Odios and Epistrophos were

he leaders, from a long way off, from Alybê, where silver was born.

Chromis led the MYSIANS, and Ennomos the bird-seer.

Yet with all his bird-seership he did not avoid black fate, 860
ut he fell at the hands of Achilles, the fast runner,
when he slaughtered Trojans and others at the river. Phorkys
ed the PHRYGIANS from a long way off, and Askanios, like a god,
om Askania. They were eager to fight in the hugger-mugger of war.

Mesthles and Antiphos led the MAIONIANS, the two

865
ons of Talaimenes. Their mother was the LAKE GYGAIA.
hey led the Maionians, who were begotten beneath MOUNT TMOLOS.

Nastes led the CARIANS, who spoke a foreign tongue

nd lived in MILETOS and the mountain of Phthires, with its dense
eafage, and the streams MAIANDROS and the high peaks of
MYKALÊ. 870
Amphimachos and Nastes were the leaders—Nastes and
Amphimachos, the wonderful children of Nomion. He came
o the war all decked out in gold, like a girl—what a fool!
he gold was of no use to him in fending off deadly destruction,
or he fell at the hands of Achilles, the fast runner, and glorious
875
Achilles carried off the gold.

Sarpedon and outstanding Glaukos

ed the LYCIANS from faraway LYCIA, from the whirling XANTHOS.

OceanofPDF.com
 destruction of Troy: It is typical of oral style for messages to be repeated
word for word.
killer of Argos; The Greek is Argeïphontes (ar-jē-i-fon-tēz), probably “the
killer of Argos,” a monster with 500 eyes, though there are other
interpretations. It is a standard epithet of Hermes.
Agamemnon: Many famous stories were later told about Pelops, Atreus, and
Thyestes. Pelops came from Asia and gave his name to the Peloponnesus,
“the island of Pelops.” Atreus and Thyestes committed vile crimes of
murder, cannibalism, rape, and incest, and Agamemnon was heir to the
house.
Argos: Argos means “plain” and probably here refers to the city of Mycenae
and surrounding territories, for Diomedes, according the Catalog of Ships
(see below), ruled the nearby city of Argos (Maps 2, 4).
Icarian Sea: Between the central Cyclades and Asia Minor (Map 1).
raced to the ships. Homer has gone a long way to set up this joke:
Agamemnon is such a fool that he thinks by suggesting to his men that they
depart without victory they will all protest, “No, we want war!” Instead
they race to the ships, “Let’s get out of here!” The scene is sheer slapstick
(there is no slapstick in the Odyssey). The joke, sure to raise a laugh from
Homer’s audience of male aristocratic warriors, appeals to the knowledge
that war is not always fun.
Eurybates: Odysseus’ herald. He accompanied Agamemnon’s herald,
Talthybios, at the taking of Briseïs.
Gerenia: Gerenia is apparently a place with which Nestor is associated, near
Pylos in the southwestern Peloponnesus.
unmixed wine: Ordinarily wine was mixed with water for drinking, usually
in a ratio of two parts wine to three parts water.
… Tydeus: Idomeneus is the leader of the Cretans. The two Ajaxes are
Ajax, son of Telamon, from the island of SALAMIS; and Ajax, son of Oïleus,
from the territory of LOCRIS northwest of Boeotia; they are unrelated but are
always called the “two Ajaxes” or “Big Ajax,” son of Telamon; and “Little
Ajax,” son of Oïleus. The son of Tydeus is Diomedes, one of the greatest
fighters at Troy, as we will soon see.
Hephaistos: As the god of smiths, he became equated with fire.
–466 Asia … Kaystrios: Asia vaguely designates an inland territory
comprising part of LYDIA and lands further south (Map 1). From this
 once restricted use the word has acquired its modern reference to a
continent. Kaystrios is a river that flows into the AEGEAN near EPHESOS
(Map 1).
Skamandros: One of the two rivers crossing the plain of Troy (Map 3).
sound about things: Homer appeals to the Muses, who embody the oral
tradition, at critical junctures. He perceives his power of song to come from
outside him.
the ships themselves: Here begins the famous Catalog of Ships. Catalogs
have little appeal to modern literary tastes, but they were of great interest to
Homer’s audience. There are several catalogs in the Iliad, but the Catalog of
Ships is by far the longest. It contains many puzzles. It begins with BOEOTIA
instead of Agamemnon’s realm in the Peloponnesus. Boeotia receives an
exceptional emphasis: With 29 entries, when around seven is usual, Boeotia
has by far the most names. After moving onto the territories bordering on
Boeotia—PHOCIS, EUBOEA, ATHENS, and SALAMIS—the Catalog then
descends into the PELOPONNESUS. It does not begin with Agamemnon’s
realm as one might expect, but with that of Diomedes, ruler of ARGOS.
Oddly, in the Catalog’s account of the distribution of power Agamemnon’s
realm is cut off from the Argive plain, over which Diomedes rules. Various
areas in the Peloponnesus are then listed, but some are left out entirely,
especially in the south and west. After the Peloponnesus, Homer lists places
in AETOLIA across the GULF OF CORINTH, then goes to the IONIAN ISLANDS,
including ITHACA, then drops down to the Aegean but mentions only CRETE,
RHODES, and several islands along the coast of ASIA MINOR. Finally, the
Catalog returns to THESSALY from which it derives no less than nine
contingents with a total of ships greater than for central Greece!
Furthermore, two of the Thessalian contingents are landlocked and so could
have had only little experience of the sea.
All in all it is a strange compilation. Why does Homer begin with
Boeotia? Why does he omit certain areas entirely, for example the central
coasts of Asia Minor and the CYCLADES? Few of the names can be identified
with known sites, but the Catalog supports the theory that the poet was
active in the area of Boeotia/Euboea; Of course the Euboean port of AULIS
is in Boeotia just opposite Euboea. Thessaly, just north of Euboea, receives
strong emphasis no doubt because Homer’s tradition of orally composed
heroic verse came through Thessaly: Achilles is a Thessalian hero.
The Catalog is a showy set piece, demonstrating, in case anyone should
doubt, that the poet is remarkable in his knowledge of the Greek world and
the places that men inhabit there, even if it is not a comprehensive account.
See Maps 1 and 2 for the location of places in small caps; Map 4 for the
location of peoples mentioned in the Catalog, also in small caps; Map 5 for
a summary of the homes of the heroes.
Plataia: In southern Boeotia, site of the celebrated battle of the Greek allies
against Persian invaders in 479 BC.
citadel of Thebes: Homer seems to imply that the upper citadel, Thebes
proper, no longer exists, no doubt because of the war of the Seven Against
Thebes.
young men: This is the largest number given for a ship’s crew, again
reflecting the prominence give to the Boeotians in the catalog.
Orchomenos of the Minyans: Impressive ruins from the Bronze Age are
found there, and Orchomenos must have been a great power in the
Mycenaean period.
Pytho: That is, Delphi.
all the Hellenes: Apparently by “Hellenes” Homer here means, uniquely,
“all the Greeks,” a meaning “Hellenes” had acquired by the Classical
Period (fifth–fourth centuries BC). When “Hellenes” is used in the
Myrmidon entry (line 688), it means only “those people who live in
Hellas,” a small territory near Achilles’ home in Phthia in Thessaly (Map 2).
It is unknown why “Hellenes” was universalized to mean “the Greeks,” but
perhaps through a desire to be connected to Achilles.
Menestheus: The great Athenian hero Theseus has previously died.
Kapaneus: Who died in the war of the Seven against Thebes. The Theban
war took place one generation earlier than the war at Troy.
Mekisteus: Also one of the Seven in the war against Thebes.
Orchomenos: Distinct from Boeotian Orchomenos.
Elis: Probably here the territory around the city of Elis. The Epeians are the
inhabitants of this territory. Pisa was in Elis, in the Classical Period the site
of the Olympic Games.
Eurytos: Kteatos and Eurytos are the Aktorionê, the twin “sons of Aktor.” In
postHomeric tradition, they were Siamese twins, joined at the waist, whom
Herakles killed in a savage duel.
Aetolians: Seemingly a reference to the myth of the Kalydonian Boar Hunt,
as a result of which Meleager was killed.
… Enyalios: Meriones is the fine Cretan archer, aide to Idomeneus.
“Enyalios” is another name for Ares.
Ephyrê … Selleïs: In northwest Greece, near Aetolia.
well-built hall: In Tiryns.
followed him: One of the strangest of the entries. Nireus, who comes from
an obscure island near Rhodes and leads a small contingent, is never
mentioned again.
Kalydnian islands: Probably KALYMNOS and some other nearby islands.
ships followed them: Now the Catalog leaves its cursory review of the
islands, not venturing north to SAMOS and CHIOS nor going west to the
Cyclades, and returns abruptly to Thessaly in the mainland.
Pelasgian Argos: “Pelasgian” always means “aboriginal,” that is, in this
case belonging to the preGreek peoples. The famous Argos was far south in
the Peloponnesus.
Achaeans: “Achaeans” is surprising because in Homer we usually take the
word to refer to all the Greeks; here it refers to the neighbors of Achilles.
Thebes: Thebes in the Troad: see Map 3.
held him fast: Protesilaos was celebrated as the first man to die at Troy.
Alkestis: Whose self-sacrificing death is the subject of Euripides’ (480–406
BC) famous play, Alkestis (438 BC).
Philoktetes the king: Because the Greeks needed the bow of Philoktetes in
order to take the city, the subject of Sophocles’ (497–405 BC) play
Philoktetes (c. 409 BC).
Oïleus: Thus the half-brother of Little Ajax, also the son of Oïleus. Medon
is killed in Book 15.
… Aithikes: Peirithoös was famous because of the war between his
Thessalian tribe of Lapiths and the wild Centaurs (see Figure 2.3). The
Aithikes were a tribe in the PINDOS RANGE in central Greece; Mount Pelion,
where the Centaurs had lived, is in MAGNESIA east of IOLKOS.
oath: A god’s oath sworn on the underworld river Styx can never be broken.
black ships: The Achaean catalog ends here. We have heard the names of 44
men, 10 of whom will die in later fighting. There are 1,186 ships with an
apparent average of 50 men per ship, so 60,000 men. This is far more than
the number of warriors who seem to be fighting later, but these figures are
formulaic.
Pieria: In southern MACEDONIA, north of MOUNT OLYMPOS.
couch of Typhoeus: Where this was, no one can say; but perhaps the Arimi
are the Aramaeans, the inhabitants of ancient Damascus and surrounding
territories. In Homer’s day they were a powerful and influential people. The
local Semitic dialect, called Aramaean, was the international language and
script of the Assyrian Empire. The story of Typhoeus is Near Eastern in
origin and comes into Greece from Greek forts along the Orontes River in
northern Syria in the Late Iron Age (c. 900–800 BC). Damascus is inland
from these forts.
Iris: The “rainbow.” Personified, she is the messenger of the gods. She
appears in this capacity ten times in the Iliad, but never in the Odyssey
where Hermes plays the role of divine messenger.
Aisyetes: Never mentioned again.
… abroad: A proverbial statement.
companies: Here begins the Catalog of the Trojans and their allies. It is
much shorter than the Catalog of Ships. It shows an erratic knowledge of
western Asia Minor beyond the Troad. We hear nothing about EPHESUS or
SMYRNA on the middle coast, early Greek settlements. Little is known of the
interior. The size of the contingents are never given, and of course there are
no numbers of ships. The places in the text in SMALL CAPS are found on
Maps 3 and 6.
Dardanians: The Dardanians are one branch of the House of Troy. Aeneas
gives the history of the royal family in Book 20. We can reconstruct the
family tree as:
 Dardanos founded a place called Dardaniê on the slopes of Mount Ida,
where his descendants remained—the Dardanians. Dardanos’ great
grandson Ilos founded Ilion, the city in the plain, also called Troy after
Tros, Ilos’ father. So the whole Trojan force consists of Trojans, Dardanians,
and allies.

Trojans: Because they have such close relations with the city of Troy they
are called Trojans, though they are actually from Zeleia.
Lykaon: No connection with the Lykaon son of Priam, slaughtered by
Achilles in Book 21.
Pelasgians … Larisa: The Pelasgians were, in this case, the preTrojan
inhabitants of the land. There were fourteen Larisas in Greek lands!
Pylaimenes: Famous in Homeric studies because he is killed in Book 5,
then is alive again in Book 13. Probably “shaggy-hearted” means a man
whose chest is hairy.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 3. The Duel Between
Menelaos and Paris

B ut when they were arranged, the opposing companies came

ogether with their leaders—the Trojans with a clang and a shout,
ke birds when the clamor of the cranes fills the sky as they flee
efore the winter and the endless rain and with a clanging
ound they fly to the streams of Ocean, bringing death
5
nd destruction to the Pygmies.° Early in the morning
hey bring to them the rough fight.

But the Achaeans came

n in silence, breathing fury, eager in their hearts each
o help the other. As when South Wind lets down a mist
n the peaks of a mountain unfriendly to the shepherd,
10
or theft better than the night, and you can see as
ar ahead as you can throw a stone, so did the dust
rise beneath their feet as on they came.

Swiftly they
rossed the plain. When, advancing together, the two armies
ame near, Alexandros,° like a god, appeared wearing
15
panther skin on his shoulders, and his curved bow,
 nd his sword. Shaking in his hands two spears° tipped
with bronze, he called out to all the best of the Argives
o meet him in dread combat. When Menelaos, whom Ares
oves, saw him coming forth from out of the crowd,
20
riding long, even as a lion rejoices when he chances
n a carcass when he is hungry, either finding a horned
ag or a wild goat and greedily the lion devours it,
lthough fast dogs and brave young men assail him—
ven so Menelaos rejoiced when he saw Alexandros,
25
ke a god, with his own eyes. He thought that the criminal
was caught. On the instant he jumped from his chariot, fully
rmed, to the ground.

But when Alexandros, like a god,

aw him among the foremost fighters, his heart collapsed,
nd he shrank back into the crowd of his companions, avoiding
death. 30
ust as when a man sees a snake in the wilds of the mountain
nd he jumps back and his limbs tremble and a whiteness
uffuses his cheeks, even so did godlike Alexandros
ip into the crowd of lordly Trojans, fearing the son of
Atreus. 35

When Hector saw him, he reproached

im with words that put Paris to shame: “Little
aris, nice to look at, mad for women, seducer boy—
wish you had never been born! I wish that you had died
nwed. That’s what I wish. That would be better than
eing an outrage, as you are, the object of everyone’s 40
 ontempt. I think that the Achaeans, who wear their hair long,
would laugh aloud thinking that we have chosen as champion
omeone just because he was good-looking, while in his heart
here was no strength or power. Was it in such a spirit
hat you sailed across the sea in your sea-faring ships, taking 45
with you your friends? You went to an alien people.
You brought back a beautiful woman from a faraway land.
he was the daughter of spear-bearing men, a sorrow
o your father, and to the city, and to the people. To your
nemies it was a joy, but to you a scandal. You don’t want
50
o face off against Menelaos, beloved of Ares? You would
oon see what sort of man is he whose ripe wife you
ossess! Your lyre will be worthless to you, and the gifts
f Aphrodite—your fancy hair and good looks when you
re mixed with the dust! The Trojans are meek—or long ago 55
ou would have donned a shirt of stones for all the evil
ou have done.”
And godlike Alexandros answered him:
Hector, yes, you reprove me rightly. You are not
ut of order—but your heart is unyielding, like an ax driven
hrough a beam of wood by a man skilled in cutting 60
mber for a ship,° and the ax increases his power. Thus is
our mind in your chest never afraid. But please don’t
hrow in my face the splendid gifts of golden Aphrodite!
Not to be spurned are the wonderful gifts of the gods,
whatever they give, which you could never get by wanting them.
65
“Anyway, if you want me to go to the war, let the Trojans
t down and all the Achaeans too. Put me in the middle
long with Menelaos, dear to Ares, so that we can
ght over Helen and all the treasure. Whoever
s victorious, whoever proves the greater, may he take
 70
ll the treasure and take the woman home. Then
may all you others swear oaths of friendship and seal it
with a sacrifice. Then may you live here in the land
f Troy with its deep soil and let the others sail off
o Argos where they pasture horses, and to Achaea,
75
he land of beautiful women.”

So he spoke, and Hector

was happy to hear his words. He went out in front
nd held back the ranks of the Trojans by grasping
is spear in the middle. They all sat down. The Achaeans,
with their long hair, fired their bows at him and tried
80
o hit him with their arrows, and they threw stones.

But Agamemnon, the king of men, shouted

loud: “Hold your weapons, Argives! don’t shoot,
ou Achaean youth! Hector, whose helmet flashes,
s behaving as though he wants to say something.” 85

So he spoke, and they held back from battle.

mmediately they fell silent. Hector spoke between
he armies: “Hear, O Trojans and Achaeans with your
ancy shinguards, the speech of Alexandros. On his account
his quarrel has arisen. He urges the other Trojans and all 90
he Achaeans to lay aside their beautiful armor on the rich earth.
He will come forth into the middle and so will Menelaos,
whom Ares loves. Then they will fight for Helen and
he treasure. Whoever is victorious, whoever proves
he greater, may he take the treasure and take the woman 95
ome. Then let all the rest swear oaths of friendship,
nd seal it with a sacrifice.”

So he spoke, and everyone fell

nto a deep silence. Menelaos, good at the war cry,
poke to them: “Now listen to me. Above all the pain
as afflicted my own breast. I think that Argives 100
nd Trojans should separate. You have suffered a great
eal of evil through the quarrel that Alexandros began.
or whichever of us two death and fate is appointed,
et that man die! And may all the rest of you
e parted as soon as possible. 105

“So bring in two lambs,

ne white, the other black, to Sun and to Earth. For Zeus
we will bring in another. Bring here the majesty of Priam
o that he might himself swear an oath sealed with a sacrifice.
Why, his sons are overbearing, faithless! That way no one
will go too far and violate the oaths of Zeus. I’m afraid 110
hat the minds of the young are many times floating in air!
ut in whatever an old man chooses to take part,
e looks ahead and he looks behind so that it works out
much the better for both parties concerned.”
 So he spoke.
And the Achaeans and the Trojans were glad, thinking that 115
hey would soon cease from bitter war. They pulled up
heir cars in the ranks, and out they leaped and took off
heir armor. They placed it on the ground in close order,
nd there was little space between. Hector sent
wo heralds running to the city to bring back the lambs
120
nd to summon Priam. Lord Agamemnon sent Talthybios
o the hollow ships, and he ordered him to bring a lamb.
althybios did not disobey the noble Agamemnon.

But Iris came as messenger to Helen of the white arms

n the likeness of Alexandros’ sister, the wife of the son 125
f Antenor whom the lordly Helikaon, son of Antenor,
ad as wife—Laodikê, the most beautiful of the daughters
f Priam. Iris found Helen in her chamber weaving
purple garment of double thickness on her large loom.
n it she embroidered the battles of the horse-taming Trojans 130
nd the Achaeans with shirts of bronze, which they endured
n her account at the hands of Ares.

Standing nearby, Iris spoke,

he swift messenger: “Come here, dear lady, so you can see
he wonderful actions of the horse-taming Trojans and
he Achaeans who wear shirts of bronze. They who earlier 135
waged tearful war against each other on the plain, longing
or death-dealing war—now they are seated in silence.
War is ended. They are leaning on their shields. Their spears
 re fixed in the ground. Alexandros and Menelaos, dear to Ares,
will fight with their long spears—for you!° You will be called 140
he wife of whoever is victorious.”

So she spoke. The goddess placed

n Helen’s heart the sweet desire for her former husband
nd her city and her parents. Right away she wrapped herself
n brilliant linen and went forth from the chamber. She wept
gentle tear. She did not go alone, but with her
145
went two servants, Aithra the daughter of Pittheus,°
nd Klymenê, with cow-eyes. They came to the Scaean Gates.°
riam and his advisors—Panthoös and Thymoites
nd Lampos and Klytios and Hiketaon, of the stock of Ares,
nd Oukalegon and Antenor, wise men both—they sat 150
t the Scaean Gates, the elders of the people. Because
f old age they had ceased from war, but they were fine
peakers, like cicadas in the forest who sit on a tree and send forth
heir voice graceful as a lily. Even so did the leaders of the
Trojans sit in the tower. 155

When they saw Helen

oming up the tower, softly they spoke to one another,
ending forth words like arrows: “It’s no reproach
hat Trojans and Achaeans with their fancy shinguards
hould have suffered so long for such a woman.
Why, she resembles a deathless goddess to look on her!
160
All the same, though she is beautiful, let her be gone
n the ships. Let her not be a curse to ourselves and to
 ur children who shall come!”

So they spoke, but Priam called

Helen over to him: “Come here, my dear … sit here
n front of me so that you can see your former husband
165
nd your brothers-in-law and your friends.° It’s not your fault,
my dear. It’s the doing of the gods who have brought this tearful
war of the Achaeans to me. But tell me, who is that huge man,
his Achaean man so bold and so tall? Others are bigger
ut I’ve never seen such an imposing man, nor one so stately.
170
He looks like a chieftain all right.”

Helen answered him,

ke a goddess among women: “I revere and am in awe of you,
ear father-in-law. Would that I had chosen foul death
nstead of following your son, abandoning my bridal-chamber
nd my family, and my late-born daughter, and my lovely
companions 175
f girlhood. But that was not meant to be … So do I melt
way with weeping. But I will tell you, because you ask me.
his man is the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon,
oth a good chief and a powerful spear fighter. He was
my brother-in-law—slut that I am, if ever there was one!”
180

So she spoke. The old man was amazed, and he said:

O happy son of Atreus, child of fortune, blessed
y heaven … I see that many are the youths of the Achaeans
who are your subjects. Once I went to Phrygia
 overed in vines where I saw multitudes of the Phrygians
185
ding their horses with glancing eyes, the people of
Otreos and godlike Mygdon, who at that time were
amped on the banks of the SANGARIUS. Because I was

FIGURE 3.1 Helen and Priam. The scene is not from the Iliad but
inspired by it. Helen is inside—note the column on the left—and pours out
wine into a special dish, from which Priam will pour a drink offering. The
buxom Helen wears a gown covered by a fine cloak. She pulls the veil away
from her face, perhaps to speak. Priam is an old man with a white beard
 who holds a staff in his other hand. Above him a shield hangs from the wall
with a lion blazon, and a sword. Interior of an Athenian red-figure wine
cup, c. 460 BC.

heir ally, I was numbered among them on that day

when the Amazons came, the equals to men. But not so 190
many were they as the Achaeans with their glancing eyes.”

Next, seeing Odysseus, the old man asked:

Well, tell me who is this other fellow, my dear child.
He’s shorter than Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, but
roader in shoulder and chest to judge by looking. He’s put
195
is armor on the rich earth, but he himself, like the leading
heep in a flock, goes through the ranks of men
ke a ram with thick fleece going through a large flock
f white lady sheep.”

Helen, sprung from Zeus,

nswered: “This man is the son of Laërtes, resourceful
200
Odysseus, who was raised in the land of Ithaca, a rugged place.
He knows every kind of trick and cunning device.”

Wise Antenor then answered her: “O my lady,

ou have said that aright! He came here once, the shining
Odysseus, on an embassy on your account, with Menelaos, 205
ear to Ares. I received them in my halls and entertained them.
got to know their nature and their clever tricks.
When they mingled with the Trojans, gathered together,
Menelaos’ broad shoulders overtopped Odysseus,
ut when they were seated, Odysseus seemed more
210
repossessing. When they wove the web of speech and counsel
n the presence of all, Menelaos spoke fluently, not many
words though well put—a man of few words who didn’t ramble.
He was the younger. But when many-minded Odysseus arose,
e stood stock still and looked down with fixed eyes.
215
He moved the scepter neither back nor forwards, but held it
motionless like a man without sense. He seemed like
surly man, a fool! But when he let forth the powerful
oice from his chest, and his words fell like wintry
nowflakes, then might no other man equal Odysseus.
220
hen did we not so wonder at the way he looked.”

Old man Priam then asked: “Who is this other Achaean,

razen and tall, standing out among the Argives
oth for his height and his broad shoulders?”

Helen, who wore a long gown, answered him,

225
ke a goddess among women: “This man is Ajax, a huge wall
or the Achaeans. Idomeneus stands right next to him,
ke a god among the Cretans, and the leaders of the Cretans
re gathered around him. Full often Menelaos, dear to Ares,
welcomed him in our house when he came from Crete.
230
ut now I see all the other of the bright-eyed Achaeans,
whom I could easily recognize and name. But I cannot
ee the leaders of the people, Kastor, a tamer of horses,
 nd Polydeukes, a fine boxer, my brothers, born of the same
mother. Either they did not follow from lovely LACEDAEMON, 235
r they came here in sea-faring ships but now do
ot want to enter in the battles of men, fearing
he words of shame and the insults set against me.”

So she spoke, but the life-giving earth held them

n Lacedaemon, in their dear native land.° Meanwhile,
240
he heralds carried through the city the offering to establish
trust-oath to the gods—two lambs and wine that gladdens
he heart in a goatskin sack, the fruit of the earth.
he herald Idaios carried a shining bowl and golden
ups. He stood by old man Priam and roused
245
im, saying: “Rise, O son of Laomedon! The chiefs
f the horse-taming Trojans and the Achaeans dressed
n bronze summon you to come down into the plain
where you can swear a trust-oath with a sacrifice.
Alexandros and Menelaos, dear to Ares, will battle
250
out with the spear over the woman. Whoever
victorious will take the woman and the treasure. Then
may all you others swear oaths of friendship and seal
he oath with a sacrifice. Then may we live here in Troyland
with its deep soil, and the others may sail off to Argos where 255
hey pasture horses, and to Achaea, land of beautiful women.”

So he spoke, and the old man shivered. He ordered

is companions to yoke up a team. Quickly they obeyed.
riam mounted. He drew back the reins. Beside him
Antenor stepped into the supremely beautiful car.
260
he two of them went through the Scaean Gates and onto
he plain, drawn by their fast horses. They rode out into
he area between the Trojans and Achaeans. They stepped
nto the bountiful earth. They went into the middle
f the Trojans and the Achaeans. Immediately the king of men, 265
Agamemnon, stood up, and Odysseus of many minds.

The noble heralds prepared the trust-oath with a sacrifice.

hey mixed wine in a bowl. They poured out water
ver the hands of the chiefs. The son of Atreus
rew with his hand the knife that always hung beside
270
is sword-scabbard. He cut a lock of hair from the heads
f the lambs. Then the heralds apportioned it among the chiefs
f the Trojans and the Achaeans.

Agamemnon raised his hands

nd he prayed in a loud voice: “Father Zeus, who rules
rom Ida,° most glorious, most great—and Sun, who sees
275
ll things and hears all things—and Rivers and the Earth,
nd you who beneath the earth take vengeance on men
who have died,° whoever has sworn a false oath—be you
witnesses, protect these trust-oaths. If Alexandros kills
Menelaos, then let him have Helen and the treasure too, 280
nd let us sail away in our sea-faring ships. But if
ght-haired Menelaos kills Alexandros, then may
he Trojans give up Helen and all the treasure and pay
suitable recompense, one such as men not yet born
will speak of. If Priam and the children of Priam do not 285
want to pay the recompense when Alexandros falls,
hen I will myself fight on because of the recompense,
aying right here until I find an end to the war!”

He spoke and cut the throats of the sheep with the

errible bronze. He placed the sheep on the ground, gasping
290
or breath. The bronze had taken their strength. They took
wine in their cups from the big bowl and poured it out.
hey prayed to the gods who last forever. One of the Achaeans
r the Trojans would say: “Zeus most glorious, greatest,
nd all the other deathless gods—whichever of the 295
wo parties should first do harm against these oaths,
may their brains flow forth onto the ground, just as this
wine, not only their own brains but those of their children.
May their wives be the prey to others!” So they spoke,
ut the son of Kronos did not grant them fulfillment. 300

Priam, the son of Dardanos, then spoke in their midst:

Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans with the fancy
hinguards—now I shall go back to windy Ilion, for
cannot bear to see with my own eyes my dear son fight
with Menelaos, dear to Ares. But Zeus and the other 305
eathless gods know on which one is fixed the doom
f fate and death.”
 He spoke and the godlike man
laced the sheep into the car. He went up himself
nd pulled back the reins. Antenor got into the exceedingly
eautiful car beside him and the two men went back 310
o Ilion. Hector, the son of Priam, and shining
Odysseus first measured out a space. Then they took lots
nd shook them in a bronze helmet to determine who
would first throw his bronze spear. The people prayed.
They raised their hands to the gods. Thus would one 315
Achaean or Trojan say: “Father Zeus, ruling
om Ida, most glorious, greatest—whichever one brought
hese troubles on both peoples, grant that he
may die and enter the house of Hades, but to us
may there come friendship and trust-oaths.” 320

So they spoke. Great Hector, whose helmet flashes,

hook the helmet while looking backward. Swiftly the lot
f Paris flew out. The men sat down in ranks according
o where they had hitched their high stepping horses.
They set down their inlaid armor. Shining Alexandros put on
325
is gorgeous weaponry around his shoulders, the husband
f Helen with the lovely hair. First he placed the fine-looking
hinguards around his shins, fitted with silver anklets.
Next, he placed the breastguard of his brother Lykaon
round his breast, and he fitted it to himself.° 330
He cast a sword with silver rivets around his shoulders,
bronze one, and then a shield, big and strong.
On his powerful head he placed a well-crafted helmet
with a horse-hair crest. The crest was awesome as it
odded down. He took up his sturdy spear, fitted
 335
o his hand. Then in the same way Menelaos, a man
f war, put on his own armor.

When they had armed themselves

n either side of the throng, they went forth glaring dreadfully
nto the middle space between the Trojans and Achaeans.
Everyone was amazed when they saw them, both the horse-
taming 340
rojans and the Achaeans in their fancy shinguards. The men
ood near each other in the space marked off. They shook
heir spears in anger. Alexandros threw his spear with
s long shadow, and he struck the shield of the son of Atreus,
erfectly round, but the bronze did not break through.
345

The point of the spear was bent against the strong shield.
hen the son of Atreus, Menelaos, rushed on him
with his spear, praying to Zeus: “Zeus, king, allow me
o take revenge on the man who first wronged me, noble
Alexandros! Subdue him beneath my hands so that anyone 350
f those yet to be born may shudder to harm his host,
ne who has extended friendship!”

He spoke, and brandishing

is spear with its long shadow he threw, and he struck
he perfectly round shield of the son of Priam. The powerful
pear went through the light-reflecting shield and through 355
he ornately decorated breastguard. The spear tore through the shirt
nd slipped beside the flesh over the ribs. Paris bent away
nd just escaped black death. The son of Atreus
hen drew his sword with silver rivets and, raising
t high, brought it down on the ridge of Paris’ helmet. 360
he sword broke in three or four pieces and fell from his hand.

The son of Atreus groaned and looked into the broad heaven:
Father Zeus, there is no god more harmful than you!
Here I thought that I’d take vengeance on Alexandros
or his wicked ways, but now the sword in my hand 365
broken and my spear is flown from my hands, for nothing!
did not hit him!”

FIGURE 3.2 The duel between Menelaos and Paris. On the left,
Helen, holding a piece of yarn (?), stands behind Menelaos as he draws his
sword and attacks Paris, just as Homer describes. Paris holds a spear in his
 right hand and runs away, but Artemis—with her emblem, the bow—not
Aphrodite, stands behind Paris, perhaps because Artemis always favors
Trojan affairs. The warriors are dressed as typical fifth-century BC hoplites
with breastplate and helmet, except that they do not have shinguards
(greaves). Their shields have a strap for the arm and a handgrip, never
found in Homer, where shields are suspended over the shoulder by a baldric
(telamon); some shields are as large as the whole body (see Figure 4.1). The
artist is recreating the scene to include elements he remembers from
Homer’s story, but he is careless about details: Helen favored Menelaos;
Paris ran away; the gods supported Paris. All the figures are labeled except
for Helen. Athenian red-figure wine cup found in Capua, Italy, c. 480 BC.

He spoke, and rushing in

e seized Paris by the helmet, by its thick horsehair.
Whirling him around, he dragged him toward the Achaeans
with their fancy shinguards. The embroidered strap 370
eneath Paris’ tender throat, which stretched tight
eneath his chin to hold the helmet, choked him.

And now would Menelaos have dragged Paris away,

nd earned undying glory, if Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus,
ad not been quick to see. To Menelaos’ harm, she broke 375
he strap made from a slaughtered ox. The helmet came away
n Menelaos’ powerful hand. He spun it around and threw
into the crowd of Achaeans with fancy shinguards
nd his trusted companions gathered it up. He sprang back,
ager to kill with his bronze spear,° but Aphrodite 380
asily snatched Paris up. She covered him with a thick
mist and placed him down in his fragrant, sweet-smelling
hamber. She herself went to call Helen.
 Aphrodite found her in
he high tower, surrounded by Trojan women.
With her hand she took hold of Helen’s fragrant gown 385
nd tugged at it, looking like a very old woman, a comber
f wool who had worked the beautiful wool when Helen
ved in Lacedaemon—and Helen loved her very much.

In the likeness of this woman the divine Aphrodite spoke:

Come with me! Alexandros calls you home. He’s in 390
is chamber on the inlaid couch. He shimmers with beauty.
He is dressed in beautiful clothes. You would hardly say
hat he came from warring with an enemy, but rather that he
was about to go to a dance, or that he sits there as if
e’d just come from a dance.”
395

So she spoke, and she aroused

he spirit in Helen’s breast, who recognized the exquisite
hroat of the goddess and her lovely breast and her flashing
yes. Helen was amazed and addressed her by name:
Great lady, why do you want to fool me so? I suppose
ou would now lead me further, into the dense cities of Phrygia 400
r lovely Maeonia,° if perhaps there is someone there
mong mortal men who is dear to you. For as it is,
Menelaos has overcome the noble Alexandros and he wants
o lead me—hateful as I am!—home with him.
For this reason you have come here with your treacherous 405
houghts. But go to him—sit by his side. Give up the way
f the gods! Let your feet no longer carry you to Olympos.
You can fuss over Paris and guard him until he either
makes you his wife—or more likely his concubine!
will not go there. That would be a subject for reproach,
410
o bed with him now. All the Trojan women will blame me
fter. This pain in my heart has no end.”

In anger the divine

Aphrodite answered: “Don’t provoke me, you little hussy!
may abandon you in my anger. For I may hate you even
s I now love you fully. I may construct a destructive hate 415
hared by Trojans and Danaäns alike.° You would then suffer
vicious fate.”

So she spoke, and Helen, of the line

f Zeus, was afraid. She went in silence, covering herself
n a bright luminous cloak. The Trojan women did not
otice her. The goddess led the way. When they came 420
o the fine house of Alexandros, the slaves quickly
urned to their duty while Helen went into the high-roofed
hamber, a goddess among women. Aphrodite, who loves
aughter, took a chair for her and placed it opposite
Alexandros. There Helen sat down, looking the other way, 425
he daughter of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish.

She rebuked her husband with this word: “You’ve come

om the war. Would that you had perished there,
vercome by a stronger man, who used to be my husband.
Once you boasted that you were stronger in hand and better
430
with the spear than Menelaos, dear to Ares. Well,
o then and call out Menelaos, the war lover, to fight
ou again in the hand-to-hand! … but no, don’t do that,
on’t go up against Menelaos, don’t be so foolish as to fight him,
r likely he will kill you with his spear …” 435

Paris answered her:

Do not rebuke me with your rough words. For now
Menelaos has beaten me with the help of Athena, but some
ther time I will beat him. We have gods on our side too.
ut come, dear, let us now make love, and lie down together,
or never has so much desire so enfolded my soul, 440
ot when I first carried you from lovely Lacedaemon
nd sailed away in my sea-faring ships, and on a rocky
land I made love to you—as I long for you now in love,
nd delicious desire seizes me.”

He spoke. He led her to

he bed and his wife followed. And so the two of them
445
made love on the bed, whose mattress was made
f cords. But the son of Atreus wandered through the crowd
ke a wild animal, to see if he could see the godlike
Alexandros somewhere.° But no one of the famous Trojans
r their allies could show Alexandros to Menelaos, whom 450
Ares loves. Not for affection did they hide him, if someone
ad seen him, for they hated Paris like black death.
 The king of men, Agamemnon, spoke then: “Hear me
rojans and Dardanians and allies! Victory seems to belong
o Menelaos, dear to Ares, and you must therefore give up 455
Helen and the treasure along with her, and you must pay a
uitable recompense, which those still not born will speak of.”
o spoke the son of Atreus. And the Achaeans applauded.

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Pygmies: The origin of this odd tale of the war between the cranes and the
Pygmies is unknown, but it is sometimes thought to be an Egyptian
folktale. It was a fairly popular subject in Greek art.
Alexandros: Greek “defender of the city” is another name for Paris,
appearing in the Iliad about four times more frequently than Paris. The
names are used indifferently. The name Paris is not Greek whereas
Alexandros certainly is Greek. Hittite tablets from c. 1300 BC, which speak
of a place called Wilusa, that is, Ilion, refer to an “Alakshandush” living
there, and some think that this must be our Paris. It certainly is odd that the
Hittites associated a Greek name with Troy.
two spears: In hoplite warfare of the Classical Period, the fighter was
armed with a single thrusting spear that he held at his side while marching
in a line against the enemy. The spears of Paris are javelins, meant to be
thrown, and he has two, one as backup. This is usual for Homeric combat,
although sometimes the poet seems to be thinking of combat with the single
thrusting spear. Most Homeric fighting revolves around single heroes at the
forefront, more a clash of individuals than one army against the next.
for a ship: Similes are characteristic of Homer’s style, but usually they are
in the mouth of the narrator, not a speaker within the text. Hector’s hard
heart is like an ax in the hands of an expert carpenter.
for you: But the duel between Paris and Menelaos belongs to the opening
days of the war. By such scenes Homer is trying to give the illusion of the
passage of time during which Achilles’ anger takes effect.
Pittheus: According to postHomeric accounts, Aithra the daughter of
Pittheus, king of Troezen in the Peloponnesus, was the mother of Theseus,
Athens’ greatest hero. Theseus abducted Helen from Sparta when she was
prepubescent and left her with his mother Aithra near Athens until Helen
was old enough for sexual relations. But the Dioscuri, Helen’s brothers
from Sparta—Kastor and Polydeukes—saved the young girl while Theseus
was in the underworld with his friend Peirithoös, king of the Lapiths
(Peirithoös wished to marry Persephone, queen of death!). At this time the
Dioscuri abducted Theseus’ mother and made her Helen’s slave, and she
went with Helen to Troy. But Homer betrays no knowledge of these
traditions.
Scaean Gates: “the left-hand gates,” but to the left of what? It could mean
the “unlucky” gates because the left hand is the unlucky hand; it is here that
Achilles will fall in the postHomeric tradition. Many fateful events in the
war take place before these gates. Homer also refers three times to the
“Dardanian Gates,” but whether or not these are the same as the Scaean
Gates is not clear.
your friends: This famous scene is called the “View from the Wall.” It too
belongs to the early days of the war. Priam acts as if he had never before
seen the leaders of the Achaean fighters.
land: Kastor and Polydeukes had been killed on a cattle raid, according to
later tradition. The brothers were not known as the Dioscuri, “the sons of
Zeus,” protectors of horseman and sailors, until the late fifth century BC.
from Ida: The Mount Ida in the Troad, not the Mount Ida in Crete near
which Zeus was born.
who have died: Presumably he means the Furies, or Erinyes, but nowhere
else in Homer do we find the notion that the ordinary human’s sinful
behavior in this world is punished in the next (the fates of such great sinners
as Tantalos in the underworld of Odyssey Book 10 are unique and do not
apply to the average person).
to himself: As an archer, Paris has no breastguard. Achilles later murders
Paris’ brother Lykaon in a pathetic scene on the banks of the Skamandros
River (Book 21).
bronze spear: It is not clear where he got this spear, since he seems to have
begun with one spear, which he has already cast.
Phrygia or lovely Maeonia: See Map 6.
Trojans and Danaäns alike: That is, a mutual hatred for Helen, when she
might be killed by the Trojans as an adulteress.
somewhere: The scene is more slapstick. Menelaos is looking everywhere
for Paris who at that very moment is having sex with Menelaos’ wife!

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 BOOK 4. Trojan Treachery,
Bitter War

T he gods, seated beside Zeus, held assembly in the chamber

with the golden floor. The queenly Hebê° poured out
ectar among them. They drank to one another as they looked
ut over the city of the Trojans.

Suddenly the son

f Kronos tried to provoke Hera with jeering words,
5
peaking slyly:° “Menelaos has two helpers in the
oddesses, Argive Hera and Alalkomenian Athena.°
hey take pleasure in sitting apart and looking in on the action
while Aphrodite, who loves to laugh, always goes beside
rince Paris and pushes away fate. Why just now
10
he saved him when he thought he was going to die!
Anyway, Menelaos, dear to Ares, won the match.
et us therefore consider how things will be. Shall
we rouse up wicked war and the horrible din of battle,
r shall we sponsor friendship between the two sides?
15
friendship seems right, and a sweet thing to all, then
might the city of King Priam still exist, and Menelaos
an carry Helen of Argos home.”
 So Zeus spoke,
nd Athena and Hera murmured among themselves.
They sat side by side, devising trouble for the Trojans.
20
Athena was silent and said nothing, though she was furious
with her father, and a divine anger had seized her. But Hera’s
reast could not contain her anger and she said:
Most august son of Kronos, what a word you have
poken! You only want to make my labor useless and
25
without effect, and the sweat that I sweated, and the two
orses worn out with the effort of bringing the people
ogether to do evil to Priam and his sons° … Go ahead!
ut the other gods are not going to like it.”

Zeus, who assembles

he clouds, was angry with her, and he said: “Strange
30
oddess, how has Priam and the sons of Priam done you
uch harm that you relentlessly rage to destroy the well-founded
ity of Ilion? Maybe if you went inside the gates and
he high walls and devoured Priam raw and the sons
f Priam and the other Trojans—maybe then you would 35
ssuage your anger! But do what you wish. I don’t
want this quarrel to be a cause of discord between the two
f us in times to come. And I’ll tell you something else,
nd you pay careful attention. When the day comes
hat I am eager to destroy a city whose inhabitants
40
re dear to you, don’t get in the way of my anger!
et it go! For I agreed with you on this, but against
he desire of my heart. For of all the cities inhabited
y mortal men beneath the sun and the starry heaven
oly Ilion is most honored in my heart, and Priam and the
 45
eople of Priam with the strong ash spear. For my altar has
ever lacked in the equal feast, or in the offerings of wine,
r in the scent of burned flesh. We take it as our due.”

Queenly Hera with cow eyes then answered:

Well, there are three cities that are much the dearest to me— 50
ARGOS and SPARTA and MYCENAE with its broad roads.
Go ahead, destroy them whenever they are hated by your heart.
shall not stand before them, nor give them great importance.
ven if I don’t want to give them to you, and don’t want
o allow you their destruction, I shall not succeed, 55
ecause you are much the stronger. Still, all my labor
hould not be for nothing. For I am a god too!
have the same begetting as you do. Clever Kronos
egot me as the eldest of all his daughters.
have my own status because I am the oldest
60
nd because I am your wife, and you are king
f all the gods.
“But let us yield one to the other—
to you and you to me. The other deathless
ods will follow. You speedily dispatch Athena
nto the terrible din of battle between Trojan and 65
Achaean. Let her contrive that the Trojans first begin
o harm the arrogant Achaeans, against the terms
f the oath.”

So she spoke, and the father of men

nd gods did not disobey. Immediately he addressed Athena
with spoken words that went like arrows: “Quickly
70
o to the armies, into the midst of Trojans and
Achaeans, to attempt to contrive that the Trojans first
egin to harm the arrogant Achaeans, against
he terms of the oath.”

So speaking he stirred Athena

o act, who was eager even before he spoke.
75
he darted down from the peaks of Olympos, just as
when the son of crooked-counseling Kronos sends
orth a star, a sign to sailors or to the broad host of
n army, a shining thing from which many sparks fly—
ike that did Pallas Athena dart to the earth. She leaped
80
nto the middle of them. An amazement fell on all
when they saw the portent, both the horse-taming Trojans
nd the Achaeans with fancy shinguards. One would turn
o his neighbor and say: “Watch out, there will be hateful
war again and the terrible din of battle! Either that or 85
eus will set up a friendship between the two sides.
After all, he dispenses battle among men.” So would
ne of the Achaeans or Trojans say to his neighbor.

Athena entered the crowd of Trojans in the likeness

f Laodokos, a son of Antenor,° strong in the spear-fight. 90
he sought out Pandaros, who was like a god. She found
he strong and noble son of Lykaon. He was standing there
urrounded by powerful ranks of fighters with shields,
who had followed him here from the waters of the AISEPOS.°
 Standing close, she spoke words that went like arrows: 95
Will you now be persuaded, wise son of Lykaon? Be daring!
et fly a swift arrow at Menelaos. You will then earn
he thanks of the Trojans and glory from them, and above all
om chief Alexandros. You would then earn splendid
ifts from him before others if he should see the warrior
100
Menelaos, the son of Atreus, overcome by your shaft
nd thrown on the grievous fire. So come, shoot your
rrow at the glorious Menelaos. Make a vow to Apollo
he wolf-god,° famous for his bow, that you will perform
magnificent sacrifice of yearling lambs once you
105
et home to your city of sacred ZELEIA.”°

So spoke
Athena, and she persuaded his thoughtless mind. Immediately
andaros uncovered his polished bow, made from
he horn of a full-grown wild goat that he himself
ad struck beneath its breast as it came forth from a rock. 110
ying in ambush, he hit it in the chest and it fell
ackwards into the rock. From its head grew horns
our feet long. These the hornworker fashioned and fitted
ogether. He smoothed the whole thing carefully and fitted
o it a tip of gold.° 115

Pandaros placed the bow down well

gainst the ground, and he stretched it, bending it backwards.
His noble companions held their shields in front of him
o that the fighting sons of the Achaeans would not leap up
efore he struck the warrior son of Atreus. He opened
he lid of the quiver. He took out a feathered arrow 120
hat had never been shot, the support of black pain,
nd quickly Pandaros fitted the terrible shaft to the string.
He vowed to Apollo, the wolf-god, famous for his bow,
hat he would perform a magnificent sacrifice of yearling
ambs once he got home to his city of sacred Zeleia. 125
He drew the bow, gripping at the same time the notched arrow
nd the string made of ox sinew. He pulled the string

FIGURE 4.1 The “Lion-hunt” dagger from the shaft graves of

Mycenae, c. 1600 BC. Discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in the late
nineteenth century, many scholars find remote echoes of this kind of
fighting in Homeric accounts, preserved in the oral tradition. Here the
shields are “like towers” and are carried by a strap around the neck, the
telamon. On the far left a man wields a Cretan-style figure-of-eight shield,
made of a convex frame covered by cowhides (unfortunately, no examples
survive). The man wears no armor. He carries the single thrusting spear.
Next is a bowman without shield. In the middle, the man’s shield is
rectangular-shaped. The man to his right uses his figure-of-eight cowhide
shield as protection against the lion, which he threatens with a single spear.
In front him lies the body of a companion, killed by the lion. The
companion also carried a rectangular tower-like shield, which stans upright.
Gold, bronze, and niello, sixteenth century BC, from Tomb IV, Mycenae.
o his breast and the iron arrowhead° to the bow.
And when he had bent the great bow into a circle, the bow
wanged, the string cried aloud, the sharp arrow leaped, 130
onging to fly through the crowd.

But the blessed gods did not

orget you, my Menelaos!° Above all, the booty-bringing
aughter of Zeus, who stood before you and brushed aside
he piercing shaft. Why, Athena brushed away the arrow
rom the flesh as a mother brushes aside a fly from her child
135
when he lies in sweet sleep. She directed it to where the golden
lasps of the belt were fastened and the chest-protector doubled.
he bitter arrow fell on the clasp and was driven through
he fancy belt, and through the highly worked chest-protector
nd the belly-protector too, which he wore as a screen and guard
140
or his flesh against any arrow, a main line of defense.°
Yet even through this the arrow pierced and scratched
he outermost flesh of the man. Immediately the dark blood
owed from the wound. It was as if when a woman from MAEONIA
r CARIA stains ivory with Phoenician scarlet to be a cheek-piece 145
or horses. It lies in a chamber, though many horsemen
ray that they can wear it—a delight for the king,
oth a decoration for his horse and a boast for the driver—
ke that, my Menelaos, were your handsome thighs stained
nd your legs and the beautiful ankles beneath. 150

Agamemnon,
he king of men, shivered when he saw the black blood
un down from the wound. The warrior Menelaos shivered
oo. But when he saw that the sinew and the barbs were outside
he flesh, then his breath-soul was gathered back into his breast.

With a heavy moan King Agamemnon spoke, holding

155
Menelaos by the hand, and his companions moaned too:
Dear brother, it is your death I swore with the oath and sacrifice,
etting you out alone before the Achaeans to fight with
he Trojans. Now the Trojans have shot you and trampled
own the trust-oaths! But not for nothing are Oath and the blood
160
f lambs and the drink offerings of unmixed wine, and handshakes
n which we place our trust. Even if at the moment the Olympian
oes not bring all to fulfillment, in the end he does,°
nd that man pays a heavy price not only with his own life
ut with the lives of his wife and children. For I know
165
his in my heart and soul: The day will come
when sacred Ilion will be destroyed and Priam
nd the people of Priam with their fine ash spears.
eus, Kronos’ son, from his high throne, dwelling
n the upper air, will shake his dark goatskin fetish over all,
170
urious because of this deception. Surely these things
will come to pass.
“But O Menelaos, a terrible grief will
ou bring if you die and fill out your allotment of life.
Most despised would I then return to thirsty Argos.° Right away
he Achaeans would remember the land of their fathers, and we
175
would leave to Priam and the Trojans Argive Helen,
omething to boast about. The earth will rot away your bones
s you lie in the land of Troy, your task unfinished.
And thus will one of the haughty Trojans say
 s he leaps on the tomb of brave Menelaos: ‘Thus did
180
Agamemnon fulfill his anger! He led an Achaean army
ere to no purpose—he has gone home to his dear native land
with empty ships, leaving the good Menelaos.’ So he
will speak in times to come. But on that day may the broad
arth open for me!” 185

But light-haired Menelaos spoke

heeringly to him: “Courage, don’t panic the Achaeans.
he sharp arrow is not fixed in a mortal place. The belt stopped
before it could penetrate through, and the flashing
kirt beneath, and the belly-protector and chest-protector
hat the bronze workers made.”
190

King Agamemnon answered him:

May that only be true, dear Menelaos! But the doctor will have
look—he’ll apply a poultice that will stop the black pain.”
Immediately he spoke to his godlike herald, Talthybios:
Talthybios, call over Machaon right away, the son
f Asklepios,° a good doctor, so that he can have a look 195
t the warrior Menelaos, the son of Atreus. Somebody
killed in archery has shot him with an arrow, a Trojan
r a Lycian. Glory for him, but gloom for us!”

So he spoke,
nd his herald obeyed him. He went through the army of bronze-shirted
Achaeans, looking everywhere for Machaon. He saw him
standing 200
here in the midst of the powerful ranks of shield-bearers
who had followed from Trikê,° a land that nourishes horses.
tanding near, he spoke words that went like arrows: “Get up,
on of Asklepios, King Agamemnon is calling for you to have a look
t the warrior Menelaos, captain of the Achaeans. Somebody
205
killed in archery has shot him with an arrow, a Trojan
r Lycian. Glory for him, but gloom for us!”

So he spoke, and he stirred up the spirit in Machaon.

Machaon went through the crowded army of the Achaeans.
But when he came to light-haired Menelaos, wounded,
210
nd around him were gathered in a circle the head chieftains,
he godlike man stood in their midst and right away
withdrew the arrow from the clasped belt. The sharp
arbs bent back as he withdrew the arrow. He loosed
he sparkling belt and, underneath, the belly-protector
215
nd the chest-protector that the workers in bronze had made.
When he saw the wound where the sharp arrow had struck,
e sucked out the blood and with sure knowledge spread out a healing
oultice, which once the beneficent Cheiron° had given
o his father.
220

While they busied themselves around Menelaos,

ood at the war cry, the ranks of the shield-bearing Trojans
ame on. The Achaeans put on their armor too, watchful
f war. Then you would not have seen the godlike
Agamemnon asleep, or cowering, or not wanting to fight—
 e wanted to enter the battle where glory is won!
225
ut he let go his horses and chariot inlaid with bronze.
His driver Eurymedon, son of Ptolemaios, son of Peiraios,
eld the snorting animals to the side. Agamemnon gave out
stern instruction to have them at hand whenever fatigue
hould overcome him as he gave orders through the multitude.
230

He went on foot through the ranks of men.° And whenever

e came on Danaäns who were eager with their swift horses,
e stood beside them and roundly encouraged them:
Argives, don’t ever give up your angry valor!
Zeus will not help liars! Those who first broke 235
he oaths will pay when vultures devour their tender
esh! We will carry away the Trojan wives and
heir little babies in our ships, once we take the city!”

But whenever he came across someone holding back

rom the bitter war, he gave them a mighty reproof
240
n furious words: “Argives who rage with the bow,
wretches, have you no shame? Why do you stand
round, dazed like fawns who are worn out running
ver the wide plain? Who stand still and there is
o strength in their hearts? Even so you stand around
245
azed and do not fight. I suppose you are waiting for the Trojans
o come to where the ships with their elegant sterns are dragged
p on the shore of the gray sea, to see if the son of Kronos,
he cloud-gatherer, will stretch his hand over you?”
 So he ranted through the ranks of men, giving commands.
250
He came to the Cretans as he moved through the crowd of men.
hese were arming themselves around the wise Idomeneus.
domeneus was among the forefighters like a wild boar
n strength, and Meriones was spurring on the rearmost battalions.
The king of men Agamemnon rejoiced when he saw them, 255
nd right away he addressed Idomeneus with words
ke honey: “Idomeneus, I honor you above all the Danaäns
with their fast horses, in war and in other matters, and at the feast
when the captains of the Argives mix in a bowl the gleaming
wine of the elders. Although the others of the long-haired
Achaeans 260
rink an allotted portion, your cup is always full,
ust as mine is, to drink whenever you are so inclined.
ut rouse yourself for battle. Be now such a one
s once you claimed to be!”

Idomeneus, the Cretan leader,

made this reply: “Son of Atreus, I will be a trusted
265
ompanion to you, even as at first I promised and pledged.
ut urge on the other of the long-haired Achaeans that we go
t once into battle. The Trojans have wrecked our oaths!
Death and all future pain to them! They were first
iolent in defiance of their oaths.”
270

So he spoke. The son

f Atreus moved down the line, feeling pleasure in his heart.
He came to the two Ajaxes as he moved through the crowd
f men. The two of them were putting on their armor.
Around them was a mass of foot soldiers. As when a man
erding his goats sees a cloud from a place of outlook
275
cudding over the sea under a blast from West Wind—
o him, being a long way away, the cloud seems black
ke pitch as it passes over the sea, and it stirs up a huge
whirlwind; he shivers when he sees it and drives his herd
nto a cave—even so were the thick battalions 280
f god-reared young men around the two Ajaxes, stirred
o go to savage war, bristling with shields and spears.°

King Agamemnon greatly rejoiced when he saw them,

nd he spoke words that went like arrows: “You two Ajaxes,
eaders of men who wear shirts of bronze, the two of you—
285
well, I don’t need to urge you on! I have no command
or you. You yourselves stir up the people to fight with zest.
d ask Father Zeus and Athena and Apollo that a similar
pirit could be found in the breasts of all. Then would
he city of King Priam soon bow its head, taken 290
nd raped!”

So speaking, he left them there and went

nto others. He found Nestor, the clear-voiced speaker
f Pylos who was organizing his companions and rousing them
o the fight. Their captains were Pelagon and Alastor and Chromios
nd Lord Haimon and Bias,° the shepherd of the people. 295
n the lead he placed the charioteers with their horses and cars.
 ehind them he placed the foot soldiers, many and noble,
bulwark in the battle. The cowards he drove into the middle,
where they would have to fight whether they wanted to or not.

On the charioteers Nestor laid this command: to keep 300

he horses in hand and not to drive in a tumult among the crowd:
Nor let any man trust so in his horsemanship and in
is valor that he desires to fight alone before the others
gainst the Trojans. But don’t hold back—you will be
he feebler. If from your car you come on another car,
305
rike forth with your spear. It is better that you do so.
n this fashion did earlier men destroy cities and walls,
aving such a mind and spirit within their breasts.”

Thus the old man urged them on, wise in battle

rom of old, and Agamemnon rejoiced when he saw him. 310
He spoke to him words that flew like arrows: “Old man,
wish that your knees were as nimble as your spirit is great,
nd that your strength were resolute. But old age, the equalizer,
wears you down. Would that someone else had
our years, and you were among the youths.”
315

Then Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, answered:

Son of Atreus, I wish that I were as I was
when I killed the good Ereuthalion. But the gods do not
ive all things to men at one time. I was a young
man then, but now old age is my companion.
 320
Yet even so will I remain among the charioteers.
will encourage them with advice and counsel. That is what
ou do when you get old. The young men will wield
he spears, younger than I am and confident in their strength.”

So he spoke, and the son of Atreus passed on,

325
ejoicing in his heart. He came on the son of Peteos,
Menestheus the driver of horses, standing there,
nd around him the Athenians, makers of the war cry.
ut the clever Odysseus stood nearby, and with him
tood the ranks of the Kephallenians, hardly weaklings.° 330
he people had not yet heard the cry of war.
he battalions of horse-taming Trojans and Achaeans had only
ust stirred themselves to action. They stood waiting
ntil another battalion, like a tower, should advance and take
n the Trojans and begin the fight.
335

When he saw them,

he king of men Agamemnon reproached them, and he spoke
words that went like arrows: “O son of Peteos,
god-reared chief, you are skilled in evil deceit!
You have a crafty mind. Why do you stand aside
owering and wait for others? The two of you ought 340
o take a stand among the foremost to face blistering
attle. You are first to hear of my feast when the Achaeans
repare a banquet for the elders.° Then it is fine
o eat roast meat and to drink wine as sweet as honey
rom the cup for as long as you please. But now you would
 345
e glad to see ten battalions of the Achaeans, like towers,
ght with pitiless bronze in front of you!”

But many-minded
Odysseus, looking with an angry glance from beneath his brows,
aid: “Son of Atreus, I don’t understand what you just said.
How can you say that we hold back in battle? The Achaeans
350
ouse keen war against the horse-taming Trojans. You will see
you want, and if you are concerned with such matters,
he father of Telemachos mix it up with the foremost fighters
f the horse-taming Trojans. Your words are empty, like wind.”

When Agamemnon saw that Odysseus was angry,

355
e smiled and took back his words: “Well, Zeus-nurtured
on of Laërtes, Odysseus of many devices, I do not need
o reprove you nor to urge you on. I realize that
he spirit in your breast knows only kindly thoughts.
You and I are of like mind. But come, let us work 360
his out later, if something ill has been said. May the gods
make all like air!”

So saying he left them there and went

n to the others. He found the son of Tydeus, the brave
Diomedes standing among his horses and cars. Next to
im stood Sthenelos, the son of Kapaneus.° King Agamemnon
365
eproached Diomedes when he saw him, and he spoke to him
words that went like arrows: “Oh no, son of Tydeus,
he wise tamer of horses, why do you cower? Why are you
aring at the bridges of war?° It was never the way of Tydeus
o cower like this but to fight far in front of his warlike 370
ompanions. At least that’s what they say who saw him
n action. For I never met him or saw him. They say
e was the greatest of all.
“Once he came to Mycenae,
ot as a hostile, but as a guest, together with godlike
olynikes, to gather the people. In those days they were
375
warring against the sacred walls of Thebes, and they
made a strong request for glorious allies.° The men
f Mycenae were willing to grant their request, and at first
hey assented. But Zeus changed their minds by sending bad omens.
And so the expedition departed. When they had gone forward 380
own the road, they came to the grassy banks of the Asopos,°
eep in reeds. There the Achaeans sent forth Tydeus
n an embassy. He went and found the many sons of Kadmos
ining in the house of mighty Eteokles. Though a stranger,
Tydeus was not afraid, but he was alone among
385
he many Kadmeians. He called them out to feats
f strength and easily overcame them in every contest.
“Such a friend he had in Athena! The horse-goading
Kadmeians grew angry and led out a strong ambush as Tydeus
made his way back, of fifty youths. Two were their leaders, 390
Maion the son of Haimon, like the deathless ones,
nd the son of Autophonos, Polyphontes, who holds out
n the fight. Tydeus let lose on them an ugly fate,
illing them all.° One alone he released to go home—
rusting to portents from the gods, he sent forth Maion.
395
 uch was Tydeus the Aetolian. But he fathered a son
worse in battle, though better in the council!”

So Agamemnon
poke. Strong Diomedes did not answer, respecting
he reproof from the king whom he revered.° But Sthenelos,
he son of bold Kapaneus, did answer: “No need,
400
on of Atreus, to lie when you know how to speak clearly!
We are far better men than our fathers. We took
even-gated Thebes when we led a smaller army
eneath a better wall, trusting in the portents of the gods
nd in the help of Zeus.° Those men died from their own 405
eckless folly. Please don’t place our fathers in like honor
with us.”

But strong Diomedes, glancing from beneath

is brows, said: “My friend, keep quiet! Listen to my word.
do not hold it against Agamemnon, shepherd of the people,
hat he urges on the Achaeans to the fight. Great glory will come 410
o this man if the Achaeans destroy the Trojans and take
he sacred city of Ilion, but great sorrow if the Achaeans
re destroyed. So come then, let us pay attention
o our furious valor.”

He spoke, and leaped down from his car

n full armor to the ground. The bronze rang terribly around
415
he chest of the chief as he moved. Even one steady in heart
might have been terrified. As when on a resounding beach
he swelling of the sea rises, wave after wave,
riven by West Wind—at first the sea forms a crest
ut on the deep, then breaking on the land it makes 420
huge sound like thunder as around the headlands,
wollen, it rears its head and spits out a foam
f brine—just so the battalions of Danaäns moved
orward, wave after wave, ceaselessly, to the war.
Each captain gave orders to his own men, but the rest 425
went forward in silence. You would not think that so great
people had any voice in their breasts, marching in silence
om fear of their commanders, each man flashing the inlaid
rmor that he wore.

But the Trojans were like ewes in the court

f a rich man, who stand numberless waiting to be milked
430
f their white milk, bleating when they hear the voice of their
ambs. Even so arose the clamor of the Trojans throughout
he broad army. For their speech was different, they did not speak
he same language, their tongues were mixed. They were a folk
ummoned from different places. But Ares urged them on, 435
while Athena stood behind the Achaeans, and Terror and Fear
nd Eris° that rages without end, the sister and companion
f man-killing Ares. At first Eris rears her head
ust a little, but then she fixes her head against
he sky while her feet bestride the ground, then she casts
440
readful strife into the midst, striding through the crowd,
ncreasing the groanings of men.
 When the warriors had come
ogether into one place, they dashed together their shields
nd spears in the rage of men who wears shirts of bronze.
The bossed shields came together and a great din arose.
445
hen was heard the agony of the wounded and the boast
f victory as men killed and were killed, and the earth ran
with blood—as when winter rivers run down from the mountains
om their great springs to a basin, and they join their mighty
lood in a deep gorge, and the shepherd hears the roar far off 450
n the mountains—even so did a cry go up, and there was
work as the two sides came together.

First Antilochos°
illed a man of the Trojans with horse-hair helmet,
nobleman who fought among the forefighters, Echepolos,
on of Thalysios. Antilochos struck him on the ridge
455
f his helmet with its crest of horse hair, then drove the spear
nto his forehead. The bronze point passed inside the bone
nd darkness clouded his eyes. Echepolos fell like a tower
n the savage conflict. Prince Elephenor grabbed him by the foot,
he son of Chalkodon, captain of the great-hearted Abantes.° 460
He tried to drag him out from under the rain of weapons,
oping speedily to remove his armor, but his effort
id not last long. Big-hearted Agenor° saw Elephenor
ragging the corpse and he stabbed him with his spear
f bronze in the ribs where, as he stooped, his shield left
465
he flesh exposed. Elephenor’s limbs went loose
nd the breath-soul left his body, and over him Trojan
nd Achaean made grievous labor, leaping like wolves
pon one another, man grappling with man.
 Then Ajax the son of Telamon struck Anthemion’s son 470
imoesios, in the full bloom of youth. His mother bore him
n the banks of the SIMOEIS,° having come down from MOUNT IDA
fter following her parents there in order to look after the sheep.
or this reason they called him Simoesios. But he did not pay back
o his parents the trouble of his rearing. Short was his life
475
eneath the killing spear of great-hearted Ajax.
Ajax hit him as he strode through the foremost fighters,
n the chest beside his right nipple. The bronze spear
went straight through the shoulder and he fell to the ground in the dust,
ike a poplar that has grown up in the hollow of a great marsh, 480
with a smooth stem, except at the very top there are branches.
he chariot-maker has cut the poplar down with the gleaming
on so that he might make a wheel for his very beautiful car.
nd it lies drying beside the banks of a river. Even so
id Ajax, of the race of Zeus, kill Simoesios the son
485
f Anthemion.

Now Antipos, whose chest-protector gleamed,

son of Priam, threw his sharp spear into the crowd.
He missed Ajax, but hit Leukos, a noble companion
f Odysseus, in the groin as he tried to pull the corpse
f Simoesios to the side. Leukos fell on top and the corpse 490
ipped from his grasp.
 FIGURE 4.2 Greek against Greek. From three hundred or so years
after Homer, both men are armed as hoplites, but the warrior on the left is in
“heroic nudity,” except that he wears shinguards (greaves). The design on
the shield of the naked warrior is probably a tripod, a metal object of high
value. The warrior on the right wears bronze shinguards, a chest-protector
(cuirass), and a helmet with horse-hair crest. Both fighters use the single
thrusting spear. Athenian red-figure painting on a wine-cup from c. 450 BC.

Odysseus was very angered

ecause of his dead companion, and he strode forth
mong the foremost fighters, armed all in shining bronze.
He went up close and took his stand. Glancing
ll around him, he cast his bright spear. The Trojans 495
hrank back as Odysseus threw, and not in vain did it fly.
He hit the bastard son of Priam, Demokoön, who had come
 t Priam’s call from his farms of swift steeds at ABYDOS.°
Odysseus got him with his spear in the temple, angry
ecause of his companion. The bronze spear point came out 500
he other side and darkness covered his eyes.
He fell with a thud, his armor clanged.

Then the foremost

ghters and glorious Hector yielded ground, and the Argives
ave a great shout as they pulled away the corpses
nd advanced far further onward. Apollo was outraged,
505
ooking down from Pergamos,° and he called out with a shout:
Get going, you horse-taming Trojans! Don’t give ground
o the Argives! Their skin is not made of stone or iron
o withstand the flesh-slicing bronze when they are hit.
Besides, Achilles, the son of Thetis is not fighting 510
mong them, but he ripens his bitter rage beside the ships.”

So spoke from the city the terrible god. But the glorious
aughter of Zeus, Athena Tritogeneia,° went among
he crowd of Achaeans with shirts of bronze to urge them on,
whenever she saw a slacker. 515

Then fate caught Diores,

on of Amarynkeus, in its snare. A ragged stone
it his right ankle, thrown by a Thracian captain,
eiros, the son of Imbrasos who came from AINOS.°
he pitiless stone utterly smashed both the tendons
 nd bones. He fell backwards in the dust, spreading out 520
oth his hands towards his dear companions as he gasped
or breath. Then he who had struck him ran up, Peiros,
nd stabbed him by the navel with his spear. All his guts
an onto the ground and darkness covered his eyes.

But as Peiros sprang back, Thoas from AETOLIA hit him

525
with his spear in the chest above the nipple. The bronze was fixed
n the lung. Thoas moved in and he pulled out the heavy spear.
He drew his sharp sword and stabbed Peiros in the middle
f his belly. Peiros breathed out his breath-soul, but Thoas did
ot take the armor because Peiros’ top-knotted Thracian 530
ompanions stood with their long spears, and they drove him back
om them, though Thoas was large and strong and brave.
hoas was shaken, he retreated. Thus two corpses
were stretched in the dust next to each other, captains,
he one of them Thracian, the other a bronze-shirted Epeian.°
535

Many others died around them. From that point on

o one might make light of the work of war, even should
e move through the crowd unscathed by arrow or the thrust
om the cutting bronze, and Pallas Athena should be leading
im on, holding his hand, protecting him from the rush 540
f missiles. For many were the Trojans and Achaeans who on
hat day lay stretched out beside one another in the dust.

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Hebê: “Youth,” a child of Zeus and Hera and wife of Herakles after he
ascended to Olympos.
slyly: Zeus needs to get the fighting going again so that he can fulfill his
promise to Thetis.
Alalkomenian Athena: The obscure epithet seems to mean “defender.”
sons: Hera bases her complaint on the effort she and her horses expended in
gathering the Achaean host, now threatened by Zeus’s suggestion that they
make peace.
Antenor: One of the most prominent of the Trojan elders, an adviser to
Priam.
Aisepos: The Aisepos River is in the foothills of Mount Ida about 70 miles
east of Troy (Map 3).
wolf-god: The meaning of the Greek lukêgenês is uncertain, either deriving
from lukos “wolf” or from Lycia, a place near the Troad with which
Pandaros is associated (not the better known Lycia in southern Asia Minor).
Zeleia: Northeast of Troy (Map 6).
tip of gold: Homer seems to be describing a “composite bow” made from
horn, wooden staves, and sinew. The horn is inlaid on the inside of the
wooden staves and the sinew is laminated to the backside, making a weapon
with considerably more power than if just made of wood. The tip serves to
catch a loop in the end of the string attached to the other end of the bow.
Nomadic warriors and hunters on the plains of Asia seem to have invented
the mighty composite bow in the second millennium BC.
arrowhead: Ordinarily, weapons in Homer are made of bronze and
everyday implements are made of iron, but here the arrowhead is iron.
my Menelaos: Homer sometimes addresses his character directly, mostly
Menelaos (seven times) and Patroklos (eight times, all in Book 16), as if he
felt a special sympathy for the character.
line of defense: We cannot reconstruct exactly what Homer means by these
pieces of armament.
in the end he does: The first expression in Greek literature of the powerful
dogma that Zeus punishes wrongdoing in the end.
Argos: Agamemnon does not mean the city of Argos, which belongs to
Diomedes, but to the Peloponnesus in general.
Asklepios: In Homer Asklepios and his sons appear to be ordinary mortals,
but later Asklepios is of divine descent, the Greek god of medicine.
Trikê: In THESSALY.
Cheiron: Cheiron, “hand,” was the “most just of the Centaurs,” expert in
medicine and the other civilized arts. In later tradition he was Achilles’ tutor
too (see Figure 11.3).
ranks of men: The following section is called “The Tour of Inspection”
(Epipolesis), rather like Helen’s “View from the Wall” (Teichoskopia) of
Book 2 because it gives us information about the Achaean leaders. It is also
part of Homer’s scheme of delay as he puts off the fighting one more time.
spears: The two Ajaxes drive on their troops like a herdsman who, facing a
storm, drives on his flocks.
Bias: These are generic names that recur in the poem but refer to different
people. Curiously, Homer omits Antilochos, son of Nestor and important
later in the poem.
weaklings: The Athenians and Kephallenians are oddly paired. Athens is on
the southern mainland, whereas the Kephallenians come from the Ionian
Islands generally, including Ithaca, far to the west.
elders: In fact, Menestheus is not one of Agamemnon’s privileged dining
companions and is not included among the select diners in Book 2.
Kapaneus: Who died blasted by Zeus’s thunderbolt in the war of the Seven
Against Thebes when he climbed the wall and shouted that not even Zeus
could stop him.
bridges of war: Apparently referring to the open spaces between the groups
of combatants.
allies: In the background story of the Seven Against Thebes, Polynikes and
Eteokles were sons of Oedipus, who killed his father and married his own
mother. When Oedipus was driven from the throne, the sons agreed to rule
in alternate years, but after one year of rule Eteokles refused to turn over the
throne. Polynikes gathered allies in the Peloponessus to attack the city in
the war of the Seven Against Thebes, seven heroes meeting enemy heroes at
the seven gates of Thebes.
Asopos: South of Thebes.
them all: The story of Tydeus among the Kadmeians is paralleled by
Odysseus’ adventure among the Phaeacians (Odyssey Books 6–8): A
stranger appears before a court, challenges the host to various contests, and
shows them he is the better man. On Ithaca, too, Odysseus comes as a
stranger among many enemies and kills them all.
revered: It is no more clear why Agamemnon has criticized Diomedes than
why he criticized Odysseus.
Zeus: Sthenelos refers to the successful campaign of the Epigoni, “the
Descendants,” the sons of the Seven who fought and died at Thebes in the
first unsuccessful campaign. Homer is well informed about the Theban
cycle and a lost poem about the Theban war, the Thebaïd, may even have
been Homer’s composition.
Eris: “strife,” “contention.” According to later tradition, the goddess Eris
was not invited to the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, Achilles’ parents, but
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite were. So Eris rolled a golden apple across the
floor, saying it was for “the fairest” of the three goddesses. Paris was to
decide in the famous Judgment of Paris, briefly alluded to in Book 24 of the
Iliad. Paris chose Aphrodite, and Helen was his reward, so causing the
Trojan War.
Antilochos: First mentioned here, he is the son of Nestor and the first
Achaean to kill an enemy in the Iliad. He is an important fighter, oddly not
mentioned as one of the Pylian leaders in the list earlier given (Book 2). He
will play a major role in the chariot race of Book 23.
Abantes: From Euboea, the long island to the east of Athens, where
alphabetic writing was invented.
Agenor: The son of Antenor, the prominent Trojan elder and adviser to
Priam.
Simoeis: One of the two rivers on the Trojan plain (Map 3).
Abydos. On the Hellespont (Map 6).
Pergamos: The upper citadel, the acropolis, where Priam and his sons had
houses and Apollo had a temple.
Tritogeneia: Apparently “Triton-born,” or “Thrice-born,” but Athena has
nothing to do with the sea (Triton is a sea-god) and was not born several
times. Probably it is a non-Greek name applied for unknown reasons to
Athena.
Ainos: See Map 6.
Epeian: A tribal name designating the people who lived in Elis, in the
northwestern Peloponnesus, here referring to Diores.

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 BOOK 5. The Glory of
Diomedes

W ell then, Pallas Athena gave Diomedes, the son

f Tydeus, strength and boldness, so that he might
and out among all the Argives and so that he might win
igh praise. She lit on his helmet and shield
n unwearying fire, like the harvest star that shines
5
bove all others once it has bathed in Ocean.° Just such
flame did she kindle from his head and his shoulders,
nd she sent him into the thick of it where most men
were camped.

There was among the Trojans a certain

Dares, rich and blameless, a priest of Hephaistos.
10
He had two sons, Phegeus and Idaios, both of them
xperienced in every kind of battle. These two
eparated from the throng and went after Diomedes.
he two men drove their car, but Diomedes went on foot
n the ground. When they got near, advancing against
15
ach other, Phegeus threw his long-shadowed spear first.°
he point of the spear went over the left shoulder
f the son of Tydeus and did not hit him. Then the son
f Tydeus threw his bronze. Nor did the weapon fly
n vain from his hand, but struck Phegeus on the chest
 20
etween the nipples. He dropped him from the car.

Idaios sprang back and quit the very beautiful

hariot, not daring to stand over his dead brother.
Nor would he himself have escaped black fate,
xcept Hephaistos saved him. Hephaistos hid him
25
n night so that their aged father might not be ruined
y grief, but the son of magnificent Tydeus drove off the horses
nd gave them to his companions to take to the hollow ships.

When the big-hearted Trojans saw that one of the sons

f Dares had run off and the other was dead beside the car,
30
anic struck. But flashing-eyed Athena took mad Ares
y the hand and spoke to him: “Ares, Ares—
murderer of men, blood-stained stormer of walls,
ught we not now to leave the Trojans and the Achaeans
o fight?° Zeus can give glory to whichever side
35
e chooses. But let us withdraw and avoid the anger
f Zeus.”

So speaking, she led mad Ares from the battle.

he sat him down on the banks of the sandy SKAMANDROS.
he Danaäns turned the Trojans into flight. Each man
f the captains got his man. First the king of men, Agamemnon,
40
nocked down the leader of the Halizones, the great Odios,
who had turned to flee. The spear got him in the back
 etween the shoulders, and the shaft drove through his chest.
He fell with a thud and his armor clanged about him.

Now Idomeneus took down Phaistos, the son of Boros

45
he Maeonian, who had come from deep-soiled Tarnê.° Idomeneus,
amous for his spear, pierced him with the long shaft
s Phaistos mounted his car. Idomeneus struck his right
houlder and Phaistos tumbled from the car. Hateful darkness
ncompassed him. The followers of Idomeneus stripped the body.
50

Then Menelaos, the son of Atreus, hit the son of Strophios,

kamandrios, cunning in the hunt, with his sharp spear.
Artemis had taught Skamandrios how to strike down
ll the wild animals that the forest nurtures in the mountains.
But Artemis, who pours forth arrows, was no good to him then, 55
or was his archery of use in which he earlier excelled.
Menelaos, the son of Atreus, famous for his spear,
abbed him in the back with his spear as he ran away
efore him, right between the shoulders. He drove it through
o the other side. Skamandrios fell on his face
60
nd his armor clanged around him.

Next Meriones killed Phereklos,

he son of Harmonides the carpenter. Phereklos knew how
o make all kinds of delicate things with his hands,
or Pallas Athena loved him above all men. Phereklos
ad made the well-balanced ships for Alexandros,
 65
he beginning of harm, which became an evil for all the Trojans
nd for himself. For he did not know the oracles of the gods.
Meriones pursued Phereklos and when he got close
Meriones hit Phereklos in the right buttock. The spear
went through to the bladder beneath the bone. Phereklos groaned
70
nd fell to his knees and death concealed him.

Now Meges°
illed Pedaios, a son of Antenor. Although he was
bastard, the excellent Theano° raised him with care
s if he were her own child, to please her husband.
Meges, famous for his spear, came up close and struck
75
edaios with his sharp spear on the back of his head.
he bronze went straight through the teeth and cut off his tongue.
He fell in the dust, seizing the cold bronze with his teeth.

Eurypylos,° the son of Euaimon, then killed the good

Hypsenor, son of the brave Dolopion, who was 80
made priest of Skamandros. He was honored like a god
y the people. Eurypylos, the brilliant son of Euaimon,
ruck Hypsenor on the shoulder with his sword as that man
an before him, rushing from behind. Eurypylos cut off
he heavy arm. Blooded, the arm fell to the ground. A purple 85
eath came over Hypsenor’s eyes and overpowering fate
eized him.
 And so it went as they labored in the relentless
ontendings. As for the son of Tydeus, you could not say
which side he was on, whether he was the fellow of the Trojans
r the Achaeans. For he raged across the plain like a winter river 90
n flood that in its swift flow wears away the embankments.
he embankments, though tightly packed, cannot withstand
he water’s force, nor can the walls of the fruitful gardens
s it comes roaring along, when the rain of Zeus drives it on,
nd many are the handsome works of men brought to ruin— 95
ven so were the thick ranks of the Trojans driven in rout
y the son of Tydeus. The Trojans did not await him,
ven though they were many.

But when Pandaros, the good

on of Lykaon, saw Diomedes raging across the plain and driving
he Trojan ranks before him, he stretched the curved bow 100
nd aimed it at Diomedes. He hit him in the right shoulder
s he rushed onwards, on the plate of his bronze chest-protector.
he bitter arrow flew through the plate, it went straight
n its way, and the bronze chest-protector was drenched in blood.

Then the glorious son of Lykaon boasted over him: 105

Get up and go, you great-hearted Trojans, goaders
f horses! I have wounded the best of the Achaeans. I don’t
hink he can long endure the powerful shaft if in truth
he king, the son of Zeus, sent me forth when I came
rom Lycia.”° So Pandaros said, boasting. 110
 But the sharp arrow
id not subdue Diomedes. Pulling back, he took his stand
eside his horses and his car. He spoke to Sthenelos, the son
f Kapaneus: “Come down, son of Kapaneus, from the car
nd draw this arrow from my shoulder.” So he spoke, and Sthenelos
umped to the ground from the chariot. He stood beside him
115
nd drew the sharp arrow all the way through the shoulder.
he blood spurted up through the supple shirt.

Then Diomedes,
ood at the war cry, prayed: “Hear me, unwearied one,
he daughter of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish—
f ever with good thoughts you stood beside my dear father 120
n the fury of war, Athena, then now be kind
o me. Grant that I take my man, that he come
within the cast of my spear, whoever it was who hit
me on the sly and now boasts of his blow. He doesn’t
hink I shall long behold the sunlight.” 125

So Diomedes spoke
n prayer, and Athena heard him. She made his limbs
o be light, and his feet and hands too. Standing
ear him, she spoke words that went like arrows:
Have the courage to go up against the Trojans now!
For in your breast I have placed the strength of your father 130
who never turned aside, such as the horseman Tydeus had,
wielder of the shield. I have removed the mist from your eyes
hat lay upon them, so you can recognize who
a god and who a man. If any god comes here to make trial
f you, don’t attack the deathless being—unless it is the daughter 135
f Zeus, Aphrodite, who comes to the war—then stab
er with the sharp bronze!”

So speaking, flashing-eyed Athena

went away. The son of Tydeus went back and tangled with
he foremost fighters. Although before he was eager to fight
he Trojans, now three times the rage came upon him, like a lion
140
hat a shepherd guarding his wooly sheep in the field has wounded
s it leaped over the wall of the sheepfold, but he did not kill him.
he shepherd has roused the lion’s might and gives up his defense,
urking between the outbuildings, and the flock having no
rotection tries to flee. But the sheep are heaped in piles
145
ext to each other while the lion in his rage springs up
om the high-walled courtyard°—even with such fury did
he powerful Diomedes tangle with the Trojans.

To begin,
e killed Astynoös and Hypeiron, shepherd of the people.
The first he hit above the nipple, striking with the bronze spear.
150
he second he struck with his great sword on the collar bone
eside the shoulder, and he cut away the shoulder from
he neck and from the back. He let them go and went after
Agas and Polyeidos, sons of Eurydamas, the old man who
rophesied from dreams. But he interpreted no dreams for their
155
omecoming, for the powerful Diomedes killed them.
 Then he went after Xanthos and Thoön, both of them
ons of Phainops,° born late in his life. Now Phainops was worn
own by grievous old age and fathered no other sons
o make his heir. Diomedes killed the sons, he took
160
way their dear lives, both of them, and he left to the father
moaning and pain, for he did not receive them alive returning
om battle. The near of kin divided the inheritance.

Then he took two sons of Priam, a descendant

f Dardanos, in a single chariot, Echemmon and Chromios.
165
ust as a lion leaps among a herd of cattle and breaks
he neck of a calf as the herd grazes in a woodland
asture, even so did Diomedes drive the two of them
elter-skelter from their car, quite unwilling. Then he
ook their armor. He gave the horses to his companions
170
o take to the ships.

Aeneas saw Diomedes throwing into chaos

he ranks of men and went through the battle and the tumult
f spears looking for godlike Pandaros, to see
he could find him somewhere. At last he found him,
lameless and strong, and Aeneas stood before him and spoke: 175
Pandaros, where is your bow and your winged arrows
nd your fame? No man here dares compete with you
n this, nor does any one in Lycia boast that he
better than you. But come now, lifting your hands
o Zeus, fire an arrow at this man who is doing such
 180
iolence and ferocious harm to the Trojans. He has loosed
he knees of many noble young men. Maybe it is a god
ngered with the Trojans because of some sacrifice!
he wrath of a god can be harsh.”

The fine son of Lykaon

hen answered him: “Aeneas, good counselor to the Trojans
185
who wear shirts of bronze, this man looks like the valiant son
f Tydeus to me. I can tell from his shield and his helmet
with its crest, and his horses. Of course I don’t know
it is a god. If this is the man I think, the valiant
Diomedes, it is not without some god’s help that he rages,
190
ut some one of the deathless ones who live on high Olympos
must stand near him, shoulders hidden in a cloud.
his god turned aside the sharp shaft as it made
s way to the mark, for I have already fired a shot. I hit him
n the right shoulder and the arrow went straight through
195
he plate of his bronze chest-protector. I thought that I had cast
im down to the house of Hades, but I did not subdue him.

“It must be some angry god! I have no horses

nd no car that I could mount, though in Lykaon’s halls
here are eleven brand-new chariots, just made. Cloths 200
over them. Beside each stands a yoke of horses
munching on white barley and wheat. The old spearman Lykaon
rdered me again and again before I set off to the war
om my well-built house—he commanded me to mount
orse and car and to lead the Trojans° through the bitter
 205
onflicts. But I wouldn’t listen. It would have been better
I had! I spared the horses. I was afraid that they
would lack feed in the midst of so many men
when they are used to eating their fill. So I left
hem and came to Troy on foot, trusting to my bow,
210
which was to do me no good at all.
“Already I have fired
t two captains, the son of Tydeus and the son of Atreus.
rom both I drew true blood when I hit them,
ut that only excited them the more. With bad luck I took
my curved bow from its peg on that day when I led
215
my Trojans to lovely Ilion, bearing pleasure to shining
Hector. If I return home and see with my own eyes the land
f my fathers and my wife and my high-roofed house,
may some utter stranger cut off my head if I do
ot smash this bow with my hands and cast
220
into the blazing fire! It is worthless to me,
ke the wind!”

Aeneas, a Trojan captain, answered:

Don’t talk like that. Things will be no different until
we go up against this Diomedes with horse and car
nd take him on in our armor. So come, get in my car
225
o that you might see what sort of horses are these
orses of Tros.° They know full well how to pursue
wiftly, and to retreat in any direction over the plain.
hey will carry us safely to the city, if Zeus again
rants glory to Diomedes, the son of Tydeus. But come,
230
ake the whip and the shining reins. I will descend
 om the car in order to fight him.° Or you can attack him,
nd I will care for the horses.”

The good son of Lykaon

hen answered: “Aeneas, you hold onto the reins yourself
nd keep control of your own horses. They will better pull
235
he car made of bent rods when they recognize who is holding
he reins, if we have to flee from the son of Tydeus.
am afraid that they may panic and run wild
nd be unwilling to bear us out of the war
ecause they miss your voice, and I fear that the son
240
f Tydeus might then waylay and kill us both
nd drive off the single-hoofed horses.° So you must
rive your own car and control your horses. I’ll take
Diomedes on with my sharp spear as he comes at me.”

So speaking they mounted into the ornate car.

245
agerly they turned the swift horses against the son
f Tydeus. Sthenelos, the fine son of Kapaneus, saw them,
nd at once he spoke to the good Diomedes with words
hat flew like arrows: “Diomedes, son of Tydeus, dear
o my heart, I see two powerful men eager to fight you,
250
men with boundless strength. One is Pandaros, a straight
hot with the bow. He boasts of being the son of Lykaon.
he other is Aeneas, who claims he is the son
f blameless Anchises, with Aphrodite for a mother.
But come, let us withdraw in the car. Don’t rage in this
255
way among the frontline troops or you may lose
 our life!”

Powerful Diomedes glowered beneath his

rows and said: “Don’t speak of flight! I don’t think you will
ersuade me. It is not in my blood to fight by running
way, nor to squat cringing. My strength is still steadfast.°
260
am not going to mount a car, but I will go against them
ust as I am. Pallas Athena will not let me be afraid.
As for these two, their swift horses will not carry them back
om us again, even if one or the other gets away.

“I’ll tell you something else, and please pay attention to 265
what I say. If wise-counseling Athena gives me the glory of killing
oth these men, then you hold back our swift horses
y wrapping their reins around the rail. And remember to rush
pon the horses of Aeneas and drive them from the Trojans to the
Achaeans with their fancy shinguards. For they are of the race 270
hat Zeus, whose voice reaches far, gave to Tros as recompense
or his son Ganymede. They are the best horses beneath
he dawn or sun. The king of men Anchises° stole from this line
when, unknown to Laomedon, he had them cover his mares.
From these were born a stock of six in Anchises’
275
alls. Four of these he raised himself at the stall,
nd he gave two to Aeneas, the deviser of rout.
we can capture these horses, we will gain a handsome
eputation.”
 So Diomedes spoke to Sthenelos just as
he Trojans came near, driving their swift horses. The good son
280
f Lykaon spoke to Diomedes first: “Son of lordly Tydeus,
alwart and wise, I guess my sharp arrow did not
nish you off, that bitter shaft! Now I will try to hit you
with my spear, to see if I can take you down!”

So Pandaros spoke. He balanced his long-shadowed spear

285
nd cast. He struck the son of Tydeus on his shield. The bronze
pear-point went straight through and reached the bronze
reast-plate. The good son of Lykaon shouted aloud over him:
Got you, right through the belly! You won’t last long!
You’ve given me great glory!”
290

Without fear powerful Diomedes

nswered: “But you missed the mark. You did not hit me.
don’t think that you two will be done before one or the other
luts Ares with his blood, the warrior-god who carries
he shield!”

So speaking, Diomedes cast. Athena

uided the missile onto Pandaros’ nose next to the eye 295
nd it pierced his white teeth. The unyielding bronze cut the tongue
ff at the root and the point came out beside the lower part
f the chin. Pandaros tumbled from the car. His armor
langed about him—bright, flashing—and the swift-footed
orses turned aside. His breath-soul and his strength
 300
were loosened.

Aeneas jumped down with shield and long spear,

earing that the Achaeans would snatch the corpse from him.
He hovered over Pandaros like a lion trusting in its might.
He held his spear and shield before him, well-balanced
nd round, impatient to kill whoever should come
305
gainst him, and he screamed terribly.

The son of Tydeus

icked up a boulder in his hand, a mighty deed,
stone that two men might carry such as mortals
re today, but he easily hefted it by himself.
With it he struck Aeneas on the hip where the thigh 310
one rotates on the hip bone—they call it the “cup.”
he stone smashed the cup, and it smashed the two tendons.
he jagged stone peeled away the skin. Then the warrior
Aeneas fell on his knees and he stayed there. He rested
is thick hand on the earth. Black night enclosed his eyes.
315

And now Aeneas, the king of men, would have died

the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, had not caught sight
f him—his mother, who bore him to Anchises when he was
erding cattle. Aphrodite placed her pale forearms
round her beloved son. She covered him with a fold 320
f her shining dress, spread before him as a protection
n case any Danaän with swift horses should throw the bronze
nto his chest and take away his breath-soul.
he then carried her beloved son out of the war.

But the son of Kapaneus, Sthenelos, did not forget 325

he agreements he had made with Diomedes, good at the war cry.
He held back his own single-hoofed horses from the fray,
ashing their reins to the rail. He ran up to the horses
f Aeneas with beautiful manes and drove them out
rom the Trojans to the Achaeans with fancy shinguards.
330
He gave them to Deïpylos to drive to the hollow ships,
is dear companion, whom he honored above all his age-mates
ecause they were likeminded. Then Sthenelos mounted
is own car and took the glinting reins. Swiftly
 FIGURE 5.1 The wounded Aeneas. The bare-breasted Aphrodite stands
to the left, her cloak around her head in a gesture typical of Roman gods.
The physician Machaon cuts the missile from Aeneas’ leg, who stands
stoically holding his spear, his sword at his side, dressed in a breastplate.
The boy would be his son, Ascanius (or Iulus), famous from Vergil’s Aeneid
(c. 19 BC). Other Trojan warriors stand in the background. Fresco from
Pompeii, first century AD.

e drove the horses with strong hooves, eagerly seeking 335

he son of Tydeus. But Diomedes had gone in pursuit
f Kypris° with his pitiless bronze, recognizing that she
was a god without strength, not one of those who dominate
n the war of men—no Pallas Athena, nor city-sacking Enyo!°
 When he came upon her, pursuing through the immense 340
rowd, he thrust with his sharp spear as he leaped upon her.
he son of great-souled Tydeus pierced the skin on Aphrodite’s
elicate hand. Immediately the spear went into the flesh,
assing through the deathless clothes that the Graces°
hemselves had made, injuring the wrist above
345
he palm. Immortal blood flowed from the goddess,
chor, which flows in the veins of the blessed gods.
or gods do not eat bread or drink the shining wine.
hus they are without blood and are called deathless.

With a loud cry Aphrodite let her son Aeneas 350

all from her. Phoibos Apollo took Aeneas in his arms
om a dark cloud so that no one of the Danaäns
with their fast horses might throw the bronze into his chest
nd kill him.

Over Aphrodite Diomedes, good at the war cry,

houted aloud: “Get out of here, daughter of Zeus, 355
eave this battle and the war! Isn’t it enough that you deceive
rengthless women? If you are going to enter into battle,
think you will shudder soon even to hear the word ‘war,’
ven should you hear it at a distance!”

So he spoke,
nd she left, beside herself and much distressed. 360
Wind-footed Iris took Aphrodite and brought her out
f the throng, wracked with pain. Her beautiful skin
urned black. She found mad Ares on the left of the battle,
tting down. He had leaned his spear against a cloud
nd his swift horses were there. 365

Falling on her knees, Aphrodite

ervently begged her dear brother for his horses with head-pieces°
f gold: “My beloved brother, save me! Give me your horses
o go to Olympos and the seat of the deathless ones. I am much
ained because of a wound that a mortal man has given me,
he son of Tydeus, who now would fight even with father Zeus.” 370

So she spoke, and Ares gave her the horses

with golden head-pieces. She got in the car, much distraught
t heart. Iris got in beside her and took the reins
n her hands. She lashed the horses to drive them on.
he two sped onward. Quickly they arrived at steep
Olympos, the seat of the gods. There wind-footed Iris 375
ayed the horses and set them free from the car
nd cast before them immortal food.

But divine
Aphrodite threw herself on the knees of her mother Dionê,°
who held her daughter close and stroked her with her hand.
380
hen Dionê said: “Dear child, who of the heavenly ones
as foolishly done this to you, as if you were doing something
 vil in full view?”

Laughter-loving Aphrodite answered her:

The bold Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, has wounded me,
ecause I rescued my own beloved son from the war,
385
Aeneas, who of all people is by far the most dear to me.
he dread battle is no longer between Trojans and Achaeans,
ut now the Danaäns fight against the deathless ones.”

Then Dionê, the great goddess, answered her:

Endure, my child, and hold up for all your suffering. Many 390
f those who live on Olympos, in bringing dire pain
o one another, have suffered from men. Ares suffered
when mighty Otos and Ephialtes, the sons of Aloeus,
ound him in powerful bonds.° He lay tied up in a bronze
ar for thirteen months. And Ares, insatiate for war, 395
would have died if their very beautiful stepmother
ëriboia° had not told Hermes, who stole away Ares,
lready much worn down, for the harsh bonds had overcome him.
Hera suffered when Herakles, the powerful son of Amphitryon,
wounded her in the right breast with a three-barbed arrow. 400
ncurable pain overcame her. Monstrous Hades
oo suffered the sharp arrow when that same man,
Herakles, the son of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, hit Hades
n PYLOS among the dead and gave him over to pain.°
Hades went to the house of Zeus and to high Olympos, 405
amenting in his heart and pierced with pains, for the arrow
ad fixed in his strong shoulder and distressed his spirit.
aiëon° applied a pain-killing poultice and healed him—
or Hades was not made to die. Scoundrel, doer of violence!
Herakles cared not if he did evil! With his arrows he caused pain
410
o the gods who possess Olympos.
“Now flashing-eyed Athena
as set this man upon you—the fool! Diomedes
nows not in his heart that he who goes up against
he gods does not last. His children do not call him
papa’ as they hover about his knees when he returns 415
om the war and the dread battleground. For all that
Diomedes is mighty, let him take care that he not go up
gainst someone stronger than you, or for sure the wise
Aigialeia, daughter of Adrestus, will wake from sleep.
he will rouse with her wailing all those in her house,
420
rying for her wedded husband, the best of the Achaeans—
ven she, the strong wife of Diomedes, tamer of horses.”
o Dionê spoke and with both her hands she wiped away
he ichor. The arm was healed and the pains were lessened.

When Athena and Hera saw Aphrodite, they thought 425

o irritate Zeus, the son of Kronos, with mocking words.
he flashing-eyed goddess Athena began to speak among them:
Father Zeus, I wonder if what I will say will make you angry?
seems to me that Kypris has been urging someone of the Achaean
women to follow after the Trojans,° a people she loves so much
… 430
nd while stroking a certain one of the Achaean women,
who wear fine gowns, she has scratched her delicate hand
gainst a golden brooch!”
 So Athena spoke. The father
f men and gods smiled. He called to golden
Aphrodite and said: “The works of war are not
435
or you, my child. Follow after the lovely works
f marriage. Let all these other things be the concern
f swift Ares and Athena.”°

And so they conversed with one

nother, but Diomedes good at the war cry leaped on Aeneas,
hough realizing that Apollo himself held his two arms 440
ver Aeneas. But Diomedes had no regard
or the great god. He was eager to kill Aeneas
nd to strip off his famous armor. Three times he leaped
n him, desiring to kill him—three times Apollo
eat back his shining shield. But when for a fourth time 445
Diomedes rushed on him like a god, Apollo,
who works from a long way off, said, shouting
erribly: “Only think, son of Tydeus, and withdraw!
Don’t wish to be like the gods. The races of immortal
ods and men who walk the earth are not the same.” 450

So he spoke, and the son of Tydeus withdrew a little

ackward, avoiding the anger of Apollo, who strikes from afar.
Apollo set Aeneas apart from the crowd in sacred
ergamos, where his temple was built. Leto and Artemis,
who showers arrows, healed him in the great sanctuary, 455
nd they glorified him. But Apollo of the silver bow made
phantom of Aeneas, just like Aeneas himself and wearing
he same armor. Around that image the Trojans and the
ood Achaeans struck their shields made of bull’s hide,
which protected their breasts, both rounded shields and long ones 460
with feathers attached.°

Then Phoibos Apollo spoke to

mad Ares: “Ares, Ares, murderer of men, blood-stained
ormer of walls—will you not go into the battle
nd withdraw this man, Tydeus’ son, who now
would fight even with Father Zeus? First in a close fight
465
e wounded Kypris on the hand at the wrist, and then he
eaped on me as if he were a god!”

So speaking he sat down

t the top of Pergamos while deadly Ares went among
he ranks of the Trojans and urged them on. He took on
he likeness of Akamas, the swift leader of the Thracians. 470
He urged on the sons of Priam: “O sons of Zeus-nurtured
King Priam, how long will you let your people
e slaughtered by the Achaeans? Are you waiting
ntil the fight is at the foot of the finely crafted gates?
A man lies here whom we honor as we honor good Hector,
475
Aeneas, the son of generous-hearted Anchises. But come,
et us save our fine comrade from the fight!” So speaking
e roused up the strength and spirit in each man.

Then Sarpedon° sternly reproved good Hector:

 Hector, where has that strength gone that once you had? 480
You said that without armies and allies you would hold the city
lone with your brothers-in-law and your brothers. But of these
am unable to see or note anyone! They cower like dogs
round a lion.° We do the fighting, who are but allies
mong you. I myself come as an ally from very far off. 485
or LYCIA is far, along the eddying XANTHOS,° where I left
my beloved wife and my infant son and my many
ossessions, which anyone who lacks will covet. Still I urge
n the Lycians and I long myself to fight my man,
lthough there is nothing here of mine that the Achaeans 490
wish to drive off or take. Yet there you stand!
You do not urge your people to hold their ground
r defend their wives. Beware you do not become a prey
nd a spoil to your enemies as if caught in the meshes
f a net that ensnares all! They soon will sack your well-
populated 495
ity. These cares should weigh on you day and night.
You should beseech the captains of your far-famed allies
o hold their ground without flinching, and so put aside
ll strong criticism of your command.”

So spoke Sarpedon
nd his words stung Hector to the heart. At once Hector leaped 500
om the chariot in full armor to the ground. Brandishing his two
harp spears, he went everywhere through the army, urging
he Trojans to fight. He roused the dread din of battle.
hey rallied and took their stand opposite the Achaeans.
 The Argives waited for them in gangs, they did 505
ot flee. Even as the wind carries the sacred chaff across
he threshing floor and the men as they winnow, which light-haired
Demeter separates with a driving wind, the grain from the chaff,
nd the chaff grows white in piles—even so were the Achaeans
whitened in the upper part of their bodies with dust that 510
he hooves of the horses kicked up between them to the
ronze-colored heaven, as again they contended in war.°

The charioteers wheeled around. They bore straight forward

he strength of their hands. Mad Ares covered the battle
with the veil of night to help out the Trojans. He went 515
verywhere. Thus he accomplished the command of Phoibos Apollo,
e of the golden sword,° who urged Ares to enliven
he spirit of the Trojans when he saw that Pallas Athena
ad left the field of battle, who had been helping the Danaäns.

Apollo himself sent forth Aeneas from his very rich sanctuary, 520
nd Apollo put courage in the breast of the shepherd of the people.
Aeneas° took his place among the companions. They rejoiced when
hey saw him coming back alive and whole and with an abundant
ourage. They asked no questions. Another sort of labor
revented them that he of the silver bow roused up, and Ares 525
he destroyer of men, and Eris who rages without end.

On the other side, the two Ajaxes and Odysseus and Diomedes
 irred the Danaäns to the fight. They did not fear the ferocity
f the Trojans, nor their pursuit, but they held their ground,
ike clouds that the son of Kronos in quiet weather has placed 530
motionless on the tops of mountains at a time when North Wind
asleep, and the other violent winds that blow and scatter
he shadowy clouds with their shrill blasts—even so
he Danaäns held their ground and did not flee.

Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, went through the crowd 535

iving many orders: “My friends, be men! Show a strong heart!
Have shame before one another in the ferocious battle.
Of men with shame, more are saved than perish. Of those
who flee, there is no fame, no use.”

He spoke
nd Agamemnon quickly hurled his spear. He hit
540
leading fighter, a companion to Aeneas, Deïkoön,
on of Pergasos, whom the Trojans honored like the sons
f Priam. He was eager to fight among the foremost.
King Agamemnon struck him on the shield with his spear.
The shield did not stop the spear but the bronze passed 545
raight through. He drove it through the belt into
he lower belly. Deïkoön fell with a loud thud
nd his armor clanged around him.

Then Aeneas killed two

f the best men of the Danaäns, the sons of Diokles, Krethon
 nd Orsilochos, whose father dwelled in well-built Phemê, 550
ch in substance. He came from the line of the river
ALPHEUS, which passes through the land of Pylos,° broad
n its flow. Alpheus bore Ortilochos as a king ruling many.
Ortilochos bore Diokles, great of heart, and from Diokles
ame the twin sons, Krethon and Orsilochos, experienced
555
n every kind of battle. When the two came of age, they followed
he Argives on the black ships to Ilion with its fine horses,
o bring honor to Agamemnon and Menelaos, the sons of Atreus.
here the end of death concealed them. Like two lions on the peak
f a mountain who are raised by their mother in the thickets
560
f a deep forest—they snatch cattle and fine sheep and make havoc
f the farms of men until they are killed at the hands
f men wielding sharpened bronze—even so did these two
men fall at the hands of Aeneas, like fir trees.

As they fell
Menelaos, beloved of Ares, took pity on them. He stalked
565
hrough the foremost fighters decked out in splendid
ronze, shaking his spear. Ares roused up the bravado
f Menelaos, thinking he would fall to Aeneas. Antilochos,
he son of Nestor, saw Menelaos, and he stalked
hrough the forefighters. He feared greatly for Menelaos, 570
hat something should happened to him and all their effort
e for nothing. Menelaos and Aeneas held out their hands
nd their sharp spears against one another, eager to do battle,
when Antilochos stood close to the shepherd of the people.
Aeneas backed off, though he was a swift warrior, when he saw 575
hat two men were holding their ground, side by side.
 So Menelaos and Antilochos dragged the corpses
o the Achaean side. They placed the luckless two men in the hands
f their companions, then themselves turned back to fight
n the forefront. The two of them killed Pylaimenes,°
580
he equal to Ares, leader of the great-hearted Paphlagonian
hield-men. Menelaos, Atreus’ son, famous for his spear,
hrust at Pylaimenes as he stood, hitting him in the collarbone.
Antilochos hit Mydon, Aeneas’ charioteer, the noble
on of Atymnios, as he was turning the single-hoofed
585
orses. He hit him with a stone smack on his elbow.
he reins, white with ivory, dropped from his hands
o the ground in the dust. Then Antilochos jumped on the car
nd drove his sword into Mydon’s temple. Gasping
or air, Mydon fell from the well-built car headlong
590
n the dust on his forehead and shoulders. He stood propped
here for a long time, for he had fallen into deep
and. Finally the horses kicked him and he fell
o the ground in the dirt. Antilochos drove the horses
nto the army of the Achaeans. 595

Hector saw them

hrough the ranks. He rushed on them, screaming.
he strong battalions of the Trojans followed, Ares
n the lead and revered Enyo, who brought with her
Kydoimos,° shameless in carnage. Ares wielded in his hands
n enormous spear, going now before, now behind Hector.
600
Diomedes good at the war cry shivered when he saw him.
 As when a man crossing a vast plain stands helpless
t the edge of a swift-flowing river, flowing to the sea,
nd he sees it seethe with foam and he starts back,
o did Diomedes draw back, and he spoke to his people:
605
My friends, how we marveled at the good Hector
or being a spearman and a brave fighter! Ever by
is side is one of the gods, who wards off ruin. And now
Ares is at his side in the form of a mortal man.°
Let’s back off, keeping our faces to the Trojans. 610
Don’t take on the gods in your rage!”

So he spoke as
he Trojans closed in. Hector killed two men experienced
n war, in a single car, Menesthes and Anchialos. As they
went down, the great Telamonian Ajax took pity
n them. He went up close and cast his shining 615
pear, and he struck Amphios the son of Selagos,
who lived in Paisos,° rich in possessions, rich
n wheat land. But his fate led him to come to the aid
f Priam and his sons.

Telamonian Ajax hit him

n the belt. The far-shadowed spear penetrated his
620
 FIGURE 5.2 Ares. On the handle of the famous François Vase, Ares
crouches on a stool. His name is written before him (“ARTEMIS” belongs
to the figure behind him). He is fully armed as a sixth-century BC hoplite
warrior: Shins and chest protected by bronze, he wears a helmet with horse-
hair crest and kneels before his shield. He clings to his single thrusting
spear with its point downward. He seems to hold some kind of scepter in his
left hand, which he touches to his beard. His genitals are exposed in
accordance with conventions of “heroic nudity.” The extraordinary François
Vase, found in Italy, is covered with mythical images, some inspired by the
Iliad. Athenian black-figure wine-mixing bowl by Kleitias, c. 570 BC.

ower belly. He fell with a thump. The glorious Ajax

an up to strip the armor. The Trojans poured
heir spears on Ajax, sharp, gleaming. Many spears
ruck his shield. Ajax planted his heel on Amphios
 nd drew out the bronze spear, but he could not take
625
he handsome armor from Amphios’ shoulders because
missiles oppressed him. Ajax feared the powerful defense
f the Trojans, who opposed him in great numbers,
anding nobly, their spears aloft, driving Ajax back,
hough he was tall and strong and brave. Ajax reeled
630
nd retreated.

And so they labored in the savage strife.

ut a strong fate urged Tlepolemos,° the son of Herakles,
aliant and tall, to go against Sarpedon, like to a god.
When they came near to each other, the son and the grandson
f Zeus who gathers the clouds, Tlepolemos was first
635
o speak: “Sarpedon, adviser to the Lycians,
why do you skulk around, being a man with little
xperience of battle? They lie who say you are
son of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish,
or you are far inferior to those men who were begotten 640
f Zeus in the old days, among men of former times.
ut they say that mighty Herakles was a different kind of man,
my father, who never gave up, whose heart was like a lion.
Once he came here because of the horses of Laomedon
with only six ships and fewer men. He sacked 645
he city of Ilion, he emptied the street.° But you have
he heart of a coward. Your people are dying. I don’t think
our coming here from Lycia will prove a defense for
he Trojans, not even if you are very strong, but overcome
y my hand you shall pass the gates of Hades!”
650
 Sarpedon,
aptain of the Lycians, answered him back: “Tlepolemos,
uly Herakles destroyed holy Ilion through the folly
f the good Laomedon, who insulted one who had done him
favor, and Laomedon did not relinquish the horses on account
f which Herakles had come from afar. As for you, I expect
655
hat my hands will fashion death and black fate. Conquered
y my spear you will be a boast for me, and your breath-soul
will belong to Hades, famous for his steeds!”

So spoke
arpedon. Tlepolemos raised his spear made of ash.
The long missiles sped at the same time from their hands.
660
arpedon’s hit Tlepolemos full on the neck and the terrible
oint went through. Dark night fell over his eyes.
ut Tlepolemos had hit Sarpedon on the left thigh with
is long spear. The point eagerly went through the flesh
nd grazed the bone, but his father Zeus warded
ff death. The good companions carried out Sarpedon, 665
ke a god, from the war. The long spear caused him much pain
s they dragged him along, for no one thought or noticed
n their haste to draw out the ashen spear from his thigh
o he could walk. They were having a lot of trouble
aking care of him. On the other side, the Achaeans dragged
670
he dead Tlepolemos from the fighting.

Odysseus saw
what was happening, and, having an enduring spirit,
is heart raged within. He wondered in his breast
nd in his spirit whether he should pursue Sarpedon,
he son of thunderous Zeus, or whether he should take 675
he lives of more Lycians. But it was not allotted
o big-hearted Odysseus to kill the mighty son of Zeus
with his sharp bronze, and so Athena turned
is mind to the numerous Lycians.

He killed Koiranos
nd Alastor and Chromios and Alkandros and Halios 680
nd Noëmon and Prytanis.° And the good Odysseus
would have killed more of the Lycians had not great Hector
f the sparkling helmet been quick to understand the situation.
He stalked through the foremost fighters, armed in shining
ronze, bringing terror to the Danaäns.
685

Sarpedon, the son of

eus, was cheered when Hector came up, and he spoke a
athetic word: “Son of Priam, don’t let me lie here a prey
o the Danaäns, but help me. May life leave me in your city,
ecause I can not return home to the dear land
f my fathers, to delight my own wife and my infant son.” 690

So Sarpedon spoke, but Hector of the sparkling helmet

id not answer him at all. He hastened past,
nxious to drive back the Argives as soon as possible,
o take the lives of many. His good companions
laced Sarpedon, like a god, beneath a most beautiful
695
ak of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish. Able Pelagon,
dear companion, forced the ashen spear out of
arpedon’s thigh. The breath-soul left his body, a mist
oured over his eyes. Then he revived, and the breath
700
f North Wind brought him back to life, blowing on him who
ad painfully breathed forth his spirit.°

The Argives
id not turn back to the black ships before the attack
f Ares and Hector armored in bronze, nor did they
old out in the fight, but always they edged backward
705
when they heard that Ares was with the Trojans. Well, then,
who first and who last did Hector, son of Priam,
nd brazen Ares kill? Teuthras, who was like a god,
nd then Orestes, driver of horses, and Trechos, the Aetolian
warrior, and Oinomaos and Helenos, son of Oinops,
710
nd Oresbios° with his flashing belly-protector, who lived
n Hylê where he took good care of his great wealth
n the edge of the Kephisian lake.° Nearby lived
ther Boeotians on a land that is exceedingly rich.

Now the goddess white-armed Hera saw the situation, 715

ow the Argives were being destroyed in the terrible combat.
ight away she spoke words to Athena that went like arrows:
Alas, O daughter of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish!
Unwearied one, I think that we spoke to no purpose when we
 romised Menelaos that he would sail home after sacking
720
ion … if we permit this ruinous Ares to rage in this way.
ut come let us two think of furious valor!”

So Hera spoke, and the flashing-eyed Athena, divine,

id not disobey her. Hera went back and forth harnessing
er horses with head-pieces of gold. Hebê quickly 725
tted the curved wheels to either side of the car.
he wheels were made of bronze with eight spokes,
nd the axle was made of iron. The rim was imperishable
old and on top of it were fitted tires of bronze, a marvel
o behold. The hubs were made of silver, spinning
730
round on either side. The body was woven
f gold and silver strips. Two rails ran around it.
he pole was made of silver and from its tip
Hebê bound a beautiful golden yoke and cast
n the yoke handsome breast-collars. Beneath the yoke
735
Hera led horses with lightning feet, eager
or strife and the cry of war.

But Athena, the daughter

f Zeus, let her soft embroidered gown fall
o her father’s floor. She herself had made it
with her own hands. She put on the shirt of Zeus
740
who gathers the clouds. She armed herself for tearful war.
Around her shoulders she cast the tasseled goatskin
etish, an object of terror, crowned by Rout, while
nside is Eris, inside is Valor, inside is freezing
Attack, and inside is the head of the dreadful
745
monster Gorgon, hideous and awful, a wonder
f Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish. On her head
Athena placed a helmet with ridges on either side and four
olden plates, fitted with foot soldiers of a hundred cities.°
he stepped into the flaming chariot. She took up the spear—
750
eavy, large, powerful!—with which she overcomes
he ranks of men, of warriors with whom she is angry,
he of the mighty father.

Swiftly Hera touched

he horses with the lash. The gates of heaven
roaned open. The Horai° keep them, to whom are
755
ntrusted the great heaven and Olympos, whether to throw
pen the thick cloud or whether to shut it up. There
hrough the gates they drove their horses, tolerant
f the goad.

They found the son of Kronos sitting apart

rom the other gods on the topmost peak of Olympos,
760
which has many ridges. Staying the horses,
he white-armed goddess Hera questioned Zeus,
he exalted son of Kronos: “Zeus, father,
on’t you resent Ares for his violent acts?
To my sorrow he has destroyed a great and good
765
rmy of the Achaeans, recklessly and not according
o the right order of things. In the meanwhile, Kypris
nd Apollo of the silver bow, free from care, take delight
n having sent down this mad god without respect for law.
Zeus, father, will you be angry if I give Ares a good cuffing
770
nd chase him from the battle?”

Zeus the cloud-gatherer

nswered: “Well then, rouse up Athena, the gatherer of loot.
’s her habit most to inflict on Ares intolerable pain.”

So he spoke, and the white-armed goddess

Hera did not disobey. She applied the lash.
775
he two horses, not unwilling, flew between
he earth and the starry heaven. As far as a man
an see into the misty distance, sitting on a place
f outlook and looking over the wine-dark sea,
ust so far did the high-whinnying horses leap in a
780
ngle bound. But when they came to Troy and the two
owing rivers, where the Simoeis and the Skamandros
oin their streams, there white-armed Hera stayed
he horses, loosing them from her car, and she
oured about them a thick mist. Simoeis sent up
785
mbrosia° for them to graze on.
 FIGURE 5.3 Spring. One of the four Horai or “hours, seasons,” Spring
is shown as a young woman picking flowers and holding a basket of
flowers. Her body is turned in the S-curve long favored by Greek sculptors.
Fresco from a Roman private house in Stabiae, Italy, c. AD 60.

The two goddesses

went like nervous pigeons in their walk,
nxious to help the Argive men. But when
hey came to where the most and best men stood,
rouched around powerful Diomedes tamer of horses— 790
ke lions who eat raw flesh, or wild boars,
ardly weaklings!—there white-armed Hera
ood and shouted in the likeness of greathearted Stentor.°
His voice was like bronze and so loud it was like fifty men
houting: “Shame on you Argives, a bitter reproach, 795
ood only to look at! So long as Achilles came into
he battle, the Trojans did not come forth before
he Dardanian Gate. They feared his powerful spear.
ut now they fight near the hollow ships far from the city.”

So speaking she excited the strength and spirits of every man.

800
he flashing-eyed goddess Athena leaped to the side
f Tydeus’ son. She found Diomedes beside his horses and his car,
ooling the wound he had received from the arrow of Pandaros.
he sweat poured beneath the strap of his round shield.
He was bothered by it and his arm grew tired. He raised up
805
he strap and wiped away the dark blood.

The goddess lay

old of the yoke of his horses and said: “Surely Tydeus
egot a son very little like himself! Tydeus was short
n stature, but a fighter. Once I would not let him
ight or shine forth, when he went alone as a messenger
810
o Thebes among the many Kadmeians. I urged
im to dine, to be cheerful in the halls, but having his strong
pirit, as of old, he challenged the youths of the Kadmeians
nd he easily defeated them. I was such a helper to him.
As for you, I stand at your side and protect you
815
nd I am glad to urge you to fight against the Trojans. But either
oo many assaults have drenched your limbs in weariness
r a spiritless fear possesses you. You are no son of Tydeus,
he wise son of Oeneus!”
 The mighty Diomedes
nswered her in this way: “I know who you are, 820
oddess, daughter of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish.
And so I will happily tell you my thoughts and I will not
onceal it. No spiritless fear possesses me, nor any
nwillingness to engage. But I am always mindful
f the instructions that you laid upon me. I am not to fight 825
ace to face with the blessed gods, unless the daughter
f Zeus, Aphrodite, should come into the battle—
er I should wound with the sharp bronze! For this reason
have withdrawn from the fighting and urged the other Argives
o assemble. For I see that Ares is lording it over the battlefield.”°
830

Then the flashing-eyed goddess Athena answered him:

My Diomedes, son of Tydeus, darling to my heart,
on’t be afraid of Ares nor any other of the deathless ones,
o powerful a helper to you am I going to be.
o come, turn your single-hoofed horses right away
835
gainst Ares. Fight him in the hand-to-hand!
Have no respect for this great mad Ares—this raving one,
his evil made to order, this good for nothing. Just now
e was telling me and Hera that he was going to fight against
he Trojans and give aid to the Argives, but as it is 840
e’s mingling with the Trojans, and the others are forgotten.”

So speaking, she drew back Sthenelos with her hand

 nd shoved him from his car to the ground. Speedily he jumped!
he got in the car next to good Diomedes, a goddess
nxious for battle. The great axle, made of oak, groaned 845
eneath the burden, for it carried a goddess and the best
f men. Pallas Athena took up the lash and the reins
nd right away she headed the horses toward Ares.

He was just then stripping the armor from the huge Periphas,
y far the best of the Aetolians, the fine son of Ochesios.
850
Ares, dripping with blood, was stripping the corpse,
ut Athena put on the cap of Hades so that powerful
Ares could not see her.

When the murderous Ares saw

he good Diomedes, he let huge Periphas lie where he was,
where Ares had killed him, setting free his breath-soul,
855
nd he headed straight for Diomedes, the tamer of horses.
When they came near, advancing against one another,
rst Ares stabbed over the yoke and the reins of Diomedes’
orses, eager with his bronze spear to take away
he other’s life. But the flashing-eyed goddess Athena
860
aught his spear in her hand and thrust it above the car,
making it fly away in vain. Next Diomedes, good at
he war cry, thrust at Ares with his bronze spear. Pallas
Athena sent it into his lower belly near the buckle
f the belly-protector. Diomedes wounded him and cut
865
he beautiful skin, then he pulled out the spear.
 Brazen Ares bellowed as much as nine thousand
r ten thousand men yell in battle when they join
n the contendings of Ares! A trembling took hold of
he Achaeans and Trojans, they were afraid, so loudly 870
id Ares roar, insatiate of war. Even as when a black
ir appears from the clouds after a heat wave,
when a blustery wind arises—even so the brazen
Ares appeared to Diomedes, son of Tydeus,
s he went together with the clouds into the broad sky.°
875

Soon he arrived at the seat of the gods, steep Olympos,

nd he sat down next to Zeus, the son of Kronos,
ained at heart. He showed him the immortal blood
unning down out of the wound, and with a wailing
e spoke words that went like arrows: “Zeus, father,
880
oesn’t it anger you to see these violent acts?
Always we gods suffer shivery things from the devices
f one another, whenever we show favor to men.
We are all at war with you! You gave birth to that insane
nd destructive daughter, always concerned with evil acts.
885
All the gods who are in Olympos obey you
nd are subject to you. But you pay no attention to her,
whether in word or in deed, but you encourage her—
ecause you yourself begot this destroying child!
Now she has set Diomedes, high of heart, 890
he son of Tydeus, to rage against the deathless gods.
irst he wounded Kypris in the close fight on the hand
ear the wrist, but then, like a god, he raged against
me myself! Luckily I was able to run away.
Otherwise I would have suffered pains there for a long time
895
midst the vile heaps of the dead, or I would have been alive,
ut without strength from the blows of the bronze.”°

Zeus answered him, glowering beneath his brows:

Ares, don’t sit beside me and whine, you good for nothing!
You are most hated to me of the gods who inhabit 900
Olympos. Always dear to you are strife and wars
nd battles. You have the mind of your mother
Hera, intolerable, unyielding! I can scarcely control
er with words. Therefore I think that you
re suffering these things because of her suggestions.
905
Nonetheless I will not let you continue to endure
hese agonies. You are of my blood. Your mother bore
ou to me. If you were born of any other god, destructive
s you are, then long before now you would be lower
han the Ouraniones!”°
910

Zeus spoke and he asked Paiëon

o heal Ares. Paiëon spread a poultice over the wound
nd healed him, for surely Ares was not made to be mortal.
ven as the juice of the wild fig quickly makes to grow
hick the white milk that is liquid, but soon curdles as a man
tirs it, even so swiftly did Paiëon heal mad Ares.
915
Hebê bathed him and placed lovely clothes upon him.
He sat beside Zeus, the son of Kronos, exulting
n his glory.
 Back to the house of great Zeus went
Argive Hera and Alalkomenian° Athena, having put
n end to man-killing Ares’ murderous rampage.
920

OceanofPDF.com
Ocean: The harvest star is Sirius, called in Book 20 “Orion’s dog.” Ocean
is the river that surrounds the earth. When Sirius is not visible, it is said to
bathe in Ocean.
first: Typically the weaker warrior casts first and fails, then is killed.
to fight: In Book 4, Ares had roused the Trojans, Athena the Achaeans.
Now Athena wants Ares off the field so that Diomedes can show his
brilliance. Ares, with typical dullness, complies.
… Tarnê: Idomeneus, from Knossos, kills Phaistos, the name of a rival
Cretan town! The location of Tarnê is unknown.
Meges: The leader of a contingent from the island of Doulichion, near
Ithaca (Book 2).
Theano: A priestess of Athena, as we later learn in Book 6.
Eurypylos: A leader from a town called Ormenion in Thessaly who came to
Troy with forty ships. He is mentioned eighteen times in the Iliad, so is an
important fighter.
… from Lycia: The “king” is Apollo, archer-god and sponsor of archers
such as Pandaros. This “Lycia” is northeast of Troy, not in the far southeast
where the major fighter Sarpedon comes from (as we will see).
courtyard: Pandaros is like the shepherd who wounds the lion, then is
overwhelmed by the enraged beast, except the lion’s strength is increased
by the wounding, whereas Diomedes receives his strength from Athena, not
the wound Pandaros has inflicted.
… Phainops: Homer has inherited a large store of names to use in
designating minor actors. Mostly these names do not reappear or, when they
do, refer to different minor characters.
Trojans: That is, his own people, the inhabitants from around Zeleia on the
slopes of Mount Ida northeast of Troy, who are called “Trojans.”
Tros: This divine breed of horses was begun by Aeneas’ ancestor Tros, to
whom Zeus gave horses in recompense for Zeus’s snatching of Tros’s son
Ganymede, a beautiful prince of the house of Troy.
fight him: That is, they will ride into the battle and Aeneas will dismount
when they are close to Diomedes. Chariots in Homer are ordinarily used as
transportation and not as fighting machines, no doubt reflecting actual
practice in Greece in Homer’s day. Chariots confer prestige and social
power on their owners.
single-hoofed: Apparently to distinguish them from the cloven hoofs of
cattle, sheep, and goats.
steadfast: Even though Diomedes has been wounded.
Anchises: Anchises, Aeneas’ father, was also descended from Tros through
his mother Themistê, a daughter of Ilos (a son of Tros). The breed of horses
was inherited by Laomedon, Themistê’s brother and the father of Priam.
Kypris: Another name for Aphrodite because she was born on Cyprus and
had a shrine at Paphos on Cyprus. For unknown reasons she is called
“Kypris” five times in this book and never again in the Iliad.
Enyo: A war-god, by this time identified with Ares; also called Enyalios.
Graces: In Greek they are the Charites, goddesses of feminine charm who
often accompany Aphrodite. In the Iliad Hephaistos is married to a singular
Charis, “grace.”
head-pieces: Decorations that fell over the horse’s brow.
Dionê: But according to the account in Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer,
Aphrodite was born from the foam that gathered around the severed genitals
of her father, Ouranos (Theogony 188 ff.). “Dionê” is the feminine form of
Zeus, “Mrs. Zeus.” She, not Hera, was the consort of Zeus at the oracular
shrine of Dodona in northwest Greece, referred to in the Odyssey (Map 2).
Presumably Dionê was a consort of Zeus before the Greeks came into the
Balkans, bringing Zeus and his consort with them. At this time, Hera, a
local mother-goddess replaced Dionê as the consort of the male storm-god.
There are many Near Eastern parallels: The Mesopotamian god of the sky
Anu had as consort a female counterpart, Antu, the feminine form of his
name.
powerful bonds: Iphimedeia was married to Aloeus but bore Poseidon twin
sons. They were of monstrous size, over 50 feet tall at age 9! In addition to
their attack on Ares, they threatened to pile the Thessalian mountains Ossa
on Olympos, then Pelion on Ossa so as to reach heaven and attack the gods.
Apollo killed them before they reached maturity.
Eëriboia: Eëriboia was the granddaughter of Hermes (her father was
Hermes' son, one Eurymachos) and the second wife of Aloeus, hence the
stepmother of the monstrous Otos and Ephialtes. It was she who informed
Hermes of Ares’ plight.
to pain: It is unknown why or under what circumstances Herakles shot Hera
in the breast. Herakles’ wounding of Hades in Pylos is equally obscure, as
well as the mention of Pylos (which could mean “in the gate” instead of the
settlement at Pylos—the gate of the realm of Hades?).
Paiëon: A healing god known from the Bronze Age syllabic Linear B
tablets; he appears only in this book and in Book 4 of the Odyssey. Paiëon
or Paian eventually became a title of Apollo as healer. A Paiëon (paean) is a
song to Apollo.
Trojans: That is, Helen.
Athena: This passage was to spawn a whole genre of ancient poetry,
especially Roman, where the lover insists that his battlefield is the bed, not
the field of war. The wounding of Aphrodite may enhance Diomedes’
prowess, but is humorous in showing off Aphrodite’s weakness against a
mortal’s violence. In spite of Dionê’s warning, Diomedes comes to no harm
through his attack on the gods. In fact nothing is known of the death of
Diomedes, son of Tydeus.
with feathers attached: They are fighting over a phantom, whereas the real
Aeneas is in the temple of Apollo. The meaning of the Greek in the
description of the shields is not, however, clear.
Sarpedon: Sarpedon, a son of Zeus and a woman named Laodamia, was
king of Lycia in ASIA MINOR.
lion: In fact two sons of Priam have recently been killed (lines 156–157).
Xanthos: Not the Lycia from where Pandaros comes, but in southwestern
Anatolia (Map 6).
in war: As the winnowers toss up the wheat and chaff with their winnowing
fans, the winds blow the pale chaff to one side where white heaps form.
This is like the white dust that covers the men, driven up by the horses’
hooves. As often in Homer, the simile evokes a peaceful scene against the
terror of war.
sword: An odd epithet for a god whose typical weapon is the bow. It recurs
only once (in Book 15) and is the name (Chrysaor) of the figure who,
traditionally, sprang from the severed head of Medusa, along with Pegasus.
Aeneas: We hear no more about the phantom image of Aeneas that Apollo
had earlier made to distract the Achaeans.
Alpheus … Pylos: See Map 2. The Alpheus was the largest river in the
Peloponnesus, linking the regions of Arcadia and Elis in the western
Peloponnesus.
Pylaimenes: But alive again in Book 13, “standing fast at the gate”!
Kydoimos: “uproar,” an allegorical figure.
mortal man: Athena gave Diomedes the power to tell the difference
between men and gods earlier in this book.
Paisos: Location unknown.
Tlepolemos: “enduring in war,” a leader of the Rhodians and a son of
Herakles. Herakles himself had sacked Troy in an earlier generation.
street: Troy was threatened by a sea-monster to whom Hesionê, a daughter
of Laomedon, was offered as a sacrifice. Herakles bargained to kill the
monster and free the girl in exchange for the divine horses that Zeus had
given to Tros. Herakles killed the monster, but Laomedon would not
surrender the horses, so Herakles returned with an army and destroyed the
city. He killed Laomedon and all his sons except Priam, who was
“ransomed” by Hesionê (“Priam” looks like it means “the ransomed one”).
… Prytanis: The name of Sarpedon may in fact be Lycian; the other names
are Greek and many recur, later applied to other minor characters. They are
mostly “speaking” names referring either to battle—Alastor, “eternal foe”;
Chromios, “thunderer”; Alkandros, “strong man”—or to social ranking—
Koiranos, “ruler”; Noëmon, “adviser”; Prytanis, “leader.” Halios is “the
man of the sea.”
his spirit: The next time around Sarpedon will not be so lucky (despite
Zeus’s temptation to save him), when Patroklos kills him in Book 16.
Teuthras … Oresbios: No name in this list of minor characters occurs again
in the poem.
Kephisian lake: The large Lake Copaïs in northern Boeotia.
hundred cities: Apparently emphasizing the helmet’s enormous size, but the
Greek is obscure.
Horai: The “hours” or “seasons,” a personification of time, here as the
gatekeepers of heaven. See Figure 5.3.
ambrosia: The word means “immortal,” a special food of the gods, but with
many other uses, here said to grow on the banks of the Simoeis and to feed
the divine horses.
Stentor: Although he was later proverbial (we say that someone speaks in a
“stentorian voice”), this character never again appears in the Iliad.
battlefield: But we’ve just been told that Diomedes withdrew from the
fighting in order to cool his wound!
sky: Ares’ rising into heaven is compared to a tornado which is black in
color and after descending rises rapidly into the sky. The scene of the
wounding of Ares is more slapstick. The gods behave like clownish
humans, provoking a laugh in Homer’s all-male audience of men who were
themselves warriors, who knew the dangers and rewards of battle.
bronze: The rather stupid Ares seems impossibly confused in his fears for
what might have happened to him.
Ouraniones: The “heavenly gods,” not here the Olympians but Kronos and
the other Titans, the children of Ouranos whom Zeus imprisoned in
underworld Tartaros, according to the story told in Hesiod’s Theogony.
Alalkomenian: A title meaning “defender.”

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 BOOK 6. Hector and
Andromachê Say Goodbye

To itself.
he dread strife between Trojans and Achaeans was left
The battle surged over the plain, now to this side,
ow that, as they aimed their bronze-tipped spears between
he SIMOEIS and the XANTHOS rivers.°

Big Ajax, the son

f Telamon, the bulwark of the Achaeans, first broke the ranks
5
f the Trojans. He set out a light of deliverance for his companions.
He hit a man who was chief among the Thracians, Akamas,°
son of Eüssoros, rough and tall. He hit him first
n the ridge of his helmet with its thick horsehair, then
e drove his spear into the forehead. It went through the bone,
10
he spear point of bronze. Darkness shut Akamas’ eyes.

Diomedes with a fearful war cry then killed AXYLOS,

he son of Teuthras, who lived in well-built ARISBÊ,°
man rich in the necessities for life, beloved of all.
He offered entertainment to all, living in a house
15
n the high road. Of all these there was not one to meet
he enemy and ward off hateful destruction. Diomedes
ook the breath-souls of the two of them, Axylos and
is aide Kalesios, who drove his car. The two of them passed
eneath the earth.
20

Then Euryalos° killed Dresos

nd Opheltios.° Then he went after Aisepos and Pedasos,
whom once the water nymph of Abarbarea bore
o the excellent Boukolion.° Boukolion was the son of the good
aomedon, his oldest born, but the mother bore him
n secret.° When Boukolion was herding his flocks, he slept
25
with the nymph. She conceived and bore twin sons.
rom both twins did the son of Mekisteus take away
he strength from their shining limbs. Then he stripped
he armor from their shoulders.

Polypoites, stalwart
n the fight, then killed Astyalos. Odysseus took down
30
idutês of PERKOTÊ with his bronze spear. Teucer
ook down the good Aretaon. Antilochos the son
f Nestor destroyed Ableros with his shining spear.
Agamemnon, the king of men, killed Elatos,
who lived on the banks of the fair-flowing Satnioeis, 35
n steep Pedasos. Leïtos the fighting man took
hylakos as he ran away. Eurypylos killed Melanthios.°

Menelaos good at the war cry then took Adrastos

live.° His two horses had run in terror over the plain
 fter becoming entangled in a tamarisk bush, breaking
40
he curved car at the end of the pole. They ran
o the city, where others fled in panic. Adrastos was thrown
om the car beside the wheel, in the dust, on his mouth.
here beside him stood Menelaos, the son of Atreus,
olding his far-shadowing spear. 45

Adrastos seized
is knees and begged him: “Take me alive, son of Atreus,
ake a worthy ransom. There are many treasures
n the house of my father, bronze and gold and iron
worked with great labor. From this my father would grant
ou boundless ransom, if he should learn that I 50
m alive at the ships of the Achaeans.”

So he spoke,
nd he tried to persuade the heart in Menelaos’ breast.
And in truth Menelaos was about to give him to his assistant
o take to the swift ships of the Achaeans, when Agamemnon came
p running and he spoke a word of reproof: “Hold on, Menelaos,
55
why do you care so much for these men? Have good things
ome to your house from the Trojans? Let none of them
scape complete destruction at our hands, not even
he man-child that the mother bears in her womb, let not
ven him escape. Let them all die in Ilion, unmourned
60
nd unnoticed!”
 So spoke the fighter, and he changed the mind
f his brother, saying what must be. Menelaos thrust away
he fighting man Adrastos with his hand. Lord Agamemnon
ruck him on the side and he fell backwards. The son
f Atreus put his foot on his chest and pulled out the spear 65
f ash.°

Nestor shouted aloud to the Argives, and called

o them: “My friends, fighting men of the Danaäns, servants
f Ares, let not anyone stay behind longing for spoil, so that
e might carry off the most to the ships. Let us kill men!
Then in peace you can strip the dead bodies of their armor.” 70

So speaking, he stirred the strength and spirit of each man.

hen the Achaeans, dear to Ares, would have driven the Trojans
ack to sacred Ilion, overcome by their weakness,
the son of Priam, Helenos, best of the bird-prophets,°
ad not come up to Aeneas and Hector. He stood 75
eside them and said: “Aeneas and Hector, because you
more than others must bear the labor of the Trojans
nd the Lycians°—for you are the best in every undertaking
n war and in the counsel … Well, hold your ground! Go back
nd forth before the army. Stop those before the gates
80
om falling in flight into the arms of their wives, a joy
o the enemy. And when you have aroused all our battalions,
we will stay here and fight the Danaäns, though we are
aving great difficulty. For necessity drives us on.
 “But Hector, you go into the city. Speak to your mother 85
nd mine. Tell your mother to gather together the aged wives
n the temple to flashing-eyed Athena on the acropolis of the city.
Have her open the doors of the sacred house with her key.
Have her then select the robe that seems most precious
nd largest in the house, one that she values above all others. 90
Have her place it on the knees of the goddess with the lovely hair.
romise her that you will sacrifice in her temple twelve cattle,
ne-year old, that have never been goaded,° if Athena
will pity the city and the wives of the Trojans and the little
hildren. Perhaps she will keep away from sacred Ilion the son 95
f Tydeus, that wild spearman, the powerful maker
f rout, whom I think has become the strongest of the Achaeans.
We never feared Achilles like this, the leader of men,
whom they say was begotten of a goddess.° This man
ages too much, but none can rival him in power.” 100

So he spoke, and Hector did not disobey his brother.

mmediately he leaped from the car to the ground in his armor,
nd shaking his two sharp spears he went everywhere
hroughout the army urging them to fight. He stirred
p the terrible din of battle. And so they rallied
105
nd took their stand facing the Achaeans. The Argives
ave ground, they stopped the slaughter. They thought that one
f the deathless ones had come from the starry heaven
o assist the Trojans and that’s why the Trojans rallied.

Hector called out to the Trojans, shouting aloud:

 110
High-hearted Trojans, and allies famed from afar,
e men, my friends! Remember your brute valor!
must go into the city and tell the aged advisors
nd our wives that they should pray to the gods
nd promise sacrifice.”
115

So speaking, Hector of the flashing

elmet went off. The dark skin of his bossed oxhide
hield at either end struck his ankles and his neck,
he rim that ran around the outside.°

Glaukos,° the offspring

f Hippolochos, and Tydeus’ son came together in the space
etween the two armies, eager to fight. When they came 120
ear to one another, Diomedes, good at the war cry,
was first to speak: “Who are you, mighty one among
mortal men? I never saw you in the battle where men win glory
ntil this day.° But now you come out much ahead of the others
n your boldness, and you challenge my long-shadowed spear. 125
hey are the children of wretched men who face my power.
you are one of the deathless ones come down from the sky,
well, I would not fight with the heavenly gods.°
No, strong Lykourgos, the son of Dryas, did not last long,
e who contended with the deathless gods. He drove down 130
ver holy Mount Nysa° the nurses of raging Dionysos.
All together they let their wands° fall to the ground, struck
y the ox-goad of man-killing Lykourgos. Dionysos fled
nd was submerged under the wave of the sea. Thetis
 eceived him, terrified, in her lap, for a commanding fear 135
ad seized Dionysos from the threats of Lykourgos. The gods,
who live in ease, were then supremely angry with Lykourgos,
nd the son of Kronos made Lykourgos blind. He didn’t
ast long after that, for all the gods hated him.°

“No more do I want to fight with the blessed gods. 140

ut if you are a man who eats the fruit of the field, come closer
o that you might more quickly arrive at the bounds
f death.”

Glaukos, the son of Hippolochos, answered

im in this way: “Son of Tydeus, great of heart, why
o you ask about my lineage? As are the generations of leaves,
145
o are the generations of men. Some leaves the wind
lows to the ground, but the forest burgeons and puts forth
ew leaves when the season of spring comes. So it is
with the generations of men—one grows while the other withers
way. But if you really want to hear about these things,
150
o you will know my background—and many know it—
here is a city called Ephyra° in a corner of ARGOS,
which nourishes horses. That was the home of Sisyphos,°
he most clever of all men, Sisyphos, son of Aiolos.
He had a son whose name was Glaukos,° and Glaukos
155
was father to the good Bellerophon. To him the gods gave beauty
nd a lovely manliness. But King Proitos devised evil things
n his heart, and because Proitos was far the stronger he drove
ellerophon from the land of the Argives—Zeus had made them
 ubject to his rule. Now the fair Queen Anteia, Proitos’ wife, 160
went mad for Bellerophon, longing to mingle in secret love,
ut she could not persuade the wise-hearted Bellerophon,
who always wanted to do what was right. She lied to Proitos,
he king, saying: ‘Either die yourself, Proitos,
r kill Bellerophon, who wanted to mingle with me 165
n love, against my will.’°
“So she spoke. The king was angered
o hear this word. He was reluctant to kill Bellerophon,
or he had respect in his heart,° so he sent him to LYCIA.°
roitos gave Bellerophon ruinous signs scratched
n a folded tablet, many and deadly.° Proitos told Bellerophon 170
o show these to his wife’s father, so that he might be killed.
He went to Lycia under the blameless escort of the gods.
When he came to Lycia and the river XANTHOS, the king
f wide Lycia honored him with a ready heart.
For nine days the king entertained Bellerophon. He sacrificed 175
ine cattle. But when the tenth Dawn came, whose fingers
re of rose, then the king questioned Bellerophon. He asked
o see the tokens from his daughter’s husband, Proitos.
When he had received the evil tokens of his daughter’s husband,
irst he ordered Bellerophon to kill the invincible Chimaira.
180
he was of divine lineage, not of the race of men,
n the front a lion, in the back a snake, and in the middle
she-goat. She breathed the terrible strength of shining fire.
He killed her, trusting in the portents of the gods.° Second
e fought against the stalwart SOLYMI.° He said this was
185
he hardest fight of men he ever entered. Third, he killed
he Amazons, the equals of men. When he came back,
he king wove another clever deceit. He set an ambush,
 hoosing from broad Lycia the best men. They never
ame back home, for the blameless Bellerophon killed
190
hem all.°
“But when the king saw that Bellerophon
was the noble offspring of a god, he kept him there
nd he gave him his daughter.° The king gave Bellerophon

FIGURE 6.1 Bellerophon. Riding the winged horse Pegasos, wearing a

traveler’s hat, the hero prepares to stab the Chimaira (“she-goat”). A
monster with a snake’s tale, a goat’s head growing from its back, and a
lion’s body, the Chimaira is perhaps an invention of the Hittites, who
dominated central Anatolia around 1400–1180 BC, and later northern Syria
around 900 BC. Pegasos sprang from the blood of the Gorgon when Perseus
cut off her head, along with a mysterious Chrysaor, “he of the golden
 sword” (Apollo has this epithet in Book 5 of the Iliad). From the rim of an
Athenian red-figure epinetron (thigh-protector used by a woman when
weaving), c. 425–420 BC.

alf of all his royal honor, and the Lycians cut him
ut a territory better than all, a beautiful orchard 195
and and plowland, just for Bellerophon. The king’s daughter
ore three children to wise Bellerophon: Isandros
nd Hippolochos and Laodameia. Zeus the counselor
ept with Laodameia, who bore Sarpedon,
ike a god, armed in bronze.° But when even Bellerophon
200
ame to be hated of all the gods, he wandered
lone over the Aleian plain,° devouring his own soul,
voiding the paths of men. Ares, insatiate of war,
illed Isandros, his son, as he warred against the glorious
olymi. Artemis, whose chariot reins are golden, grew
205
ngry with Bellerophon’s daughter and killed her.
Hippolochos fathered me, and from him do I say
have come into being. He sent me to Troy
nd he laid on me a strict order: always to excel
nd to be superior to the others, and not to put to shame
210
he race of our fathers, who were by far the noblest
n Ephyra and in broad Lycia. Such is my background,
my bloodline, from which I am sprung.”

So he spoke, and Diomedes,

ood at the war cry, rejoiced. He planted his spear in the
much-nourishing earth. With gentle words he spoke to the
shepherd 215
f the people: “Glaukos, you are a guest-friend of my father’s
om long since! For Oeneus° once hosted the blameless
 ellerophon in his halls, entertaining him for twenty days.
hey gave beautiful friendship-tokens to one another.
Oeneus gave a belt shining with scarlet, Bellerophon
220
golden double cup which I left in my house when I came here.
do not remember Tydeus, since he left when I was just
boy, when the army of Achaeans was destroyed at Thebes.
o now I am a dear guest-friend to you when you
re in the midst of Argos, and you will be mine
225
when I arrive to the land of your people. Let us avoid
ne another’s spears even in the thick of battle. For there
re many Trojans for me to kill, and their far-famed
llies too, whomever a god will give me and my feet
o overtake. And there are many Achaeans for you to kill,
230
whomever you can. Let us now exchange armor
with one another so that these other men might know
hat we are guest-friends from the days of our fathers.”

So speaking, leaping from their chariots, they took each

ther’s hands and gave each other assurances. Then Zeus, 235
he son of Kronos, took away the good sense of Glaukos
who exchanged with Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, golden
rmor for bronze, the worth of a hundred oxen as against nine!°

When Hector came to the Scaean Gates and the oak tree,°
he wives and daughters of the Trojans ran up to him, asking
240
bout their sons and brothers and relatives and their husbands.
He urged them to pray to the gods, all of them and in order.
ut sorrow was fixed on many.
 When Hector came to the beautiful
ouse of Priam built with dressed stone porches—
n it were fifty chambers of polished stone built near
245
ne another, where the sons of Priam slept with their wedded
wives, and on the other side, just opposite inside the courtyard,
were twelve chambers of the daughters of Priam, roofed
n dressed stone built near one another, where the sons-in-law
f Priam slept with their chaste wives°—there his bountiful 250
mother came toward him accompanied by Laodikê, the most
eautiful of her daughters, and she clasped him by hand and spoke
o him and said his name: “My child, why have
ou left the fierce battle and come here? Surely the sons
f the Achaeans—a curse on their name!—are wearing you down 255
ghting around our city. Your heart has impelled you to come
ere to raise up your hands to Zeus from the summit
f the city? But let me pour some honey-sweet wine for you.
irst pour out some of it to Zeus and the other gods,
hen you yourself might have its benefit, if you will drink. 260
Wine increases the great strength in a tired man,
nd you have been exhausted defending your companions.”

Then great Hector, whose helmet sparkled, said:

Dear mother, do not bring me honey-sweet wine,
r you may sap the strength in my limbs and I
265
may forget my valor. And I am reluctant to pour
ut flaming wine to Zeus with unwashed hands,
or is it right to pray to Zeus of the dark cloud
pattered with blood and gore. But you go gather
 ogether the older women. Take offerings to be burned
270
o the temple of Athena who gathers the spoil. Select
he robe that seems most precious and largest in the house,
ne that you value above the others, and place it
n the knees of the goddess with the lovely hair.
romise that you will sacrifice in her temple twelve cattle, 275
ne-year old, that have never been goaded, if she
will pity the city and the wives of the Trojans and the little
hildren, in hope that she will hold off from sacred Ilion
he son of Tydeus, that wild spearman, the powerful
eviser of rout. So go to the temple of Athena 280
who gathers the loot while I go to see Paris
nd call him out, if he is willing to listen to me.
May the earth swallow him where he stands! The Olympian
as raised him to be a pain to the Trojans and to big-hearted
riam and his sons. If I should see that man going down 285
o the house of Hades, I would think that my heart
ad forgotten its joyless sorrow!”

So he spoke, and she,

oing toward the hall, called out to her attendants.
hey gathered together the older women throughout the city.
he herself went down into the fragrant storage-chamber 290
where were the finely wrought robes of Sidonian women,
which godlike Alexandros himself had brought from Sidon
when he sailed over the broad sea, on the trip when he abducted
well-born Helen.° Hekabê took one of them as a gift
o Athena, the most elaborately embroidered and largest, 295
nd it shone like a star. It lay at the bottom of the pile.
 hen she went her way and the many elderly ladies
urried after.

When they came to the temple of Athena

t the top of the city, Theano of the beautiful cheeks,
aughter of Kisseus, the wife of horse-taming Antenor, 300
pened the doors for them. The Trojans had made her
he priestess of Athena. With a cry they all raised their hands
o Athena. Theano took up the robe and placed it
n the knees of Athena who has fine tresses. With vows
he prayed to the daughter of great Zeus: “Revered Athena,
305
uardian of this city, divine goddess, break the spear
f Diomedes and cause that he fall down on his face in front
f the Scaean Gates so that we may sacrifice in your temple
welve cattle, one-year old, that have never been goaded,
f you will take pity on the city and the wives of the Trojans 310
nd the little children.” So she spoke in prayer, but Pallas
Athena rejected the request.°

Hector went to the beautiful

ouse of Alexandros, which he himself had built with
he best builders in deep-soiled Troy, who made
or Paris the chamber and the house and the hall
315
lose to Priam and Hector at the top of the city.°
here Hector came, the beloved of Zeus, and in
is hand he held a spear sixteen feet long. Before him
lazed the bronze point of the spear, and around it ran
ferrule of gold. 320
 Hector found Paris in the chamber
olishing his beautiful armor, his shield and chest-protector,
nd handling his curved bow. Argive Helen sat among
he women attendants and gave orders to her maids
bout the famed handicraft.

When he saw him, Hector

ebuked Paris with shaming words: “What has come over you? 325
is not right that you nourish this anger in your heart.°
he people perish in their fight around the city and
he high wall. It is on your account that the din and war burn
bout the city. You would quarrel with anyone you saw
olding back in the hateful war, so get up or soon 330
ou will see the city ablaze with consuming fire.”

Godlike Alexandros then answered him: “Hector,

ou reprove me rightfully, and not without good reason.
will tell you then: Please consider what I say,
nd hear me out. It is not so much because of anger 335
r indignation against the Trojans that I sit in my chamber.
ather, I want to give myself over to sorrow. Even now
my wife has tried to turn my mind with gentle words, urging
me to go to the battle, and this seems to me too
o be better. Why, victory shifts from man to man!
340
ut come now, just wait. I’ll put on my armor of war. Or go,
nd I will come after. And I do believe I’ll overtake you!”
o he spoke, but Hector of the sparkling helmet
aid nothing.

Then Helen addressed Hector with

oneyed words: “My brother—brother to a scheming, icy bitch!— 345
wish that on the day my mother first bore me an evil
wind had come along and carried me away to the mountains
r beneath the wave of the loud-resounding sea, where
he wave could snatch me away before any of these things
appened. But since the gods have made such horrible 350
hings come to pass, I wish that I could be the wife
f a better man, one that could feel the hostility of others
nd their many insults. This man here—his mind
not stable, nor will it ever be. Someday he will
eap the fruit, I think. But come now, come in, 355
t on this stool, my brother, for the trouble falls
most on your spirit because of me—a bitch!—
nd on account of the madness of Alexandros. Zeus
as placed a dark fate on us so we might be the subject
f song for men who come later.”°
360

Great Hector, whose helmet

parkles, answered her then: “Don’t make me sit, Helen,
hough you love me. You won’t persuade me. Already
my spirit urges me to defend the Trojans, who want me
ack among them. But you rouse this man to get going
y himself so that he overtakes me while I am still 365
n the city. Now I am going to go to my house to see
he servants and my dear wife and my little baby.
 or I do not know if I will again return, or whether the gods
will kill me at the hands of the Achaeans.”

So speaking, Hector
f the sparkling helmet went off. Quickly he arrived 370
t his house, a lovely place to live. He did not find
white-armed Andromachê in the halls, but she stood even then
y the wall with her child and her maid with the nice gown,
moaning and filled with sorrow.

Hector, when he saw

hat his beloved wife was not within, stopped on the threshold 375
s he went out, and he spoke to the women slaves:
Come now, women, tell me straight out: Where has
white-armed Andromachê gone from the hall? Has she gone
o the house of one of my sisters or one of my brother’s wives,
whose robes are fine, or has she gone to the house of Athena
380
where the other Trojan women with woven tresses are beseeching
he dread goddess?”

Then a harried attendant said:

Hector, since you strongly enjoin us to tell the truth,
he has not gone to the house of your sisters or of your
rothers’ wives, who wear nice robes, nor to the house 385
f Athena where the other Trojan women, with fine tresses,
eseech the dread goddess. She has gone to the great tower
f Ilion. She heard that the Trojans are hard pressed,
 FIGURE 6.2 Hector and Andromachê. Hector bids farewell to
Andromachê and Astyanax. Andromachê, seated in a fancy chair unlike in
Homer, wears earrings, a bracelet in the form of a serpent, and a necklace.
The boy, wearing an ankle bracelet in the form of a serpent and a headband,
stretches to touch his father’s helmet. A beardless Hector, naked from the
waist up, holds in his left hand a spear and shield. From a south Italian red-
figure wine-mixing bowl, c. 370–360 BC.

hat the power of the Achaeans is great. She went to the wall
n haste, like a mad woman. With her a nurse carries the child.” 390

So spoke the woman attendant. Hector hastened from

he house, back the same way through the well-built streets.
When he came to the Scaean Gates, passing through the great city
om which he was about to go forth onto the plain,
here his wife with the generous dowry came running to him, 395
Andromachê, the daughter of great-hearted Eëtion, who had lived
eneath wooded Plakos, in THEBES under Plakos, ruling over the men
f Cilicia.° It was Eëtion’s daughter that bronze-harnessed
Hector had to wife. She met him then, and with her
ame a maid holding the tender-hearted boy, just a little baby, 400
ke to a beautiful star, the beloved son of Hector.
Hector called him Skamandrios, but the others Astyanax,
ecause Hector alone protected Ilion.°

Hector smiled
when he glanced at his son in silence. Andromachê stood
eside him weeping. She clasped his hand and spoke
405
nd called him by name: “My darling, your strength will destroy you,
or do you take pity on your speechless babe and luckless me,
who will soon be a widow. For quickly the Achaeans will rush
pon you and kill you. For me it would be better to go
nder the earth if I lose you. Never will there be 410
omfort for me when you have met your fate, but only sorrow.
have no father and no revered mother. My father
Achilles killed when he sacked the city of the Cilicians,
igh-gated Thebes. He killed Eëtion, but he did
ot despoil him, for in his heart he respected him.
415
He burned Eëtion in his fancy armor, and he heaped
p a tomb. The nymphs of the mountains planted elm trees
ll around it, the daughters of Zeus who carries the goatskin
etish. I had seven brothers in my halls who went
 nto the house of Hades all in a single day.
420
he good Achilles, the fast runner, killed them all
s they tended their lumbering cattle and white-fleeced sheep.
As for my mother, who was queen in wooded Plakos,
hey brought her here with the other possessions. Quickly
Achilles took abundant ransom for her and let her go, 425
ut Artemis the archer shot her down in the house of her father.
“But Hector, you are my father and my revered mother
nd my brother. You are my strong husband. So come, have pity
nd stay here at the tower so that you do not make your son an orphan
nd your wife a widow. Station your army near the fig tree,° 430
where the approach to the city is easiest and the wall is vulnerable.
hree times the best fighters have come here and tested the wall,
hose who follow the two Ajaxes and famous Idomeneus
nd the two sons of Atreus and the brave son of Tydeus.
ome prophet told them about it, or their own spirit urges them 435
n and encourages them.”

Great Hector, whose helmet sparkled,

hen answered: “Yes, I am troubled about this, woman,
ut I feel a terrible shame before the Trojans and the Trojan
women with their trailing robes, if like a coward I skulk
part from the war. Nor does my spirit permit it, because
440
have learned always to be valiant and to fight with the foremost
ghters of the Trojans, winning fine fame for my father
nd for myself. For I know this well in my heart and in my soul:
he day will come when sacred Ilion will be destroyed
nd Priam and the people of Priam with his good spear of ash. 445
ut not so much does the grief of the Trojans in times
o come trouble me, nor of Hekabê herself, nor of King Priam,
or of my brothers, who though many and brave shall fall
n the dust at the hands of hostile men, as does
our grief when one of the bronze-shirted Achaeans shall lead
450
ou away in tears, taking away your day of freedom.
hen in Argos you will work your loom at another’s
ommand, and you will carry water from Messeïs or Hypereia,°
much unwilling, but a powerful necessity will compel you.
And someone will say who sees you weeping: ‘This 455
the wife of Hector, the best of the horse-taming Trojans
n war, in the days when they fought around Ilion.’
o will they say. To you will come fresh grief
n your lack of a man to ward off the day of slavery.
But let the heaped-up earth hide me, dead,
460
efore I hear your cry as they drag you away.”°

So speaking, shining Hector reached out his arms

o his son, but his son shrank back, crying, into the bosom
f the fair-belted nurse, amazed at the sight of his father,
nd fearful of the bronze and the horsehair crest, seeing 465
nodding terribly from the top of his father’s helmet.
he father laughed, and his august mother did too. Shining
Hector at once took the helmet from his head and he placed
gleaming on the ground. He kissed his dear son
nd held him in his arms, and he spoke in prayer to Zeus
470
nd the other gods: “Zeus and you other gods,
rant that this my son, like me, may prove to be outstanding
mong the Trojans, and great in strength, and that he might
ule Ilion with power. Then someday one might say
hat he is much better than his father, when he returns
 475
om war. May he possess the blood-stained spoils of a gallant
man he has killed, and may he gladden the heart of his mother.”

So speaking he placed his son in the arms of his dear wife.

he took him into her fragrant bosom, laughing through her tears.
eeing her, her husband was moved with pity. He stroked her 480
with his hand and spoke to her: “My darling Andromachê,
beg you, don’t grieve too much for me in your heart.
No man will cast me into the house of Hades beyond
my fate. I don’t think that any man can escape his fate,
either a coward nor a brave man, when once he is born. 485
Go home now and busy yourself with your own tasks,
he loom and the distaff,° and urge your attendants to do
heir work. War is for men, for all men but especially for me,
f all those who live in Ilion.”

So speaking shining Hector

ook up his helmet with the horsehair crest. His dear
490
wife went off home, continually turning around,
weeping warm tears. Soon she came to the well-peopled
ouse of man-killing Hector. She found there her many
ttendants. She roused among them all a wailing. They
amented Hector while still alive, in his own house, 495
or they did not think that he would again return from war,
eeing the strength and the hands of the Achaeans.
 Paris did not stay long in his high house. He put on
is glorious armor, worked in bronze. He hurried
hen through the city, trusting in his fleet feet, 500
s when a horse confined to a stable has fed his fill
f barley at the feeding trough, then breaks his bonds
nd runs stamping across the plain exulting—for he is accustomed
o bathe in the fair-flowing river. He holds his head high,
nd his mane streams around his shoulders. Trusting 505
n his splendor, his legs easily bear him to the haunts
nd pastures of mares—even so Paris the son of Priam
ame down from the summit of Pergamos brilliant in his armor,
ke the blazing sun, laughing out loud, and swiftly
is feet bore him on. 510

Quickly he overtook his brother

Hector just as he was about to turn from the place
where he conversed with his wife. Godlike Alexandros
was the first to speak, saying: “My friend, surely
my tardiness holds you back when you wish to rush out,
nd haven’t I come as you you commanded?”
515

Hector of the flashing helmet answered him:

You’re an odd fellow. No one who is of sound mind
ould disrespect the work you do in battle, for you
re brave. But you willfully hold back and do not care.
My heart is grieved in my breast when I hear shameful words 520
bout you from the Trojans, who because of you labor much.
“But let us go. We will make all this right in the time
o come, if Zeus will allow us to set up a bowl of freedom
o the heavenly gods that live forever, once we have driven
rom Troy the Achaeans with their fancy shinguards.” 525

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 Xanthos: “yellow-colored” is another name for the Skamandros River.
Akamas: An inconspicuous figure, but Ares assumed his form in Book 5.
Arisbê: Perhaps on the Dardanelles (Map 6).
Euryalos: His father Mekisteus was one of the Seven Against Thebes.
Euryalos was one of the Descendants (Epigoni) and third in command of
Diomedes’ contingent, according to the Catalog of Ships (Book 2).
…Opheltios: Dresos appears only here. Another Opheltios turns up on a list
of Hector’s victims in Book 11.
… Boukolion: Aisepos is the name of a river on Mount Ida (Book 2),
Pedasos the name of a nearby town (see line 36). Nothing further is known
of Abarbarea, a puzzling name. Boukolion is “cow-man.”
in secret: That is, he was illegitimate.
… Melanthios: Polypoites is a leader of the Lapith tribe from Thessaly,
prominent in Books 12 and 23. Leïtos is a Theban commander. Eurypylos is
from Thessaly, an important minor fighter referred to by name eighteen
times. The Trojan victims all have Greek names (except the odd Ableros).
–39 Adrestos alive: Adrestos is an all-purpose name; we never learn where
he is from or who his father was.
… ash: Only Trojans are taken prisoner in the Iliad, and they are invariably
killed, usually after a supplication.
bird-prophets: Helenos could tell the course of events by watching the
flight of birds. In the next book, he mysteriously knows the thoughts of the
gods.
Lycians: Helenos must mean the allies in general.
goaded: That is, they have never served as farm animals, pulling the plow.
goddess: The only time in the poem where the superiority of Achilles is
questioned.
outside: Homer seems to be talking about a Mycenaean “figure of eight”
shield, or a “tower” shield (see Figure 4.1), remembered in the oral
tradition, not the smaller round “buckler” shields that most Homeric
warriors carry. The “boss,” a knob or protuberance at the center of the
shield, belongs to the buckler type, so Homer has confused the two shields.
The body shield, suspended by a strap or telamon around the shoulder, went
out of use probably around 1200 BC.
Glaukos: Earlier mentioned only as Sarpedon’s second-in-command (Book
2).
until this day: Unlikely, unless Diomedes is insulting Glaukos.
heavenly gods: Diomedes seems to have lost his power to distinguish
between men and gods; the mist that Athena removed must again have
descended. Also, he does not mention that he has just fought against
Aphrodite and Ares!
Mount Nysa: There were many mountains with this name in the ancient
world, but probably here is meant a mountain in Thrace because Thetis
lived in an underwater cave between the islands of SAMOTHRACE and
IMBROS near THRACE (Book 24).
wands: These would be the thyrsi of the Maenads, the ecstatic followers of
Dionysos. Thrysi were phallic sticks entwined with ivy and surmounted by
a pine cone.
hated him: According to Sophocles (Antigone 955), Lykourgos was king of
the Edonians in Thrace, with which Dionysos had close associations (as
well as with PHRYGIA). References to Dionysos are few in Homer: once
more in the Iliad (Book 14), where his mother Semelê is the topic, and
twice in the Odyssey tangentially in connection with Thetis and Ariadnê.
The cult of Dionysos may be Mycenaean (his name appears on the Linear B
tablets), but Homer has little interest in this unheroic god. The myth of
Lykourgos is the oldest of the many myths of resistance to Dionysos that
were popular later in Greek history, especially in Euripides’ celebrated play
the Bacchae (405 BC).
Ephyra: An old name for CORINTH, where Bellerophon tamed Pegasos
(hence the flying horse was the symbol of Corinth on her coins).
Sisyphos: Punished in the underworld in the Odyssey (Book 11) for his
many crimes by being compelled to roll a boulder up hill, which would roll
back just as he neared the top.
Glaukos: The namesake and grandfather of the Glaukos who is speaking.
against my will: This is the folktale type called “Potiphar’s wife” after the
biblical story (c. 500 BC), of the Pharaoh’s general Potiphar, whose wife
tried unsuccessfully to seduce Joseph, then said he had raped her. It is the
oldest recorded folktale in the world, appearing in the much earlier
Egyptian “Story of the Two Brothers” from about 1200 BC. The Greeks
liked the story too: It is the subject of Euripides’ Hippolytos (c. 428 BC) in
which Theseus’ wife Phaidra falls in love with her stepson Hippolytos,
propositions him, then kills herself when she is turned down.
respect in his heart: That is, respect for the conventions of xenia, the
unwritten rules that govern hospitality: You do not kill a guest, and a guest
does not sleep with his host’s wife. The Trojan War was caused by Paris’
taking Helen from her home, a violation of xenia.
Lycia: In southwest ASIA MINOR (Map 6).
deadly: The only reference to writing in Homer. Tablets, recessed and
coated on the inner side with wax, were common in the ancient Near East
(but not EGYPT); one survives from a shipwreck c. 1400 BC. We cannot say
what Homer means by sêmata lugra, “ruinous signs,” but he does not refer
to alphabetic writing, which is never called sêmata, “signs.” Homer has
heard of writing but does not know what it is exactly. The signs here are
“deadly” because they mean “kill the bearer” or the like.
… gods: Such monsters of mixed type are otherwise unknown in Homer
(except perhaps the Centaurs). Homer curiously suppresses any mention of
Pegasos.
Solymi: A Lycian tribe (Map 6).
killed them all: This is similar to the ambush set against Tydeus when he
went up to THEBES (Book 4), a common folktale.
… daughter: So that Bellerophon is now the brother-in-law of Anteia, who
slandered him!
… bronze: Therefore, Glaukos is the nephew of Sarpedon, because his
father is Hippolochos, brother of Laodameia.
Aleian plain: The “plain of wandering,” a mythical place perhaps invented
for this story. According to other traditions, Bellerophon offended the gods
when he attempted to fly to heaven on Pegasos. He fell off and was killed.
Oeneus: “wine-man” is the grandfather of Diomedes, father of Tydeus, and
king of KALYDON in the southwestern portion of mainland Greece.
against nine: No commentator, ancient or modern, has been able to explain
this bizarre incident. In Book 8 Hector tells his horses that Nestor has a
shield of gold, but otherwise golden armor in unknown. Nothing is said
about the armor when the conversation begins, and golden armor is hardly
practical. Evidently the conventions of folktale, with its exaggerated,
improbable, and miraculous developments has for some reason influenced
Homer’s narrative, creating a break in the narrative as Hector goes into the
city.
oak tree: A landmark on the battlefield near the Scaean Gates, first
mentioned in Book 5 and several times later.
… wives: We cannot really get a picture of the layout of the palace from this
description, and it is hard to see how twelve chambers can face fifty in a
courtyard.
Helen: Evidently Paris was blown off course in returning to Troy and,
improbably, ended up in Phoenicia on the coast of the eastern
Mediterranean in modern-day Lebanon. Sidon was the most important of
the Phoenician ports. The Sidonians made a precious purple cloth. The
purple dye, the most valuable in the ancient world, was made from a
shellfish found there in abundance. Probably Phoinikes means in Greek the
“red-handed ones,” named from the dye; the term was never used by these
coastal dwelling Semites to describe themselves.
request: It is odd that the Trojans should pray to Athena when she is
resolutely on the Achaean side. The Trojans must not see it this way.
city: Homer appears to describe a late Bronze Age settlement, such as
Mycenae or Athens or Troy itself (that is, Troy VI or VIIa, whose ruins are
thought to be Homer’s Troy). Iron Age settlements, by contrast, never had
monumental secular structures.
heart: Hector must mean Paris’ anger at the Trojans for wanting to hand
him over to the Achaeans when the duel with Menelaos ended as it did.
come later: As here, in Homer’s Iliad.
of Cilicia: Eëtion is Andromachê’s father and mentioned several times. His
name is non-Greek. Achilles sacked nearby LYRNESSOS when he captured
Briseïs, and Thebes, when he captured Chryseïs after killing Eëtion and his
seven sons (Map 3). Andromachê had earlier married Hector and at the time
was safe in Troy. In the loot taken from Thebes is Achilles’ lyre, which he
plays in Book 9, and his horse Pedasos. Plakos seems to be a southern spur
of MOUNT IDA. These Cilicians are distinct from the Cilicians in southeast
Asia Minor—unless they migrated here. Similarly, Pandaros’ Lycians lived
in the Troad and are not the Lycians from southwest Asia Minor.
… Ilion: Skamandros is the main river of the Troad; the child must be
named after the river. He is called Skamandrios only here; elsewhere he is
always Astyanax, “defender of the city,” named for his father’s role.
Odysseus will throw Astyanax from the tower after the sack of Troy, as
Homer’s audience knew.
fig tree: The fig tree, like the oak tree, is one of the fixed points on the
Trojan plain, apparently near the walls but not near the Scaean Gates, as is
the oak.
Messeïs … Hypereia: Messeïs, “middle spring,” and Hypereia, “upper
spring,” are generic names that cannot be located specifically. According to
postHomeric tradition, after the sack of Troy Andromachê first became the
wife of Neoptolemos, the son of Achilles; then after Neoptolemos was
murdered at Delphi, she became the wife of Helenos, Hector’s brother, who
survived the war and migrated to northwest mainland Greece.
… away: Hector emphasizes the work at the loom and the fetching of water,
a slave’s duties, and omits the violent rape that awaits the women of the
city.
distaff: A distaff was a stick held beneath the arm, pressed to the woman’s
side, that held a mass of unspun wool at its tip. From this mass the
woolworker spun the thread. In genealogy, a family’s “distaff side” is the
female ancestry.

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 BOOK 7. The Duel Between
Hector and Ajax

Sndowith
saying, shining Hector rushed out of the gates,
him went his brother Alexandros. In
heir hearts both were eager to go to war, to fight.
As when a god sends a breeze to sailors who long
or it, who are tired driving the sea with their highly
5
olished oars of fir, and their limbs are exhausted,
o did the two of them appear to the Trojans,
who longed to see them.

Then Paris killed the son

f king Areithoös, Menesthios, who lived in Arnê,°
whom the maceman Areithoös fathered and Phylomedousa,
10
who had cow eyes. Hector struck Eïon with his sharp spear
n the neck beneath his helmet, made of fine bronze,
nd his limbs were loosened. Glaukos, the son of Hippolochos,
aptain of the Lycians, hit Iphinoös, the son of Dexios,
n the shoulder with his spear in the ferocious
15
onflict, as he was climbing into his car drawn by swift
orses. Iphinoös fell from his car, and his limbs
were loosened.
 When flashing-eyed Athena saw Trojans
illing Argives in the savage conflict, she descended from
he peaks of Olympos in a rush to sacred Ilion. Apollo rushed
20
o her when he saw her from Pergamos, for he wished victory
or the Trojans. They met one another beside the oak tree.
Apollo, the son of Zeus the king, addressed her first:
Why, O daughter of great Zeus, have you come so eager
rom Olympos? Why has your great spirit urged you on?
25
o that you can grant to the Danaäns the conquest that turns
he tide of battle? You have no pity for the Trojans
when they are destroyed! But if I can persuade you, this will be
much the better: Let us now cease from the war and the fighting
or this day. Later they will fight until they put an end
30
o Troy, since the utter destruction of this city is so dear
o you goddesses!”

The goddess flashing-eyed Athena answered

im: “So be it, you god who works from a long ways off.
With just this in mind I have come from Olympos into the midst
f the Trojans and Achaeans. But you want now to stop 35
he fighting of warriors?”

Apollo, the son of Zeus

he king, answered her as follows: “Let us rouse
he mighty strength of Hector, tamer of horses,
o that he challenges some one of the Danaäns to fight
ne-on-one in the dread combat. Then the Achaeans
40
with bronze shinguards, indignant, will rouse up someone
o fight good Hector, one-on-one.”

So he spoke,
nd flashing-eyed Athena did not disobey him. Helenos,
he son of Priam, put together the plan of the gods in his heart,
which had pleased them in council.° He went to Hector 45
nd stood beside him and he spoke to him this word:
Hector, son of Priam, like Zeus in council, listen
o me, for I am your brother. Let all the other
rojans sit down and all the Achaeans too. You
ourself challenge who is the best of the Achaeans to fight
50
ne-on-one in the dread contest. For it is not fated
hat you die and meet your doom. I have heard this from
he gods who last forever.”

So Helenos spoke. Hector

ejoiced greatly when he heard these words. Going
nto the center of the Trojans, he held back the battalions,
55
rasping his spear by the middle. All of them sat down,
nd Agamemnon made the Achaeans sit too.

Athena and Apollo

f the silver bow sat in the likeness of vultures at the top
f the oak tree of their father Zeus, who carries
he goatskin fetish, taking joy in the warriors, who sat 60
n close rows, as their shields and helmets and spears
himmered. Just as the ripple of West Wind, newly arisen,
 spread out over the sea, and the sea grows black
eneath it, even so were the ranks of the Achaeans and Trojans
n the plain.
65

Hector spoke, standing between the two

des: “Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans who wear
ancy shinguards, so that I may speak what the heart
n my breast bids me. The son of Kronos, who weighs
he balance on high, did not bring the oaths to completion,
ut with malicious intent decrees an evil time for both sides, 70
ntil either you take Troy with its well-built towers, or you
e destroyed beside your sea-faring ships.° With you are
he captains of all the Achaeans. Now let whoever’s heart
ids him fight against me come forth from all of you to be
champion against good Hector. Thus do I declare
75
my word. May Zeus be our witness. If that man should beat
me with his long-edged bronze, may he strip my armor
nd carry it to the hollow ships, but give back my body
o my home so that the Trojans and the wives of the Trojans
may give me the allotment of fire in death. If I conquer him, 80
nd Apollo grants me glory, I will strip his armor and carry it
o sacred Ilion. I will hang it up on the temple of Apollo
who strikes from a long way off. I will give up
he corpse to the Danaän ships so that the long-haired
Achaeans may bury him and heap up a barrow near the broad 85
HELLESPONT. Then one might say of the men who
re yet to be born, sailing on the sea, dark as wine,
n a ship with many oars: ‘This is the tomb of a man
who died a long time ago. Shining Hector once killed
im at the height of his power.’ So will someone say,
 90
nd my fame will never die.”

Thus Hector spoke.

All fell into silence, ashamed to refuse the challenge,
nd they feared to meet him. At last Menelaos stood up
nd spoke with reviling words, and deeply did he groan
n his heart: “Boasting braggarts, women of Achaea, 95
ot men!—this will be a loathsome, a dire humiliation,
no one of the Danaäns will go up against Hector.
ut become water and earth, all of you, sitting here!°
ach man with no heart, undeserving of fame! Well,
gainst this man I will myself take up arms. From on high 100
re the issues of victory, given by the immortal gods.”

So speaking he put on his beautiful armor. Then,

my Menelaos, would have appeared the end of your life
t the hands of Hector, because he was much the stronger,
ut right away the captains of the Achaeans leaped up and took 105
old of him. The wide-ruling Agamemnon himself
eized Menelaos’ right hand and spoke to him and called
is name:

“You are mad, god-reared Menelaos! You have

o need of this madness! Hold off, though you are aggrieved.
Don’t wish from rivalry to fight against a better man—Hector,
110
on of Priam. Others beside you abhor him. Even Achilles
hudders to meet this man in battle where men win glory,
nd he is much better than you. But go now and sit down
mong the tribe of your companions. The Achaeans will
ut up another champion against this man. Hector 115
may be fearless, insatiate of battle—still, I think
e will gladly bend his knee in exhaustion, if he can
scape the terrible battle and the dread conflict.”

So saying, Agamemnon persuaded the mind of

Menelaos, speaking what was right, and his brother obeyed him. 120
Gladly attendants took off the armor from his shoulders.
Nestor then stood up among the Argives and spoke: “Well, I think
hat a great sorrow has come on the land of the Achaeans!
he old man Peleus,° a driver of chariots, would groan
loud, the noble counselor and orator of the Myrmidons.
125
Once he questioned me in his own house, and he rejoiced
when I told him the lineage and birth of all the Argives.
he were to hear that all these now cower before Hector,
e would raise up his hands to the immortal gods and pray
hat his spirit leave his limbs and descend into the house 130
f Hades!
“O father Zeus and Athena and Apollo,
would that I were young as when beside the swift-flowing
Keladon the Pylians and the Arcadians, mad with the spear,
athered together to fight beside the walls of Pheia
n the banks of the Iardanos.° As the champion of the Arcadians, 135
reuthalion stood up, a man like a god, having the armor
n his shoulders of King Areithoös, the good Areithoös,°
whom men, and their wives with beautiful belts called
he ‘maceman’ because he fought not with bow and arrow,
 r with the long spear, but with an iron mace. 140
He broke the battalions. Lykourgos killed Areithoös
y a trick, not by might, in a narrow road where his iron
mace was useless to save Areithoös from destruction.°
ykurgos got to Areithoös first and pierced him through
he gut with a spear, and backward he fell on the earth. 145
ykurgos stripped the armor of Areithoös,
which brazen Ares had given him. This armor
ykurgos wore thereafter in the melée of Ares,
ut when Lykourgos grew old in his halls, he gave it
o dear Ereuthalion, his aide, to wear.
150
“Having
he armor of Lykurgos, Ereuthalion called out all
he best fighters, who trembled and were afraid,
nd no one dared. But my much-enduring heart
gged me on to fight him in my boldness, though I
was the youngest of all. And I fought Ereuthalion,
155
nd Athena gave me glory. Ereuthalion was the tallest
nd strongest man that I ever killed. As a sprawling hulk
e lay stretched out this way and that.
“I wish that I were
s you, and my strength were as firm. Then would Hector,
whose helmet sparkles, soon find he had a fight on his hands.
160
As for you who are the captains of all the Achaeans,
o one wants with a ready heart to take on this Hector.”

So the old man complained, and then nine men

ose up. First by far was the king of men Agamemnon
nd after him the mighty Diomedes, the son of Tydeus. 165
 hen the two Ajaxes, clothed in ferocious valor, then
domeneus and the companion of Idomeneus, Meriones,
he equal to Enyalios, the killer of men. Then Eurypylos,
he brilliant son of Euaimon. Then up sprang Thoas,
he son of Andraimon, and the good Odysseus. All 170
f them wanted to fight the able Hector.

Gerenian Nestor,
xpert with horses, spoke to them: “Now may you shake
he lot in turn, to see who wins. This man will profit
he Achaeans, who wear fancy shinguards and he will
aise his own spirit, if he escapes from ruinous war
175
nd the dread conflict.”

So he spoke, and each man put

is mark on a lot and threw it into the helmet of Agamemnon,
on of Atreus. The people prayed, they raised their
ands to the gods. Thus would one say, looking
nto the broad heaven: “Father Zeus, may Ajax win 180
he lot, or the son of Tydeus, or the king himself
om Mycenae rich in gold.”

So they spoke. Gerenian

Nestor, expert in horses, shook the helmet and out
om the helmet sprang the lot of Ajax, just what everybody
wanted. A herald carried the lot everywhere through
185
he crowd, from left to right, showing it to all the captains
f the Achaeans, but they did not recognize it.°
very man denied it until he arrived, going everywhere
hrough the crowd, to the man who had marked it and thrown
t into the helmet, glorious Ajax. Then Ajax
190
eached out his hand. The herald stood near and placed
he lot in his hand. Ajax recognized the sign
n the lot. When he saw it, he rejoiced in his heart.
He cast the lot on the ground beside his foot and said:
My friends, surely this lot is mine. I am happy
195
n my heart. I think that I will take down the able Hector.
ut come, while I put on my warrior’s armor, you pray
o Zeus, the son of Kronos, the king, in silence, by yourselves,
o that the Trojans learn nothing of it—or in the open
f you want, because we fear no man. For by force shall no one 200
rive me in flight of his own will, and in despite
f my will—no, nor by skill. I don’t think I was raised
n SALAMIS as a man without skill!”

So Ajax spoke. They prayed

o Zeus, the son of Kronos. Thus would one of them say,
ooking to the broad heaven: “Father Zeus who rules
205
om MOUNT IDA,° most honored, greatest, give victory to Ajax!
May he gain shining glory! But if you love Hector and care
or him too, grant a like strength and glory to both.”°

So they spoke. Ajax dressed in gleaming

ronze. When he had clothed his flesh in armor, 210
e rushed forth like giant Ares, who goes forth to war
mong men whom the son of Kronos has cast together
n the fury of consuming strife. Even so Ajax,
he huge bulwark of the Achaeans, rushed forth,
is terrible face smiling. He went with long strides of his feet
215
eneath him, brandishing his long-shadowed spear. When
he Argives saw him, they rejoiced, but a fearful trembling
ook hold of the limbs of every one of the Trojans, and Hector’s
eart beat fast in his breast. But he could not run away
r fade back into the crowd of the people. He had himself
220
made the challenge through his will to fight.

Ajax moved in
lose, carrying his shield like a tower, bronze, made
f seven ox-hides, which Tychios had fashioned
or him with a lot of labor, by far the best of the workers
n hides. Tychios lived in Hylê,° and made for Ajax 225
he flashing shield of seven ox-hides of sturdy
ulls, and as an eighth layer he added one of bronze.

Carrying it before his breast Telamonian

Ajax stood close to Hector, and he threatened him:
Hector, now you will clearly learn in the hand-to-hand
230
what sort of men are the captains of the Danaäns, even after
he lion-hearted Achilles, the smasher of men. He stays
ow among the beaked sea-faring ships, angered
t Agamemnon, the shepherd of the people. But we
re not afraid to face you, yes, many of us. But come,
235
et us close for battle and war!”
 Then Hector of the flashing
elmet answered him: “You Ajax, son of Telamon,
egotten of Zeus, captain of the army—don’t test me
s if I were a puny boy, or a woman who knows nothing
f the facts of war! I know battle well and the killing of men. 240
know how to wield the seasoned shield to the right,
o the left. That is what I call real shieldmanship!
know how to rush into the melée of swift horses.
know how to dance the dance of furious Ares
n the hand-to-hand. But I do not want to strike you, 245
yeing you in secret, because of who you are, but openly,
I might get at you …”

He spoke and, brandishing

is long-shadowed spear, he cast it. He struck Ajax’s
earsome tower shield of seven ox-hides and the outermost
f bronze, the eighth layer of the shield. The tireless bronze
250
ut through six layers, but it stuck in the seventh hide.

Then Zeus-nourished Ajax threw his long-shadowed

pear and he struck the shield of the son of Priam,
well balanced on every side. The powerful spear
went through the shining shield and forced its way 255
hrough his highly decorated chest-protector. The spear
ut through his shirt at his side, but Hector turned
nd avoided black death. The two men at the same time withdrew
heir long spears with their hands and fell upon one another,
 ike flesh-eating lions or wild boars whose strength 260
enormous.

The son of Priam then struck with his spear

he middle of Ajax’s shield, and the bronze did not break,
ut the point was turned.° Ajax leaped on Hector and pierced
is shield. The spear went straight through and pounded
Hector in his fury. It reached his neck and gashed it.
265
lack blood spurted.

But even so Hector of the sparkling

elmet did not let off the battle. Stepping back
e picked up with his strong hand a stone lying
n the plain, black, jagged, and large. He threw it
t Ajax’s dread shield of seven ox-hides, striking 270
in the middle on the boss. The bronze rang.

Then Ajax picked up a much larger stone and spun

nd threw at Hector, and he put immeasurable force
ehind it. He broke the shield inward with his cast of the rock,
ike a mill stone. Ajax beat down Hector’s knees.
275
Hector stretched out backwards, crumpled under his shield,
ut Apollo immediately set him upright.

And now
hey would have wounded each other in a close fight,
 the heralds, messengers of Zeus and men, had not
nterfered, the one a Trojan and the other a bronze-clad
280
Achaean, Talthybios and Idaios, both prudent men.

They held scepters between the two, and Idaios,

killed in wise counsel, spoke a word: “My dear sons,
ght no more. Give up the battle. For Zeus who gathers
he clouds loves both of you. You are both spearmen,
285
hat we all know. Night has come. It is good to obey the night.”

Ajax, the son of Telamon, then answered:

Idaios, ask Hector to say these things. For it was he

FIGURE 7.1 The duel between Ajax and Hector. Behind Ajax, on the
left, stands Athena, protector of the Achaeans. She wears a helmet and the
 goatskin fetish (aegis) around her shoulders. With her left hand, she touches
Ajax’s helmet, giving him strength, and holds a down-turned spear in her
right hand. Ajax is dressed as a fifth-century hoplite, including shinguards,
but is barefooted. He holds a hoplite shield (not a “tower shield”). Behind
Hector on the right stands Apollo with his bow and a quiver over his
shoulder, protector of the Trojans. Hector is shown in “heroic nudity.” He
wears a helmet, a hoplite shield, and holds a sword. Wounded in the chest
with blood streaming out, Hector leans back to avoid the point of Ajax’s
spear. Between the two figures, above Ajax’s shield, is a large stone,
standing for the rocks the fighters threw at each other. The figures are
labeled. Athenian red-figure wine-cup, 490–480 BC.

who in his will to fight called out our best fighters.

Let him begin. I will obey even as he says.”
290

Great Hector of the sparkling helmet then answered:

Ajax, because a god has given you stature and strength and wisdom,
nd you are best of the Achaeans with the spear, let us cease
om our fight and contention for this day. Later we will fight
gain until a spirit decides between us, and gives victory 295
o one or the other. Night is upon us. It is good
o obey the night, so that you bring joy to all the Achaeans
eside the ships, especially to your relatives and companions,
hose that you have. And I will bring joy to the Trojans
nd the Trojan wives with their trailing robes throughout
300
he great city of King Priam. Praying for me, the king
will enter the sacred place of assembly. Come, let us both
ive notable gifts to each other so that one of the Achaeans
r Trojans may say: ‘They fought in soul-consuming strife,
ut they departed in peace after making a compact.’ ” 305
 After speaking in this fashion, Hector presented a sword
with silver studs in a scabbard with a well-cut strap. Then Ajax
ave a belt shining with purple. So parting, the one went into
he Achaean army, the other went to the gathering of the Trojans.
The Trojans rejoiced when they saw that Hector was alive
310
nd sound, having escaped the might and invincible hands of Ajax.
And they brought him to the city, scarcely believing that he was safe.

The Achaeans, who wore fancy shinguards, from their side

rought Ajax to the good Agamemnon, who rejoiced in the victory.°
When they came to the huts of the son of Atreus, the king 315
f men Agamemnon sacrificed a five-year-old bull to the son
f Kronos, supreme in power. They flayed and prepared
and divided the meat into all its parts. They skillfully
iced up the meat and spitted it and roasted it carefully
nd drew everything from the spits. When they had ceased 320
om their labor and had made ready the feast, they ate,
or did their hearts lack in the equal feast. The warrior
wide-ruling Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, gave Ajax
he backbone with ribs attached as a sign of honor.

But when they had cast from themselves all desire

325
or drink and food, old man Nestor first began to weave
plan for them. His advice had appeared in earlier
mes to be best. With good intention he spoke and addressed
hem: “Sons of Atreus and you others who are best
f all the Achaeans—many of the long-haired Achaeans
 330
ave died, whose black blood the sharp Ares has spilled
long the broad-flowing SKAMANDROS, and their breath-souls
ave gone down into the house of Hades. For this reason it is best
o interrupt the war of the Achaeans. Let us gather in order
o wheel here on carts drawn by cattle and mules the bodies
335
f the dead. We will burn them a little way from the ships
o that every man can carry home the bones of the dead
when we return to the land of our fathers. Let us heap up a tomb
round the fire, bringing in soil from the plain for all alike.
n addition let us speedily build a high wall, a defense 340
or the ships and for ourselves.° Let us place well-fitted gates
n the wall so that there may be a road for chariots through it.
Outside, but close, let us dig a deep trench that will stave
ff their cars and their army, swarming everywhere, so that
he war of the massed Trojans might not press so upon us.” 345

Thus he spoke and all the champions agreed.

At the same time a gathering of the Trojans took place at the top
f the city of Ilion, a gathering ferocious and tumultuous,
utside the doors of Priam’s house. The wise Antenor° began
o speak: “Listen to me, Trojans and Dardanians and allies, 350
o that I might speak what is in my heart. Come now,
et us give Argive Helen and the treasure taken with her
ack to the sons of Atreus to carry away. As it is,
we fight after cheating on our oaths of faith.°
have no hope that anything of benefit will come to us
355
we do not do this.”
 After speaking he sat down.
he good Alexandros rose up among them, the husband
f Helen who has lovely hair. Speaking words that shot
ke arrows, he said in reply: “Antenor, you no longer
peak to my pleasure. You can think of something better! 360
ut if in truth you speak in earnest, then the gods themselves
ave ruined your brain. But I will speak to the horse-taming
rojans: I absolutely refuse to give up the girl! However,
he treasure I brought from Argos to our home, I am willing
o give it all back and to add more from my own house.”
365

So speaking, he sat down. Dardanian Priam rose up

mong them, an advisor equal to the gods. Wishing
hem well, he spoke and addressed them: “Listen to me,
rojans and Dardanians and allies, so that I may speak
what is in my heart. For now, take your dinner 370
hroughout the city, just as before. Keep the watch!
May each man stay awake. At dawn let Idaios
o to the hollow ships to tell Agamemnon, the son
f Atreus, and Menelaos, the proposal of Alexandros.
t is on Alexandros’ account that this conflict has arisen. 375
et him speak, too, this word of wisdom, if they are willing
o let off this painful war until we burn the dead.
ater we will fight again until a spirit decides
etween us, and gives victory to one or the other.”

Thus Priam spoke. Readily they listened to him and obeyed.

380
hey took their dinner throughout the army in companies.
At dawn Idaios went to the hollow ships. There
t the place of assembly he found the Danaäns, the followers
f Ares, beside the prow of the ship of Agamemnon.
tanding in their midst, the herald spoke to them in a loud 385
oice: “O son of Atreus and you other captains of all the Achaeans!
riam and the other noble Trojans have urged me to relay
he proposal of Alexandros on whose account this conflict
as arisen, to see if it be pleasing and sweet to you.
As for the treasure that Alexandros brought in his hollow 390
hips to Troy—I wish he had died before all this happened!—
e is willing to give it all up and to add more
om his own house. But he says that he will not give up
he lady wife of glorious Menelaos, though the Trojans
rge him to. Furthermore, they have asked me to say 395
his word, in case you are willing to let off from the painful
war until we can burn the dead. Later we will resume
he fight until a spirit decides between us and gives
ictory to one or the other.”

So he spoke and they all

ell into silence. Finally Diomedes, good at the war cry, 400
poke to them: “May no man accept the treasure
om Alexandros, nor Helen. Even a fool knows that
he cords of destruction are now made fast about the Trojans!”

So he spoke, and all the sons of the Achaeans shouted

loud. They applauded the advice of Diomedes, the tamer
405
f horses. And then King Agamemnon spoke to Idaios:
Idaios, you have yourself heard the word of the Achaeans,
ow they answer. It is my own pleasure too. As for the burning
f the dead, that is apt. There is no sparing, in the matter
f dead bodies, of a quick consolation with fire. May Zeus 410
e our witness to these oaths, the loud-thundering husband of Hera.”

So speaking he raised up his scepter to all the gods,

nd Idaios went back once again to sacred Ilion. The Trojans
nd the Dardanians were together in the place of assembly,
ll gathered together, waiting until Idaios should return. He came 415
nd gave the Achaean response, standing in their midst.

They quickly readied themselves to gather both

he bodies of the dead and wood for the pyre. The Argives
n their side rose up from the ships with many benches
o begin the gathering. The sun just then struck the fields, 420
sing up from the deep streams of peaceful Ocean,
sing to the heavens. The two armies met. It was difficult
o identify every man, but they washed away the bloody
ore with water and lifted the bodies into the wagons,
weeping hot tears. Great Priam would not allow them 425
o lament, so in silence they heaped the corpses on the pyre,
ore at heart. When they had burned them in the fire,
hey returned to sacred Ilion.

In the same way, on the other side,

he Achaeans with their fancy shinguards heaped the corpses
 n the pyre, sore at heart. When they had burned them in fire,
430
hey went back to the hollow ships. It was still not dawn,
ut the half-light of the night, when a chosen gang of
he Achaeans gathered around the pyre. They built a single
arrow over it, bringing in soil from field for all alike.

They built nearby a wall and high towers, a defense 435

f the ships and the men. They placed well-fitted gates
n the wall so that there might be a road for chariots through it.
Outside, but close, they dug a deep trench, wide and great,
nd in it they fixed sharpened stakes.

So the long-haired
Achaeans labored. But the gods, seated next to Zeus, 440
he master of lightning, marveled at the great work
f the bronze-shirted Achaeans. Poseidon, the earth-shaker,
egan to speak: “Father Zeus, is there any one of the mortals
n the boundless earth who will declare to the deathless ones
is mind and intention? Do you not see that now again 445
he long-haired Achaeans have constructed a wall to defend
heir ships and driven a ditch before it, and have not
iven glorious sacrifice to the gods? The fame of this wall
will reach as far as the dawn spreads its rays. People
will forget the wall that Phoibos Apollo and I built 450
with so much effort for the warrior Laomedon.”°
 Zeus, who gathers the clouds, groaned and said:
Alas, you shaker of the broad earth—what words you
ave spoken! Another god might fear this thing,° much weaker
han you in his hands and might. But your fame will reach out.”
455
s far as the dawn sheds its rays. Come, after the long-haired
Achaeans have returned with their ships to the land
f their fathers, smash down the wall and wash
all into the sea. Cover the great beach with sand
o that the great wall of the Achaeans may be wiped out.” 460

They said such things to one another. The sun went down
nd the task of the Achaeans was finished. They killed oxen
hroughout the tents. They ate dinner. Many ships
were at hand from LEMNOS bringing wine, which Euneos
he son of Jason had brought, whom Hypsipylê bore to Jason, 465
hepherd of the people.° The son of Jason gave a thousand
measures of wine to be brought to the sons of Atreus
lone, Agamemnon and Menelaos. From these ships
he other long-haired Achaeans bought wine, some
y paying in bronze, others with shining iron, others 470
with hides, others with the cattle themselves, others
with slaves. They made a fat feast.

Then all night long

he long-haired Achaeans feasted. The Trojans and their allies
id the same in the city. All night long Zeus the counselor
evised evil for them,° thundering terribly. Pale fear 475
ook hold of both sides. They poured on the ground wine
om their cups, nor did anyone dare to drink before
ouring an offering to the all-mighty son of Kronos.
hen they all lay down and took the gift of sleep.

OceanofPDF.com
Arnê: A town in Boeotia (according to the Catalog of Ships).
council: Helenos is a prophet and somehow knows the will of the gods.
ships: The oaths were those taken by Agamemnon (and Odysseus) and
Priam in Book 3, that if Paris killed Menelaos, then Helen was to stay in
Troy and the Achaeans were to depart immediately; if Menelaos killed
Paris, then the Trojans were to hand over Helen and the property stolen at
the time of her abduction and pay appropriate reparations. However, the
duel ended in an unforeseen manner without a clear decision. Hector does
not mention the treachery of Pandaros and makes it seem as if the whole
situation were an act of God. But this second duel in the poem, between
Hector and Ajax (after that of Paris and Menelaos), is poorly motivated: It
is Homer’s way of further delaying the action while Achilles mourns in his
tent.
sitting here: Apparently a proverbial expression, meaning “you might as
well be the impassive elements of water or earth” for all the initiative you
show.
Peleus: Achilles’ father Peleus of course lives in Phthia, a province of
Thessaly in northern mainland Greece. Peleus rules the Myrmidons, which
for some reason means “ants.” Nestor is from a long way off in Pylos, in the
southwestern Peloponnesus.
… Iardanos: The location of all these places (except PYLOS and ARCADIA) is
unknown.
Areithoös: Paris just killed his son Menesthios earlier in this book.
destruction: Because the way was too narrow for him to swing the club.
This Lykourgos is distinct from the Thracian Lykourgos who opposed
Dionysos (Book 6).
recognize it: The marks on the lots are not writing because each man
recognizes only his own “sign,” the same word used for the “ruinous signs”
on the letter of Bellerophon in Book 6. This incident indicates the absence
of writing in Homer’s world. Probably the lots were pieces of pottery.
Mount Ida: Zeus sometimes perches on Ida to watch what is going on at
Troy, as we will see in the next book.
to both: It is hard to explain why they would pray for Hector to be equal to
Ajax, unless the poet is setting up the draw that actually comes.
Hylê: Evidently the Boeotian town mentioned in the Catalog of Ships (Book
2), though Ajax is from the island of Salamis in the harbor of Athens.
turned: The outermost layer of bronze on the shield was not penetrated, but
the point of the bronze spear was bent by the impact.
victory: Because Ajax survived unscathed.
ourselves: Like Helen’s View from the Wall, this episode properly belongs
to the earliest days of the war.
Antenor: Priam’s chief adviser. He had hosted Menelaos and Odysseus
when they came to retrieve Helen at the beginning of the war (Book 3).
oaths of faith: Antenor is referring to the oaths sworn before the duel
between Paris and Menelaos.
Laomedon: A grandson of the early King Tros and a son of Ilos, Laomedon
—Priam’s father—contracted with Poseidon and Apollo to build the walls
of Troy, then refused to pay them. Herakles destroyed these walls when
Laomedon refused to give him the horses of Zeus in return for Herakles’
saving of Laomedon’s daughter Hesionê from a sea-monster. Laomedon
never paid his debts.
this thing: That the Achaean wall will eclipse the wall that Apollo and
Poseidon built, famous in legend.
shepherd of the people: According to later tradition, when Jason and his
crew stopped on the island of Lemnos en route to the BLACK SEA to capture
the Golden Fleece, they discovered the island populated only by women,
who had killed their husbands years before in a bitter dispute. The sex-
starved women welcomed the Argonauts, who remained a year. The queen
of the Lemnian women, Hypsipylê, slept with Jason and conceived Euneos.
The saga of the Argo is mentioned only here in the Iliad and once in the
Odyssey (Book 12).
evil for them: Presumably evil for the Achaeans, in fulfillment of Zeus’s
promise to Thetis. But both sides seem to be terrified of the thunder.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 8. Zeus Fulfills His
Promise

D awn in her saffron robe spread out over all

he earth. Zeus, who delights in the thunder, called
n assembly on the highest peak of Olympos, which has
many ridges. He himself held forth, and all the gods
istened: “Hear me, all you gods and goddesses,
5
o that I may say what the spirit in my chest recommends.
None of you female gods, nor any of you male gods,
re to attempt to circumvent my word! I want you all
o agree, so that I may accomplish these things as soon
s possible. If I catch any of you wanting to go to help
10
he Trojans or the Danaäns, he’ll not come back to Olympos
without getting smacked around. Or I’ll grab him and throw him
nto murky Tartaros far, far away, where is the deepest
ulf beneath the earth, where the gates are made of iron
nd the threshold is bronze, as far beneath Hades as the heaven
15
from the earth—then you’ll know how far I am the strongest
f all the gods! Go on—try it! So that you all
may know. Hang a golden chain from the heaven,
hen all you gods and goddesses grab hold and tug.
You could not drag Zeus the counselor, the highest,
20
ut of heaven to the ground, no matter how hard you try.
ut if I wanted with a ready heart to drag you all up,
hen I would do so, and bring up the earth and sea too.
And then I would tie the rope around a spur of Olympos,
o that everything should hang in the air. By so much
25
m I above the gods and men.”

So he spoke, and all

he rest fell into silence, amazed at his word, for he had
poken with great power. At last flashing-eyed Athena
poke: “O our father, son of Kronos, highest of all lords,
we all know very well that your power is unyielding, but still
30
we pity the Danaän spearmen, who will perish fulfilling
n evil fate. Nonetheless let us stay out of the war,
ust as you command. We will give the Argives some advice
hat will profit them, so that all do not perish from your wrath.”

Smiling upon her, Zeus, who gathers the clouds,

35
aid: “Be of good cheer, my daughter, Tritogeneia.
m not really serious … I want to be kind to you!”

So speaking, he ordered his horses with bronze hoofs,

ery fast, to be harnessed beneath his car, their golden manes
lowing. He donned his golden clothes and took up his golden, 40
nely crafted whip. He stepped up into his car. He touched
he horses with the whip to rouse them. And not unwilling
hey flew off between the earth and the starry heaven. They came
o Gargaros° on Ida with its many fountains, the mother
f wild beasts, where is Zeus’s sanctuary and its smoky
45
ltar. There the father of men and gods stationed
is swift horses. He set them free from the car,
nd he cast a thick mist around them.° He himself sat
n the peak, rejoicing in his glory. He could see the city
f the Trojans from where he sat, and the ships of the Achaeans. 50

The long-haired Achaeans took a hasty dinner throughout

he huts. Afterwards they put on their armor. The Trojans,
n their side, put on their armor too in all parts of the city,
ut there were fewer of them. Nonetheless, they were
ager to fight in the battle, compelled by necessity,
55
or they fought for their children and their wives.

The Trojans
pened the gates. Their army rushed forth, the foot soldiers
nd the charioteers. A huge clamor arose. When they had come
ogether into one place, they thrust together their shields
nd spears in the frenzy of men who wear shirts of bronze.
60
he bossed shields came together. A great din arose.
he agony of the wounded and the boast of victory were heard
s men killed and were killed, and the bountiful earth
an with blood.

So long as it was dawn and the sacred

ay still waxed, for so long the missiles of either side 65
ruck home, and the warriors fell. When Helios
eached the middle of the sky, then the father lifted
 n high the golden scales. He placed on it two fates
f bitter death, one for the Trojans, tamers of horses,
he other for the Achaeans, who wear shirts of bronze. He held
70
he balance in the center. Down dropped the day of doom
or the Achaeans. The fates of the Achaeans were settled
n the much-nourishing earth, but the fates of the Trojans rose up
o wide heaven.

Zeus threw down a great bolt of thunder—

e sent a blazing flash into the midst of the Achaeans! 75
eeing it, they were amazed and a white fear took hold of all.
hen Idomeneus no longer dared to resist, nor Agamemnon,
or the two Ajaxes, the servants of Ares. Only Gerenian
Nestor, who watched over the Achaeans, held out,
ot because he wanted to, but because his horse was wounded.
80
he good Alexandros, the husband of Helen with the lovely hair,
ad hit the horse with an arrow on the top of its head,
where the mane of horses first grows on the skull. There
the deadly spot. The horse leaped up in agony.
The arrow went into its brain, throwing the other horses 85
nto confusion as it writhed around the bronze arrowhead.
While Nestor leaped out of the car and cut away the trace-horse°
with his sword, the fast horses of Hector came on into
he rough tumult, carrying a bold charioteer—Hector!

And then old man Nestor would have died if Diomedes, 90

ood at the war cry, had not seen what was happening.
He shouted a terrible shout, urging on Odysseus:
 Zeus-begotten, devious son of Laërtes, Odysseus—
where are you running to with your back turned to the enemy,
ike a coward in the crowd? I hope nobody spears you 95
n the back while you are running away! But let us drive
way this wild man from old man Nestor.”

So he spoke,
ut the enduring good Odysseus did not hear him
s he raced by, heading to the hollow ships of the Achaeans.
The son of Tydeus, therefore alone, advanced into 100
he forefight and took his stand before the horses
f the old man, Nestor, the son of Neleus.

Diomedes spoke to him

words that went like arrows: “Say old man,
see that younger fighters are wearing you down.
Your strength is loosened, your old age weighs heavy 105
pon you. Your aide is a weakling, your horses are slow.°
ome, get up into my car so that you may see what sort
f horses are these of Tros, who know well how both
o pursue across the plain, and how to flee. I captured
hem from Aeneas, the maker of mayhem. Let your two 110
ides take care of your horses—with these we will ride
gainst the Trojans so that Hector will see how my spear
ages in my hands!”

So Diomedes spoke. Gerenian Nestor,

he horseman, quickly obeyed him. The two aides,
he strong Sthenelos and the kind Eurymedon, took care 115
f Nestor’s horses.

Nestor and Diomedes mounted

nto the car of Diomedes. Nestor took the shining reins
n his hands. He lashed the horses. Quickly they closed
n on Hector. As Hector charged straight at them,
he son of Tydeus cast his spear.° He missed Hector,
120
ut hit his charioteer, Eniopeus, the son of high-hearted
hebaios, in the flesh of his chest beside the nipple
s he held the horses’ reins. He fell from the car
s the swift horses swerved aside. His breath-soul
nd his strength were undone.
125

A terrible pain afflicted

he heart of Hector for his charioteer. But he left him
o lie there and, though sorry for his companion,
ought out another bold charioteer. Nor did his horses
or long lack a master. Quickly Hector found the brave
Archeptolemos, son of Iphitos.° Hector made him 130
mount up behind the swift-footed horses and gave him
he reins.

Then would ruin have come and matters

eyond fixing. The Trojans would have been penned up in Ilion
ke sheep, if the father of men and gods had not been quick
 o see. He thundered terribly and threw down his white 135
hunderbolt, right to the ground in front of the horses
f Diomedes. A terrible flame burst up of burning sulfur.
he two horses took fright and cowered beneath the car.°

The shining reins fell from Nestor’s hands.

He was afraid in his heart, and he spoke to Diomedes: 140
Son of Tydeus, turn our single-hoofed horses
n flight! Don’t you see that victory from Zeus is not coming?
eus the son of Kronos has given glory to Hector on this day.
Maybe some other time, if he wills it, he will give
s victory. A man cannot overturn the plan of Zeus, 145
ot even a strong man, for Zeus is stronger still!”

Then Diomedes, good at the war cry, answered him:

Yes, old man, you have spoken aptly, what is right.
ut this savage pain comes to my heart and spirit when I know
hat Hector will one day say, speaking to a gathering
150
f the Trojans, ‘The son of Tydeus went to the ships
eeing from me.’ So will he boast. Then may the broad
arth open for me!”

Gerenian Nestor then answered him:

O my son of wise-hearted Tydeus, what a thing you’ve said.
Hector may say you are a coward and without strength, 155
ut I don’t think he’ll persuade the Trojans and Dardanians
 nd the wives of the great-hearted Trojans, bearers
f shields, whose hot husbands you have cast into the dust!”

So speaking, he turned the single-hoofed horses in flight,

ack again through the melée. The Trojans and Hector
160
with a wondrous shout threw their groaning missiles at them.
Hector of the sparkling helmet shouted aloud to Diomedes:
Son of Tydeus, the Danaäns who have fast horses
espected you with the seat of honor and with fine
uts of meat, and with a full cup. Now they will dishonor you.
165
You are no better than a woman! So go away, you coward.
You puppet! Not through any flinching of mine will you climb
ur walls and carry our women away in your ships.
efore that I will give you your doom!”

So Hector spoke.
The son of Tydeus turned his mind in two ways, 170
whether to wheel his horses and fight head on or …
hree times he turned this over in his breast and in his spirit,
hree times Zeus the counselor boomed from the peaks
f Ida, showing a sign to the Trojans of the victory
hat turns the tide of battle. 175

Hector called to the Trojans

nd he spoke loudly: “Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians
who fight in close! Be men, my friends! Have a thought
or reckless valor! I see that with a ready heart
he son of Kronos has given me victory and great glory,
ut to the Danaäns only pain. They are only fools
180
who have devised these walls, weak and of no account.
hey will not stop my power! Our horses will easily jump
ver the ditch that they’ve dug. And when I come
midst the hollow ships, let someone remember
o bring the devouring fire so I can burn the ships
185
nd kill all those Argives who stand by the ships,
onfused by the smoke.”

So speaking, he called out to his horses

nd addressed them: “Xanthos and Podargos and Aithon
nd good Lampos, it is time that you two° paid back for the
rovisions that Andromachê, the daughter of great-hearted
190
ëtion, placed before you in abundance—honey-hearted wheat,
mixed in wine when the spirit urged her. She took better care
f you than me, who am supposed to be her strong husband!
“But hurry up in pursuit so we can take the shield of Nestor,
whose fame reaches the heavens—the shield made entirely of
gold, 195
oth the handgrips and shield itself. And let us snatch from the shoulders
f Diomedes, the tamer of horses, his highly-wrought chest-protector,
which Hephaistos made for him.° If we take these two pieces
f armor, I would believe that the Achaeans will flee tonight
n their swift ships!”°
200

So he spoke, boasting, but the revered

Hera was most indignant. She shook herself on her throne,
nd high Olympos quaked° as she spoke directly
o Poseidon, the great god: “Well, wide-ruling shaker
f the earth, your spirit has no pity for the Danaäns
s they perish, though at Helikê and Aigai° they brought you gifts,
205
many and dear. You used to wish them victory. If we only
were willing—all of us who support the Danaän cause—
o push back the Trojans and to hold back Zeus, whose voice
heard from afar, then he would be sorry sitting
here on Ida all by himself!”
210

Groaning mightily,
oseidon, the earth-shaker, said: “Hera, you have spoken
word that should never be spoken. It is not I who would want
o see us all fight against Zeus the son of Kronos,
or he is much stronger.”

Such things they said to one another.

And now was all the space filled—as much as the ditch
215
nclosed on the side of the ships away from the wall—
with horses and shield-bearing men, huddled together.°
was Hector who huddled them there together, the son of Priam,
he equal to Ares in speed, now that Zeus gave him glory.

Now Hector would have burned the balanced ships with

blazing 220
re, if the lady Hera had not placed in the heart of Agamemnon
he thought that he should bestir himself and swiftly rouse up
he Achaeans. So Agamemnon went through the huts and along
he ships of the Achaeans carrying a large purple cloth
 n his thick hand.° He stood on the black ship of Odysseus
225
with its huge hull, because it was in the middle so one could shout
o both ends, both to the tents of Ajax, the son of Telamon,
nd to those of Peleus’ son, Achilles. They had drawn up their
alanced ships at the very ends, trusting in the manly strength
f their hands.
230

Agamemnon uttered a piercing shout,

alling to the Danaäns:° “Shame, Argives, and reproach!
You are only good to look at! Where’s all your boasting now?
When we said we were the best? What about the hollow boasts
hat you spoke in Lemnos while eating the abundant flesh
f straight-horned cattle and drinking bowls brimful of wine—. 235
ou said that every man could take on one hundred Trojans,
es, two hundred in battle! As it is, we are not equal
ven to one, this Hector, who will soon burn our ships
with blazing fire!
“Father Zeus, was there ever a mighty king
hat you blinded with a blindness such as this,° and took away his
glory? 240
say that never did I pass by one of your most beautiful altars
n my ships with many benches, coming here, but on all I burned
he fat of bulls and their thigh-bones in my desire to sack
roy with its wonderful walls. But Zeus, fulfill for me
t least this desire: Let us escape and avoid death! Don’t leave
245
he Danaäns to the Trojans to be squashed like this!”

So Agamemnon spoke, and the father took pity on him

s he wept. Zeus agreed that the Argives would be saved
 nd not destroyed. At once he sent down an eagle,
he surest of bird-signs. The eagle held a fawn 250
n its talons, the offspring of a swift deer. It dropped
he fawn—kerplop!—beside the most beautiful altar of Zeus,
where the Achaeans were used to sacrifice to Zeus, the source
f all omens.°

FIGURE 8.1 Zeus and his emblem, the eagle. Zeus sits on a throne
dressed in an elaborately embroidered cloak. His hair is long and braided
and his beard full. Spartan black-figure wine cup, c. 550 BC.

When the Achaeans saw that the bird

was from Zeus, they leaped again on the Trojans, remembering 255
heir love of battle. But none of the many Danaäns
ould claim that they turned their swift horses faster than
Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, to drive them across the ditch
 nd to fight in the hand-to-hand. Diomedes was the first one
o strike a man in armor, Agelaos, son of Phradraon.
260
n flight Agelaos turned his horses. As Agelaos wheeled
round, Diomedes hit him right in the back between
he shoulder blades. Diomedes drove the spear
hrough his breast and Agelaos fell from the car, his armor
langing around him. 265

Afterwards came the sons

f Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaos; and then the
wo Ajaxes, cloaked in war madness; and then Idomeneus
nd the companion of Idomeneus, Meriones, the equal to
nyalios, the killer of men; and then Eurypylos the noble son
f Euaimon. As ninth came Teucer,° stretching his back-bent
270
ow. He crouched beneath the shield of Ajax, the son
f Telamon. Ajax would move the shield away from him
while the warrior Teucer, taking aim, would loose an arrow
nd strike someone in the crowd, who fell and gave up
is life. Then Teucer, like a child snuggled by his mother, would 275
uck back toward Ajax, who protected him with his shining shield.

Whom first did blameless Teucer kill? Orsilochos

rst, then Ormenos and Ophelestes and Daitor and Chromios
nd godlike Lykophontes. Then Amopaon, the son of Polyaimon,
hen Melanippos.° One after another he brought them to the
bountiful earth. 280
 Seeing him, Agamemnon, the king of men, rejoiced
hat Teucer razed the ranks of the Trojans with his powerful bow.
Agamemnon went up to him and stood beside him and spoke
s follows: “Teucer, dear fellow—son of Telamon, captain
f the people, go on, shoot! Maybe you can be some kind of a
light 285
o the Danaäns, and to your father Telamon who raised you when
ou were a baby, and although you were a bastard took care
f you in his own house. Well, move him towards honor,
hough he is far away. And let me tell you something
hat I think will come to pass. If Zeus who holds
290
he goatskin fetish and Athena ever grant it to me—
mean the sacking of the well-built citadel of Ilion—
will place first in your hand a reward of honor—
fter myself, of course! Either a tripod, or two horses
with a car, or a woman who can go up into your bed.” 295

The blameless Teucer answered him: “Son

f Atreus, covered in glory, why do you urge me on
when I am already eager? I go at them to the limits
f my power. From the time when we first drove
hem towards Ilion, from that moment I lay in wait 300
nd killed men with my bow. I have fired eight
ong-barbed arrows and all have fixed in the flesh
f youths swift in battle. Only I cannot hit this mad dog!”

He spoke and loosed another arrow from his string

traight at Hector. His heart longed to hit him. He missed,
305
ut he hit with his arrow the blameless Gorgythion,
 brave son of Priam, in the chest, whom his wedded mother
ore, the beautiful Kastianeira from Aisymê,° alike
n her appearance to a goddess. Like a poppy Gorgythion
owed his head to the side that in a garden is weighed 310
own with seed and spring rain—just so he bowed
is head to one side, weighed down by his helmet.

Teucer fired a second arrow from his string straight at Hector.

His heart longed to hit him, but he missed because Apollo
made the arrow swerve. Instead he hit Archeptolemos,°
315
Hector’s bold charioteer, hurrying into battle.
He hit him in the chest next to the nipple. He fell
om the car, and his swift-footed horses veered off.
here his breath-soul was loosed and his strength.

A terrible pain for his charioteer clouded the mind 320

f Hector. Then he let it go, though sorry for his companion.
He ordered Kebriones, his brother, standing nearby,
o take the reins of the car. When Kebriones heard,
e quickly obeyed.

Hector himself, all-shining,

umped from the car to the ground with a terrible yell. 325
He took a stone in his hands and ran straight at Teucer,
or his heart urged him to snuff him out. Teucer
ad drawn a bitter arrow from his quiver, and he placed
on the string, but Hector, whose helmet flashes, rushed
 pon him and struck him on the shoulder where the collarbone 330
eparates the neck from the chest, the most vulnerable spot.
Hector struck him there with the jagged stone as Teucer
imed at him eagerly. Hector broke his bow string.
eucer’s hand went numb at the wrist. He fell to his knees
nd stayed there and the bow dropped from his hand.
335

Ajax saw that his brother had gone down. He ran over
o him and hid him with his shield. Two faithful companions,
Mekisteus, the son of Echios, and the good Alastor stooped
eneath him and carried Teucer, groaning miserably,
o the hollow ships. 340

Once again the Olympian raised up might

mong the Trojans, and they drove the Achaeans straight
oward the deep ditch. Hector ran ahead among
he foremost fighters, glorying in his strength. Just as
when some swift-footed hound chases a wild boar
r lion and the trailing hound snatches at sides and buttocks 345
s the prey maneuvers to avoid the deadly fangs—even so
Hector pressed on the long-haired Achaeans, always
illing the laggards. The Achaeans were driven in rout.

But as the Achaeans went through the stakes

nd the ditch in their flight, many fell at the hands of the Trojans.
350
hen the Achaeans halted and stayed beside their ships,
he Achaeans called out to one another in dismay.
hey raised their hands to all the gods, and every man
rayed mightily.

Hector wheeled his horses with the beautiful

manes this way and that. His eyes were like those
355

FIGURE 8.2 Trojans and Achaeans fighting hand to hand. In this

carving on a Lycian Tomb, Trojan and Achaean warriors fight in the hand-
to-hand. The warrior on the left has just speared his opponent, who falls
dead. The figures are dressed as contemporary hoplites with round shields,
horse-hair crested helmets, and shinguards. The Lycians, who lived in the
southwest of Asia Minor, were not Greeks but were deeply influenced by
Greek art and culture, and in Homer’s Iliad they are the most important
Trojan allies. They used the Greek alphabet to record an unknown language
 and on this tomb carved many scenes from the fighting at Troy. Limestone
relief on the tomb of a Lycian prince, from the west side of the Heroön of
Goelbasi-Trysa, Lycia, Turkey, c. 380 BC.

f the Gorgon° or of murderous Ares. Seeing them, the goddess,

white-armed Hera, took pity. Right away she spoke words
o Athena that flew like arrows: “How, O daughter of Zeus
who carries the goatskin fetish, how shall we two
ot care for the Danaäns when they are being ruined, 360
ven at this last moment? They perish fulfilling
n evil fate, all because of the attack of one man—
Hector, son of Priam, who rages out of control.
He is wreaking mayhem!”

Flashing-eyed Athena
nswered her: “How I wish that Hector would lose
365
is strength and spirit at the hands of the Argives, destroyed
n the land of his fathers. But my father rages with
n evil mind. Wretch, always the rogue, thwarter of my plans!
eus remembers not at all how I often saved Herakles
when he was being abused by the contests of Eurystheus. 370
ruly, he would cry out to heaven, and from heaven Zeus
would send me to save him. If I had known this in the wisdom
f my heart, when Eurystheus sent Herakles to the house of Hades,
he great gate-fastener, to retrieve from Erebos the hound
f hateful Hades, Herakles would not have fled the steep
375
waters of Styx.° Now he hates me, and he fulfills the desires
f Thetis, who kissed his knees and took his chin
n her hand, begging that he honor Achilles, the sacker
f cities. But the time will come when he again calls me
is ‘little flashing-eyes’ …
 380
“But now please ready the single-hoofed
orses for us, so that I can go to the house of Zeus
who carries the goatskin fetish and attire myself
n armor appropriate for war. Soon we will know
whether the son of Priam, Hector of the sparkling helmet,
will be happy to see us appear on the bridges of war! 385
think that many Trojans will glut the dogs and the birds
with fat and flesh, fallen at the ships of the Achaeans!”

So Athena spoke, and the goddess white-armed Hera

uickly obeyed. She went to and fro harnessing
he horses with golden head-pieces, Hera, the queenly
390
oddess, the daughter of great Kronos.

But Athena,
he daughter of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish, let drop
er delicate, embroidered gown on the floor of her father.
he herself had made the gown and worked it with her hands.
Athena put on the shirt of Zeus who gathers the clouds 395
nd put on the armor for tear-making war. She walked
ut to the fiery car, took up her spear—heavy, huge, strong!—
with which she overwhelms the ranks of fighting men,
with whomever she is angry, this daughter of a powerful father.
Hera quickly touched the horses with the lash,° and heaven’s
gates 400
roaned open by themselves that the Hours control,
nd to whom the sky and Olympos are entrusted, whether
o throw open the thick cloud or to close it in. Through
hese gates they drove the horses, tolerant of the goad.
 But when Zeus the father saw them from Ida, he became 405
reatly vexed, and he sent forth Iris with the golden wings
o make an announcement: “Up, go, fast Iris!
urn them back! Do not let them come against me!
his war will not be a pretty one. I will say this,
nd I think it will come to pass: I will maim their swift
410
orses yoked to the chariot! I will cast them out of the car!
will smash it! Not in ten years will their wounds heal
when the thunder hits them. Then maybe the flashing-eyed one
will know what it is to fight against her own father.
’m not so annoyed by Hera, nor so angry—she always 415
pposes what I say!”

So Zeus spoke, and storm-footed

is went off to proclaim his word. She went from
he hills of Ida to high Olympos, at the outside
f the gates of Olympos with its many folds, where she met
he goddesses and held them back. Iris spoke the word 420
f Zeus: “Where are you going? Have your hearts
one mad in your breasts? The son of Kronos does not
ermit you to go to the aid of the Argives. The son of Kronos
as made this threat, which will come to pass: that he will
maim the swift horses beneath your chariot, and that he will cast 425
ou out of the car and he will smash it. Not in ten years will
our wounds heal when the thunder hits you. Then maybe
he flashing-eyed one will know what it is to fight
gainst her own father. But he’s not so annoyed by Hera,
or so angry—she always opposes what he says!
 430
ut you are an awful bitch and fearless if truly you dare
o lift your huge spear against Zeus.”

Thus swift-footed Iris

poke and, so speaking, she went away. But Hera said this
o Athena: “My dear, I can no longer permit the two
f us to wage war against Zeus on the account of mortals. 435
et this one live, let that one die, just as it happens.
eave Zeus to have his own ideas and to judge between
rojans and Danaäns, as is fit.”

So speaking Hera turned

ack her single-hoofed horses. The Hours unyoked
he horses with beautiful manes for them and tethered 440
he horses at their food-bins filled with ambrosia. Then Hera
eaned the car up against the sidewall of the bright vestibule.
he goddesses sat down on golden thrones in the midst
f the other gods, aggrieved in their hearts.

Then Zeus
he father drove his well-wheeled chariot and horses 445
om Ida to Olympos. He arrived at the meeting of the gods.
oseidon, the famous earth-shaker, unharnessed the horses
or Zeus and placed his chariot on a stand, then spread
cloth over it. Zeus, whose voice reaches afar,
hen took his seat on the golden throne, and great Olympos 450
 uaked beneath his feet. Only Athena and Hera sat apart
om Zeus. They did not speak to him, nor ask him
ny questions.

But Zeus knew in his heart and he said:

Why are you so upset, Athena and Hera? Are you tired out
hrough destroying the Trojans, against whom you hold a bitter 455
atred, in the battle where men win glory? In any event,
uch are my strength and my irresistible hands. I could not
e turned aside by all the gods in Olympos. As for you two,
shaking took hold of your glorious limbs before you even
limpsed the war and the horrendous deeds of war. I will
460
ell you this, and I think it has already come to pass:
You would not have returned upon your car back to Olympos,
he seat of the gods, when it was blasted by thunder!”

Thus Zeus spoke, and Athena and Hera murmured.

Despite sitting near him, they still devised evil for the Trojans. 465
Athena fell silent and would say nothing, so furious was she
with her father Zeus. A wild anger had taken hold of her.
Hera, too, could not contain her anger, and she said: “O most
readed son of Kronos, what words you say! Now we begin
o understand that your strength is immense. Nevertheless we feel
470
orry for the Danaän spearmen who perish, accomplishing an evil
ate. But we will have done with the war, if you order it.
Only we shall give to the Argives some advice, in hope
o help them, so that not all die, thanks to your wrath.”
 Zeus, who assembles the clouds, then answered her: 475
And at dawn you will see the most mighty son of Kronos
estroying, if you wish, O revered Hera with the cow eyes,
far greater portion of the army of the Achaean spearmen!
or the powerful Hector will not cease from the war before things
re made right with Achilles, the fast runner, beside the ships 480
n that day when they fight at the sterns of the ships
ver the dead Patroklos. For it is so ordained!° Nor do I give
fig for your anger, even should you go to the lowest bounds
f earth and sea where Iapetos and Kronos sit and take
o joy in the rays of Helios Hyperion, nor of the breezes, 485
nd deep Tartaros is all around.° Not if you go
here in your wandering do I care a bit about your anger,
or there is no greater bitch anywhere than you!”°
o he spoke, and white-armed Hera did not answer him.
The bright light of the sun fell into Ocean, dragging 490
with it black night over the rich plowland. The Trojans
were unwilling to see the sun set, but to the Achaeans
he dark night was welcome, yes, three-times prayed for.
Glorious Hector called an assembly of the Trojans,
eading them away from the ships to the banks of the swirling
495
Xanthos, in a clean space where there were no corpses.
hey dismounted from their cars to the ground to hear the word
f Hector, who was dear to Zeus. In his hand he held
he sixteen-foot spear, which before him gleamed with its bronze tip.
Around it ran a ferrule of gold. 500

Leaning on this, Hector

poke to the Trojans: “Hear me, Trojans and Dardanians
nd allies! I thought to destroy the ships and all
he Achaeans now and then to go back to windy Ilion.
ut before I could, darkness came on, which has saved
he Argives more than anything, and their ships on the shore. 505
Nevertheless, let us obey the dark night and make ready
ur dinner. Let us unyoke the horses with beautiful manes
nd give them fodder. Bring oxen and sheep from the city quickly.
ring honey-sweet wine and bread from the halls. Gather
ords of wood so that all night long, until the light
510
f dawn, we might burn many fires, and the light will reach
o heaven so that the long-haired Achaeans do not hurry to flee,
ven during the night, over the broad back of the sea. Let them not
oard their ships at their ease and without trouble, but let
many of them contemplate some weapon, struck by an arrow 515
r sharp spear as they leap onto a ship. This shall be a lesson
o anyone who thinks he can bring dread war against the Trojans!
“Let heralds, dear to Zeus, go through the city and announce
hat the young children and old men with white hair should camp
n the walls built by the gods.° And may the women, every one 520
f them, build great fires in their halls, but let them always be wary
f an ambush coming into the city while the army is outside.
“May it be so, O great-hearted Trojans, as I say.
his is my advice, which is sound and good. At dawn
will speak again to the horse-taming Trojans. I hope 525
y praying to Zeus and to the other gods we shall drive out
f here these dogs carried by the Fates, those whom the Fates bore
n their black ships. For this night we will take care of ourselves,
ut in the morning at break of dawn let us arm ourselves
nd make dread battle at the hollow ships. I will know 530
the son of Tydeus, strong Diomedes, will push me
 ack from the ships against the wall, or whether I will overcome
im in the fight and carry away his bloody armor. Tomorrow
e will come to know his valor and if he will wait for my spear.
Many of his companions will fall around him too 535
s tomorrow’s sun rises. I wish that I were deathless
nd ageless for all my days, and that I were honored as Athena
nd Apollo, so surely as now this day brings evil
o the Argives!”°

So Hector spoke, and the Trojans gave assent.

They loosed the sweating horses from beneath their yokes. 540
hey tethered them with thongs, each man standing near his own car.
hey brought cattle and sheep from the city, quickly, and honey-sweet
wine, and bread from the halls, and they gathered much wood.
he winds bore the smoke from the plain into the heaven.
Thus the Trojans with high hearts stayed all night long 545
long the bridges of war. The fires burned in their multitudes.

As when in the heaven stars around the brilliant moon

ppear shining, when the air is breathless, and easily seen
re the mountains and the high headlands and the forests
nd clearings, and from heaven breaks open the infinite air, 550
nd all the stars are clear, delighting the heart of the shepherd—
ust so many, between the ships and the waters of Xanthos,
id the fires of the Trojans appear before the face of Ilion.

A thousand fires burned on the plain, and next to each

at fifty men in the glow from the blazing fire. 555
heir horses, eating white barley and wheat, stood next
o the chariots and waited for Dawn on her beautiful chair.

OceanofPDF.com
 Gargaros: The highest peak of Mount Ida.
around them: To conceal them.
trace-horse: The chariot was drawn by two yoked horses, but some chariots
had one or two “trace-horses.” It is not clear what their function was, or if
Homer even understood it. The trace-horses were apparently attached to the
car by means of a strap; they were not yoked and did not pull the car. Only
two horses die in the Iliad, one here and one in Book 16, both trace-horses.
slow: He says nothing about the dead horse.
spear: Here the warriors fight from chariots instead of dismounting first, an
unusual procedure.
Iphitos: Presumably Hector has dismounted in order to find a new
charioteer. Archeptolemos appears only here and when he is killed later in
this Book (line 315). His father Iphitos was a son of Eurytos of Oichalia,
probably on the island of Euboea. Iphitos gave Odysseus the bow that
Odysseus uses to slaughter the suitors in the Odyssey.
beneath the car: It is not clear how this is possible.
you two: There seems to be something wrong with the Greek, because
nowhere else in the Iliad do four horses draw a chariot (the one or two
trace-horses do not actually pull the car), and after naming four horses
(Xanthos = “tawny”; Podargos = “swift of foot”; Aithon = “fiery”; Lampos
= “bright”) Homer switches to the dual number, speaking of only two
horses. Perhaps Hector has two trace-horses that are here named along with
the yoke-horses, and then he addresses just the yoke-horses.
… made for him: We never again hear of Nestor’s improbable golden
shield. The highly wrought chest-protector of Diomedes, the gift of
Hephaistos, is not the gold one he got from Glaukos (Book 6).
swift ships: It is hardly likely that the Achaeans would depart if Hector were
to capture these two odd pieces of armament. Hector is admirable, but not
always very smart.
quaked: Probably humorous.
Helikê and Aigai: Towns in ACHAEA in the northeast Peloponnesus that had
shrines to Poseidon.
together: Apparently Hector has driven the Achaeans over the ditch and
trapped them in the space between the ditch and the wall, but the Greek is
very obscure.
hand: To attract attention as a speaker.
Danaäns: If the Achaeans are huddled outside the walls between the ditch
and wall, it is not clear how they can hear Agamemnon’s speech, unless we
are to imagine the boat with its “huge hull” as taller than the wall and
Agamemnon is speaking over it.
blindness: The word for “blindness” is atê, an untranslatable word that
Agamemnon uses eleven times. Atê is the force that leads one to act in ways
that bring bad results, but may refer to the disaster itself. Here
Agamemnon’s atê is to have thought that by making appropriate sacrifice,
Zeus would favor him.
omens: This altar is never heard of again.
Teucer: Half-brother to Telamonian Ajax. According to post-Homeric
accounts, Teucer was the bastard son of Hesionê, the daughter of
Laomedon, and Telamon. There was an early Trojan king named Teucer, so
this Greek warrior bears a Trojan name (his mother Hesionê was after all a
Trojan). Teucer, son of Telamon, was a king of the island of Salamis in the
harbor of Athens. Probably by the “two Ajaxes” Homer confusingly
sometimes means Ajax and Teucer, not Ajax the son of Telamon and Ajax
the son of Oïleus.
… Melanippos: Though some names later reappear, these victims are made
up for the occasion.
Aisymê: Perhaps in Thrace. Gorgythion is not heard of elsewhere.
Archeptolemos: Earlier sought out as Hector’s replacement charioteer for
Enipeus, killed by Diomedes’ spear throw.
Gorgon: Any one who looked into the Gorgon’s eyes was turned to stone.
waters of the Styx: The labors or “contests” (athloi) of Herakles were not
yet standardized as ten or twelve tasks. In this task the cowardly
Eurystheus, Herakles’ cousin who held power over him, compelled the hero
to descend to the underworld and bring back Cerberus, who protected the
gates to the house of Hades. The waters of the Styx, “hateful,” surround the
underworld.
lash: Hera has joined Athena in the chariot.
ordained: Because that is the story that Homer inherited, according to
which Troy did fall, and not even the gods can change that. Zeus is
powerless before Fate, though he claims that he could overrule Fate if he
wished (he never does). Homer here summarizes the story of the Iliad—the
wrath of Achilles that results in the deaths of Patroklos and Hector—to
remind his listeners and himself.
around: Zeus imagines Hera going to Tartaros—the roots of earth, sea, and
sky—where Zeus imprisoned the Titans, represented by the Titan Iapetos
(the biblical Japeth), the father of Prometheus, and the Titan Kronos, the
father of Zeus himself. Earlier in this book Zeus threatened to send to
Tartaros any god who disobeyed him (line 13). “Helius Hyperion” means
the “sun who goes across.” After Homer, Hyperion was said to be an
independent Titan, the father of Helius.
than you: Zeus’s exaggerated resentment of his wife parodies the
monogamous woes of the warrior elite who were Homer’s audience. The
origins of monogamy are not clear, but in the classical world only Greeks
and Romans were monogamous.
built by the gods: They camp on the walls, built by Poseidon and Apollo for
Laomedon, in anticipation of the great fight to come at dawn.
Argives: That is, as surely as he would like to live forever, and be honored
as a god, just as surely will the Achaeans be defeated.

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 BOOK 9. The Embassy to
Achilles

The hus the Trojans kept watch, while a tremendous panic,

companion of icy fear, fixed on the Achaeans.
An unbearable anxiety settled on all the captains.
As when two winds stir up the fishy sea, North Wind
nd West Wind blowing suddenly out of THRACE,
5
nd immediately a dark wave crests, pushing
line of seaweed along the shore—even so
he hearts of the Achaeans were torn in their breasts.°

The son of Atreus, struck in his heart by a great sorrow,

went here and there commanding his clear-voiced heralds to call
10
ecretely every man by name to the place of assembly—but not to
hout too loud. Agamemnon himself worked amidst the foremost.°

They sat down, much troubled, and Agamemnon rose,

ouring tears like a spring of black water that over
rocky cliff rains down its dark water—even so, 15
roaning, he spoke to the Argives these words: “Friends,
eaders and advisers of the Argives, Zeus the son of kronos
as bound me in a deep blindness°—the wretch!—who once
 romised me and agreed that I would sail home after sacking
he high-walled city. But now he has devised a wicked
20
eception, and enjoins me to return in shame to Argos
fter having lost many warriors. Well, such is the pleasure
f almighty Zeus, who has loosed the crowns of many
ities, and will of still others to come. For his power is the highest.

“But come, let all obey what I say: We shall flee

25
n our ships to the beloved land of our fathers. We shall never
ake Troy of the broad highways!”

So he spoke, and the company

ell into silence. For a long time they remained silent,
orrowing, the sons of the Achaeans, but at last Diomedes,
ood at the war cry, spoke: “Son of Atreus, I will
30
rst disagree with you in your foolishness, as is right,
my king, here in public assembly.° So don’t get mad.
My valor you did first insult among the Danaäns,
aying I was not a man of war, and without courage!°
Both young and old of the Achaeans know that this is what
happened. 35
he son of cunning kronos gave you a two-edged gift:
Above all he granted that you to be honored by the scepter,
ut he did not give you valor. There’s the greatest authority!
“If your spirit enjoins you to sail home, then go!
The road is open. Your ships stand near the sea,
40
hey followed you from Mycenae in vast numbers.
ut the other long-haired Achaeans will remain until
we take Troy. And if they too wish to flee in their swift ships
o the beloved land of their fathers, then I and Sthenelos°
will fight on until we win the goal of Ilion. We have come
45
with divine approval.”° So he spoke and all the sons
f the Achaeans assented, applauding the words of horse-taming
Diomedes.

Then Nestor the horseman arose and spoke:

Son of Tydeus, you are powerful in the fight, and in council
ou are the best of your peers. Not one Achaean will make light
50
f what you say nor deny its truth. But you have not
aid all there is to be said. For you are still young.
You might even be my son, the youngest born.
And you speak sense to the chiefs of the Argives, for you
ave spoken in accord with the way things seem. 55
ut come, I, who am older than you—I will explain
ll, I will clarify every issue. Nor will any
man scorn my word, not even the ruler Agamemnon.
Without attachment to clan, without law, without a hearth
s the man who loves icy war among the people.° 60
“But let us obey black night and make ready our dinner.
et there be sentinels posted along the ditch beyond
he wall. I hereby command the young men to do this—
nd you, son of Atreus, lead! For you are most kingly.
Make a meal for the old men. It is suitable, it is not unsuitable.
65
Your tents are filled with wine that the ships bring daily
ver the broad sea from Thrace. You have every kind
f entertainment, and you rule over many. When we get many
ogether, you will follow that man who proposes the best plan.
think we Achaeans have a great need for some good and 70
ntelligent counsel, seeing that the enemy is kindling many fires
lose to the ships. Who could be happy about this?
his night will bring ruin to our army, or save it.”

So Nestor spoke, and everybody listened and took heed.

The sentinels in their armor hastened around Nestor’s son 75
hrasymedes, shepherd of the people—Askalaphos and Ialmenos,
ons of Ares, and Meriones and Aphareus and Deïpyros,
nd the son of kreon, the good Lykomedes.° These were
he seven leaders of the sentinels, and with each one went
ne hundred young men. They sat down in rows, holding 80
ong spears in the middle ground between the ditch and the wall.°
here they built a fire, and each man prepared his meal.

But the son of Atreus brought the elders of the Achaeans

n a body into his tent, and before each man he placed
satisfying meal. They put forth their hands to the good cheer
85
et ready before them.

But when they had cast off all

esire for drink and food, old man Nestor, whose past
dvice had always seemed best, first of all began
o weave a plan. Wishing them well, he rose
nd addressed them: “Most glorious son of Atreus,
90
he king of men, Agamemnon, with you will I end, with you
begin,° because you are king of many and Zeus has given
ou the scepter and good judgment so that you might take counsel
or the people. Therefore it is proper that you deliver a superior
lan, but that you listen too, and that you fulfill for another 95
what his heart impels him to say if it is to our advantage.
What we finally undertake depends on you.°
“But let me say what seems to me to be best.
No one else will have a better thought than mine, which I
ave had for a long time and still have, from the time when 100
ou, Agamemnon, nurtured of Zeus, went to Achilles’
ent and, enraging him, you took the girl Briseïs,
ot at all according to our advice. I explicitly
warned you against doing this very thing, but you
ave in to your proud spirit and dishonored a very 105
owerful man whom the gods have highly honored.
You went and you seized his prize, and you hold her still!
ut let us even now consider how we might soothe him
nd persuade Achilles with noble gifts and honeyed words.”

king Agamemnon then answered: “old man, it is not 110

false tale you have told of my blindness. I have been blind!
don’t deny it. A man is worth many people if Zeus
oves him in his heart, even as now he honors this man
while he destroys the army of the Achaeans.
“But since I have
een blind, giving in to my vile persuasions, I would like to make 115
mends and to give boundless penalty tokens. Let me enumerate
o all of you the great things I’ll give: seven unfired tripods,
en talents of gold, twenty shining cauldrons, twelve powerful
orses, winners all, who have taken prizes through their speed.
Nor will you ever lack for booty, nor lack in precious
120
 old when you have as many prizes as I have won
hrough my horses’ swiftness of foot.
“I will give Achilles seven
women from LESBOS, skilled with their hands, whom he himself
nce captured when he sacked that well-built city, women
f surpassing beauty that I chose from the spoil. These 125
shall give him, along with the woman I took from him,
he daughter of Briseus. And I shall swear an oath: Never
id I enter her bed, nor mix with her in love,
s is the custom of men and women.
“All these things
hall be ready to his hand. And if the gods shall grant us 130
o sack the high city of Priam, then he can load his ship
with all the gold and bronze he wants at the division
f the spoils. And he can take twenty Trojan women,
hose who are most beautiful, after Argive Helen.
“And if we return to Achaean Argos, the rich land,
135
may he be my son! I will honor him like Orestes,°
my darling, who is raised in the midst of abundance. I have
hree daughters in my well-built hall, Chrysothemis and
aodikê and Iphianassa.° Of these he may take as wife
whichever he wants—no bride-price necessary!—and lead her
140
o the house of Peleus. I will give her a dowry, too,
o much as no man ever gave: seven towns
ensely populated, kardamylê, Enopê, and grassy Hirê,
nd holy Pherai, and Antheia rich in meadows,
nd beautiful Aipeia and vine-girt Pedasos, all of them 145
lose by the sea on the edge of sandy Pylos.°
he men who dwell within them are rich in sheep
nd rich in cattle. They will shower him with many gifts,
s if he were a god. They will gladly obey his scepter-given
 ommands. 150

“All this I will bring to pass, if only

e gives over his rage. Let him yield—Hades can never
e soothed or overcome, for which reason he is the most
ated of all the gods by men! So let him submit
o me, for I am more kingly and the older in age.”

Gerenian Nestor then answered Agamemnon: “Son

155
f Atreus, covered in glory, king of men Agamemnon,
hese gifts you offer Achilles, son of Peleus, can no man
espise. But come, let us send some chosen men
who may go as quickly as possible to the tent of Achilles,
on of Peleus. And those whom I choose, let them agree to go.
160
irst of all, Phoinix,° beloved of Zeus—may he lead.
hen Big Ajax and the good Odysseus. As heralds, let Odios
nd Eurybates follow along.° So bring water now
or our hands, and order all to keep silent so that we may pray
o Zeus, son of Kronos, if he will take pity.”°
165

So spoke Nestor.
He had spoken words pleasing to all. Immediately the heralds
oured water over their hands. Youths filled bowls to the brim
with drink, which they served to all—but first a dollop
or the gods. When they had poured out an offering, they drank
s much as each man wished. Then they went from Agamemnon’s
hut, 170
he son of Atreus. The horseman Gerenian Nestor
ooked at each man, especially Odysseus, and gave
rict orders to members of the embassy that they persuade
Achilles, the son of Peleus.

The two men° walked along

he shore of the turbulent sea, praying hard to the shaker
175
f the earth, that they might persuade Achilles, the grandson
f Aiakos. They came to the huts and the swift ships
f the Myrmidons.° They found Achilles refreshing his spirit
n the bright and beautiful sound of the lyre, wonderfully made.
The bridge on it was silver, loot from the time when he burned
180
he town of Eëtion.° With it now he refreshed his spirit
s he sang of the famous deeds of men.° Patroklos sat
pposite him, all alone, silent, waiting until the grandson
f Aiakos should finish his singing.

The two men came up,

nd Odysseus stood before Achilles, who, amazed, 185
eaped from his seat holding the lyre. Patroklos too
ose when he saw them. Achilles, the fast runner,
poke, greeting the two men: “Welcome! Some sorry
eed must bring you here. But you come as friends!—
f all the Achaeans you are most dear to me, 190
hough I am very angry.”

So speaking, he led
hem to his tent, and he invited them to sit on chairs
overed in purple cloths.° He spoke at once
o Patroklos, who stood nearby: “Son of Menoitios,
ring out the big bowl, mix in it stronger wine,
195
nd give each man a cup. These men who have come
eneath my roof are most dear.”°

Patroklos obeyed
is comrade. He placed a chopping block in the glare
f the fire. On it he laid the back of a sheep and a fat
oat and the backbone of a big porker, brimming
200
with fat. Automedon gripped the meat while Achilles
iced it. He cut small pieces and threaded them on spits.
he son of Menoitios, a man like a god, stoked up
he fire. When the fire had burned, and the flame had abated,
atroklos scattered the coals and placed the spits
205
pon them. He sprinkled delicious salt on the flesh,
upporting the spits by means of andirons. When the meat
was cooked, he stacked it on platters. Patroklos took
read and set it out on a table in lovely baskets
while Achilles served the meal.
210

Achilles sat down

pposite godlike Odysseus, who sat against the wall.
He urged his companion Patroklos to make the gods
n offering. Patroklos cast pieces of meat into the fire.
hen they ate the succulent meal before them.
 When they had satisfied their desire for drink
215
nd food, Ajax nodded to Phoinix. Odysseus noticed
nd, filling his cup with wine, he toasted Achilles:
Hail to you Achilles! There is no lack of the abundant feast,
ither in the tent of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,
or here either, where there is fine fare aplenty.°
220
ut now this succulent feast is not our concern.
God-nurtured Achilles, we are terribly afraid … We see
omplete disaster looming before us. We doubt
hat we can save our well-benched ships. We fear
hey will be destroyed if you do not don your mantle
225
f power. For the Trojans, intrepid in their hearts, have set
p camp outside the wall near the ships, along with
heir allies of wide renown. Their campfires burn
ll along the battleline. Nor do they think they will go on
olding back, but soon they will fall on our dark ships.
230
eus, the son of Kronos, sends lightning on their right.
Hector, exulting, rages like a madman, trusting
n Zeus. Nor does he care about men or gods. A mighty
nsanity has taken hold of him. He prays for dawn.
He boasts he will cut the ensigns from our ships’ 235
erns and that he will set them afire, and destroy the Achaeans
 FIGURE 9.1 Embassy to Achilles. Achilles sits on a chair covered by a
goat skin, his head wrapped in a cloak of mourning, his hand to his head in
grief. He holds a gnarled staff. Opposite sits Odysseus, with his
characteristic hat on his back, holding two javelins. Behind Odysseus stands
the aged Phoenix with a staff similar to Achilles’, and on the right Patroklos
looks on, leaning on his own staff. Ajax does not appear. Athenian red-
figure vase, c. 480 BC, by Kleophrades.

onfused from the smoke that consumes the hulls. And I

reatly fear in my heart that the gods will bring this
o pass—that it will be our fate to die on the windy
lain of Troy, far from Argos rich in herds.
240
“But come Achilles, we implore you to save the sons
f the Achaeans even at this late hour, cowering as they are
t the war-din of the Trojans. You’ll be sorry if you don’t,
or will you find a remedy for the harm once done.
No, think now how you might ward off that evil day
245
or the Danaäns! Did not your father Peleus say to you,
n that day when he sent you from PHTHIA to Agamemnon,
O my son, Athena and Hera will give you strength
you restrain the heart rampant in your breast.
Moderation is best. keep aloof from strife that only brings 250
vil. In this way the Argives will honor you the more,
oth the young and the old.’ Thus your father advised you.
Do not forget his words. Let it go—give up your bitter
nger. Agamemnon will reward you richly, if only you
ast aside your rage. 255
“Now hear me out!—I will tell
ou what Agamemnon has for you in his tent:
even unfired tripods, ten talents of gold,
wenty shining cauldrons, twelve powerful horses,
winners who have taken prizes through their speed.
Never will you lack for booty, nor want for precious 260
old, when you have the prizes Agamemnon has won
hrough his horses’ swiftness of foot.
“He will give you seven
women of Lesbos, women of surpassing beauty and skilled with
heir hands, whom you yourself once captured when you
acked that well-built city. These he shall give you, along 265
with the woman he took from you, the daughter of Briseus.
And Agamemnon shall swear an oath: Never did
e enter her bed, nor mix with her in love, as is
he custom among men and women.
“All these things
re immediately available. And if the gods shall grant that
270
we sack the high city of Priam, then you can load your ship
with all the gold and bronze you want at the division
f the spoils. And take twenty Trojan women, those
who are most beautiful, after Argive Helen.
 “And if we return to Achaean Argos, the rich land,
275
e will make you his son. He will honor you like Orestes,
is darling, whom he raises in the midst of abundance. He has
hree daughters in his well-built hall, Chrysothemis
nd Laodikê and Iphianassa. Of these you may take as wife
whichever you want—no bride-price necessary!—and lead her 280
o the house of Peleus. He will give you a dowry too,
o much as no man ever gave: seven towns
ensely populated, kardamylê, Enopê, and grassy Hirê,
nd holy Pherai, and Antheia rich in meadows,
nd beautiful Aipeia and vine-girt Pedasos, all of them 285
lose by the sea on the edge of sandy Pylos.
he men who dwell within them are rich in sheep
nd rich in cattle. They will shower you with many gifts
s if you were a god. They will gladly obey
our scepter-given commands. All this he will bring 290
o pass, if only you give over this rage of yours.
“But if your hatred for the son of Atreus, and all
is gifts, is too great, at least take pity on the Achaeans
avaged throughout, men who will honor you
s if you were a god. For now you might
295
ttain great glory in their eyes. Now is the time
ou might put to death Hector, who comes in close,
hinking only of his destructive rage. He thinks
here is no one of the Danaäns, whom the black ships
ave carried here, who is equal to himself.” 300

In answer
Achilles the fast runner spoke to him: “Wise Odysseus,
on of Laërtes, god-nourished, I must speak to you directly,
ust as I see it, and how I think it will come to pass,
o that you might not sit there, and me here, wasting
ur time in idle talk. I hate that man like 305
he gates of Hades’ house who conceals one thing
n his heart, but says another. I will say to you
ow matters seems to me.
“I don’t think Agamemnon, the son
f Atreus, can persuade me, nor any other of the Danaäns.
For there is no thanks for endlessly fighting the enemy. 310
he same lot comes to him who holds back as to him
who fights eagerly. In like honor are the shirker
nd the brave. Death is the same reward for the man
who does much and for him who does nothing. It is
f no advantage to me that I have suffered pains 315
n my heart, ever risking my life in these contendings.
ike a bird who brings tidbits to her chicks, whatever
he can find, but goes herself without, so have I spent
many sleepless nights and bloody days passed
ighting with men on account of their wives. I laid 320
waste twelve cities from my black ships, and eleven
y land, throughout the Troad. From these I captured
huge quantity of fine booty. Always I would
ive the spoil to Agamemnon, son of Atreus. And he,
anging back by the ships, took it all, apportioning
325
small amount, but keeping most for himself.
o he gave some prize to the chiefs and the big men—
hey have their prizes. But from me alone of the Achaeans
e took my bedmate, dear to my heart. Well, let him
ie beside her and take his pleasure! 330
 “But why,
ask, must Argives fight against the Trojans?
Why has the son of Atreus gathered an army
nd brought them here? Was it not for the sake of
air-haired Helen? I suppose of all men the sons of Atreus
lone love their wives? No, every good and sensible 335
man loves and cherishes his wife, even as I loved
hat woman with all my heart, though she was a captive
f my spear. As matters stand, Agamemnon has taken
my prize out of my arms. Surely he has deceived me.
He will not persuade me. I know him too well. 340
He shall not persuade me! “So Odysseus,
think he should take counsel how with you
nd all the other captains he might ward off
he consuming fire. Why, he has accomplished so much
without me! He has built a wall, and he has dug a ditch 345
long it, wide and grand! He has fixed stakes within it!
ven so, he cannot stop the force of Hector, killer of men.
o long as I fought among the Achaeans, Hector
ever roused the battle-cry away from the walls,
ut ventured only as far as the Scaean Gates 350
nd the oak tree. There once he awaited me alone,
nd scarcely did he escape my attack.
“But as it is,
ecause I will not war against shining Hector, tomorrow,
fter sacrifice to Zeus and the other gods, and heaping high
my ships, you will see me at the crack of dawn launch 355
orth on the salt sea—that is if you even care—
ailing on the Hellespont teeming with fish and my men
agerly rowing. And if the mighty Shaker of Earth
rants us a fair voyage, on the third day we’ll arrive in the rich
 lowland of Phthia. There I have much wealth that I left behind 360
when I came here. I will add to it much more,
old and ruddy bronze and lovely women and gray iron—
oot that I gained by lot, though King Agamemnon,
he son of Atreus, has seized with violence the prize
hat once he gave me. You tell him everything, openly
365
n order that the other Achaeans may be angry
he hopes by deceit to rob any other of the Danaäns,
lothed as he is in shame. For never would he dare
o look me in the face, what a dog!
“No, I shall
ive him no advice, nor shall I do anything on his behalf. 370
or he has deceived me, and done me harm. No, never
gain will he trick me with words. I am through with that.
May he go in comfort straight to hell! Zeus,
suppose, has taken away his wits. I despise
is gifts! He isn’t worth a hair! Not if he gave me ten times 375
s much, or twenty times as much as he possesses—
ven if he acquired still more. Not if he offered me
s much as Orchomenos holds, or Egyptian Thebes—
where the greatest wealth is stored in their houses—a city
f one hundred gates through each of which two hundred men 380
ally forth with their horses and cars.° Not if he gave me
s many things as there are sands by the sea or dust in the road—
ot even then would Agamemnon persuade my heart before
e has paid the full price for the anguish that torments my heart!
“As for Agamemnon’s daughter, I would not 385
marry her, not if she rivaled Aphrodite the golden in beauty,
r equaled flashing-eyed Athena in craft. No, I will
ot marry her! Let her choose some other Achaean,
 ne of the same class, one of a higher station than I.
For if the gods will save me, and I come home, 390
eleus will find me a wife. There are many daughters
f the Achaeans throughout HELLAS and Phthia, daughters
f the chiefs who guard the towns. From these I shall choose
wife and make her my own, if I wish. Many times
my proud heart urged me to marry a suitable helpmate,
395
o rejoice in the riches that old Peleus acquired.
“Not worth a life is all the wealth that they say
ion once possessed, that well-peopled city, in the time
f peace before the coming of the sons of the Achaeans.
No, nor the wealth that the stone threshold of Phoibos Apollo, 400
he archer, contains in rocky Pytho.° You can always
ake cattle by rapine, and stout sheep, and you can acquire
ipods in the same way, and chestnut mares. But the life
f a man does not come again. It cannot be captured
r taken once it has passed the barrier of the teeth.
405
“My mother Thetis, the goddess with silver feet,
ays that a twofold fate carries me toward my
eath. If I remain and fight to take the city
f the Trojans, then my homecoming is no more, but
my fame will be forever. If I return to my home 410
n the land of my fathers, there will be no glorious renown,
et I will live long, and the doom of death will not
oon find me.
“And I strongly advise you others also
o sail to your homes. You can no more hope for steep Ilion.
Zeus, whose voice is heard from afar, holds his
415
ands in protection over her, and her people are emboldened.
Go now and tell the chiefs of the Achaeans what
 have said. For that is the burden of old men, so that
hey may concoct some other plan, a better one—
ome way to save the ships and the host of the Achaeans 420
eside the hollow ships. The plan they have
evised will not work so long as I stand apart
n my anger.
“But let Phoinix remain here and take his rest,
o that he may follow me to my beloved native land,
omorrow, if he wants. But I will not force him to go.” 425

Thus Achilles spoke. They all fell into silence, numbed

y his words. For he had rejected them utterly. At last old man
hoinix the horse-driver spoke, bursting into tears—because he feared
or the ships of the Achaeans: “If you are really thinking about
oing home, excellent Achilles, nor are you at all willing
430
o help us ward off consuming fire from our swift ships
ecause a rage has settled on your heart—how can I, my dear child,
e left here without you, alone? It was to you that the horseman,
ld man Peleus, sent me on that day when he sent you
orth from Phthia to Agamemnon, still a child, knowing nothing 435
f the horrors of war, nor of assemblies where men show
hemselves to be excellent. For this reason he sent me along
o teach you everything—how to be a speaker of words and a doer
f deeds.° For this reason, my child, I would not want
o be left apart from you, not even if a god should 440
and by me personally and promise to wipe away
ld age and replace it with glowing youth, such as
had when first I left Hellas° where the women are beautiful.
“I fled a quarrel with my father Amyntor, son of Ormenos,
who grew angry because of the whore with the beautiful hair. My
father 445
oved her, but he dishonored his bed-mate, my mother, who constantly
sked me, clasping my knees, to sleep with the woman
o that she might come to despise the old man. And I did that.
My father knew at once and called down many curses
n my head, and he called on the hateful Erinyes,° that never 450
hould my dear grandson take a seat on his knees.
“The gods fulfilled his curses, Zeus who lives beneath
he ground and the dread Persephonê.° So then I contemplated
ow I might kill my father with the sharp sword. But one
f the deathless ones stopped my anger, reminding me of
455
what people would say, and of the insults of men—the Achaeans
would call me the murderer of my father! Then my heart
ould no longer be stayed to remain at all in the halls
f my angry father. My fellows and relatives, surrounding me,
egged me to stay there in his halls, and they sacrificed 460
many good sheep and crooked-horned shuffling cattle,
nd many swine rich with fat were stretched to be singed
ver the flame of Hephaistos.° And much wine
was drunk from the jugs of the old man. For nine nights
hey watched over me. Taking turns they held guard,
465
or did their fires ever go out, one burning
eneath the portico of the well-fenced court, the other
n the porch in front of the doors of my chamber.
ut when the tenth dark night came on, I broke
he well-fitted doors of the chamber and easily leaped 470
ver the wall around the court, avoiding the guards
nd the slave women. I then fled afar through spacious Hellas.
“I came to Phthia with its deep soil, the mother
f sheep, to Peleus the king. He happily received me,
 nd he loved me as a father loves his only son,
475
he heir to his many possessions. He made me rich
nd he gave me to rule over many people. I lived
n the furthermost part of Phthia, presiding over
he Dolopians. I made you such as you are, like to the gods,
Achilles, loving you from my heart. And you would never go 480
o the feast with another, nor take meat in the halls before
set you on my knees and fed you with a tasty morsel
ut for you, and then gave you wine. Often you
wet the shirt on my breast, blubbering out the wine
n your sorry helplessness. So I have suffered much 485
nd labored hard, realizing that the gods would never
rant me an offspring. I made you my child, godlike Achilles,
o that you could protect me from shameful ruin.
“But Achilles,
ow you should control your mighty spirit, not have a heart
without pity. Even the gods can be persuaded, whose worth 490
nd honor and strength is greater. Men turn their anger
side by beseeching with incense and gentle prayers, and pouring
ut wine and the smell of sacrifice when one has crossed
he line and made a mistake. Prayers are the daughters
f great Zeus—lame, wrinkled, and with eyes askance. Prayers 495
make it their concern to follow after Blindness. But Blindness
strong and fast-moving so that she outruns them all, and goes
efore Prayers over all the earth, bringing harm to mankind.
ut Prayers come afterward, trying to heal. Whoever
espects the daughters of Zeus when they come near, 500
rayers will help him. They hear him when he asks for something.
ut whoever denies and strongly refuses Prayers, they go
nd they pray to Zeus the son of Kronos that Blindness may follow
 im and cause him to fall and to pay the full price.°
“Achilles, you should see that honor attend these
505
aughters of Zeus, who like to bend the minds of upright men.
the son of Atreus were not bearing gifts and naming others
o come later, but remained furiously angry, I would not
ounsel you to cast aside your anger and come to the defense
f the Argives, even though they are in much need. 510
ut as it is he gives you many things right away
nd promises others later. He has sent forth the best
men to beseech you, choosing them from throughout the army,
who are those men dearest to you. Do not scorn them,
or their coming here.
515
“Before, no one could blame you
or being angry. And so we have heard of the famous deeds
f warriors of a time long ago, when a ferocious anger would
ome upon them: They could still be won by gifts, turned aside
y words. I have in mind a deed from the olden days, how it was,
ot something recent. I will tell it to you who are all my friends. 520
“The Kuretes and the Aetolians, steadfast in war, were fighting
round KALYDON and slaughtering one another, the Aetolians
efending lovely Kalydon, the Kuretes eager to destroy it
y war.° For golden-throned Artemis had sent an
ffliction against them, angry because Oeneus had
525
ailed to offer to her the first fruits of his burgeoning
rchard.° While the other gods dined on great sacrifices, to the
aughter of Zeus alone he did not offer sacrifice, either because
e forgot or thought it not important.° Blindness struck him
eep in his heart. She became angry, the archer-goddess, 530
egotten of Zeus, and sent forth a fierce wild boar
with white tusks, who did much harm, wasting the orchard land
f Oeneus. Many a tall tree did he tear up and throw
o the ground, roots and all, and the blossoms of apples.
Meleager, the son of Oeneus, killed the boar after he had 535
athered hunters and hounds from many cities. The boar
was not to be overcome by a few men. He was huge
nd he sent many men to an unhappy pyre.
“But around
he head and shaggy skin of the pig there arose a great clamor

FIGURE 9.2 Kastor and Polydeukes. The brothers of Helen (probably)

attack the Kalydonian Boar. The fish beneath the ground-line indicates a
 lake or stream. Spartan black-figure wine-cup, c. 555 BC.

nd shouting between the Kuretes and the great-hearted Aetolians.

° 540
o long as Meleager, dear to Ares, fought, so long it went badly
or the Kuretes, nor were they able to remain outside the wall,
lthough they were very many. But when anger came
o Meleager, which also swells in the breasts of other
ensible men—anger against his own mother 545
Althaia—then he stayed in bed with his beautiful wife
Kleopatra of the beautiful ankles, the daughter of Marpessa.
Marpessa’s father was Euenos. Her husband was Idas,
ne of the strongest men on the earth at that time.
das even raised his bow against Phoibos Apollo because 550
f Marpessa, the girl with the beautiful ankles.° Marpessa’s
ather Euenos and her mother then called Marpessa
Alkyonê’ because her mother suffering the fate
f the sorrowing Halcyon bird, wept when Apollo,
who works from a long ways off, snatched away her daughter.° 555
“Meleager lay by Kleopatra’s side, nursing a bitter
nger because of the curses of his enraged mother,
who prayed ardently to the gods, grieving over her dead
rother. Althaia pounded the rich earth, crying out to Hades
nd to terrible Persephonê. She knelt down and wet the folds
560
f her gown with tears, begging that they bring death to her son.
he Erinys that walks in darkness, with the brittle heart,
eard her from Erebos.° Soon there came the noise of the Kuretes
t the gates and the thud of walls being battered. The Aetolian elders
egged Meleager. They sent their best priests of the gods, 565
who promised a great gift if Meleager would come out.
Where the fattest plain of lovely Kalydon lies, there
hey urged him to pick a splendid district fifty acres big,
he half of it wine country, the other half to be clear plowland,
ut from the plain. The old man Oeneus, Meleager’s father, 570
he horse-driver, begged him again and again—standing
n the threshold of his high-roofed chamber, shaking the joined
oors, supplicating his son. And his sisters and revered mother°
egged Meleager too. He only denied them the more.
“Meleager’s companions were most true and dear to him—
575
ut even so, they could not persuade his heart
efore the chamber was under attack. The Kuretes
were on the walls and the great city was going up in flames.
Only then did Kleopatra, Meleager’s nicely belted wife,
eg him, wailing, describing to him all the horrible things 580
hat happen to people when a city is taken: men murdered,
re consuming the city, men leading away little children
nd low-girdled women. His spirit was stirred when
e heard about these evil things. He got up to go.
Meleager put on his shining armor. 585
“And so he warded off
he evil day for the Aetolians, giving in to his spirit.
o Meleager thereafter they did not give the gifts,
many and dear, but still he warded off the evil.
Don’t think like that! Don’t let some spirit turn you
n that direction! It is a harder thing to do to ward off fire 590
nce the ships are burning. But come—while there are still
ifts to be had. The Achaeans will honor you like a god.
you enter without gifts the battle that destroys men,
ou will not enjoy an equivalent honor, even if you win
he war.” 595
 Achilles the fast runner answered him:
Phoinix, dear fellow, old man nurtured of Zeus, you see I have
o need of this honor. I think that I am honored in the allotment
f Zeus, which will sustain me beside the beaked ships so long
s there is breath in my lungs and my legs still move.
“I will tell you something else, and please take it to heart. Do
not 600
onfuse my spirit with your weeping and wailing as you do the pleasure
f the warrior son of Atreus. You should not love him so that you are
ated by me, who love you. It is a better thing that you trouble those
who trouble me. Be a captain like me. Share half of my honor.
This embassy will carry my message. You stay here on a soft bed.
605
At the break of dawn we will give thought, whether we will
o home or remain.”

As he spoke he silently signed to Patroklos

with his brows to charge him to spread a thick bed for Phoinix,
o that the others might quickly leave the hut. But Ajax,
he godlike son of Telamon, spoke: “Zeus-born, son of 610
aërtes, resourceful Odysseus, let us leave. I don’t think
we are going to accomplish our purpose. We must quickly
nnounce our message to the Danaäns, not a welcome one,
or I imagine that they anxiously await it. Achilles has let
he great heart in his breast go wild—cruel man!—and he cares 615
othing for the love of his companions, nor how we honored
im beside the ships above all others—a pitiless man!
“You know, if a brother is killed, or a child, a man
will take a penalty-payment for the dead. And the killer stays there
n his own land once he’s paid that high price. The heart 620
 nd the proud spirit of the kinsman are restrained by receiving
he penalty-payment. But you!°—the gods have put a stubborn
nd evil spirit in your breast on account of a single girl.
We offer you seven girls, and those by far the best, and other
hings beside. Have a generous heart. Respect your hall!° 625
We have come from the mass of the Danaäns under your roof.
We want to be dearest and beloved above all the other Achaeans.”°

Answering him, Achilles the fast runner said:

Zeus-born Ajax, son of Telamon, captain of the people,
verything you say seems to me to be spoken
630
n accord with my own mind. But my heart seethes
with anger whenever I think of that—how the son of Atreus
eated me with indignity among the Argives as if
were some kind of man in flight, without status!
“But you return and give this message: I will not think 635
f bloody war before good Hector, the son of wise Priam,
omes to the tents and ships of the Myrmidons,
illing Argives, and he sets fire to the ships.
Around my hut and black ship I think that Hector
will be stopped, eager though he is for battle.” 640

So he spoke. Each of them took up a two-handled

up and poured out an offering, then they returned back
long the line of ships, Odysseus leading the group.

But Patroklos ordered his companions and female slaves

 o spread a thick bed for Phoinix as soon as possible. 645
Obeying him, the female slaves spread the bed
s ordered—fleeces and a rug and a linen sheet.
here the old man lay down and awaited the bright dawn.
ut Achilles slept in the innermost part of his well-built hut.
Beside him lay a woman whom he had taken from Lesbos, 650
Diomedê of the lovely cheeks, the daughter of Phorbas.
atroklos slept on the other side. Beside him slept the nicely
elted Iphis, whom Achilles had given him when he took
kyros, the steep city of Enueos.°

The embassy arrived

t the huts of the sons of Atreus. The sons of the Achaeans 655
eceived them with golden cups, standing about on this
de and that, and they then questioned the embassy.
irst Agamemnon, king of men, asked: “Tell me, Odysseus,
much-praised great glory of the Achaeans—either he is willing
o ward off the consuming fire from the ships, or he
660
as refused because anger still holds his proud spirit?”

Much-enduring good Odysseus then answered:

“O son of Atreus, most glorious king of men, Agamemnon,
hat man is not willing to extinguish his anger, but is filled
with still more anger. He rejects you and your gifts. For you,
665
e advises that you consider how you will save the ships
nd the army of the Achaeans. As for himself, he threatens
hat when dawn appears he will drag his well-benched
urved ships into the sea. He also said that he would advise others
 o sail home too, because there is no more hope that you
670
an win the goal of steep Ilion. ‘Zeus, whose voice is heard
om afar, holds his hand over her. Her people are filled
with courage.’ So he spoke. These men who followed
me there—Ajax and the two heralds, prudent men—
an confirm the tale. Old man Phoinix has gone to sleep there,
675
s Achilles urged, so he can follow in the ships to his beloved
atherland tomorrow, if he wants. He will not force him.”

So spoke Odysseus and everybody fell into silence,

mazed at his words. For he had spoken very strongly in his address
o the gathering. For a long time the sons of the Achaeans were 680
lent in their grief, but at last Diomedes, good at the war cry,
poke: “O son of Atreus, most glorious king of men, Agamemnon,
wish you had never sought in supplication the son
f Peleus, offering him a thousand gifts. He was arrogant
efore, but now you have led him to still more arrogance.
685
ut we will let him be. Either he goes or he stays. He will come
ack and fight when the spirit in his breast urges him
nd a god rouses him.
“But come, let us act on what I say.
Go now to your rest once you have satisfied your hearts with
ood and wine. There is strength and force in them. But when 690
eautiful Dawn appears with her fingers of rose,
uickly array your people and horses before the ships
nd urge them on. And yourselves fight among the foremost!”

So he spoke, and all the captains assented,

nspired by the words of Diomedes, the tamer of horses. 695
hen after pouring a drink offering, each man went to his tent.
here they lay down and took the gift of sleep.

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Achaeans: In this unusual simile the visible, tangible waves on the sea are
compared with the invisible, intangible feelings of the men. Usually storm
similes accompany furious warfare. The Achaeans seem to have retreated
to inside the earthen wall, though Homer never says this.
foremost: That is, to gather the assembly.
blindness: The Greek word is again atê: doing things whose consequences
you did not foresee, and the disaster itself that follows.
assembly: The assembly is a type-scene that by convention always sets in
motion a new sequence of events, in this case, the embassy to Achilles.
courage: In Book 4, in the marshaling of the chieftains, Agamemnon for no
good reason reproached Diomedes, but he did not say that he was “not a
man of war” nor that he was “without courage.”
Sthenelos: The son of the Theban-fighter Kapaneus and one of the
commanders of the contingent from Argos, according to the Catalog of
Ships. After this reference he drops from sight until the funeral games for
Patroklos in Book 23.
approval: Because in violating the laws of hospitality (xenia) Paris has
guaranteed divine disapproval. For this reason even Zeus cannot save Troy,
although he loves the city (also, Troy is fated to fall.).
people: The “people” being Agamemnon and his warrior Diomedes. Nestor
is trying to calm the potentially explosive situation, similar to that with
which the poem began. He sees that Agamemnon could again be forced into
a corner by a hothead warrior, Diomedes, taking a moral stance. He defuses
the situation by recommending a private council.
… Lykomedes: Thrasymedes’ brother Antilochos, the first Achaean to kill
someone in the poem (Book 4) and active later, is curiously not mentioned.
Askalaphos dies accidentally in Book 13; Askalaphos and Ialmenos are
mentioned in the Catalog of Ships as captains from Orchomenos. Meriones
is the Cretan archer, friend, companion, and aide to Idomeneus. Aphareus is
killed in Book 13 by Aeneas. Deïpyros is killed by the Trojan Helenos, also
in Book 13. Lykomedes is mentioned in three more books: Lykomedes’
father Kreon was king of Thebes and brother to Epikastê, the queen who
married (and gave birth to) Oedipus.
wall: For some reason hard to imagine the Achaeans have built the ditch a
fair ways away from the wall, not at its foot. Earlier Hector penned the
Achaeans in this space.
 begin: A formula ordinarily used when speaking with gods.
on you: Here is the social contract that underlies power: Agamemnon is a
sceptered king, but he still must listen to others and, when others’ counsel is
better, follow that course. Because he violated this rule in dealing with
Achilles, he now stands on the brink of ruin. This is his atê, his
“blindness”—he could not foresee the ill consequences of a certain manner
of behavior.
Orestes: Agamemnon’s son Orestes is mentioned only here in the Iliad, but
six times in the Odyssey.
Iphianassa: Agamemnon does not include the Electra famous from later
tradition, who conspired with her brother Orestes to murder Agamemnon
when he returned home from the war. “Iphianassa” is probably a variant of
“Iphigeneia”: Homer does not seem to know the famous story of the
sacrifice of Iphigeneia at Aulis to make the winds blow fair that carried the
ships to Troy.
… Pylos: None of these towns is mentioned in the Pylian entry in the
Catalog of Ships. They seem to be located around the MESSENIAN GULF
with “Pylos” here designating the general territory controlled from the town
of PYLOS, a sort of buffer area between the kingdoms of Nestor in the town
of Pylos and Menelaos in the town of SPARTA.
Phoinix: Achilles’ aged tutor, about whom we learn a good deal in this
book, but he is not earlier mentioned and scarcely again after Book 9.
follow along: Nestor does not select Talthybios, Agamemnon’s herald, who
took Briseïs, which might offend Achilles. Both Odios, “road man,” and
Eurybates, “far-traveler,” have “speaking names.” Odios appears only here,
but Eurybates seems to be one of odysseus’ men (Book 2) and reappears in
the Odyssey (Book 19).
take pity: In such formal prayers first comes purification of the hands; then
an order that everyone keep silent so that no words of ill omen are spoken;
then a pouring out of sacrificial wine, a libation, is made, or a sprinkling of
barley; then the prayer itself (here for some reason suppressed).
two men: Suddenly Homer switches into the dual number (Greek has a dual
form, in addition to the singular and plural), but he has just said that five
men (or three, not counting the heralds) have been chosen for the embassy.
Apparently in an earlier oral version only Ajax and Odysseus were on the
embassy, but Homer has added Phoinix (and the heralds), who has a special
role to play, without adjusting his diction.
Myrmidons: We cannot get a clear picture of the Achaean shelters. The
Greek word klisia means either “tent,” or “hut,” and I translate it both ways.
The klisia must be covered with cloths or skins, but sometimes, as in the
description of Achilles’ klisia in Book 24, it is a very elaborate nearly
permanent structure with a heavy bolted gate. There must be a smoke-hole
in the center for the hearth. Here the embassy simply walks in without
ceremony.
Eëtion: The king of Asiatic THEBES, where Chryseïs was captured.
deeds of men: Achilles is behaving like an aoidos, an “oral-singer,” in
celebrating the “deeds of men.” But otherwise in Homer aoidoi are always
professionals, not amateurs. This is the only example in Homer of a private
singer.
cloths: Homeric heroes sit to eat, either on a stool or armless chair. Not until
around 600 BC was the custom of lying on a couch and dining from a central
table (as in the Last Supper) imported from the Near East. The purple color
indicates that the clothes are of Phoenician origin and of the highest quality.
most dear: Ordinary wine, diluted with water, was apparently too heavy to
be drunk straight, or the Greeks simply had a taste for wine punch of which
huge quantities were drunk at drinking parties (symposia), to judge from
pottery of the Classical Period. There are no servants in Achilles’ hut, but
Patroklos and Automedon, the second and third in command, help out.
Every man serves himself as equals in this most elaborately described
nonsacrificial meal in Homer.
aplenty: Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix have just eaten their fill in
Agamemnon’s hut!
… cars: Orchomenos in northern Boeotia was just a village in Homer’s day
c. 800 BC, but in the Bronze Age it was a great power, to judge by its ruins.
Homer has heard something about the great capital of the Egyptian New
Kingdom, c. 1600–1150 BC, for some reason called Thebes in Greek (its
Egyptian names were quite dissimilar). What Achilles thinks are gates in
walls are really pylons in the amazing temples built there on both sides of
the Nile—but hardly big enough for one hundred cars! Still today the ruins
of these temples are astounding. Egypt and the Near East was a dim place
for Homer, about which he has only distorted information.
Pytho: That is, in DELPHI, north of the GULF OF CORINTH.
of deeds: In the popular postHomeric tradition it was Cheiron, the one wise
centaur, who taught Achilles all these things. Many pictures survive of
Cheiron educating the young Achilles (see Figure 11.3).
Hellas: A small territory in Thessaly under the political control of Amyntor,
Phoinix’s father. Peleus controls nearby Phthia, though it unclear what is
meant by “Phthia,” whether it is a town or a territory. Later “Hellas” came
to designate all of Greece.
Erinyes: The Erinyes (“avengers”) are underworld spirits who are the
guardians of oaths and curses: the “Furies.” If an oath is violated, they
persecute the person who violates it; when invoked in a curse, they attack
someone else, as here. They are associated with Fate because they also
guarantee the natural order of things. They punish such violations of the
natural order as killing one’s parents (or when a horse talks, in Il. 19).
… Persephonê: Hades and his wife.
Hephaistos: Apparently they sacrificed to the Erinyes to drive them away,
but their intentions are unclear.
price: A rare Homeric allegory. Prayers are the daughters of Zeus, that is,
they are of divine origin, but they are old and slow. Blindness (atê) is much
swifter, for example overtaking Agamemnon and causing him to take the
girl Briseïs. But Prayers eventually come along to make things whole, for
example the embassy’s supplication. So Achilles should accept the Prayers
and take what is offered. If not, then Prayers will see to it that
Blindness/Disaster (atê means both) will overtake him.
… by war: The name Kuretes means simply “young warriors.” The tribe is
known only from this story. Their capital was at Pleuron about ten miles
west of the town of Kalydon, which is in southwest mainland Greece (see
Map 2).
orchard: Oeneus, “wine-man,” was an early king of Kalydon. The famous
Kalydonian Boar Hunt took place during his reign, two or three generations
before the Trojan War. According to the Catalog of Ships, all the sons of
Oeneus are now dead and Thoas leads the Aetolian contingent.
not important: In ancient Greek religion intention counts for nothing, the
act for everything.
Aetolians: According to later reports about the Kalydonian Boar Hunt, the
huntress Atalanta, whom Homer does not mention, drew first blood, then
Meleager killed the boar. When Meleager gave the skin as a trophy to
Atalanta, a fight broke out between the Kalydonians and the neighboring
Kuretes, who did not think a woman should have the skin. During the war
Meleager killed his mother’s brothers, who were Kuretes. In revenge she
burned up a firebrand that contained Meleager’s soul, and so he died.
Homer may know this account, but he shapes his narrative to the dramatic
needs of the Iliad.
beautiful ankles: According to later sources, when Idas carried off
Marpessa, Apollo pursued them. Idas drew his bow against the god to
protect her from the god’s advances. Zeus forced Marpessa to choose; she
chose Idas over Apollo, fearing that Apollo would be unfaithful. Idas and
his brother Lynkeus were important in heroic myth: They journeyed on the
Argo and were killed in a cattle raid by Helen’s brothers.
daughter: “Alkyonê” is Greek for kingfisher, which in reality has no voice,
but in myth sings a calming dirge for her dead mate (named Keux). Once
Alkyonê was human, but in her grief for her dead husband was changed
into a mourning kingfisher (“Halcyon Days” are those days when the bird
sings its calming song). In this very obscure reference Homer implies that
Apollo was somehow successful in possessing Marpessa, giving rise to her
nickname “Alkyonê.” Marpessa’s mother suffered the same sorrow for her
daughter as Alkyonê felt for her dead husband.
Erebos: The realm of darkness, the underworld. The Erinys (now singular)
is the agent of Hades and Persephonê. Because the Erinys heard,
Meleager’s death is certain. A primitive social structure seems to underlie
this story in which a mother’s emotional obligation to her brothers is
stronger than to her son.
revered mother: Who has just cursed him to his certain death!
you: Ajax now addressed Achilles directly.
hall: As guests in Achilles’ house, the embassy is entitled to friendliness and
respect.
Achaeans: In a society where behavior is controlled by honor, disputes must
be resolved by preserving the honor of both parties. The aggrieved party
should accept recompense. If he does not, he dishonors the other party and
brings censure on himself. But in his anger Achilles rejects this whole
system, making him a man alone.
Enueos: Nothing otherwise is known of this raid on the island of SKYROS
east of EUBOEA (Map 2), where according to later tradition Achilles was
raised in the harem of the king, dressed as a girl until Odysseus unmasked
and recruited him for the war.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 10. The Exploits of
Dolonº

Tvercome
he other captains of the Achaeans slept through the night
by gentle sleep. But sweet sleep did not possess
he son of Atreus, Agamemnon, the shepherd of the people,
whose mind was occupied by many matters. As when
he husband of Hera of the lovely hair sends down
5
he lightning, making a mighty unspeakable rain,
r hail, or snow, when snow-flakes sprinkle the fields,
r even the wide mouth of bitter war, even so often
id Agamemnon groan from the depths of his breast,°
nd his mind trembled within. Whenever he looked
10
oward the Trojan plain, he was amazed at the fires that
urned before the city of Troy, and at the sound of flutes
nd pipes and the roar of men. But when he looked
oward the ships and the people of the Achaeans, he pulled
ut hanks of hair by the roots from his head, praying
15
o Zeus on high, and his noble heart groaned deeply.

This seemed to his mind to be the best counsel,

o go first of all to Nestor, the son of Neleus,
o see if he might contrive some blameless device
o ward off evil from all the Danaäns. So he straightened
20
 p and put on a shirt over his breast, and beneath
is feet he bound beautiful sandals, and then he put
round him the brown-yellow skin of a lion, fiery
nd huge, that reached to his feet. And he took up
is spear.
25

Thus in the same way did fear take hold

f Menelaos. Nor did sleep sit on his eyes. He feared
hat something might happen to the Argives who on
is account had crossed the vast water to Troy,
ager for horrid war. First he covered his broad
houlders with a dappled panther skin. Then he lifted up
30
nd placed on his head a bronze helmet, and he took up in his
owerful hand a spear. Then Menelaos went to rouse up
is brother, who ruled mightily over all the Argives,
whom the people honored like a god. He found him putting on
is beautiful armor around his shoulders beside the stern
35
f his ship.

Agamemnon was glad to see him. Menelaos,

ood at the war cry, spoke first: “Why, my brother,
re you arming? Have you got one of your companions to spy
n the Trojans? I fear that you will never find someone
willing to go alone and spy on the enemy through 40
he undying night. He will need to have a strong heart!”

Agamemnon answered him: “You and I need some shrewd

ounsel, O god-nourished Menelaos, that will save and deliver
he Argives and the ships, because the mind of Zeus is turned.
He finds Hector’s sacrifices more pleasing than our own.
45
or I have never seen, nor heard of one man, in his
udacity, doing so many horrible things in a single day
s this Hector, beloved of Zeus, has done to the sons
f the Achaeans—by himself alone, neither being a son
f a goddess nor of a god. He has accomplished things that
50
think will be a sorrow to the Argives for a long time,
o many dire actions has he brought to the Achaeans.

“But go now! Run swiftly along the ships. Call Ajax

nd Idomeneus. I will go to the good Nestor and urge
im to get up and go to the sacred company of the sentinels 55
nd give them orders. They are most likely to obey Nestor.
His son is captain of the guard, along with Meriones,
ompanion to Idomeneus. We gave them the most authority.”

Menelaos, good at the war cry, then answered Agamemnon:

With what exactly do you charge and command me? Shall I
60
wait there with Ajax and Idomeneus until you come? Or do you
want me to check back here after I have given the command?”
The king of men Agamemnon then said: “Stay there,
r we might miss one another as we go. For there are many
aths through the camp. Call out as you go. Order
65
ach man to wake up. Call him by his father’s name.
efer to his ancestry. Call him by his own name.
Honor them all. Don’t be proud of heart!° Let us both
 e busy—even so has Zeus laid upon us a heavy
ain at birth.”
70

So speaking, Agamemnon sent off his brother

with this strong command. Agamemnon went to find Nestor.
He found him beside his hut and his black ship,
n a soft bed. His fancy armor lay nearby,
is shield and two javelins and his gleaming helmet.
Nearby lay his flashing belt, which the old man put on 75
when he was about to go into man-killing battle,
eading forth his people, for he did not give in to
mournful old age.

Nestor rose up on his elbow, lifting his head,

nd he spoke to the son of Atreus, and questioned him:
Who is this man who goes through the ships and the camp,
80
lone through the dark night, when the other men are sleeping?
Are you looking for one of your mules, or one of your companions?
ell me, and don’t sneak up on me without speaking! What is it
hat you need?”

Then the king of men Agamemnon

nswered: “Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans,
85
ou know me—I’m Agamemnon, the son of Atreus,
whom above all Zeus has plunged into everlasting pain,
s long as the breath remains in my breast and my knees
ill move. I stalk about in this way because sweet sleep
 as not settled on my eyes because I am worried 90
bout the war and the sufferings of the Achaeans.
am terrified for the Danaäns. My mind is not firm
ut awfully distressed. My heart is jumping out of my breast!
My shining limbs are shaking.
“But maybe you can do something,
ecause sleep has not come to you, it seems … Let us go 95
o the sentinels so we can find out if, overcome by exhaustion
nd sleepiness, they have fallen into sleep and have forgotten
bout the watch. The enemy soldiers sit nearby and we do
ot know if maybe they will fight even in the night.”

Then Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, answered: 100

Son of Atreus, most glorious king of men Agamemnon,
don’t think that Zeus the counselor is about to fulfill
ll he intends concerning Hector—all that he plans.
think that Hector is about to suffer pains still
reater than our own. If only Achilles would turn 105
is heart away from bitter anger! But I will follow you.
et us rouse up the others—the son of Tydeus, clever with
he spear, and Odysseus, and swift Ajax, and the bold
Meges, son of Phyleus. And somebody should also go
nd summon godlike Ajax° and King Idomeneus,
110
or their ships are the furthest away, not nearby.
“But I will reproach Menelaos, though he is
onored and dear, even at the risk of your anger.
Nor will I conceal my thought—he is asleep and has left
t to you to do all the work alone! I wish that he were
115
oing among the captains, beseeching them.
We need to act!”

Then the king of men Agamemnon

nswered him: “Old man, you can reprove Menelaos
t some other time, and with my approval. He is often
slacker and unwilling to pull his share of the load. 120
He should not give in to laziness or carelessness
f mind, but he should look to me and await my leadership.
ut as it is, he was awake even before I was. He came
o me! I sent him forth to summon those very men
ou asked about. But let us go. We will find them before 125
he gates, among the sentinels, where I told them to gather.”

Then Gerenian Nestor the horseman answered:

So no one of the Argives is going to be resentful at anyone else,
r disobey him when someone urges on a man, or gives
ommands!”° So speaking he put on his shirt around his chest,
130
nd on his shining feet he bound his beautiful sandals,
nd around his body he buckled his purple cloak,
ouble, wide, whose nap sprouted thick upon it.
Nestor took up a strong spear fitted with a bronze tip,
nd he went through the ships of the Achaeans, who 135
wear shirts of bronze.

First then Gerenian Nestor

he horseman woke up Odysseus, the equal of Zeus in counsel,
y shouting. Immediately the voice rang through Odysseus’
 ead. Odysseus came out of the tent and spoke to them:
Why do you wander alone throughout the ships’ encampment 140
hrough the undying night? What is the great need?”

Then Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, answered

im: “Zeus-begotten, son of Laërtes, most resilient
Odysseus, do not be angry. For such a sorrow has come
ver the Achaeans. But follow us, so that we may 145
wake up another, somebody whom it suits to consider
he ‘ifs’ and ‘whats’ of war, and whether to flee or to fight.”

So Nestor spoke. Resourceful Odysseus went

o his tent and hoisted on his shoulders a shield with variegated
esign, and he went after them. They went to Diomedes,
150
he son of Tydeus. They came upon him outside
is hut with his armor. His companions slept around
bout with their shields beneath their heads. They had fixed
heir spears in the ground with the spikes fitted to the butts.°
The bronze flashed afar as the lightning of father Zeus.
155

But the fighter Diomedes slept. Beneath him was

pread the hide of an ox of the field. Beneath his head
bright carpet stretched. Gerenian Nestor, the horseman,
ood beside him and woke him up, moving him with his heel.
He aroused Diomedes and reproached him to his face: 160
Get up, you son of Tydeus! Are you going to sleep the whole
 ight through? Haven’t you heard that the Trojans are
tting near our ships on the rising ground of the plain?
hey are only a little ways off!”

So he spoke. Diomedes
mmediately rose up from sleep, and he spoke to him words
165
hat went like arrows: “You are a real go-getter, old man.
You never leave off work. Aren’t there younger sons of the Achaeans
who might rouse each of the chieftains, going everywhere
hrough the army? You are impossible, old man!”

Gerenian Nestor,
he horseman, answered him: “Well, my friend, what 170
ou have said is altogether reasonable. I do have
lameless sons,° and there are people aplenty
who could go and call the others. But a great necessity
as befallen the Achaeans. Now the decision stands on
he razor’s edge°—whether there will be sad destruction 175
or the Achaeans, or whether they might yet live.
ut go now and rouse up swift Ajax and the son of Phyleus.
or you are younger—if you have pity on me!”

So Nestor spoke. Diomedes put on the skin of a lion

round his shoulders, gleaming, huge, that reached to his feet.
180
He took up his spear. He went along, and the fighter
Diomedes roused up those soldiers from where they were,
nd he brought them.
 When they had joined the gathering
f the sentinels, they found that the leaders of the watch
were not sleeping but sat wide awake, fully armed.
185
As when hounds keep painful watch over sheep in a fold,
nd they hear the cry of the wild beast, powerful of heart,
who roams through the woods on the mountains, and there is
cry over the animal from men and dogs and for the hounds
leep disappears—even so from the lids of the sentinels did sweet
190
eep perish as they kept watch through the menacing night.
onstantly they turned toward the plain, to see if they could hear
he Trojans coming on.

Old Man Nestor was gladdened

when he saw the sentinels, and he spoke encouraging words
hat went like arrows: “Keep your watch just like this, 195
my children! Never let sleep take hold! Let us not
ecome objects for our enemies’ rejoicing!”

So speaking
e hurried through the trench, and with him followed all the
aptains of the Argives, as many as were at the council.
Meriones and the glorious son of Nestor went with them—
200
he captains had asked that they participate in the council.
Going through and out from the ditch, they sat down in a clean space,
where the area seemed clear of corpses—where mighty Hector
ad turned back from killing the Argives when night came on.°
 There they sat down and spoke to one another.
205
Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, began to speak:
My friends, is there not some man who would trust his own
dventurous spirit to go among the great-hearted Trojans?
He might capture some heedless straggler of the enemy,
r learn some rumor among the Trojans about what they intend,
210
whether to remain in place near our ships or to return
ack to the city because they have overcome the Achaeans.
He might learn all these things, then return to us unscathed.
His fame would be great among all men beneath the heaven,
nd there would be fine gifts too: All the captains in charge
215
f ships will give him a black ewe with a lamb on the teat—
here is hardly any possession so grand!—and he will
lways be with us at banquets and drinking parties.”

So Nestor spoke, and everybody fell into silence.

Then Diomedes, good at the war cry, spoke: 220
Nestor, my heart and my proud spirit urges me
o enter the army of the enemy Trojans camped nearby.
ut if some other man wanted to follow along,
here would be more comfort and more daring.
When two go together, one sees before the other 225
where the advantage lies. If one observes something
lone, his wit is slight and his stratagems slim.”

So spoke Diomedes. Many wished to follow him.

 he two Ajaxes, the followers of Ares, wanted to go,
s did Meriones. Nestor’s son wanted very much to go.
230
he son of Atreus, Menelaos famed for his spear,
wanted to go. The enduring Odysseus was eager
o enter the crowd of the Trojans, for the sprit in his breast
was ever-daring.

The king of men Agamemnon spoke

ow among them: “Diomedes, son of Tydeus, dear
235
o my heart, you shall choose whom you wish as your
omrade, the best of those who volunteer, for many are eager.
Do not out of respect for rank leave the better man
ehind and take a lesser, thinking only of status and birth—
ot even if it is royal!” 240

So he spoke, for Agamemnon feared that

Diomedes would choose Menelaos. Diomedes, good at the war cry,
hen said: “How could I forget godlike Odysseus,
whose heart and fine spirit are eager beyond all others
n the midst of trouble? And Pallas Athena loves him.
f this man follows me, we might return together
245
ven out of blazing fire. He is smarter than others.”

Then much-enduring good Odysseus said to him:

Son of Tydeus, neither praise nor condemn me.
You are speaking among the Argives who know all about
hese things.° But let us go. The night is getting old, dawn
 250
near, the stars have advanced. Two parts of three of the night
re gone, but still a third remains.”

So speaking,
he two men put on their fearsome armor. Thrasymedes,
ubborn in the fight, gave Diomedes, the son of Tydeus,
two-edged sword—for Diomedes had left his own by the ship—
255
nd a shield. Diomedes put on his head a helmet
made of bull’s hide, without plates or a crest,
which they call a “skull-cap,” that guards the heads
f hot youths. Meriones gave Odysseus a bow and a quiver
nd a sword, and on the head of Odysseus he placed a cap
260
made of hide. The cap was stiffened by many thongs
within. Outside the white teeth of a wild boar
f gleaming tusks were thickly set, turned in opposite
irections in different rows, well and cunningly made.
nside was fixed a lining of felt. This cap Autolykos
265
nce stole out of Eleon when he had broken
nto the sturdy house of Amyntor, son of Ormenos.
Autolykos gave it to Amphidamas of CYTHERA
o take to Skandeia, and Amphidamas gave it
o Molos as a guest-gift. Molos gave it to his son 270
Meriones to wear.° Now, set on Odysseus’ head,
he cap protected it.

When the two had put on

heir terrible armor, they set off, leaving all
he chieftains there. For them Pallas Athena sent forth
 n their right a heron, close to the road. They did
275
ot see the heron with their eyes through the dark night
ut they heard its cry. Odysseus rejoiced at the omen,
nd he prayed to Athena:° “Hear me, O daughter of Zeus
who carries the goatskin fetish, who always stands
y my side in every labor, let me not escape 280
our attention as I rouse myself for action. Be now
special friend to me, Athena! Grant that I return
with renown again to the ships after having accomplished
great deed that will cause anguish to the Trojans.”

After him Diomedes, good at the war cry,

285
rayed: “Hear me now, O daughter of Zeus, unwearied one!
rotect me as once you followed my father to Thebes,
he good Tydeus, when he went there as a messenger
or the Achaeans. He left the Achaeans with shirts of bronze
y the stream of Asopos while he bore a honeyed word to the
290
Kadmeians. And coming back he performed an astonishing
FIGURE 10.1 Mycenaean armor. Little sense could be made of
Homer’s description of the boar’s tusk helmet until in modern times actual
specimens were found. Here is the only surviving example of a complete
Mycenaean suit of armor, from a Mycenaean grave, c. 1400 BC, at Dendra
in the Peloponnesus near Mycenae. The reconstructed boar’s tusk helmet is
of a type most popular around 1600 BC, but pieces of helmets are found
from as late as Homer’s own day c. 800 BC, so it was a traditional type of
helmet in use for nearly a thousand years. The helmet Homer describes is an
heirloom. This helmet has bronze cheek pieces. About thirty wild boars died
 to provide ivory for such a helmet, so that the helmet is a statement of the
hunter’s status in addition to offering real protection. The suit consists of
fifteen pieces of bronze that encased the wearer from the neck, protected by
a high collar, down to the knees. Leather thongs held the pieces together.
Similar armor appears as an ideogram on Linear B tablets from Knossos,
Pylos, and Tiryns. The chest-protector consists of two pieces joined by a
hinge—one piece for the chest and one for the back. Shoulder-guards fit
over the chest-protector to which plates are attached that protect the armpit
when the arms are raised. Three pairs of curved plates hang from the waist
to guard the lower part of the body. The beaten bronze sheets are backed
with leather and fastened by thongs to permit some flexibility. Not shown
here, the suit included shinguards and guards for the lower arms.

eed with your help, divine goddess, when you stood

eside him with a ready heart.° Even so do you now
willingly stand by my side and guard me. I will sacrifice
cow in your honor, one year old, with broad brow,
295
hat has never known the goad, which no man ever led
eneath the yoke. I shall kill it for you after bedecking
s horns with gold.”

So he prayed, and Pallas Athena

eard him. When both had prayed to the daughter of great
Zeus, they went like two lions through the dark night 300
midst the rough slaughter, amidst the corpses
nd amidst the armor and black blood.

Likewise Hector
id not permit the noble Trojans to sleep, but he called
ogether all the captains, those who were the leaders
nd rulers of the Trojans. He presented to them a cunning
 305
lan: “Who will promise this deed and bring it to pass
or a great reward? I think he will be happy with his reward.
will give a chariot and two long-necked horses, the best
o whoever will dare—a chance for abundant glory!—
o go in close to the swift ships of the Achaeans to see
310
he can learn whether their ships are guarded as before,
r whether, overcome at our hands, the Achaeans discuss
mong themselves whether to take flight, and so do not want
o guard all the night, beaten down by dread fatigue.”

So he spoke, and they all fell into silence. There was 315
certain Trojan, Dolon° by name, son of Eumedes
—who was a good herald, rich in gold and bronze—
gly to look at but fast of foot. Dolon was
n only son with five sisters. He spoke a word
o the Trojans and to Hector: “Hector, my heart
320
nd spirit urge me to go close to the swift ships
o find out what is going on. But come, lift up your staff
nd swear to me that you will give me the horses
nd chariot decorated with bronze that carries Achilles,
he blameless son of Peleus—then I will not be a spy 325
or you in vain, nor will I disappoint your hopes! I will go
raight into the camp until I come to the ship of Agamemnon
where the captains discuss their plans, whether to flee
r to fight.”

So he spoke, and Hector took the scepter

n his hands and swore: “Let Zeus himself be my witness,
 330
he loud-thundering husband of Hera, that no other man
f the Trojans shall mount behind Achilles’ horses,
ut I promise that you shall have pride in them forever.”°

So Hector spoke and he swore a meaningless oath,

nd so stirred up Dolon’s heart. Dolon promptly put 335
is bent bow around his shoulders. For a cloak he wore
he skin of a gray wolf and on his head put a cap
f weasel skin. He took up a sharp spear and headed off
oward the ships from their camp. He would never
eturn from the enemy ships, bearing information for Hector. 340

When he had left the crowd of horses and men, Dolon

went eagerly along a path. Godlike Odysseus saw him
oming, and he spoke to Diomedes: “Look, Diomedes,
omebody is coming from their camp. I’m not sure whether it is
omeone spying on our ships, or whether he is despoiling 345
ome one or other of the dead. Let’s let him run out ahead
little onto the plain. Then we can ambush and quickly
ake him. If he tries to outrun us by speed of foot,
urn him away from their camp and toward our ships.
rod after him with your spear and keep him
350
om escaping to the city.”

So speaking, they lay down

n the field of corpses on the side of the path. Dolon
an past them in his folly. When he was as far away
s a mule plows in a single pass—for they are
referable to oxen for plowing deep fallow land 355
with the jointed plow—they ran after him. He stood still
when he heard the noise, hoping in his heart that some
rojan comrades were coming to turn him back
ecause Hector was commanding a retreat. But when
hey were a spear’s cast away, or less, he saw
360
hat they were the enemy.

He moved his limbs swiftly

n flight. Quickly Diomedes and Odysseus set out
n pursuit. As when two sharp-fanged hounds, skilled
n the hunt, press hard upon a doe or a rabbit in the woods
nd the animal runs screaming before them, even so did the son
365
f Tydeus and city-sacking Odysseus ever pursue Dolon,
utting him off from the Trojan camp. But when, fleeing
oward the ships, Dolon was about to become mixed with
he Achaean sentinels, then Athena sent strength into the son
f Tydeus so that no other Achaean, who wear shirts of bronze, 370
might beat him and boast that he struck the blow and
hat Diomedes had come in late. Mighty Diomedes
ushed on him with his spear. Diomedes hollered:
Stop! Stop! or I will reach you with my spear, and I do
ot think that you will long escape complete destruction 375
t my hands!”

He spoke, then cast his spear and purposefully

missed the man. The point of the polished spear went
ver Dolon’s right shoulder and fixed in the ground.
Dolon stood still, terrified, stuttering. His teeth chattered
rom a green fear. 380

The two Greeks, breathing heavily,

ame up and seized him by the hands. Pouring forth tears,
Dolon spoke: “Take me alive! I will post my own ransom!
have bronze and old and well-worked iron at home.
My father would grant you boundless ransom
f he heard that I were alive at the ships of the Achaeans.” 385

Resourceful Odysseus answered him: “Take it easy—

on’t think about death. But come, tell me and speak
he truth. Where are you going alone from the camp
hrough the ships during the dark night when all the others
re sleeping? Are you about to rob one of the dead? 390
Or did Hector send you out to spy on all of us, or did
our own heart urge you?”

Then Dolon answered, his limbs

tremble beneath him: “With many blind hopes Hector
ed my thoughts astray. He promised to give me the
 FIGURE 10.2 The Capture of Dolon. The Trojan stands in the center,
wearing a wolf skin and a weasel cap, with his bow and arrow, just as
Homer describes. He raises his hands in a gesture of surrender to Odysseus,
who wears a cap inspired by Homer’s description of the boar’s tusk helmet.
Odysseus carries a sword, as Homer describes, and Diomedes to the right
carries a spear. Both Greeks are in “heroic nudity.” Probably the comic
exaggeration of the figures depends on a southern Italian so-called phlyax
play, a burlesque dramatic form that developed in the Greek colonies of
Italy in the fourth century BC. South Italian red-figure wine-mixing bowl, c.
380 BC.

ingle-hoofed horses of the brave son of Peleus 395

nd his chariot decorated with bronze. He urged me
o go through the swift black night close to the enemy
o see if I could learn whether your ships were guarded
s before, or whether, overcome at our hands,
he Achaeans discuss among themselves whether
400
o take flight, and whether they no longer want
o guard through the night, beaten down by dread fatigue.”

The resourceful Odysseus smiled and said:

Surely you have schemed on great gifts, even the horses
f Achilles, the wise grandson of Aiakos—but you know 405
is hard for ordinary mortals to master them or drive them,
ther than Achilles, whose mother is an immortal.
“But come, tell me, and tell me truthfully:
Where have you left Hector, shepherd of the people,
o come here? Where is his battle gear? Where 410
re his horses? How are the watches of the other
rojans arranged? Where are they sleeping? What counsel
o they take with one another, whether to remain here near
ur ships or to retreat up to the city because they have
vercome the Achaeans?” 415

Dolon, the son of Eumedes,

hen spoke: “I shall tell you the entire truth! Hector
with the other counselors are holding council beside
he tomb of Ilos° far from the melée. Concerning
he guards you ask about, warrior, no special guard
s posted over the army, nor guards it. Beside all the fires 420
f the Trojans, where the need is clear, everybody is awake
nd urges one another to keep the guard. But our famous
 llies are asleep. They have turned over the guard to the Trojans
ecause neither their children nor their wives are near.”

The resourceful Odysseus answered him: “Do they sleep 425

mixed in with the Trojans, or apart? Tell me so that I may know.”
Dolon, the son of Eumedes, then answered: “I shall tell you
hese things truly. The Carians and the Paeonians with curved bows
amp near the sea, and the Leleges and the Kaukones and
he good Pelasgians. Toward Thymbrê fell the lot of the Lycians
430
nd the lordly Mysians and the Phrygians who fight from chariots,
nd the Maeonians, lords of chariots.° But why do you ask me
hese things? If you are anxious to enter the throng of
he Trojans, here apart are the Thracians, who have just arrived,
amped on the outermost edge. Rhesos is their leader, 435
he son of Eïoneus. He has the most beautiful horses
ve ever seen, and the largest, whiter than snow, like
he winds in their running. His chariot is fitted with gold
nd silver. He has come wearing armor golden
nd huge, a wonder to see. It does not seem 440
ke armor for a man, but for the immortal gods.
“But will you bring me now to the swift-faring ships,
r tie me with cruel binding and leave me here
ntil you go and find out whether what I told you
s true or not?” 445

The powerful Diomedes looked at him

om beneath his brows and said: “Don’t bother with your talk
f escape, Dolon. You have given us good information,
or you have fallen into my hands. If we now turn you
ee and let you go, later you will come to the swift ships
f the Achaeans either as a spy or to fight in the 450
and-to-hand. But if you die subdued by my hands,
ou will be no further trouble to the Argives.”

He spoke. Dolon was about to touch his chin

with his strong hand and beg for his life,° but Diomedes
umped at him and with his sword struck him in the middle
455
f the neck. He cut through both the tendons. Even while
ill speaking, Dolon’s head tumbled into the dust. Then they
ripped the weasel-skin cap from his head and took
is wolf skin and back-bent bow and long spear.

And the good Odysseus held up in his hand the spoil 460
o Athena the driver of spoil and spoke thus
n prayer: “Rejoice, goddess, with this offering.
We shall make a gift to you first of all the gods
who are on Olympos. Now send us against the horses
nd the sleeping places of the Thracian warriors.”
465

So he spoke and lifted the spoils on high and placed

hem on a bush. He left a clear marker by gathering up reeds
nd the luxuriant branches of the bush so that they would not
miss it, returning through the swift black night. Then they
went ahead through the armor and the dark blood,
470
nd quickly they came to the camp of the Thracians.
hey were asleep, exhausted by their labors. Beside them
heir beautiful armor lay on the ground next to them,
rranged in three rows, all in good order. Beside each man
was a yoke of horses. Rhesos slept in the middle of the Thracians, 475
eside him his swift horses tied to the chariot-rail by means
f thongs.

Odysseus saw Rhesos first and pointed

im out to Diomedes: “This is the man, Diomedes,
nd these are the horses that Dolon, whom we killed, told
s about. So let us begin. It makes no sense for you
480
o stand about idle with your weapons. You get the horses.
Or you can kill the men and I’ll get the horses.”

So he spoke, and flashing-eyed Athena breathed

rength into Diomedes so that he killed at every hand.
A sickening groan arose from the Thracians as they were struck 485
y the sword, and the ground ran red with blood. Just as
lion coming on flocks unguarded by a shepherd,
ither of goats or pigs, leaps upon them with evil
ntent, so did the son of Tydeus go up and down
hrough the ranks of Thracians until he had killed twelve. 490
Whomever the son of Tydeus would strike with his sword,
he resourceful Odysseus would seize by the foot and pull
ut of the way, thinking that in this fashion the horses with
ne manes would easily pass through and not be spooked by
walking over dead bodies. They were not used to this! 495
 When the son of Tydeus came to King Rhesos,
e took away honey-sweet life from him, his thirteenth
ictim, and Rhesos breathed raucously. Like to an
vil dream, the son of the son of Oeneus stood that night
ver the head of Rhesos by the design of the goddess
500
Athena.

In the meanwhile the enduring Odysseus

ndid the single-hoofed horses, bound them together
with the reins, and hitting them with his bow drove
hem out of the herd. He had forgotten to take the shining whip
rom out of the decorated car. He whistled to signal
505
Diomedes, but Diomedes hung around, trying to think
f what awful thing he could do. Should he take the chariot,
which was cannily made, wherein was the fancy war-gear
f King Rhesos? Should he drag it out by the pole,
r pick it up and carry it?° or should he just take the lives 510
f more Thracians?

While he was pondering these things,

Athena stood near him and spoke to the good Diomedes:
Think now, O son of great-hearted Tydeus, of your return
o the hollow ships so that you are not chased there if
ome other god rouses up the Trojans.”
515
 So she spoke.
Diomedes recognized the voice of the goddess as she spoke.
Quickly he mounted the horses.° Odysseus struck them
with his bow and they fled toward the swift ships of the Achaeans.

But no blind man’s watch did Apollo of the silver bow

eep when he saw Athena attending the son of Tydeus.
520
Angry with her, he entered the thick throng of the Trojans.
He aroused a counselor of the Thracians, Hippokoön, a noble
ousin of Rhesos. When he jumped up from sleep he saw
he empty space where the horses had been tied, and the men
asping for breath in gruesome murder. Then he cried out
525
nd called the name of his companion Rhesos. An outcry
rose among the Trojans and an unspeakable clamor as they
athered. They gazed in dread at the horrible deeds
hat the Achaeans had done before going to their hollow ships.
 FIGURE 10.3 The killing of Rhesos. Oddly, the adventure with Rhesos
is never shown in Greek art until the fourth century BC. The scene on this
pot, made in southern Italy, seems to be inspired by a scene from a tragedy
included in the works of Euripides, the Rhesos. To the right, Odysseus,
“heroically nude” and wearing a cloak and skull cap and brandishing his
sword, seizes the prize horses. Diomedes stands at the left. At the top are
three dead Thracians in contorted poses. South Italian red-figure jug by the
Lycurgus Painter, c. 360 BC.

When Odysseus and Diomedes came to the place where 530

hey killed Hector’s spy, then Odysseus pulled up the swift horses.
he son of Tydeus jumped to the ground and placed the bloody
poils in the hands of Odysseus, then remounted. The horses,
ouched by the lash, raced not unwillingly toward the hollow ships.
That is where they longed to be.°
535

Nestor was first

o hear their approach and he said: “My friends, leaders
nd rulers of the Argives, shall I tell a lie, or shall
tell the truth? My heart bids me speak truly. I hear
he sound of swift-footed horses. I hope that Odysseus
nd the powerful Diomedes have driven single-hoofed
540
orses speedily from the Trojan camp. But I greatly fear
hat the best of the Argives have suffered losses through
he battle din of the Trojans.”

But he had not completed his word in full

when the men came up themselves. They jumped to the ground.
The Achaeans received their warriors with joy, clasping 545
heir right hands and speaking to them honeyed words.

Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, was first to ask:

Come now, tell me, Odysseus who are much praised,
reat glory of the Achaeans, how you took these horses?
By entering the throng of the Trojans? Or did some god
550
meet you and give them to you? They are wondrously like
he rays of the sun. I am forever mingling with the Trojans,
nd I do not wait beside the ships, although I am an aged
warrior, but I have never seen such horses, nor even imagined
 hem. I think that a god must have met you and given 555
hem to you. For Zeus the cloud-gatherer loves
oth of you, also flashing-eyed Athena, the daughter
f Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish.”

In answer
o him the resourceful Odysseus said: “Nestor,
on of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, a god 560
might easily have given horses better than these, for gods
re much stronger. These horses you ask about
re recently arrived from Thrace. Diomedes killed
heir master, also twelve of their comrades, the best
f men. We took a thirteenth man, a spy, close 565
o the ships. Hector and the other noble Trojans
ent him forth to be a spy on our camp.”

So speaking
e drove the single-hoofed horses across the trench,
xulting. Together with him the other Achaeans
went joyfully. When they arrived at the well-built hut 570
f the son of Tydeus, they bound the horses with supple
hongs at the horse feeding-trough,° where the swift-footed
orses of Diomedes were stationed, eating honey-sweet wheat.
Odysseus hung up the bloody spoils of Dolon on the stern
f his ship until they could make ready a sacred offering 575
o Athena.
 As for themselves, they washed off the abundant
weat from their shins and the back of their necks and thighs
y going into the sea. And when the abundant sweat
was washed from the skin, their hearts were refreshed.
They entered a polished bath and bathed.° When the two
580
f them had bathed and anointed their flesh with sleek oil,
hey sat down to dinner. From the full wine bowl they drew
ff an offering of honey-sweet wine and poured it to Athena.

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Dolon: The authenticity of Book 10, called the Doloneia in ancient sources,
was uniquely called into question even in the ancient world. Many modern
scholars, too, doubt its authenticity: Events in it are never mentioned in the
rest of the poem (nor are events in the critical Book 9); it contains unusual
vocabulary (but the epic style always admits of unusual words and the style
of the book is the same as the rest of the Iliad); the behavior of Odysseus
and Diomedes is “unheroic” (yet it is hard to say what is “heroic” except
the observed behavior of heroes). Certainly the Greek seems different, and
the handling of direct speech and standard topoi is different. However, it is
hard to imagine a motive for such a long interpolation, or see how an
interpolator could have seamlessly inserted it into the narrative, or made it
part of the early text, as it certainly was. Dolon appears in Greek art from
the seventh and sixth centuries BC (see also Figure 10.2). Euripides wrote a
play based on the Doloneia in the fifth century BC. On balance, we should
consider the Doloneia as part of the original Iliad, striking in its cut-throat
descriptions of a night raid against the enemy.
breast: That is, as often as Zeus sends the lightning in a storm, so often did
Agamemnon groan.
heart: Ordinarily one would use heralds to summon the troops, but the
crisis demands direct intervention.
… Ajax: The “swift Ajax” is Little Ajax, son of Oïleus; Meges, the son of
Phyleus, leader of the men from the island of Doulichion and the mainland
Epeians, is a shadowy figure; “godlike Ajax” is Big Ajax, son of Telamon.
commands: Agamemnon now seems to accompany Nestor to wake up
Odysseus and Diomedes, but Nestor does all the talking.
butts: The end opposite the spear point was sharpened so that the spear
could be fixed in the ground.
sons: Only two sons of Nestor are mentioned in the Iliad: Thrasymedes,
who is with the watch, and Antilochos, who has temporarily dropped from
the story.
razor’s edge: The first appearance of what was to become a common
metaphor for a crisis.
came on: No commentator, ancient or modern, has explained why the
Achaean captains should go across the ditch into the no man’s land between
the Achaean camp and the Trojans in order to hold a council of war.
things: Odysseus and Diomedes are paired in many postHomeric Trojan
adventures, especially the theft from Troy of a magic protective idol of
Athena, the palladium. Odysseus represents the thoughtful, clever man in
the tradition and Diomedes the man of action, but so far in the poem we
have learned little of Odysseus. In Book 5 he is briefly successful on the
battlefield; in Book 8 he flees and ignores Nestor’s plea.
to wear: Autolykos was a clever thief, the maternal grandfather of
Odysseus; Eleon is near Mycenae; Amyntor is the father of Phoinix;
Amphidamas is otherwise unknown; Skandeia is the port of Cythera, the
large island just south of the mainland toward Crete—Meriones was a
Cretan prince. The distribution of guestgifts was important in the economy
of Bronze Age and Iron Age Greece.
Athena: She does three things in the Iliad: (1) she instills strength in
Achaean heroes; (2) she gives advice; and (3) she sponsors craftsmanship.
She is especially interested in three heroes—Achilles, Diomedes, and
Odysseus—and never in Agamemnon, the two Ajaxes, Nestor, Idomeneus,
or any Trojan.
ready heart: When fifty Theban nobles ambushed Tydeus returning from his
mission, he killed all but one.
Dolon: “Sneaky,” no doubt created for this story.
in them forever: There is something ludicrous in this ugly fellow named
“Sneaky” wanting the horses of Achilles, and the audience is meant to
laugh.
Ilos: Ilos, a descendant of Dardanos, was the founder of Troy and gave the
city his name, Ilion. He is the father of Laomedon and the grandfather of
Priam. His tomb, along with the oak of Zeus, is one of the landmarks on the
Trojan plain.
lords of chariots: Thrymbrê seems to have been south on the Skamandros.
The allies correspond to those in the middle distance in the Trojan Catalog
of Book 2, except that Leleges and Kaukones have replaced the distant
Halizones and Paphlagonians.
beg for his life: To touch the chin of an enemy was a suppliant’s gesture,
indicating complete submission to the enemy’s will.
carry it: Ancient chariots were made of light rods, a wicker floor, and
detachable wheels, easily carried by one man.
horses: The only reference in Homer (outside of similes) to riding
horseback; the two warriors seem to have left the chariot behind and in any
event would not have had time to yoke it.
longed to be: Why the horses of Rhesos should want to be at the ships is
completely unclear.
feeding-trough: These horses are never heard of again.
bathed: No doubt in hot water to remove the sea salt, but a bathtub is a
surprising amenity for an army in the field. The incident is something you
would expect in the Odyssey.

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 Book 11. The Glory of
Agamemnon and the
Wounding of the Captains

Dghtawn arose from the bed of noble Tithonos° to bring

to the deathless ones and to mortals. Zeus sent
ris to the swift ships of the Achaeans, bitter Eris,
aving in her hands a portent of war.° She took her stand
t the huge-hulled black ship of Odysseus, which held
5
middle position in the line of ships so that a shout
was heard at either end, both to the huts of Ajax,
on of Telamon, and to the huts of Achilles. These men
ad drawn up their ships at opposite ends of the row, trusting
n their valor and the strength of their hands. Taking 10
er stand there the goddess shouted a great and awesome
ry, the shrill cry of war, and she placed great strength
n the heart of every Achaean to fight and make war
nceasingly so that war seemed sweeter to them than
o return in their hollow ships to the land of their fathers.
15

The son of Atreus shouted too and urged

he Argives to buckle on their armor. He himself put on
is gleaming bronze. First he placed the shinguards
round his shins, beautiful and fitted with silver
 nkle-pieces. Second, he placed a chest-protector around
20
is chest, the one Kinyras once gave to him as a guest-gift.
A rumor had reached CYPRUS° that Achaeans were about
o launch a naval expedition against Troy. Therefore
e gave Agamemnon the chest-protector to do pleasure
o him. There were on it ten bands of dark lapis-lazuli,
25
welve of gold, and twenty of tin. Lapis-lazuli
nakes wound their way toward the neck, three
n each side, like the rainbows that the son of Kronos
as fixed in the clouds, a portent to mortal men.° He cast
sword about his shoulders, whose golden studs
30
limmered, and around the sword was a silver scabbard
tted with golden chains. He took up his mighty
hield, that shelters a man on both sides, highly decorated,
eautiful. Round about it were ten circles of bronze,
nd inside twenty white tin bosses, and one big one
35
n the center, of dark lapis lazuli. And thereon
Gorgo, horrid to look on, was set as a crown,
laring terribly, and around her Terror and Rout.°
here was a silver strap. On it was worked
snake of lapis-lazuli. It had three heads
40
rowing from a single neck, turned in different
irections. He placed on his head a helmet with doubled
rest of horsehair divided into four parts,°
he crest nodding terrifyingly above. He took up
wo sharp strong spears tipped with bronze, 45
ronze that shined far away into the heaven.

Athena and Hera thundered to show honor

o the chief of Mycenae, rich in gold.° Then every man
rdered his driver to hold his horse in good order
here at the ditch, while they themselves, arrayed
50
n their armor, advanced on foot. An unquenchable cry
went up before the dawn. Far sooner than the charioteers
he infantry arranged themselves along the trench, and after
little space followed the charioteers.° Among them the son

FIGURE 11.1 Gorgo. Shown as the winged Near Eastern “Mistress of

Animals,” Gorgo holds a goose in either hand. The scary face is depicted
with large eyes, snaky hair (but not here), pig’s tusks, and a lolling tongue.
The Gorgon’s stare turns away evil. Here Gorgo is shown with four wings
and large, pendulous breasts. Painted red on white ware from Kameiros,
Rhodes, c. 600 BC, excavated by Auguste Salzmann and Sir Alfred Biliotti,
photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen.
 f Kronos raised up an evil din, and from the heaven
55
e rained down dew dripping with blood. For he was about
o send the heads of many strong men down to Hades.

The Trojans, for their part, on the other side on the rising
round of the plain, assembled around great Hector
nd blameless Polydamas° and Aeneas, honored by the Trojans
60
ke a god, and the three sons of Antenor—Polybos and the good
Agenor and the young Akamas, like to the deathless ones.°

Hector carried his perfectly round shield among

he foremost, even as a star full of menace appears out
f the clouds, shining, then sinks again behind the shadowy
65
louds— so did Hector appear now among the foremost,
ow among the hindmost, giving orders. All in bronze
e showed forth like the lightning of Zeus the father, who carries
he goatskin fetish.

Even as reapers face one another

cross a field of wheat or barley and drive a swathe 70
o that the handfuls fall thick and fast, even so the Trojans
nd the Achaeans leaped on one another and killed, nor
id either side take thought of ruinous flight.° The battle
ad equal heads.° Like wolves they raged. Eris, who
auses many groans, rejoiced at the sight. She alone 75
f all the gods was among the fighters. The other gods
were not with her, but took their ease at peace
n their halls, where for each was built a beautiful
ouse in the folds of Olympos. All the gods
eaped blame on the son of Kronos, he of the dark clouds, 80
ecause he wished to glorify the Trojans, but Zeus
ertainly did not care at all what they thought.
He sat alone, turned aside from them, apart, exulting
n his glory, looking down on the city of the Trojans
nd the ships of the Achaeans, on the flashing of the bronze, 85
n the killers and the killed.

So long as it was morning and the

acred day progressed, just so long the weapons from both
des struck home and the warriors fell. But when the time
ame that a wood cutter prepares his meal in the valleys
f a mountain, when he has worn out his arms with the cutting 90
f tall trees, and weariness comes over his soul, and desire for
weet food takes hold of his heart, just then the Danaäns broke
he Trojan battalions through their valor, calling to their fellows
long the lines.

Among them Agamemnon rushed forward

irst, and he took down a man named Bianora, the shepherd 95
f the people, and afterward he killed his comrade Oïleus,
he driver of horses.° Oïleus had leaped down from his car
nd faced Agamemnon. As Oïleus rushed at him
Agamemnon struck him with his sharp spear on the forehead
nd the helmet heavy with bronze did not stop the spear. 100
 went through helmet and through bone and splattered
he brains within.° Thus Agamemnon overcame
he furiously charging Oïleus.

And the king of men

Agamemnon left the bodies there, gleaming with their shining
reasts after he had stripped away their shirts. He went 105
n to kill Isos and Antiphos, two sons of Priam, one a bastard
nd the other legitimate, both riding in a single car.
he bastard Isos was the driver and the most famous Antiphos
ood by his side. These two men Achilles once bound with
willow branches when he caught them as they herded their sheep 110
n the valleys of Ida, and he let them go after taking ransom.

The son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, hit Isos

with his spear above the nipple on the chest, and he struck
Antiphos by the ear with his sword. He cast Antiphos from the car.
Working quickly Agamemnon stripped the beautiful armor
115
om the two men, whom he knew—he had seen them when
hey were by the swift ships when Achilles, the fast runner,
ad brought them from Ida. Even as a lion easily
rushes the speechless young of a swift deer,
oming into its lair, seizing them in its powerful
120
eeth and taking away their tender life— the mother,
ven if she happens to be near, can do nothing.
On herself, too, comes a dread trembling and she runs
wiftly through the thick underbrush and through
he woods, moving fast, sweating, under attack by the powerful 125
 east—even so could no one of the Trojans ward off
estruction from Isos and Antiphos, but they were themselves
riven in flight before the Argives.°

Then Agamemnon took Peisander

nd Hippolochos, a hold-out in the fight, sons of wise
Antimachos, who more than the others opposed giving Helen 130
ack to Menelaos because Antimachos hoped to receive
old and more shining gifts from Alexandros—
Agamemnon took them down as they rode together
n a car, trying to gain control of their swift horses.
The shining reins had slipped from their hands and
135
he two horses were running wild. The son of Atreus
eaped upon them like a lion. They begged him from the car:
Please, take us alive, son of Atreus! Take a worthy
ansom! There is much treasure in the house of Antimachos,
ronze and gold and well-worked iron that our father would
140
ive you as boundless ransom if he learned that we were alive
t the ships of the Achaeans.”

So weeping, the two men addressed

Agamemnon with honeyed words. They heard
n unhoneyed reply: “If you are really the two sons of wise
Antimachos, who, when Menelaos came with godlike Odysseus
145
n an embassy, urged in public assembly that Menelaos
e killed on the spot and not permitted to return to the Achaeans—
hen accept repayment for your father’s vile behavior!”
Agamemnon spoke and threw Peisander down from the car,
triking him in the chest with his spear. Peisander was hurled
 150
ackward onto the earth. Then Hippolochos jumped down
nd Agamemnon killed him on the ground. He cut off his arms
nd head and rolled him through the throng like a wooden mortar.°

Then he let them be. There, where most of the battalions

were being driven in rout, Agamemnon leaped in and with him
went 155
thers of the Achaeans with fancy shinguards. Foot soldiers
illed foot soldiers as they fled, compelled by necessity, and drivers
illed drivers.° Beneath them dust arose from the plain,
riven by the thundering feet of the horses. Everywhere
was havoc made with the bronze. And King Agamemnon, 160
illing as he went, followed after his troops, commanding
he Argives. As when consuming fire falls upon a wild
wood, and everywhere a whirling wind carries it
nd the thickets crumble as they are assailed by the onrush
f the fire—just so tumbled the heads of the Trojans 165
nder attack by the son of Atreus, Agamemnon,
s they fled. Many long-necked horses rattled
mpty cars across the bridges of battle,° lacking their
rivers. Those drivers lay on the earth, more beloved
f buzzards than of their own wives. 170

Zeus had removed

Hector from the rain of weapons and the dust and the killing
f men and the blood and the din of war. But the son
f Atreus followed after, calling fiercely to the Danaäns.
ast the tomb of ancient Ilos, a descendant of Dardanos,
he Trojans rushed, over the middle of the plain beside
 175
he fig tree, longing for the city. Screaming ever followed
he son of Atreus. His invincible hands were drenched in gore.
And when the Achaeans came to the Scaean Gates
nd the oak tree, there the two sides took their stand
nd awaited each other. 180

But some Trojans were still being driven

cross the middle of the plain like cattle that a lion
as put to flight, coming on them in the dead of night.
he lion has scattered all of them, but on one
fixed a terrible death. He breaks her neck,
irst seizing her in his powerful teeth, then he gulps
185
own all the blood and guts—even so the son of Atreus,
King Agamemnon, pursued the Trojans, always killing
he ones who fell behind as they fled before him.

Many fell from their cars on their faces

nd on their backs beneath the hands of the son of Atreus. 190
All around and before him he raged with the spear. But when
e was about to come under the city and the steep wall,
hen the father of men and gods came down from the sky
nd took his seat on the peaks of Ida that has many
ountains. He held a thunderbolt in his hands. 195

Zeus sent down Iris, who has golden wings,° to deliver

message: “Go, hurry swift Iris, and give this message
o Hector: So long as he sees Agamemnon, the shepherd
f the people, raging among the foremost fighters and slaughtering
he ranks of men, just so long should he hold back from
200
he fighting. Urge others to fight the enemy in the ferocious
ontendings. But when Agamemnon is wounded by a spear or arrow,
nd he leaps up into his car, then will I give Hector the power
o kill and kill until he reaches the fine-benched ships,
nd the sun sets and on comes the sacred darkness.”°
205

Zeus spoke, and quick Iris, swift as the wind, obeyed.

he went down from the peaks of Ida to holy Ilion.
here she found good Hector, the son of wise Priam,
anding among his horses and cars made of well-fitted
arts. Standing close, Iris, swift of feet, declared: 210
O Hector, son of Priam, like to Zeus in your
ntelligence, father Zeus has sent me down
o give you this message: So long as you see Agamemnon,
hepherd of the people, raging among the foremost fighters,
laughtering the ranks of men, just so long should
215
ou hold back from the fighting. Urge others to fight
he enemy in the ferocious contendings. But when Agamemnon
wounded by a spear or arrow, and he leaps up into
is car, then Zeus will instill in you the power
o kill and kill until you reach the fine-benched ships,
220
nd the sun sets and the sacred darkness comes on.”
he spoke and, having spoken, went off, Iris swift of foot.

Hector leaped down from the car in full armor,

 nd shaking his sharp spears he went everywhere throughout
he camp, urging on the fight, stirring up the dread
225
ust for war. And so were the Trojans roused to stand up
gainst the Achaeans, and the Argives on their side
rengthened their battalions. The battle lines were drawn.
hey stood up against each other, and from them Agamemnon
ushed forth first. He wanted ever to fight in the forefront.
230

Tell me now, you Muses who live in houses

n Olympos, who first came against Agamemnon, either
f the Trojans themselves or of their famous allies?

Iphidamas, the son of Antenor, great and strong,

who was raised in fertile Thrace, the mother of flocks.
235
Kisseus, the father of his mother, Theano° of the beautiful
heeks, raised him in his halls when he was a child.
ut when he came to the measure of glorious youth
Kisseus tried to keep Iphidamas there in Thrace.
Kisseus gave Iphidamas his daughter. But after
240
phidamas married, he left the wedding chamber in pursuit
f glory over the Achaeans. Twelve ships with beaks
ollowed him. He left the well-balanced ships
t PERKOTÊ°and went on foot to Ilion.

It was Iphidamas
who opposed Agamemnon, the son of Atreus. When 245
hey came near each other, the son of Atreus missed his mark.
Agamemnon’s spear was turned aside, but Iphidamas
abbed him on the belt beneath the chest-protector.
phidamas put his weight into the thrust, trusting to his
trong hand, but he could not pierce the flashing belt. 250
he point struck silver and was turned aside like lead.
aking the spear in his hand, wide-ruling Agamemnon
ulled Iphidamas toward him like a lion and wrenched
he spear from his hand. And then Agamemnon struck
im in the neck with his sword. Iphidamas’ limbs went loose. 255

And there he fell and slept the sleep of bronze,°

wretched youth, far from his wedded wife, bringing aid
o the people of Troy. His wife was a bride of whom
e had never known pleasure, though he gave much for her:
First, he gave a hundred cattle, then he promised
260
thousand goats and sheep together, herded for him
n flocks past counting.

Agamemnon the son

f Atreus stripped off his armor and went off through
he throng, displaying the beautiful armor.° When Koön,
he oldest son of Antenor, preeminent among warriors, 265
aw Iphidamas killed, a powerful sorrow fell over his eyes
or his fallen brother. He stood to the side with his spear,
nnoticed by the good Agamemnon, and stabbed Agamemnon
n the forearm by the elbow. Straight through went the point
f his shining spear. Agamemnon, the king of men, shivered.
270
 ut he did not leave off from battle and war—he leaped on Koön
with his wind-nurtured spear. Koön was dragging Iphidamas
y the foot, his own brother, begotten by the same father,
nd shouting to all the best fighters. But even as Koön dragged
he corpse of Iphidamas through the throng, Agamemnon
275
ierced him beneath his bossed shield with the smoothly
olished spear, tipped with bronze. Thus were Koön’s
mbs loosened. Agamemnon cut off Koön’s head.
And so two sons of Antenor went down to the house
f Hades, fulfilling their fate at the hands of the king,
280
he son of Atreus.

Thus Agamemnon ranged among the ranks

f the warriors with his spear and sword and with great stones,°
or so long as the blood still ran from his wound. But when
he wound dried up, and the blood ceased to flow,
hen sharp pains overcame the strength of the son of Atreus.
285
As when a sharp arrow strikes a woman in labor, sent by
he Eileithyiai,° the daughters of Hera who cause birth pangs,
who have bitter pains in their charge, even so
id sharp pains come over the mighty son of Atreus.

Agamemnon mounted into his car and told his driver

290
o return to the hollow ships, for his heart was in pain.
He gave forth a piercing cry to the Danaäns: “O my friends,
eaders and rulers of the Argives, you must now ward off
he awful din of battle from our seafaring ships!
Zeus the counselor does not allow that I fight all day 295
ong against the Trojans!”

So he spoke. The driver lashed

he horses with beautiful manes toward the hollow ships.
Not unwilling, the two of them sped onwards, their breasts
overed with foam, their bellies beneath spattered
with dust as they bore the wounded king from the battle. 300

When Hector saw Agamemnon leaving the field of battle,

e called to the Trojans and the Lycians° in a booming voice:
Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians who fight in close,
e men, my friends, and remember your furious valor!
Their best man has departed. Zeus, the son of Kronos, 305
as given me great glory, so now drive your single-hoofed
orses straight at the mighty Danaäns, that you might win
he glory that comes with victory!”

So speaking, he roused
p the strength and the spirit of each man. As when a hunter
rges his white-toothed dogs on a wild boar or lion,
310
o did Hector, son of Priam, urge on the great-hearted
rojans. He was the image of murderous Ares. He himself,
roud of spirit, went among the foremost. He fell
nto the war-fury like a blustery storm that leaps down
nd stirs up the violet sea. 315
 Then who first and who last
id Hector kill, the son of Priam, when Zeus gave him glory?°
irst he killed Asaios and Autnonoös and Opites and Dolops,
on of Klytos, and Opheltios and Agelaos and Aisymnos
nd Oros and Hipponoös, sturdy in battle. These leaders
f the Danaäns he killed, and then many of the common people. 320
As when West Wind drives the clouds of the rapid South Wind,
riking them with a violent storm, and a huge wave
oes rolling along, and high up the foam is scattered
om the blast of the wide-wandering wind—even so thickly
olled the heads of the people at Hector’s hands. 325

Then disaster would have followed and deeds impossible

o control, and now the Achaeans would have thrown themselves
n flight onto their ships, had Odysseus not called out to Diomedes,
he son of Tydeus: “Son of Tydeus what has happened to us?
Have we forgotten our furious valor? Come here, my good friend, 330
and beside me. We will be drenched in shame if Hector
f the flashing helmet takes our ships.”

Powerful Diomedes
nswered: “I stand with you and we shall endure! It will
ive us little pleasure, though, because Zeus, who gathers
he clouds, wants to give strength to the Trojans and not to us.” 335

He spoke and threw Thymbraios from his car to the ground,

riking him with his spear beneath the left nipple, while Odysseus
ook out Molion, the godlike attendant of Thymbraios.
hen they left them alone, having put them out of the war.
The two warriors Odysseus and Diomedes pushed through the
throng, 340
ringing disaster everywhere they went, as when two boars
with raging hearts fall on hunting hounds—just so
hey killed the Trojans, turning on them, letting the Achaeans
ladly catch their breath in their flight before Hector.

Next they took down a chariot with two men in it, 345
he best of their people, the two sons of Merops of Perkotê°
—Merops was superior to all in seercraft and did
ot wish his sons to go to the man-killing war. But they
would not listen, driven by the fate of black death.
Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, famous for his spear work,
350
eprived them of their breath and their breath-souls. He took
heir wonderful armor.

Then Odysseus dispatched Hippodamos

nd Hypeirochos.° The son of Kronos stretched out evenly the line
f battle for them as he looked down from MOUNT IDA.°
Both sides kept up the killing. The son of Tydeus 355
wounded with his spear Agastrophos, the son of Paion,
n the hip. His horses were not near because from his blindness
f heart Agastrophos had his attendant hold them apart
while he raged on foot amid the foremost fighters—until
e lost his life! 360
 Hector quickly recognized Diomedes
nd Odysseus across the ranks and he rushed upon them,
whooping, while the Trojan battalions followed.
When Diomedes, good at the war cry, saw Hector, he shivered.
Quickly he spoke to Odysseus who was nearby: “Mighty
Hector springs now to rain ruin on the two of us. 365
ut come, let us make our stand here, and ward off
reat evil by standing where we are.”

Thus he spoke,
nd poised his far-shadowing spear and threw it. He did not
miss the mark at which he aimed, but hit Hector
n the head on the top of the helmet. Bronze was bent 370
n bronze and the spear did not penetrate Hector’s beautiful skin.
he threefold helmet that Phoibos Apollo gave him,°
with tube affixed, stopped it. Hector swiftly
prang away and mixed with the crowd. He stopped
nd fell to his knees, supporting himself with his 375
owerful hand on the earth. Black night enclosed his eyes.

While the son of Tydeus went rushing after his spear

hrough the foremost fighters, to find where it had sped
own to the earth, Hector meanwhile revived.
He leaped into his chariot and drove off into the throng. 380
And thus Hector avoided black fate. Rushing after him
with his spear, the powerful Diomedes cried: “And so
ou escape death for the moment, you dog! The evil day
ame close to you! Now for the moment Phoibos Apollo
as saved you.° You should pray to him as you go through the din
 385
f missiles, but I shall kill you when I come upon you later,
when I can get some great god on my side. Now I will pursue
he others, to see if I can catch them.”

So Diomedes spoke
nd went on to strip the armor from Agastrophos, the son
f Paion, famous for his spear. But Alexandros, 390
he husband of Helen with the lovely hair, aimed
n arrow against the son of Tydeus, shepherd of the people.
He leaned against the block of stone on the tomb that men
ad built for Ilos, a descendant of Dardanos, an elder
f the people in the olden days. Diomedes was taking off 395
he shining chest-protector from the chest of strong Agastrophos
nd removing the shield from around his shoulders
nd his weighty helmet when Paris drew back the center of
is bow and fired. The missile did not go in vain from his hand,
ut struck the flat of Diomedes’ right foot. The arrow 400
went straight through and was fixed in the earth.°
Laughing sweetly, Paris leaped from his ambush
nd boasted: “You are hit! Not in vain did my arrow fly!
How I wish I had hit you in the lower gut and taken your life!
Then would the Trojans be recovering from your onslaught, 405
who tremble before you like bleating goats before a lion!”

Not in the least afraid, the powerful Diomedes answered:

You, bowman, always insolent, goldie locks, girlie-peeper—
would like to take you on in the hand-to-hand, fully armed.
Then your bow and your thickly falling arrows would do you
 410
o good. As it is you have scratched the bottom of my foot—
ou boast for nothing! I don’t care at all about it, it’s as if a woman
r a mindless child struck me. The arrow of a man without strength
blunt, a man of no consequence. Quite different is the cast
f my own weapon. Even if a man is just touched by it, the sharp 415
dge proves itself and quickly he lies dead! Then the cheeks
f his wife are rent with wailing. His children are without
father. He reddens the earth with blood. Then he rots.
irds rather than women gather around him!”

So Diomedes spoke.
Odysseus, famous for his spear, came close and stood
420
n front of Diomedes, who sat down. Odysseus drew out
he sharp arrow from his foot. A savage pain stabbed through
Diomedes’ flesh. He clambered into his car and ordered his driver
o make for the hollow ships, for he was sore at heart.

Odysseus, famed for his spear, was now alone, 425

or did any of the Argives remain with him.
ear had taken hold of all. Perplexed, he spoke
o his own great heart: “Oh me, what will happen to me?
would be a great evil if I fled, fearing the multitude.
But it would be still more shivery if I am taken alone.°
430
he son of Kronos has put to flight the other Danaäns.
ut why do I deliberate on these things? I know that those
who withdraw from war are cowards. And he who is best
n the fight must of necessity hold his ground with power,
ven if he is wounded, or if he wounds another.”
 435
While Odysseus pondered these things in his heart and spirit
he ranks of the shield-bearing Trojans came upon him.
hey surrounded him, to their own pain! Just as when hounds
nd red-hot youths press on a wild boar from this side and that,
nd the boar comes out of the deep woods wetting 440
is white teeth in his curving jaws, and they charge on him
om both sides, and the sound of gnashing teeth resounds
ut they withstand his attack, though he is a terrible beast—
ven so the Trojans pressed on both sides of Odysseus,
eloved of Zeus, who withstood them. 445

Odysseus struck first

Deïopites in the shoulder, coming at him from above
with his sharp spear. Then he killed Thoös and Ennomos.
hen he stabbed Chersidamas as he leaped down from his car,
eaching him from beneath the bossed shield. Odysseus dropped
im in the dust. Chersidamas gripped the earth with bent hand. 450

Odysseus let them go. Then he wounded Charops,

on of Hippasos, with his spear, the brother of wealthy Sokos.
o defend Charops, Sokos moved in, a man like to a god.°
okos stood close to Odysseus and said: “O Odysseus,
much-praised, insatiate for clever devices and the labor of war, 455
oday either you will boast that you have killed
he two sons of Hippasos and taken their armor, or struck
y my spear you will give up your life.”
 So speaking, Sokos
ruck Odysseus’ shield, balanced on every side.
The shining powerful spear went through the shield
460
nd it forced its way through the highly decorated chest-protector.
tore all the tender flesh from Odysseus’ side,
ut Athena did not allow the spear to mix with the guts
f the warrior,° and Odysseus knew that the spear did not hit
n a fatal spot. 465

He drew back and spoke to Sokos:

Ah wretch, surely a steep destruction has fallen upon you!
Yes, you have stopped me from fighting the Trojans, but I say
hat this day shall bring death and black fate upon you.
Killed by my spear you will give me a cause for boasting
nd you will give a soul to Hades, famous for his horses.” 470

He spoke and Sokos turned to run, but Odysseus

peared him in the back as he turned, between the shoulder blades.
he spear went through his chest and Sokos fell with a thud.
Odysseus boasted over him: “O Sokos, son of wise Hippasos,
he horse-tamer, the end of death has been quick in coming
475
o you. You have not escaped it! Poor wretch, your father
nd mother will never close your dead eyes, but the flesh-eating
irds will devour you, beating their wings thick and fast.
Whereas if I die, good Achaeans will give me burial.”

So speaking, he pulled out the strong spear of wise Sokos

 480
om his own flesh and from his own shield. When he pulled it out,
he blood came spurting forth, distressing Odysseus’ heart.

When the great-hearted Trojans saw the blood of Odysseus,

hey called to one another throughout the throng. They banded
ogether to attack him in a crowd. But Odysseus drew back, 485
houting to his comrades—three times he shouted, as much
s a man can shout. And three times Menelaos,
ear to Ares, heard him. Menelaos called to Ajax
anding nearby: “Ajax, sprung from Zeus,
on of Telamon, leader of the people, the voice 490
f enduring Odysseus comes to my ears like the voice
f a man near ruin. He stands alone, cut off
y the Trojans in the savage conflict. But let us go
hrough the throng. It is upon us to help him out.
am afraid that, all alone, he might suffer more ills 495
om the Trojans—though he is from the best among us!—
nd then a great longing will fall on the Danaäns.” So
Menelaos spoke, then led the way, and Ajax
ollowed, a man like a god.

They found Odysseus,

ear to Zeus. The Trojans surrounded him like tawny 500
ackals in the mountains surround a wounded horned stag
hat a man has hit with an arrow from his string.
he stag has escaped, fleeing on its swift feet so long
s the blood is warm and its legs move easily, but when
he swift arrow overcomes it, then the jackals, who eat
 505
aw flesh, rend him in a shadowy wood in the mountains.
ut look—a god has sent a ravening lion!
he jackals scatter while the lion enjoys a feast—
ven so did the Trojans, many and brave, press
n the wise Odysseus, crafty in counsel, while 510
Odysseus darted forth with his spear to ward off
he day of doom.°

Ajax then came close, carrying

is shield like a tower. As he stood beside Odysseus,
he Trojans took flight, running this way and that.
Menelaos led Odysseus out of the melée, holding his arm 515
ntil Menelaos’ driver brought up the horses.° Then Ajax
eaped on the Trojans. He took down Doryklos, a bastard
on of Priam. He wounded Pandokos, and he wounded
ysander and Pyrasos and Pylartes.° As when a swollen
iver comes down from the mountains onto the plain
520
n winter, swollen by the rain of Zeus, and it carries along
with it many dry oaks, and many pines, and it casts
much mud and rubbish into the sea—even so shining
Ajax charged in tumult across the plain, killing
orses and men. 525

Hector, not yet aware of these things,

ought on the left of the battle beside the Skamandros,
where the heads of men fell, and an unquenchable cry arose
round great Nestor and warlike Idomeneus.°
Hector skirmished among them, performing awful deeds
with his spear and his horsemanship° as he smashed detachments 530
f youth. Still, the good Achaeans would not have turned away
om their course if Alexandros, the husband of Helen with
he beautiful hair, had not put a stop to the rampaging Machaon,°
hepherd of the people, by hitting him in the right shoulder
with a three-barbed arrow. The Achaeans, who breathed power, 535
eared for Machaon, that the Trojans might take him in the turning
f the fight.

Immediately Idomeneus spoke to the good Nestor:

O Nestor, son of Neleus, come, mount your chariot!
ave Machaon—guide your single-hoofed horses
o the ships as quickly as you can. A doctor is worth many 540
ther men. He can cut out arrows and apply soothing ointments.”

So he spoke, and Gerenian Nestor, the horseman,

beyed. Immediately he mounted his chariot. Beside him
mounted Machaon, the son of Asklepios, the blameless
octor. Nestor lashed the horses and not unwilling they sped 545
n to the hollow ships, where they longed to be.

Kebriones,° seeing that the Trojans were driven

n rout, stood beside Hector in his car and spoke to him
s follows: “Hector, here we contend with the Danaäns
t the edge of painful war while the other Trojans are routed
550
n confusion, both the horses and men. Ajax, the son
 f Telamon, rages. I know him well. He always
arries a broad shield around his shoulders. But let us turn
ur horses in that direction, where most of all the horsemen
nd the foot soldiers, steeped in evil contention, kill one another, 555
nd the unquenchable cry of war goes up.”

So speaking
Kebriones lashed the horses with beautiful manes with his
harp lash. Responding to the whip, they swiftly drove the fast car
hrough the Trojans and the Achaeans, running over the dead bodies
nd shields so that the axle beneath the car was wholly splattered 560
with blood, and the railings which run around the chariot too,
om the blood thrown up by the horses’ hooves and by the tires.

Hector was eager to enter and smash the throng

f warriors. He sent an evil din among the Danaäns, gave scant
est to his weapons, and ranged among the ranks of the other
565
warriors with his spear and his sword and his great stones,
ut he avoided battle with Ajax, son of Telamon.

Father Zeus,
tting high on his throne, then put flight in the mind of Ajax.
Ajax stood in a daze. On his back he cast his shield
made of seven bulls’ hides. He retreated, glancing 570
t the melée like a wild animal, turning constantly
o the side, retreating step by step. Even as dogs
nd country men turn aside a yellow lion from a pen
 ontaining cows, not allowing the savage lion
o take the fattest of the cows, staying up all night long— 575
nd the lion, in love with flesh, accomplishes nothing
hough he goes on, for a rain of missiles flies
o meet him and burning sticks cast by bold hands.
he lion quails before them, although he is eager,
nd at dawn slinks away with a heavy heart—
580
ven so Ajax withdrew before the Trojans
with a heavy heart, much unwilling. For he feared
or the ships of the Achaeans.

As when an ass goes past

field of wheat, and he gets the better of the boys,
sluggard over whose flanks the boys break many a cudgel, 585
ut he ravishes the deep crop though they strike him
with their clubs—their power is puny, they barely get him out
nd only after he’s had his fill—even so did the proud
rojans and their allies, assembled from afar, stab
he middle of Ajax’s shield and ever press in on him.° 590

But strong Ajax remembered his furious valor,

nd wheeling on them he now held back the battalions
f the horse-taming Trojans, now turned to flee,
reventing anyone from making a way to the swift ships.
He positioned himself midway between the Trojans and the
595
Achaeans, raging. Spears were thrown by bold Trojan hands.
ome of them fixed in his great shield as they rushed on,
nd many of them, before they touched his white skin,
ell midway into the earth, eager to gorge on flesh.

Then Eurypylos, the excellent son of Euaimon,°

600
aw that Ajax was about to be overcome by a torrent of missiles.
He moved in close to him and threw his shining spear,
riking Apisaon, son of Phausios, the shepherd
f the people, in the liver, below the lungs. At once
is knees loosened. Eurypylos leaped on him
605
nd began to strip the armor from his shoulders. Godlike
Alexandros saw him removing the armor of Apisaon,
nd immediately he aimed his bow at Eurypylos. He hit him
n the right thigh with an arrow. The shaft of the arrow
was broken, the thigh grew heavy, but Eurypylos slipped 610
ack into the mass of his comrades, avoiding death.

Eurypylos gave a piercing shout to the Danaäns:

My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, turn around
nd make a stand! Protect Ajax from the pitiless day,
verwhelmed by missiles. I don’t think he will run
615
om hateful war! So take your stand now against
he enemy—defend great Ajax, the son of Telamon!”

So cried the wounded Eurypylos, and the Achaeans

ood close beside Ajax, leaning their shields against
heir shoulders and raising high their spears. Ajax came toward
620
hem and turned and stood and fought when he had come
o the crowd of his companions.

And so they fought like blazing fire.

he mares of Neleus, drenched in sweat, carried Nestor
om the battle along with Machaon, shepherd
f the people. Achilles, the fast runner, noticed them
625
while standing by the stern of his hollow-hulled ship,
watching the rough going and fearful rout. Directly he spoke
o Patroklos, his comrade, calling to him from beside the ship.
atroklos heard and came forth from the tent, like to Ares—
nd this was the beginning of evil for him.
630
The valiant son
f Menoitios answered Achilles first: “Why do you call,
Achilles? What do you need of me?”

Achilles, the fast runner, replied:

Good son of Menoitios, most beloved to my heart, I think
hat now the Achaeans will be standing about my knees
n prayer. An unbearable necessity has come upon them!° 635
ut go now, Patroklos, dear to Zeus, ask Nestor who is
he wounded man that he carries from the war. From here
e looks like Machaon, the son of Asklepios, but I did not see
he man’s eyes. For the horses ran past me, quickly pressing on.”

So he spoke. Patroklos obeyed his comrade. He ran along

640
he huts and ships of the Achaeans. When Nestor and Machaon
rrived at Nestor’s hut, they got down from the car onto
he bounteous earth. Eurymedon, Nestor’s aide,° undid
he old man’s horses from the car. They dried the sweat
f their shirts in the breeze, standing by the shore of the sea. 645
hen they went into the hut and sat on chairs. Hekamedê
made a restorative drink for them. The old man had taken her
om TENEDOS when Achilles sacked it, the daughter of
reat-hearted Arsinoös. The Achaeans chose her for him
ecause in giving counsel she was the best of all. First she
650
rew up a beautiful table with feet of lapis lazuli, highly
olished, and on it she placed a bronze bowl, and with it
n onion as relish for drink,° and pale honey, and a
meal of sacred barley, and a very beautiful cup that the
ld man had brought from home, studded with rivets
655
f gold. It had four handles and around each two doves
were feeding, and two supports were beneath. Another
man could scarcely have lifted it from the table
when it was full, but old man Nestor raised it easily.
n it the woman, like to the goddesses, mixed a refreshing
660
rink of Pramnian wine,° and over it she grated goat’s
heese with a bronze grater. Then she sprinkled on
ome white barley and urged them to drink, when she
ad made ready the drink. The two men drank it and put
side their parching thirst. Then Nestor and Machaon 665
elighted one another by telling tales.

Looking up
hey saw Patroklos standing at the door, a man
ke a god. When Nestor saw him the old man leaped up
om his shining chair. He took him by the hand and led
FIGURE 11.2 “The Cup of Nestor.” From the fourth shaft grave at
Mycenae (sixteenth century BC), this amazing solid-gold cup, excavated and
named by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, does bear a remarkable
resemblance to the cup described in Book 11 of the Iliad. It could be said to
have “four handles” with “two supports beneath” and “two doves” feeding
at the handles, except that the birds seem to be falcons.
In modern excavations on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples off the
southern Italian coast, a modest clay pot was found with one of the two
oldest known Greek inscriptions. It is from about 740 BC and may be a
literary allusion. The first line is prose, and the second two lines are dactylic
hexameter, the meter of Homer:
“I am the cup of Nestor.
Whoever drinks from this cup, at once that man
the desire of beautiful-crowned Aphrodite will seize.”
 The inscription seems to refer to the text of Homer, one of the strongest
pieces of evidence in our effort to date Homer. Probably it is a “capping” or
“one-upping” game. The first diner says, “I am the cup of Nestor,” holding
up the modest clay vessel, which is, of course, a joke. The next diner then
introduces a curse formula that usually runs “Whoever steals this cup, he
will …” go blind, or the like (here the curse formula becomes “whoever
drinks from this cup …”). For the fulfillment of the curse, the third diner
turns the tables by suggesting that he will enjoy a pleasant sexual
experience (“the desire of beautiful Aphrodite will seize”)! Whatever its
exact meaning, somebody who knew how to write hexameters in the
earliest days of Greek literacy inscribed this joke on the “Cup of Nestor.” It
was later placed in a child’s grave and rediscovered in the mid-twentieth
century.

im in and urged him to have a seat. Patroklos 670

om his side refused and said: “I won’t sit, old man,
ourished of Zeus, nor can you persuade me. Revered
—to be feared!—is the man who sent me to find out who
this man that you bring wounded from the battle. I see now
hat it is Machaon, shepherd of the people. Now I must
675
eturn to Achilles and tell him what I’ve learned. I think
ou know, old man, nourished of Zeus, what kind
f awesome man he is. He is quick to blame one in whom
here is no blame.”

Then Gerenian Nestor, the horseman,

nswered him:° “Well, why does Achilles suddenly 680
ave pity on the sons of the Achaeans, with all those wounded
y missiles? Does he not know the suffering spread
hrough the camp? For the captains are lying among
he ships, shot by arrows and cut by spears. The powerful
Diomedes, son of Tydeus, is wounded by an arrow. Odysseus,
 685
amed with the spear, has a spear wound, and Agamemnon too.
ven Eurypylos has been hit in the thigh with an arrow.
his man Machaon is still one more that I have brought out
f the battle, struck by an arrow from the string. But Achilles,
hough he is brave, does not care for the Danaäns or take pity
690
n them! Will he wait until the swift ships near the sea
re set aflame with devouring fire in spite of the Argives,
nd we are killed all in a row?
“My strength is not
what once it was when my limbs were supple. Would
hat I were young and my strength were as when a quarrel 695
roke out with the Eleians and ourselves over some stolen cattle—
hen I killed Itymon, the noble son of Hypeirochos, who
ved in ELIS,° when I was driving off booty seized
n reprisal. He was defending his cows and got hit among
he foremost by a spear thrown from my hand.
700
He fell, and the country folk around him fled in terror.
We took booty aplenty from the plain—fifty herds of cows,
s many flocks of sheep, as many herds of pigs, as many
erds of roving goats, and one hundred-fifty
awny horses, all mares, and there were many with foals
705
t the teat. We drove them toward Neleian Pylos during
he night, toward the city.° Neleus rejoiced
n his heart when he learned that I had been successful
n going to war, though still a youth. Heralds
oudly proclaimed at the break of dawn that all
710
hose should come to whom a debt was owed in good Elis.
he leaders of the Pylians all gathered together and distributed
he booty, for the Epeians owed a debt to many. We
n Pylos were few and oppressed, for mighty Herakles had
 ome in earlier years and killed all our bravest men.
715
he sons of handsome Neleus were twelve, but I
lone was left. All the others perished. Then the arrogant
peians, wearing shirts of bronze, did violence against us
nd committed evil acts. So old man Neleus
ook from them a herd of cattle and a large flock of sheep,
720
hoosing three hundred and their herdsmen too. For they owed
im a huge debt in good Elis—four prize-winning horses
with their car had gone to the games to race for a tripod,
ut Augeias,° the king of men, retained them. He sent back
he driver, sorrowing for his horses! Old man Neleus,
725
ngry over words exchanged and acts committed,
ook recompense beyond telling. Then he gave the rest
o the people to distribute, so no one should go
heated of an equal share.
“So we were disposing of all
hat was left, and around the city we set up sacrifices
730
o the gods. But on the third day the Epeians speedily
ssembled, both themselves and their single-hoofed horses.
he Molionê° put on their battle gear, although they were still
ouths and did not yet know furious valor. There is a city
alled Thryoëssa, on a steep hill, far away on the ALPHEIOS
735
n the farthest reaches of sandy Pylos. The Epeians set up
heir camp around this city, eager to raze it to the ground.
ut when they had scoured the plain, Athena came to us
s messenger, running down from Olympos during
he night, saying we should arm ourselves. She gathered 740
one but the ready fighters in Pylos, brave men eager
or the fight. Neleus did not permit me to put on my armor,
nd he hid my horses, for he did not think I yet knew
 nough of the doings of war. Even so I stood out among
he horsemen, although I went on foot, because Athena
745
ad so ordered the fight.
“There is a certain river,
he Minyeïos,° that goes into the sea near Arenê, where we
orsemen of the Pylians waited until the bright dawn.
he throngs of foot soldiers followed behind. Then we
peedily came, fully armed, at noon, to the sacred flow 750
f the Alpheios. There we sacrificed beautiful victims
o mighty Zeus, to Alpheios a bull, to Poseidon a bull,
ut to flashing-eyed Athena a cow from the herd. We took
ur meal through the camp, assembled in bands. Then we
ay down and slept, each man in his armor, on the shores
755
f the river. The great-souled Epeians were arranged
round the city, eager to raze it utterly.
“But before that
appened, a great deed of Ares occurred. When the sun
ppeared shining over the earth, we attacked, after
raying to Zeus and Athena. When the strife of the Pylians 760
nd the Epeians began, I was the first to kill a man and to
ake his single-hoofed horses. It was the spearman Moulios,
son-in-law of Augeias. He had married Augeias’ oldest
aughter, the blond Agamedes, who knew everything
bout the drugs nourished in the broad earth.° I hit him
765
with the bronze spear as he came on, and he fell in the dust.
seized his car and took my stand in the midst of the vanguard.
“The great-hearted Epeians ran this way and that
when they saw Moulios fall, a leader of the charioteers
who excelled in the fight. And then I leaped upon them like
770
black storm. I seized fifty cars and two men from each one
it the earth with his teeth, overcome by my spear. Now I would
ave killed the two Molionê, the sons of Aktor, except
hat their father Poseidon, the wide-ruling shaker of the earth,
id them in a thick mist and saved them from early death. 775
“Then Zeus gave great power to the Pylians. For so long
id we follow them across the vast plain, killing as we went
nd collecting their beautiful armor, until we drove
ur horses toward Bouprasion,° rich in wheat, and the rock
f Olenia and to where is the hill called Alesios. 780
rom there Athena turned the people back. There I killed
my last man and left him. Then the Achaeans° turned
heir swift horses from Bouprasion toward Pylos, and all
ave glory to Zeus among the gods and to Nestor among men.
“In those days I was with men, if ever there were men!
785
ut Achilles should know we have need of his valor, else
e will certainly have much to weep about when
verybody is dead. Remember what Menoitios told
ou on that day when he sent you forth to Agamemnon
rom PHTHIA—Odysseus and I were there in the halls
790
t the time and we heard what he said. We came to the well-built
ouse of Peleus as we were gathering the people
hroughout Achaea with its rich soil. That’s when
we found the warrior Menoitios° in the house and you,
atroklos, and with you, Achilles. Old man Peleus, the driver
795
f horses, was burning the fat thigh pieces of a bull
o Zeus who delights in the thunder in the enclosure of the court.
He held a golden cup, pouring out an offering
f flaming wine over the glowing flesh of sacrifice.
You and Achilles were busy with the flesh of the bull 800
when we stood in the doorway. Achilles, amazed,
umped up and led us in, taking us by the hand
nd urging us to sit down. He gave us excellent
ntertainment, as is the custom in greeting strangers.
“When we had partaken of food and drink, I began
805
o speak, urging you, Patroklos, to follow along.
You were quite eager, and Peleus and Menoitios laid
n you many commands. Peleus, the old man,
ommanded Achilles, his child, to always be the best,
o be better than all others. To you Menoitios
810
he son of Aktor commanded: ‘My child, in birth
Achilles is higher than you, but you are the older.
n strength he is superior, but you must tell him
he truth, explain all things and give him guideposts.
He will be persuaded to his benefit.’ So commanded the 815
ld man—you have forgotten!
“Even now you can say so
o wise Achilles, in hopes he will be persuaded. Who knows
, with the help of some spirit, you might rouse his heart
with your persuasive speech? Advice from a comrade
s always good. If Achilles is avoiding some oracle in his heart,
820
nd his revered mother has reported something to him from Zeus,
hen he can send you forth, and with you the people
f the Myrmidons may follow. Then you may become a light
o the Danaäns. And let him give you his beautiful armor
o wear into the war, so the Trojans may mistake you for him
825
nd withdraw from the battle. The warlike sons of the Achaeans
an get their breath. They are much worn down. It is hard
o catch your breath during war. Easily might you,
who are not tired, drive back men exhausted by battle
owards the city, away from the ships and huts.” 830
 So Nestor spoke, and he stirred the spirit
n the breast of Patroklos, who broke and ran along the ships
owards the hut of Achilles, grandson of Aiakos.
ut when Patroklos, as he ran along, got to the ships
f godlike Odysseus, to the very center place of assembly
835
where they gave out the rules,° and where there were
ltars built to the gods—there he ran into Eurypylos,
he Zeus-begotten son of Euaimon, wounded in the thigh
with an arrow and limping from the battle. Sweat ran like rain
rom his shoulders and head, and from his vicious wound
840
lack blood was gushing. But his mind was steady.
 FIGURE 11.3 Achilles and Cheiron. In spite of Phoenix’s claims in
Book 9 to have educated Achilles, in the usual version referred to by
Eurypylos Cheiron the Centaur taught him. Cheiron was the one learned
and civilized Centaur in a wild race of savages. Cheiron taught Achilles the
arts of a gentleman: to play the lyre and recite poetry, to hunt, and to heal.
Here in this Roman fresco from Herculaneum in Italy, Cheiron, bearded and
wearing an ivy wreath, holds a plectrum and shows the young Achilles how
to play on the lyre. The Romans loved these mythical tales and painted
them on their walls as decoration, usually set in a painted frame. This fresco
was preserved when Herculaneum was destroyed by the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius in AD 79.

When Patroklos saw Eurypylos, the bold son of Menoitios

ook pity and, wailing, he spoke to him words that went like arrows:
Ah, wretched leaders and rulers of the Danaäns, it seems
ou were destined to glut the swift dogs of Troy with your white
fat, 845
ar from your friends and the land of your fathers. But come,
ell me this, Eurypylos, nourished of Zeus and a fighting man:
Will the Achaeans still hold back the giant Hector, or will they perish,
vercome by his spear?”

The wounded Eurypylos answered:

No longer, Patroklos nourished of Zeus, will there be
850
defense for the Achaeans, but they will die among
he black ships. All those who once were the best fighters
ow lie among the ships wounded by arrow or spear
t the hands of the Trojans, whose strength grows ever stronger.
But save me!—carry me to my black ship. Cut out the arrow
855
om my thigh. Cleanse the dark blood with warm water
nd put soothing ointments on it, as they say that you learned
om Achilles, whom Cheiron, the most learned of the
entaurs, instructed. As for the physicians Podaleirios
 nd Machaon—Machaon, I’ve heard, lies wounded among the
ships, 860
eeding a physician himself, and Podaleirios on the plain
olds out against the Trojans in the sharp contendings.”

The bold son of Menoitios then answered: “How has

ll this come to pass? What are we going to do, Eurypylos,
ighting man? I will go to wise Achilles to tell him what Gerenian 865
Nestor, the guardian of the Achaeans, has advised. But even so
will give you a hand, because you are in distress.”

Patroklos spoke and, grasping Eurypylos beneath the chest,

rought him to his tent. When his aide saw him, he spread out
ome cow hides. There, stretching him out, Patroklos cut the
sharp 870
iercing arrow from his thigh, and he washed the dark blood
om him with warm water. On it he placed a bitter
ainkilling root, rubbing it in his hand, removing every pain.
he wound closed and the blood ceased to flow.

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Tithonos: A child of Laomedon and half-brother to Priam. The goddess
Dawn snatched him away to be her lover. According to postHomeric, he
was father to Memnon, the last great hero killed by Achilles. Dawn
obtained immortality for him but forgot to ask for eternal youth: Tithonos
shriveled up with age and became a cicada. This dawn marks the fifth since
Book 2 and the twenty-fifth since the beginning of the Iliad. This day will
be the longest in the poem: The sun does not set until Book 18.
portent of war: Eris, “strife,” is not really a goddess, more a
personification. We cannot know what the portent was.
Cyprus: The only time that the island of Cyprus is mentioned in the Iliad.
Kinyras was in later tradition the father of Myrrha and, by an incestuous
union with her, the father of Adonis.
mortal men: We cannot form a picture of the chest-protector because we do
not know in what direction the “bands” are arranged, nor what is their
pattern.
Terror and Rout: Probably the “circles of bronze” are concentric. Gorgo
must appear beneath the central boss, but it is hard to reconcile “was set as
a crown” with the twenty small bosses and the one large central boss; nor is
it clear how Terror and Rout were represented.
parts: It is obscure how this helmet worked, but in any event the horsehair
crest of a Homeric helmet was not stiff, as on later classical helmets, but a
kind of plume that bobbed and terrified one’s opponent.
rich in gold: In fact Mycenae was rich in gold during the Bronze Age, when
this epithet must have begun, to judge by the spectacular archaeological
finds there (for an example, see Figure 11.2). Agamemnon’s entry into
battle needs a divine accompaniment, but at the moment Zeus is on the side
of the Trojans. Agamemnon must be satisfied with a rumble from the
goddesses on Olympos.
charioteers: The Achaeans must be assembled on the outer side of the
ditch, toward Troy, though it is not said how they crossed the ditch. The
foot soldiers are at the front of the line, the charioteers follow behind them,
then comes the ditch, then a space, then the Achaean wall.
Polydamas: Son of the Trojan elder Panthoös, he is an important figure
who soon becomes Hector’s strongest advisor.
to the deathless ones: Polybos is otherwise unknown, but Antenor is
mentioned thirteen times in the Iliad. Akamas is in the Trojan catalog, leads
troops in Book 12, and is killed in Book 16. Antenor is of Priam’s
generation; he loses seven sons in the war.
ruinous flight: The simile is slightly confused. Because each army cuts
down the other, Homer must combine the notion of reaping with that of two
opposing sides. He pictures two teams of reapers working at opposite ends
of a field and moving toward each other to be like the Trojans and Achaeans
moving toward each other. But at the same time the crop, which is cut
down, must also represent the Trojans for the Achaeans and the Achaeans
for the Trojans.
equal heads: That is, neither side had the advantage.
… driver of horses: Oïleus (also the name of Little Ajax’s father) and
Bianor are stock names like the names of Agamemnon’s many victims that
follow. Of the about 340 Trojans and their allies named in the Iliad, two-
thirds have Greek names.
within: Though Agamemnon took two throwing spears when he armed (line
45), he now fights with a single thrusting spear.
… Argives: Isos and Antiphos are like the young of the deer crushed by the
attacking lion, Agamemnon. It is unclear whether Homer ever saw a lion,
though it is one of his favorite animals in similes; he may depend on earlier
Near Eastern descriptions. Probably there were few lions in Greece in
Homer’s day. In Homer lions never roar, as they often do in life.
mortar: Heads get cut off elsewhere, but only here are the arms cut off, too,
and the body rolled like a column of wood!
drivers: We cannot be sure what Homer meant by this because, in general,
fighting is never done from chariots. In individual encounters charioteers
never kill charioteers in the Iliad.
bridges of battle: The word “bridges” is of uncertain meaning, but the
phrase is formulaic for “battlefield.”
… wings: The thunderbolt is Zeus’s emblem; he is not about to use it. Only
here (and once of Iris in Book 8) does a god have wings.
sacred darkness: Homer wants to present an aristeia, a “moment of
greatness,” of Agamemnon, but a hero’s aristeia only excites the attention
of the best fighter on the other side. Because this is Hector, Homer must
remove Hector temporarily from the fighting in accord with Zeus’s
“inscrutable will.” Hector is Achilles’ opponent, not Agamemnon’s.
Theano: Theano is the priestess of Athena in Troy.
Perkotê: On the Dardanelles (Map 6).
bronze: The sleep of death is unbreakable, like bronze.
armor: Stripping the body of the dead was important to the ritual of
Homeric warfare, contributing to the fame (kleos) and the glory (kudos) of
the victor and to the shame of the defeated. It was, however, very dangerous
(as here with Agamemnon) because in kneeling to strip the corpse, one
exposed oneself to attack.
great stones: It is perfectly good form to throw stones at the enemy, but
Agamemnon would have to put down his thrusting spear in order to pick up
stones. In any event Agamemnon’s aristeia is over. He killed eight named
Trojans and numerous unnamed ones. His weapon has been four times the
spear, three times the sword, and once unspecified. In Homeric fighting the
spear is primary; then, when the spear is disabled, the sword is drawn for
close-in work.
Eileithyiai: “The goddesses who come,” the protectors of women in
childbirth, sometimes singular (Eileithyia), worshiped already in the
Mycenaean Age. Eileithyia appears in the Mycenaean Linear B tablets. Or
the name is preGreek.
Lycians: Probably the Lycians who lived northeast of Troy, where Pandaros
came from, who are called “Trojans,” not the Lycians from southwest Asia
Minor, where Sarpedon and Glaukos were princes.
him glory: Now follows an aristeia of Hector, but much compressed into a
list of the names of aristocrats he kills and three short similes. Homer likes
to balance one aristeia, in this instance that of Agamemnon, with another
from the other side. The commoners that Hector kills are not entitled to
names.
sons of Merops of Perkotê: Named in the Trojan Catalog as Amphios and
Adrestos of Paisos, leaders of a Hellespontine contingent. Their names are
similar to Amphiaraos and Adrastos, two famous leaders in the story of the
Seven Against Thebes.
… Hypereichos: These are stock figures with “speaking names”:
“Hippodamos” means “horse-tamer,” an epithet of the Trojans generally;
“Hypereichos” means “preeminent.”
Mount Ida: The metaphor of stretching a line in order to convey intensity of
conflict is common in the Iliad, but the precise image remains unclear.
gave him: Apollo did not literally give Hector the helmet; the expression
means that the helmet is of the finest manufacture. Perhaps the rather
mysterious “tube” on the helmet is to hold the crest.
has saved you: In fact the gods have not been acting on the battlefield, in
accord with Zeus’s mandate.
earth: The only time that anyone in the Iliad is wounded in the foot.
Nowhere does Homer say that Paris will one day shoot Achilles in the foot
or heel and kill him, as in later tradition, but perhaps this detail is meant to
make us think of that. In many respects Diomedes is a little Achilles,
dominating the action while the great hero is in his tent.
alone. The monologue “Shall I stand and fight or withdraw?” is a type-
scene of which there are numerous examples. The hero always decides to
stand and fight.
like to a god: Charops and Sokos (“strong”) only appear in this episode.
warrior: If taken literally, Athena would be in violation of Zeus’s
proclamation that the gods not get involved. Probably what is meant is “had
it not been for the will of God …”
day of doom: Odysseus is the wounded stag beset by jackals. Ajax is the
lion who then disperses the jackals.
horses: Being an islander, Odysseus has no chariot of his own.
… Pylartes: Doryklos, only here, is one of Priam’s many bastards; the
names of both Pandokos, “allreceiver,” and Lysander, “looser of men,” are
curiously appropriate to the death Lord; Pyrasos is also a town in Thessaly;
Patroklos kills a Pylartes in Book 16.
Idomeneus: Not heard of since Book 8, and not again until Book 13, after
which he is prominent. Idomeneus is older and hence appropriately in
Nestor’s company.
horsemanship: Seems to imply fighting from a chariot, but that would be
highly unusual.
Machaon: He was the son of Asklepios, who became god of medicine, and
brother of the Trojan-fighter Podaleirios. Like Podaleirios, Machaon was a
physician as well as warrior.
Kebriones: Hector’s charioteer, promoted to this role in Book 8 after the
death of Archeptolemos. Kebriones is a bastard son of Priam. Patroklos will
kill him in Book 16 (see Figure 16.3).
… on him: This is the fifteenth and last simile in this book. Similes enliven
and give variety to the battle scenes but do not appear in the leisurely talk of
Nestor and Patroklos coming up.
son of Euaimon: An Achaean fighter from Thessaly of some consequence,
Eurypylos is involved in one of the earliest clashes in the Iliad when he
kills the Trojan Hypsenor (Book 5). He is mentioned in Books 6, 7, 8, and
10 as well.
upon them: These words seem to ignore the embassy of Book 9, as if the
Achaeans had never attempted to appease him, but for the story to move
ahead Achilles needs to send Patroklos to Nestor’s tent. At the same time
Homer wants to return our attention to Achilles and his plight. Here
Achilles expresses anew his anger with the Achaeans and how sorry they
will be because he is not in the fight. This anger has never abated.
aide: In Book 8 he is called Nestor’s charioteer. Agamemnon also has a
charioteer named Eurymedon.
for drink: One of the very few time that vegetables are mentioned in the
Iliad. The heroes are meat-eaters and avoid fish and vegetables.
Pramnian wine: No place known as Pramnos or the like has been identified,
but Pramnian wine was evidently of good quality.
answered him: Now follows the longest speech in the Iliad by the long-
winded Nestor. Homer is somehow familiar with a tradition of song
centered on PYLOS in the Peloponnesus, portions of which he places in
Nestor’s mouth.
Elis: The tribe of Eleians, famous from classical times, is mentioned only
here in the Iliad, as is Itymon, son of Hypereichos. A few lines later the
Eleians are called Epeians, a more general term to refer to inhabitants of the
northwestern Peloponnesus in the heroic age.
toward the city: Elis is north of Pylos in the northwest Peloponnesus. Some
have thought that another Pylos is meant because Nestor’s Pylos, in the
southwest Peloponnesus, is 100 miles away, hardly reachable in one night.
But Homer is vague about the geography of the western Peloponnesus.
Augeias: Augeias was the father of Phyleus, the father of the Meges who
leads a contingent from DOULICHION and Elis and fights side by side with
Nestor. Homer shows no knowledge of Augeias’ famous stables or the story
of Herakles’ cleansing of them.
Molionê: The Molionê, a dual form, are so called, oddly, by their mother’s
name (or maybe their mother’s father), meaning the “two sons of Molos.”
They are also called the Aktorionê, the “two sons of Aktor.” Aktor was the
brother of Augeias, so the Aktorionê are the nephews of Augeias (the father
of Menoitios, Patroklos’ father, is also named Aktor). It is highly unusual to
have figures who bear two patronymics (in fact, we soon learn, they are the
sons of Poseidon!). In Homer they are twins, but all later writers describe
them as Siamese twins. Herakles killed the Molionê, so here they must
escape Nestor’s attack. The sons of the Aktorionê/Molionê, Amphimachos
and Thalpios, are now part of the Achaean force.
Minyeïos: Location unknown.
in the broad earth: “Agamedê” means “very intelligent.” In Homer only
women are specialists in drugs and potions.
Bouprasion: Both a territory and a town located somewhere in northwest
Elis.
Achaeans: He means the “Pylians.”
Menoitios: Conveniently for the story, Menoitios, the father of Patroklos, is
now living at Phthia, but his former home is never clear. Later sources gave
it as LOCRIS (in eastern mainland Greece) or even that he was a brother of
Peleus.
… rules: Odysseus’ ships were parked in the center of the line. The
assembly was at the center of the line.

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 Book 12. The Attack on the
Wall

A nd so Patroklos, the bold son of Menoitios tended

o the wounded Eurypylos. The Argives and the Trojans
ought on in crowds. The Danaäns had dug a great ditch
nd built a wide wall behind it to protect their swift ships
nd abundant booty. But it would not hold—because they did
5
ot offer glorious sacrifice to the gods! Because it was built
gainst the will of the deathless gods, it did not last long.
While Hector was alive and Achilles was enraged and the city
f King Priam remained intact, for so long the great wall
f the Achaeans stayed in place. But when the bravest of the
Trojan 10
aptains had died, and of the Argives many perished, though many
urvived, and when the city of Priam was destroyed in the tenth year
nd the Argives had gone back to the land of their fathers in their ships,
hen Poseidon and Apollo contrived to sweep away the wall,
ousing the strength of all the rivers that flow forth from Ida
15
o the sea—Rhesos and Heptaporos and Karesis and Rhodios
nd Granikos and the shining AISEPOS and SKAMANDROS and SIMOEIS°—
long which many shields of ox-hide and many helmets had fallen
n the dust, and the race of men who were half gods. Of all
hese rivers, Phoibos Apollo turned the mouths together,
20
nd for nine days they poured against the wall. Zeus rained
onstantly, so that the wall would quickly disappear into the sea.
he shaker of earth, holding his trident in his hands,° led the way.
He swept away on the waves all the foundations of beams and stone
hat the Achaeans had laid with such trouble. He made smooth the
shore 25
long the powerful flow of the Hellespont. He covered the great
each with sand, sweeping away the wall. He returned the rivers
o flow in their channels, where previously they made the beautiful water
o flow. So were Poseidon and Apollo to arrange things after the war.
But for now war and the din of war blazed around
30
he well-built wall, and the beams of the towers rang
s they were struck. The Argives, overwhelmed by the whip
f Zeus, were penned-in beside their hollow ships. They were held
n check, terrified by Hector, the mighty master of rout.
He raged as before, like a whirlwind.
35

Even as when
wild boar or lion turns on dogs and hunters, exulting in his
rength, and the dogs stand before the boar arrayed like a wall,
nd the hunters rain spears from their hands—but his mighty
oar-heart does not take fright nor flee, though his bravery
resages his death. Often he wheels around, testing the ranks 40
f men, and wherever he charges, the ranks of men give way—
ven so Hector went through the throng and encouraged
is companions to cross through the ditch. His swift horses
would not dare it, but loudly neighing they stood on the steep
ip, in awe of the wide ditch. It was impossible to leap across,
45
mpossible to drive across. On both sides all along the ditch
were overhanging banks, and at the top were fixed sharp stakes
hat the sons of the Achaeans set up, thick and large,
s a defense against enemy attack. There a horse drawing
well-wheeled car might not easily go, but the Trojans
50
 referred to see if they could do it on foot.

Then Poulydamas°
poke to bold Hector, standing beside him: “Hector and you
ther leaders of the Trojans and allies, it would be folly
o try to cross the ditch with our swift horses. It is too hard
o get across! There are sharp stakes fixed in it, and close by is the
wall 55
f the Achaeans. It is impossible for drivers to go down in the ditch
nd fight. It is narrow, and I think we will be cut to pieces.
Zeus, who makes thunder high in the sky, would utterly
estroy in his anger our enemy and give aid to us Trojans,
hen I wish this would happen right now, and that the Achaeans 60
hould perish without a name, far from Argos. But if they turn
n us and we are driven back from the ships and become tangled
n the ditch they have dug, then I think that not even a messenger
will return to the city once the Achaeans have rallied.

“But come, please, let all be persuaded by what I say.

65
et the drivers hold back the horses at the ditch while we in a group,
ully armed, follow Hector. The Achaeans will not hold up once
he bonds of destruction are fitted upon them!”

So spoke Poulydamas.
His prudent advice pleased Hector. Immediately Hector leaped
rom his car in full armor to the ground. The other Trojans did not 70
esitate, gathered in their chariots, but everyone jumped down
when they saw the good Hector come forth. Each man ordered his
 river to hold his horses in good order there at the edge of the ditch.
hen the men divided and arranged themselves in five companies,°
nd followed their leaders. Some went with Hector and
75
he blameless Poulydamas, the most numerous and the best fighters.
hey were eager to break the wall and to get at the hollow ships.
Kebriones° followed them as a third man, for Hector
ad left a lesser man with the chariot. Of the second company
aris was chief, along with Alkathoös° and Agenor. Helenos 80
nd Deïphobos, like a god, led the third company, two sons
f Priam, and the fighting man Asios°—Asios the son of Hyrtakos,
whom his horses bore from ARISBÊ, from the river Selleïs.
Aeneas led the forth company, the valiant son of Anchises,
nd with him went two sons of Antenor, Archelochos
85
nd Akamas,° skilled in every kind of fighting. Sarpedon
ed the glorious allies, and as comrades he chose
Glaukos and the martial Asteropaios,° for they seemed
o be by far the best of the others, after himself—
or Sarpedon was the best of them all. 90

When they had closed

p their well-made shields of ox-hide, they eagerly made
raight for the Danaäns. They did not think they would
e restrained, only that they would fall upon the black ships.
And so the other famous Trojans and allies obeyed
he counsel of blameless Poulydamas. But Asios, the son of 95
Hyrtakos, commander of men, did not want to leave his horses
nd his charioteer. Together with them he went toward
he swift ships—the fool! He would not avoid evil fate
nd return to windy Ilion, rejoicing in his horses and car.
Before that, his ill-omened fate enfolded him, from the spear
 100
f Idomeneus, the son of noble Deucalion.

Asios made for

he left flank of the ships, where the Achaeans went with
heir horses and cars when they fled the field. There he drove
is horses and car, nor did he find the gates closed
nd the long bar drawn, but Achaean men held them open 105
n case any of their companions wished to be saved, fleeing
om the war to their ships. There, setting his mind, Asios
rove his horses, and his men followed, shouting shrilly.
hey thought the Achaeans could not hold them off, but that
hey could plunder among the black ships—fools! For they found 110
t the gates two fine fighting men, proud sons of the Lapith
pearmen°— Polypoites, the strong son of Peirithoös, and Leonteus,
ke to Ares, the curse of men. The two of them were standing
n front of the high gates like high-crowned oaks in the mountains
hat withstand the wind and the rain every day, firmly 115
xed by their deep-thrusting roots—even so these two men,
usting to their own hands and their own power, awaited
reat Asios as he came on, nor did they flee.

Thus the Trojans

ame on straight against the well-built wall, holding high
heir shields of dried bulls’ hides and launching great shouts:
Asios 120
nd Iamenos and Orestes and Adamas, son of Asios, and Thoön
nd Oinomaos.° Within the walls the Lapiths had for awhile
rged the Achaeans, who wear fancy shinguards, to defend
he ships. But when they saw the Trojans rushing on
 he wall while the Danaäns fled with a cry, the two Lapiths 125
ushed forth from the gates to fight in front. Like wild pigs
n the mountains who withstand the noisy assault of men
nd dogs, then, rushing slantwise, they shatter the trees
bout them, cutting them at their roots, and there arises
clatter of tusks until someone throws a missile and kills them—
130
ven so clattered the shining bronze on their chests as they
were struck, turned toward the enemy.° For they fought with
ower, trusting in the troops above them and in their own strength.
And those above, defending the tents and the swift-sailing ships,
hrew stones from their well-built towers. The stones fell to the
earth 135
ke snowflakes that a strong wind, driving the shadowy clouds,
ours down in thick showers over the bountiful earth.
hus weapons fell from the hands of both Achaeans and Trojans.
heir helmets rang harshly, and their bossed shields, as they were
truck with huge stones. 140

Then Asios, son of Hyrtakos, groaned

nd slapped both his thighs, and filled by great anger he blurted:
Father Zeus, you are proved to be a great lover of lies! I did
ot think Achaean warriors could withstand our power,
ur invincible hands. Like wasps with nimble waists
r bees who have made their nests on a rugged path 145
nd do not leave their hollow home, but stay to fight
ff hunters° on behalf of their children, even so they will
ot back away from their gates, though there are but two
f them, before either they kill or are killed.”° So he spoke,
ut Zeus was not persuaded by his speech. His spirit wanted
150
o give Hector glory.

The other Trojans fought around other

ates. It would be hard for me to tell of all these things
s if I were a god. Everywhere before the stone wall
rose a wondrous blazing fire.° The Argives, being in deep
istress, had no choice but to defend their ships. The gods 155
were troubled, all those who were helpers to the Danaäns.

But the Lapiths clashed in war and contention.° The mighty

olypoites, son of Peirithoös, pushed his spear through the helmet
f Damasos with cheek pieces of bronze. The bronze helmet could not
withstand that mighty blow—the bronze tip broke through the
bone 160
nd splattered the brains inside. Polypoites overcame Damasos
s he raged. And then Polypoites killed Pylon and Ormenos.
hen the Lapith Leonteus, of the line of Ares, struck Hippomachos,
he son of Antimachos, with his spear—Hippomachos, hitting
im on the belt. Pulling the sharp sword from his scabbard,
165
e next leaped on Antiphates in the crowd and cut him down
n the hand-to-hand. Antiphates fell on his back, stretched out
n the ground. The Lapith next brought down to the nourishing
arth Menon and Iamenos and Orestes, one after another.

While Leonteus was stripping off their flashing armor, most 170
f the youths, the best fighters who followed Poulydamas and Hector,
who wanted most to break the wall and set fire to the ships,
ood on the edge of the ditch, hesitating. A bird had come on them
 s they were about to cross—a high-flying eagle, skirting
he army toward the left.° He held in his talons a huge blood-red 175
nake, alive and gasping, but the serpent, not avoiding combat,
writhed backward and struck at the eagle’s breast beside the neck.
tung with pain, the eagle dropped the snake and it fell in the midst
f the crowd. The eagle cried and flew off in the blasts of the wind.
The Trojans shivered when they saw the snake lying there 180
writhing in the midst of them, a portent of Zeus who carries
he goatskin fetish.

Then Poulydamas spoke to brave Hector,

anding at his side: “Hector, you always rebuke me in the assembly
when I have useful things to say, because a man of the people
hould not speak against you, neither in the assembly nor
185
n the war, but he should always acknowledge your power.°
ut now I will say what seems to me best: Let us not fight
 FIGURE 12.1 Trojan and Greek warriors fighting. One warrior grabs
the other by the hair as he flees. The tree on the left may be the “oak of
Zeus” where Sarpedon recovered (Book 5). Frieze on the tomb of a Lycian
prince, the Heroön of Goelbasi-Trysa in Lycia, Turkey, c. 380 BC.

gainst the Danaäns over their ships! For I think that this
will come to pass, if this bird has come as a true omen
o the men eager to cross the ditch—a high-flying 190
agle skirting the army toward the left, holding a huge
lood-red snake in its talons, still alive, and he then
et it fall before he reached his nest—he did not finish
is course, to deliver the snake to his little babies.
Likewise, if we break the gates and the wall of the Achaeans 195
with our great strength, and the Achaeans pull back, we will not
eturn in good order from their ships, nor on the same paths.
ut we will leave behind many Trojans whom the Achaeans
will overcome with their bronze, defending the ships. That is
he way a prophet would interpret this omen, one who
200
nows portents well, one whom the soldiers believe.”

Hector of the flashing helmet looked at Poulydamas

om beneath his brows and said: “Poulydamas, what you say
not pleasing to me! You know how to devise better words
han these! If in truth you speak in earnest, then the gods have 205
aken your wits. You urge me to forget the counsels of Zeus,
who delights in the thunder! He himself promised me and bowed
is head to it.° But you urge that I believe in long-winged birds!
pay no attention to them. I do not care whether they go
o the right, toward the dawn and the sun, or whether they go the
left, 210
oward the shadowy darkness.° But let us be obedient to the counsel
f great Zeus, who rules over all mortals and the deathless ones.
One omen is best: to defend the land of one’s fathers.
Why are you afraid of war and contention? If the rest
f us will be killed at the ships of the Argives, there is
215
o fear that you will perish too—for your heart
eems not resolute in the fight, not warlike. But if
ou hold aloof from these contendings, or if you persuade
omebody else to turn aside, just then you will die, struck
y my spear!”
220

So speaking, Hector led the way forward.

he others followed with a tremendous shout.° And Zeus
who delights in the thunderbolt roused from the mountains of Ida
blast of wind that carried dust straight against the ships.
He enchanted the minds of the Achaeans, gave glory to the Trojans
nd to Hector. Trusting to the portents° and to their own strength,
225
hey attempted to smash the great wall of the Achaeans. They tore
own the tops of the fortifications. They dragged down the battlements
nd pried out the supporting beams that the Achaeans had placed
n the earth to be buttresses for the wall.° They tried to drag out
he beams, in hopes of smashing the wall of the Achaeans.
230

But the Danaäns did not even now withdraw from the path,
ut closing up the battlements with the hides of bulls they threw rocks
own from there onto the Trojans coming under the wall. The two
Ajaxes ranged everywhere along the wall, stirring up the men,
ncouraging the might of the Achaeans. To some they spoke 235
oneyed words, but to others, when they saw them pulling
ack from the fight, they reproached with harsh words:
Friends of the Argives! Those of you who are superior
n the fight, those who are of middling quality, and those
who are lesser—for in war not all men are equal—now 240
here is work for everyone, I think you know that! So don’t
urn back to the ships now that you have been encouraged.
hrow yourselves forward and urge each other on in hopes
hat Zeus of the lightning bolt may grant us to push back
his assault and drive the Trojans toward their city.” 245

Thus the two Ajaxes stirred the Achaeans with their shouting.
As snowflakes fall thickly on a winter’s day, when Zeus
he counselor is stirred to let snow fall, showing forth to men
is arrows and, lulling the winds, he pours forth constantly
ntil he covers the peaks of the high mountains and the high 250
eadlands and fields overgrown with lotus and the rich
lowlands of men, and the snow is poured over the harbors
nd the shores of the gray sea though the pelting wave
eeps off the snow, but all things beside are wrapped
n snow from above when the storm of Zeus drives it on— 255
ven so the stones fell thickly on either side, some on
he Trojans and some from the Trojans onto the Achaeans as they
ast at one another. And a clanging din arose over the entire wall.

Nonetheless the Trojans and noble Hector would never

ave broken the gates of the wall and the long bolt if Zeus
260
he counselor had not stirred his son Sarpedon against
he Argives, like a lion against cattle with curled horns.
arpedon held his shield before him, perfectly round,
eautiful, worked in bronze that a smith had hammered out.
The bronze-smith had sewn OX-hides stitched within
265
with thick stiches of gold that ran continuously around the inside.
Holding the shield before him, Sarpedon brandished two spears
nd went like a lion raised in the mountains, who for long
as been without meat, and his proud spirit urges him to attack
he flocks, to go against a sturdy household. Even if he finds 270
erdsmen there with dogs and spears guarding the flocks,
e is not inclined to flee the fold without a fight, but leaps
nto the flock and seizes one—or like a foremost champion
e is struck by a spear from a swift hand. Just so his spirit
rged godlike Sarpedon to leap onto the wall and to smash 275
he battlements.

He exclaimed loudly to Glaukos, the son

f Hippolochos: “Glaukos, why are we honored above all
with the best seats, best cuts of meat, and with fat cups
n Lycia? And why do all regard us as gods and we dwell
n large districts along the banks of the XANTHOS,° a fine tract
280
f orchard and wheat-bearing plowland? Therefore we must now
ake our stand among the foremost of the Lycians and face
his blazing battle so that many of the heavy–armed Lycians
might say: ‘Not without fame do these men rule Lycia,
ur chieftains. They eat fat sheep and drink choice wine,
285
weet as honey, true—but their valor is unmatched,
nd they fight among the foremost Lycians.’ Yes,
my friend, if escaped from battle it were possible for the two
f us never to grow old and never to die, I would not myself
ight among the foremost, nor would I send you into the fight
290
where men win glory. But as it is, the fates of death
and over us, ten thousand of them—no man can flee or escape
om them—so let us go forward and give glory to another,
r to ourselves.”

So Sarpedon spoke. Glaukos did not turn aside

r disobey. The two of them went straight on, leading
295
he large contingent of Lycians. Seeing them, the son of Peteos,
Menestheus,° shivered. For they brought devastation to his part
f the wall. Menestheus looked along the wall of the Achaeans,
oping to see any of the captains who might ward off destruction
rom him and his companions. He saw the two Ajaxes
 300
anding there, ever lustful for war, and Teucer, who had just come
om his tent nearby. But it was impossible to make himself heard,
o great was the clamor, the din from the shields being struck
nd the helmets with horsehair plumes. The clanging of the
losed gates reached the sky. The Trojans stood without and
attempted 305
with great violence to force the gates and to burst inside.

Quickly, Menestheus sent the herald Thoötes° to Ajax:

Go, good Thoötes, run and call Ajax, rather, call both Ajaxes—
hat would be best, for hideous destruction will soon
efall us. The captains of the Lycians lean heavily upon us, 310
hey who earlier raged in furious battle. But if labor
nd quarrel have arisen for the Ajaxes where they are—
t least beg Telamonian Ajax to come alone, and may Teucer,°
he great bowman, follow with him.”

So he spoke, and the herald

Thoötes, hearing him, obeyed, and set off running by the wall 315
f the Achaeans who wear shirts of bronze. Arriving, he stood
ear the two Ajaxes, and promptly said: “You two Ajaxes,
eaders of the Achaeans who wear shirts of bronze: Menestheus,
he beloved son of god-nourished Peteos, urges you
o come at once so that if only for a brief time you may face
320
his labor of war—both of you! That would be far the best case,
lse steep destruction will likely befall us. The captains
f the Lycians weigh heavily upon us, they who earlier raged
n furious battle. But if labor and quarrel has arisen
or you here, let at least Telamonian Ajax come alone,
 325
nd may Teucer, the great bowman, follow with him.”

So he spoke, nor did Telamonian Ajax decline.

ut immediately he spoke to Little Ajax, the son of Oïleus,
words that flew like arrows: “Ajax, son of Oïleus, the two
f you— you and strong Lykomedes°—stay here and urge
330
he Danaäns to fight to the utmost. But I will go away
with Thoötes and face up to the war. I will come back
ere quickly, once we have achieved a good defense.”

So speaking, Telamonian Ajax went off and with him

went Teucer,° his brother from the same father, and with them 335
andion, who carried Teucer’s bent bow. When going along
he inside of the wall they came to the part defended by great-souled
Menestheus—they came to men hard pressed!—the powerful
eaders and rulers of the Lycians were astride the battlements
ike a dark whirlwind. Thus they clashed together in battle 340
nd the din of war arose.

Ajax, the son of Telamon,

was first to kill his man, Epikles, a great-hearted
ompanion of Sarpedon, hitting him with a sharp rock
hat lay, huge, on top of the wall near the battlement.
No man could lift it easily with both hands, no matter
345
ow young, such as men are today. But he raised
high, threw it and smashed the helmet with four ridges.
 hus Big Ajax crushed all the bones of Epikles’ head,
who fell like a diver from the high wall, and his breath-soul
eft his bones. 350

And Teucer hit Glaukos, the son

f Hippolochos, with an arrow from the high wall as Glaukos
ushed on Teucer. He saw where Glaukos’ arm
was exposed, and he put Glaukos out of the fight.

Glaukos covertly leaped back from the wall so that no one

f the Achaeans might notice he was hit and so boast over him. 355
Distress settled over Sarpedon immediately when he saw
hat Glaukos was missing.° All the same he did not forget
he battle, for he stabbed Alkmaon, son of Thestor,
 FIGURE 12.2 Combat between a Trojan and a Greek. They are
dressed as hoplites. The warrior on the left spears the other fighter in the
chest. Frieze on the tomb of a Lycian prince, the Heroön of Goelbasi-Trysa,
Lycia, Turkey, c. 380 BC.

itting him with his spear. He then pulled it out, pulling

Alkmaon with it. He fell on his face and his armor, 360
nlaid with bronze, rang around him. Then Sarpedon seized
he battlement in his strong hands and pulled. The whole
ength of it gave way. The wall above was exposed—
e had made a path for many. But Ajax and Teucer
cted together against him. Teucer hit Sarpedon with an arrow 365
n the shining strap of the protective shield that guarded
is chest. But Zeus warded death from his son, so he was not
vercome on the sterns of the ships. Ajax leaped on him
nd stabbed at his shield, but the spear did not go through.
Ajax pushed him back as Sarpedon rushed on.
370
Ajax withdrew a little from the battlement, but he did not
wholly withdraw, for his spirit hoped to win glory.

Wheeling around, Sarpedon called out to the godlike

ycians: “O Lycians, why have you backed away from
our furious valor? It is hard for me alone, though I am strong,
375
o break down the wall and make a path to the ships.
ut let us attack together. The job is better done when many
eople do the work.”

So he spoke. The Lycians, fearing

he reproach of their king, pushed harder around their advisor
 nd captain. The Argives from their side strengthened the
battalions 380
nside the wall—the task before them was great. The powerful Lycians
were unable to break the wall and make a path to the ships, but the
Danaän spearmen could not drive the Lycians from the wall
when once they closed on it. Even as when two men argue
bout boundary-stones in a field held in common, having
measuring 385
icks in their hands and in a narrow space disagree about the equal
ivision, even so little did the battlements keep them apart.°
And above them they struck the OX-hide shields of one another,
well-rounded, like fluttering targets. The relentless bronze wounded
many in the flesh, both when they exposed their backs, turning
around 390
while they fought, and sometimes getting hit straight through their shields.

Everywhere the walls and the battlements were splattered

with the blood of men fighting on either side, blood from Trojans
nd Achaeans alike. But the Trojans could not make the Achaeans
lee. The Achaeans held their ground, as a woman, an honest
weaver 395
or hire, holds the balance to make equal the wool
nd the weight in the scale so that she might earn a paltry
eward for her children—even so the battle and war was
retched equally, until Zeus gave the glory of victory to Hector,
on of Priam—the first to leap within the wall of the Achaeans. 400

He roared a piercing shout, calling to the Trojans:

Rise up, you horse-taming Trojans! Smash the wall of the
Argives. Cast glorious destroying fire into their ships!”
hus Hector bellowed, urging them on.° All the Trojans heard.
They charged the wall straight-on in a massed formation. 405
hey climbed to the top of the wall carrying their sharp
pears while Hector picked up and carried a stone found
ear the gate, thick at the bottom but sharp at the top, so large
hat two men, the best of the people, could not easily
ave muscled it from the ground onto a cart such as men 410
re today. But Hector swung it up easily all by himself.
eus, the son of clever Kronos, made it light
or him. As when a shepherd readily lifts the fleece
f a ram all by himself, taking it in one hand
with little trouble doing so, even so Hector raised the stone 415
nd carried it straight against the doors that closed
he tightly fitted and powerful gates—double gates,
nd high, and two crossbars coming from opposite directions
eld them, and a single bolt fastened them.°

Hector went up close

o the gates, and taking a firm stand he threw the stone 420
t the middle of the gates, spreading apart his feet so that
is throw would have maximum power. He broke
oth pivots° away and the stone fell inside of its own weight.
he gates on either side groaned. The bars did not hold.
The doors were smashed apart on this side and that
425
nder the onrush of the stone. Glorious Hector leaped
nside, his face aglow like the sudden night. He shone
with the terrible bronze that he wore around his flesh,
nd he held two spears. No one who met him could have
eld him back once he leaped within, unless he were a god. 430
His eyes burned like fire. He whirled around in the crowd.
He called out to the Trojans to come over the wall
nd they obeyed his urging. Some came over the wall,
thers poured in through the strong gates. The Danaäns were
riven in rout through the hollow ships. An endless tumult arose.
435

OceanofPDF.com
 Simoeis: Rhesos and Heptaporos and Karesos and Rhodios and Granikos
are mentioned only here in the Iliad. The first four rivers are unidentified;
the Granikos and Aisepos flowed well to the east of the Troad. Only the
Skamandros and Simoeis actually flow across the Trojan plain (Map 3).
in his hands: The only place in the Iliad where Poseidon has his
characteristic emblem, the trident, with which he is always depicted in the
visual arts (see Figure 13.1).
Poulydamas: A son of the Trojan elder Panthoös. He is a warrior and
advisor to Hector who seems to have survived the war.
five companies: This might be taken to imply that there were five gates in
the Achaean wall, but nowhere is that stated. In fact, Homer soon forgets
about the division of the Trojan army into five companies.
Kebriones: A bastard son of Priam, now Hector’s charioteer.
Alkathoös: He appears only here and Book 13, where he is killed and called
a son-in-law of Anchises.
… Asios: Helenos is said in Book 6 to be “far the best of the bird-
prophets,” but nowhere else are his mantic powers mentioned. However, he
has an important role to play in the next book. Deïphobos, mentioned here
for the first time, was a full brother to Hector and in later tradition the
husband of Helen after Paris was killed; Athena will take on his appearance
to lure Hector to his death, and he is said in the Odyssey to have
accompanied Helen when she walked around the Trojan Horse mimicking
the voice of the wives of the men within. Idomeneus kills Asios in Book 13.
Arisbê is in on the south shore of the Hellespont.
… Akamas: Archelochos and Akamas are associated with Aeneas in the
Catalog of Ships; Akamas has not been seen since Book 5, where he
ignominiously faced Diomedes. Aeneas is not heard of again in this book.
… Asteropaios: Sarpedon and Glaukos, cousins from Lycia, are second
only to Hector in their fighting prowess. Patroklos kills Sarpedon in Book
16. Asteropaios, first mentioned here, a leader of the Paeonians not listed in
the Catalog of Trojans, reappears in Books 17 and in 21, where Achilles
kills him.
–112 Lapith spearmen: Although the tribe of Lapiths is famous because of
their fight with the Centaurs, they are never mentioned except here and
later in this book. Polypoites and Leonteus are listed in the Catalog of
Ships as coming from “northern Thessaly.” Nestor refers to Peirithoös,
 the father of Polypoites, in his account in Book 1 of the battle with the
Centaurs.
… Oinomaos: All the names of these nonentities are Greek (except possibly
Iamenos). Iamenos and Orestes die just below, and the rest are killed in
Book 13.
enemy: The point of comparison is between the sound of the boars’ tusks
with the sound of the Trojan armor being struck, not between the boars’
aggression and the Trojan attack.
hunters: Those looking for the bees’ honey.
killed: That is, the wasps and the Lapiths are alike in their tenacity. Similes
are unusual in speeches, and one that takes up over half the speech is
unparalleled.
fire: Many commentators have complained that the wall is not really made
of stone. Fire, later, is used only on the wooden gates.
contention: This is the aristeia of the Lapith fighters from Thessaly, their
moment of glory. We do not hear of them again until the funeral games for
Patroklos in Book 23.
on the left: The unlucky direction (as in English sinister means originally
“on the left hand”).
power: Poulydamas is of the highest birth, but he calls himself a “man of
the people” out of deference to Hector’s authority.
head to it: Hector refers to the message that Iris delivered in Book 11,
saying that Hector would reach the ships and be victorious until nightfall.
darkness: The soothsayer faces north when looking for bird signs in the sky:
The sun rises on his right and sets on his left.
tremendous shout: Somehow the Trojans have gotten across the ditch,
which caused them so much trouble before.
portents: Presumably the ambiguous portent of the eagle and the snake.
for the wall: We cannot form a clear picture of how the Achaean wall was
constructed. The word translated “tops” in “tops of the fortifications” is in
fact of unknown meaning. Ordinarily in ancient warfare siege ladders
would be placed against a defensive wall, but the Trojans do not use them.
Xanthos: The greatest of the rivers of Lycia (Map 6), whose valley forms
the heart of the country. Considerable ruins survive from the classical city,
including a tomb from which Figures 12.1 and 12.2 are taken.
Menestheus: The leader of the Athenian contingent, seen here for the first
time since Agamemnon reproached him in Book 4. His performance is
typically ineffectual.
Thoötes: “Swifty,” a “speaking name.”
Lykomedes: A Boeotian, son of Kreon, one of the seven captains who went
on guard-duty outside the Achaean wall.
Teucer: In Book 8 Teucer was wounded by Hector and taken back to his
tent, but no reference is made to this earlier injury.
was missing: Glaukos survives the Iliad, but in postHomeric tradition Ajax
or Agamemnon finally kills him. The kings of Lycia traced their descent
from Glaukos.
apart: Two men are arguing over a small amount of common ground; they
are no further apart than the breadth of the battlements.
them on: It is logical that Hector attacks the portion of the wall abandoned
by Big Ajax and Teucer when they went to help Menestheus, but in Book
13 Hector is fighting “where he first went over the wall, near the ships of
Ajax and Protesilaos.” We are not sure which Ajax is meant, however, or
where are the ships of Protesilaos (the first man to die at Troy). Probably
the center of the camp fits best, where the ships of Little Ajax were
anchored, but the narrative is not clear.
fastened them: Hector carries his two spears in one hand and with the other
he picks up the rock, which he then uses as a kind of battering ram.
pivots: Ancient doors did not have hinges as we think of them but were
attached by pegs at the inside top and the inside bottom that rotated in holes
in the threshold and the lintel. Hector does not burst open the gates but
smashes them from their seating in the masonry.

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 Book 13. The Battle at the
Ships

W hen Zeus had brought the Trojans and Hector to the ships,
e left them there to endure their pain and endless sorrow.
ut he averted his shining eyes, looking far away
o the land of the horse-riding Thracians and that of the Mysians
who fight in close, and of the noble Mare-milkers who live
5
om milk, and of the Abioi, the most just of men.° For he did
ot expect in his heart any of the deathless ones to come
o the aid of the Trojans or the Danaäns.

But Poseidon, the king,

he shaker of the earth, was not blind to developments
He sat on the top of the highest peak of SAMOTHRACE,
10
marveling at the war and the skirmishes. From there all IDA
was clear, and he could see the city of Priam and the ships
f the Achaeans.° There he came out of the sea, because
e took pity on the Achaeans, beset by the Trojans. And he was
ery angry with Zeus. He came straight down from the rugged
15
mountain, moving resolutely on his immortal feet; the high
mountains and the woods shook beneath Poseidon as he went.
hree times he strode out, and on the fourth pace he reached
is goal of Aigai,° where his famous house of gold
nd stone was built for him in the depths of the water,
 20
eathless forever. When he got there he readied the two
ronze-hooved horses with flowing golden manes, swift of flight,
eneath the chariot. Then he himself wrapped gold
bout his flesh. He gripped the whip, nicely made
f gold, then mounted his car and set out to drive
25
ver the waves. Dolphins leaped beneath him from
idden places—they knew their king! The sea parted
oyfully before him. The horses sped swiftly on,
nd the bronze axle beneath was not dampened
The prancing horses brought him to the ships of the Achaeans.
30

There is a broad cave in the depths of the deep water,

midway between Tenedos and rugged Imbros, where Poseidon,
he shaker of the earth, stationed his horses, uncoupling
hem from his car and setting before them food to eat.
Around their feet he placed golden hobbles, unbreakable,
35
ever to be loosened, that they might remain there until their king
eturned. Then he went off to the camp of the Achaeans.

The Trojans, ever eager for battle, gathered like flames

r storm clouds. They followed Hector, son of Priam, shouting loudly
nd crying out. They believed they would take the ships of the
Achaeans, 40
illing all their best men. But Poseidon, the holder and shaker
f the earth, roused-up the Argives, coming from the deep sea
n the likeness of Kalchas—with his shape and untiring voice.
 He spoke first to the two Ajaxes, both already
ager to fight: “You two Ajaxes,° you are the ones to save
45
he army of the Achaeans, remembering your valor and giving
o thought to icy rout! I do not fear the mighty hands of the Trojans
n some other part of the fight, but here where they have climbed
he high wall in a mass—the Achaeans who wear fancy shinguards
will hold them! But right here I am terribly worried that some
50
alamity will happen—here where that mad-dog Hector,
ke a flame, is in the lead—he who says he is a son of Zeus.
o I trust that some god puts it into your hearts to make
strong stand here and move others to do the same.
The two of you can push Hector back from the swift-sailing 55
hips, despite his eagerness, even if the Olympian himself
rives him on!”

Then the holder of the earth, the shaker

f the earth, struck the two Ajaxes with his rod and filled
hem with powerful strength. He made their limbs light,
 FIGURE 13.1 Poseidon in his chariot. The god of the sea rides across
the waves in a scene inspired by Homer’s description. He holds his trident
in his left hand and points in the direction he wants to go. The chariot is
drawn by four horses with dolphin tails. Roman mosaic, AD second century,
from a Roman villa in Sousse, Tunisia.

heir feet and their hands fast and strong. Then, like a hawk 60
wift of wing who hovering over a steep high rock
peeds forth to fly, then pursues over the plain
nother bird, even so Poseidon, shaker of the earth,
arted away from them.

Of the two men swift Ajax,

he son of Oïleus, first recognized who it was, and at once
 65
e spoke to the other Ajax, the son of Telamon:
Ajax, some one of the gods who live on Olympos, taking on
he appearance of the prophet Kalchas, urges us to fight
eside the ships—for I don’t think that was Kalchas,
he bird-prophet! I easily recognized him as a god by the trail 70
e left when he went away. For it is easy to know a god.
And now the spirit in my breast is more eager to make war
nd to fight. My feet below and my hands above are bristling,
ager to go!”

Telamonian Ajax answered him:

Yes, my own invincible hands are eager now 75
o grip the spear, my strength is up and both my feet
ir beneath me. Even alone I am impatient to take on
Hector, son of Priam, who rages without end.”

So they spoke to one another words such as these,

ejoicing in the fury of battle that a god put into their 80
earts. Meanwhile the earth-shaker roused up the Achaeans
who were in the rear beside the swift ships, refreshing their
pirits. For their limbs had been weakened by the arduous labor,
nd grief came to their hearts as they saw the Trojans
oming over the great wall in a mass. As the two Ajaxes looked,
85
ears poured forth from beneath their brows, for they did
ot think they could escape the Trojan evil. But the earth-shaker,
astening among them, urged them to form into strong battalions.
 First he went to Teucer and to Leïtos, bidding them on,
hen to the warrior Peneleos, and to Thoas and Deïpyros 90
nd Meriones and Antilochos, masters of the war cry.° Urging
hem on, he spoke words that went like arrows: “For shame,

FIGURE 13.2 Poseidon as Kalchas. In the likness of the prophet,

Poseidon holds his trident between the two Ajaxes, Oïlean Ajax and
Telamonian Ajax, encouraging them to fight. Telamonian Ajax holds a
hoplite shield emblazoned with a ram and behind him to the right is his
brother, the bowman Teucer, and another warrior. A fifth warrior stands at
the far left. Athenian black-figure wine-cup by Amasis, c. 540 BC.

Argives! Mere boys! I was persuaded that in your fighting

ou would save our ships—but if you hold back from savage war,
believe the day has come when the Trojans will overwhelm you. 95
Yes, I foresee this great disaster before my own eyes, a dread thing
hat I thought would never come to pass, that the Trojans could
reak through to our ships. Before they were like panicked deer,
wandering through the woods, prey to jackals and leopards
nd wolves—wandering in vain, as if impotent, and there is 100
o fight in them. Before the Trojans were not willing to face
he massed might and the hands of the Achaeans, not even
or a little while. Now they fight beside the hollow ships far from
heir city because of the baseness of our leaders and the slackness
f the army, who fighting against Hector are unwilling to defend 105
he swift-sailing ships. Instead, you are killed in the midst
f them!
“But if in truth the warrior Agamemnon,
on of Atreus, the wide-ruling king, is the cause of it all because
e dishonored the son of Peleus, the fast runner, still we must not
o soft in the war. Let us quickly get over this! The hearts 110
f good men can be cured. It is not right that you give over your
urious valor, all you who are the best in the army. I would
ot quarrel with a man who slacked off in the war because of
owardice. But you, you kindle anger in my heart. The fact is
ou quickly foster a greater evil by your slackness. Everyone
115
f you must bear shame and reproach in your hearts, for a great
ght has arisen. The mighty Hector, good at the war cry,
makes war at the ships. He has broken the gates and the long bar!”

Thus did the earth-holder rouse up the Achaeans with his

xhortations. The powerful battalions rallied around the two
Ajaxes, 120
o mighty that even Ares would not have made light of them if he
ook them on, nor Athena who drives on the army. Those
who were selected for bravery withstood the Trojans and Hector,
meeting spear against spear, shield against overlapping shield,
uckler against buckler, helmet against helmet, man 125
gainst man. The horsehair crests with their shining plates
ouched together as the men nodded their heads,
anding in thick array against one another. Their spears
were arranged in tiers, brandished in their bold hands.
Their intention was evident: They were eager to fight!° 130
The Trojans struck forward in a mass, with Hector
n the lead, vehemently pressing ahead, like a rolling stone
om a cliff that a river, swollen by winter rain,
as dislodged from the brow of a hill when it has broken
he foundations of the ruthless stone with its immense flood. 135
he stone leaps high, flying through the air and crashes
n the forest below and runs on constantly, without cease,
ntil it comes to the flat plain and the stone rolls no more,
hough it is eager to do so—even so had Hector
hreatened to go through the tents and ships of the Achaeans 140
ll the way to the sea, killing as he went.

But when Hector came

o the tightly packed battalions, he was stopped as he moved
lose in. The sons of the Achaeans, standing against him
nd stabbing with their swords and spears whose points
were curved on both sides, drove him back from them.
145
eeling, Hector gave ground. He gave a piercing cry, shouting
o his cohort: “Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians who fight
n close—hold your ground! The Achaeans won’t stop me for long,
hough they’ve arranged themselves like a wall. Just watch them give
round before my spear if, as I believe, the best of the gods
150
rives me on, the loud-thundering husband of Hera.”
o speaking, he roused up the strength and spirit of each man.

Then Deïphobos,° a son of Priam, with high heart strode

mong them, holding in front his shield, well balanced
 n every side. Moving lightly on his feet he strode
155
orward under his shield’s protection. Meriones° aimed
t him with his shining spear. Meriones cast—
e did not miss the shield of bull’s hide, but he hit it,
well balanced on every side. Yet Meriones did not drive
he shaft through. The long spear was broken in the socket. 160
Deïphobos held his shield of bull’s hide in front of him,
earing the spear of war-minded Meriones, who faded
ack into the throng of his companions. Meriones was angered
or his shattered spear, also for the loss of victory.
He set off to the tents and the ships of the Achaeans 165
o get a long spear left in his hut, while the others went on
ghting as an inextinguishable roar arose.

First Teucer,
he spear-fighter,° the son of Telamon, killed a man,
mbrios, the son of Mentor, who had many horses.
He lived in Pedaios before he came against the sons
170
f the Achaeans. He had as wife a bastard daughter
f Priam, Medesikastê.° But when the ships
f the Danaäns came, curved at both ends, he returned
o Ilion. He was foremost among the Trojans and lived
n the house of Priam, who honored him as if he were one
175
f his own children.

Teucer, the son of Telamon,

ierced Imbrios beneath the ear with his sharp spear,
hen he yanked it out.° Imbrios fell like an ash tree
 n the top of a mountain, seen from afar on every side,
hat is cut down by the bronze and brings its tender leafage
180
o the ground—even so Imbrios fell, and around him
is armor worked in bronze clanged.

Teucer leaped forth

agerly and began to strip the armor, and Hector
ast at him with his bright spear as Teucer came on.
But Teucer, fixing Hector with his eye, dodged the bronze 185
pear by a hair, and it hit Amphimachos instead,
he son of Kteatos, the son of Aktor.° It smashed him
n the chest as Amphimachos rushed into the fight.
Amphimachos fell with a thud and his armor clanged
bout him. Hector rushed forward to rip off the helmet fitted 190
o the temples of great-hearted Amphimachos, but Ajax lunged
with his spear toward Hector as he came on. Yet Hector’s
esh was unassailable, for he was covered by a coat of bronze.
Ajax struck the boss on Hector’s shield° and he pushed
Hector back with his mighty strength, moving Hector
195
way from the two corpses, which the Achaeans then drew off.

Stichios° and the good Menestheus, leaders of the Athenians,

ragged Amphimachos back into the midst of the Achaeans
while the two Ajaxes, mindful of their zealous valor,
arried off Imbrios. As when two lions snatch away a goat
200
om sharp-toothed hounds and carry it through the thick brush,
olding it high above the ground in their jaws—even so
he two Ajaxes carried off Imbrios, holding him on high.
Ajax, the son of Oïleus, angry because of Amphimachos,
ut off Imbrios’ head from his tender neck and,
205
wirling the head, threw it like a ball through the crowd.

Now Poseidon grew angry in his heart when he saw

is grandson Amphimachos fallen in the dread contendings.
He set out among the huts and ships of the Achaeans
o stir up the Danaäns, to cause woe to the Trojans. He met 210
domeneus, famed for his work with the spear, as he came
way from a comrade who had recently withdrawn from the war,
abbed with sharp bronze in the back of the knee.° His companions
arried him. Idomeneus, having given instruction to the doctors,
went off toward his tent, though he still wanted to fight. 215

The earth-shaker, the lord, came up Idomeneus, taking

n the appearance in his voice of Andraimon’s son, Thoas,°
who ruled over the Aitolians in all Pleuron and steep KALYDON
nd was honored like a god by the people. He said: “Idomeneus,
ounselor of the Cretans, where now are the threats with which
220
he sons of the Achaeans threatened all the Trojans?”

Idomeneus, the captain of the Cretans, said in reply:

O Thoas, no man is at fault as far as I can tell.
We all know how to fight. It is not through cowardly
ear, nor giving in to misgivings that anyone holds back 225
om the evil war—it must be the pleasure of the son
 f Kronos, supreme in power, that the Achaeans are destroyed
without a name, here far from Argos. But Thoas, you were
aunch in the fight before and always urged others on
whenever you saw someone holding back, so don’t 230
op now! Call out to every man!”

Then the earth-shaker

oseidon answered him: “Idomeneus, may that man never
eturn from Troy who willingly holds back from the fight,
ut may his flesh become a plaything for dogs.
Quickly now, put on your armor and let us go back out.
235
is right that we hurry on together, if there is any chance
we can do some good, even though there are only the two
f us. Working together, even indifferent fighters can show
rowess. But we two know how to fight even against the best!”°

So speaking, Poseidon, though a god, entered again 240

nto the contendings of men. When Idomeneus came to his
well-built hut, he put on his beautiful armor and took up
wo spears.° He went like the lightning that the son of
Kronos takes in his hands and brandishes from shining
Olympos, showing a sign to men, and brightly flashes
245
he rays of it. Thus his bronze flashed around his chest
s he ran.

Meriones, a good and brave companion,

ame on Idomeneus while he was still nearby his hut,
 s Meriones was going to get a bronze spear. Powerful
domeneus spoke to him: “Meriones, son of Molos,
250
wift of foot, most beloved of my companions, why have
ou withdrawn from the war and the contendings? Have you
een wounded by chance? Has the point of an arrow torn
our flesh, or have you come to give me some message?
am not happy myself to sit in my hut, but long to fight!” 255
The prudent Meriones answered: “Idomeneus,
ounselor to the Cretans who wear shirts of bronze, I have come
o get another spear, hoping you have one left in your tent.
or I broke the one I started with when I hit the shield
f the boastful Deïphobos.” 260

And Idomeneus, captain of the Cretans,

nswered: “If you want a spear, whether one or twenty,
ou will find plenty standing in my hut against the bright walls
f the vestibule—Trojan spears that I took from men I killed.
You should know that I don’t fight standing apart from the enemy!
o I have many spears and shields with bosses and helmets 265
nd breastplates that shine brightly.”

The prudent Meriones

nswered him: “Yes, well I have a lot of Trojan armor
n my own hut and beside my black ship, but it is quite
distance to get them. Neither am I a stranger to valor—
don’t think! I too take a stand in the forefront 270
f the battle where men win glory when the strife of war
stirred up. Perhaps my skill at fighting is unknown to some
 ther of the Achaeans who wear shirts of bronze, but I think
ou know it very well.”

Idomeneus, captain of the Cretans,

nswered Meriones: “I know what sort of man you are 275
when it comes to bravery. Why do you need to say
hese things? For if all the best men were gathered beside
he ships in preparation for an ambush, where the courage of men
made clearest, then it is obvious who is the coward and who
he brave. The coward’s skin blanches in fear, turning
280
very color, nor does the spirit in his breast rest without fear.
He fidgets and shifts his weight from one leg to the other,
nd his heart beats hugely in his breast as he contemplates
is doom. And his teeth chatter. But the color
f the brave man does not change, nor does he fear 285
much when he goes into an ambush of warriors, but he longs
o mix as soon as possible in the dread contendings. Not even
here would one complain about your courage or the strength
f your hands. If you were hit with an arrow in the fight or pierced
y a spear, the shaft would not fall in your neck from behind,
290
or in your back, but it would strike either your chest or groin
s you pressed with desire in the craved encounter of the foremost
ghters.° But come, let us not discuss these things like children,
anding here, or some other warrior may become
xceedingly angry. Go into my hut and get a strong spear.” 295

So he spoke, and Meriones, like to swift Ares,

uickly took a bronze spear from the hut and followed
fter Idomeneus, craving combat. Even as Ares,
he destroyer of men, goes to war, and with him follows
Rout, his son, just as powerful and fearless, who puts 300
o flight even the warrior who is enduring of heart—the two gods
rm themselves and go forth from Thrace to the Ephyroi or
he great-hearted Phlegyes where they do not listen to the prayers
f both sides, but give glory to one side or the other°—
ven so Meriones and Idomeneus, the leaders of men, 305
went to the war, armed in flame-like bronze.

Meriones spoke first to Idomeneus, saying: “Son

f Deukalion,° where do you want to enter the fray? On the right
f the army, in the middle, or on the left? In no other part
han the left do I think that the long-haired Achaeans so come 310
p short in the fight.”°

Idomeneus the leader of the Cretans

nswered him: “In the middle of the ships there are others
o put up a defense—the two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is best
f the Achaeans in archery and also good in the hand-to-hand.
These men will give Hector, the son of Priam, his fill 315
f war, though he is zealous and even though he is strong.
Hector will find it heavy going, though he is keen to fight,
o overcome their might and their invincible hands and set fire
o the ships, unless the son of Kronos himself throws a burning
rand into the fast ships! Great Telamonian Ajax would not 320
ield to a man who was mortal and eats the wheat of Demeter,°
man who can be broken by the bronze and by great stones.
Not even to Achilles, the breaker of men, would Ajax yield,
t least in the hand-to-hand. But in swiftness of foot no one
ields to Achilles. So let the two of us head for the left of the
army 325
o that we may quickly see whether we will give glory
o another, or another to us.”

So he spoke. Meriones,
he equal of swift Ares, led the way until they came to the part
f the army where Idomeneus urged them to go.
When the Trojans saw Idomeneus, in valor like a flame, and his 330
ubordinate with their fancy armor, they all made at him, calling
o one another through the mass of fighters.

By the sterns
f the ships the strife of men clashing together arose.
As when gusts are driven by shrill winds on the day when dust
ies thickest on the roads and the winds raise up a great fog 335
f dust in confusion—even so they clashed together
n war. All in the throng were eager to kill one another
with their sharp bronze. The battle that destroys men
ristled with long spears that they held for slashing flesh.
The blaze from the bronze of the gleaming helmets and the newly 340
leaned breastplates and from the glaring shields blinded
hem as they came at one another in confusion. He would be
cold man at heart who would rejoice when he saw such labor
nd did not grieve!
 Thus the two mighty sons of Kronos,
Zeus and Poseidon of differing minds, fashioned terrible 345
orrow for mortal warriors. For Zeus wished victory
or the Trojans and Hector, giving glory to Achilles, the fast runner.
He did not want to destroy the Achaeans completely
efore the walls of Troy, but he wanted to give glory to
Thetis and her son, strong of spirit. Poseidon, on the other hand,
350
oming secretly from the gray sea, drove the Argives on.
or he hated that they were being beaten by the Trojans,
nd was therefore angry at Zeus. They came from the same stock
nd they had a single ancestry, but Zeus was the older
nd knew much more. Thus Poseidon avoided giving aid 355
penly, but secretly he roused the Argives, going through
he army in the semblance of a man. And so they stretched
he cord of powerful strife and equal war over the two sides,
nbreakable and not to be undone, which loosed
he knees of many.°
360

Then Idomeneus, though his hair was

alf-gray, shouted to the Danaäns, then leaped amid the Trojans,
utting them to flight. He killed Othryoneus from Kabesos,
guest in Troy, recently arrived following the rumor of war.
He sought in marriage the most beautiful of Priam’s daughters,
without giving gifts, though he promised a great deed: to push
back 365
he unyielding sons of the Achaeans from Troy. The old man
riam promised, nodding his head in agreement, that he would
ive Cassandra in marriage. So Othryoneus fought, trusting in this
romise. But Idomeneus aimed with his bright spear. He threw
nd hit Othryoneus as he strutted vainly along. The breastplate 370
 e wore was of no use, for the spear was fixed full in the middle
f his stomach. He fell with a thud.°

Idomeneus said
n boast: “Othryoneus, I commend you above all men
you can accomplish all that you promised Priam
f the line of Dardanos! For he promised you his daughter.
Well, we too can make the same promise, and bring it to pass!
375
We can give you the most beautiful of the daughters of the son
f Atreus, bringing her here from Argos to be married,
only you come with us to sack the well-peopled city of Ilion.
o come along now, we can make a deal about that marriage
ere beside the sea-faring ships, because we are not 380
ard to deal with in accepting gifts to arrange a match.”

So speaking, the warrior Idomeneus was dragging

Othryoneus by the foot through the mighty contendings
when Asios° came in support of him, afoot in front of his horses
hat the charioteer drove so that they breathed heavily on 385
he shoulders of Asios. He desired above all to spear Idomeneus,
ut Idomeneus anticipated the throw and hit Asios in the throat
eneath the chin, driving the bronze straight through.
Asios fell as when an oak falls, or a poplar, or a tall pine
hat carpenters in the mountains cut with newly edged axes 390
o make a ship’s timbers. Asios lay stretched out before the horses
nd the chariot, gurgling and clutching at the bloody dust.
 The driver lost all of whatever wit he had before.
He did not dare to turn his horses back to escape
he hands of the enemy. Antilochos, stalwart in the fight, 395
an the charioteer through,° hitting him in the gut
with his spear. The breastplate that he wore was of no use,
or the spear fixed in the middle of his belly. Gasping,
he charioteer fell from the well-built car, and Antilochos,°
he son of great-hearted Nestor, drove the horses away from 400
he Trojans into the midst of the Achaeans who wear fancy
hinguards.

But Deïphobos, standing near, came at Idomeneus

n deep grief for Asios, and cast at him with his shining spear.
domeneus, eyes locked-in on him, avoided the bronze spear.
He took cover behind his shield, well balanced on all sides,
405
dorned with bulls’ hides and bright bronze and fitted
with two rods.° Idomeneus crouched behind it when the bronze
pear flew his way. The shield rang harshly as the spear
razed its edge.

But not in vain did Deïphobos cast

he spear from his strong hand! It struck Hypsenor, 410
on of Hippasos, shepherd of the people, right in the liver
eneath his belly and at once it loosed his knees. Deïphobos
xulted over him savagely, shouting aloud: “Ho! Not unavenged
es Asios, for I think that he will rejoice in his heart, although
e goes to the house of Hades, the powerful warden, 415
or I have given him an escort!”
 So Deïphobos spoke, giving the Argives
reat pain at his boasting, and especially he stirred the spirit
f Antilochos, lover of war. Though saddened, he did not neglect
is companion, but rushing up he stood over Hypsenor
nd covered him with his shield. Then two trusty comrades— 420
Mekisteus, son of Echios, and the good Alastor—bore Hypsenor,
roaning deeply,° to the hollow ships.

Idomeneus did not

essen his furious power. He was constantly keen
ither to seal some one of the Trojans in black night,
r himself to fall, fending off destruction from the Achaeans. 425
hen the dear son of Aisyetes, of the line of Zeus,
he warrior Alkathoös—he had married the eldest daughter
f Anchises, Hippodameia, whom her father and revered
mother loved from their heart, she who surpassed
ll her agemates in beauty and cleverness, and for this 430
eason the best man in broad Troy had married her—
his Alkathoös Poseidon destroyed at the hands of Idomeneus.
or he cast a spell over Alkathoös’ shining eyes and bound
is glorious limbs so that he was not able to flee
or avoid the spear when the warrior Idomeneus 435
peared him right in the middle of the chest. Alkathoös
ood there fixed like a gravestone or a high leafy tree
s Idomeneus broke the shirt of bronze that enveloped him,
which had fended off destruction from his flesh. The breastplate
ang with a grating sound as it split with the spear in it. 440
Alkathoös fell with a thud, the spear fixed in his heart,
he butt of the spear quivering as his breath labored on.
hen strong Ares stayed its fury.°

Idomeneus exulted
ver him savagely, shouting aloud: “Deïphobos, is it
nough that I have killed three for one?° —since you boast 445
n this fashion! Hey, strange guy, now you yourself must
and against me that you might know of what sort is the son
f Zeus who has come to this place. First Zeus fathered Minos
o watch over Crete, and Minos fathered the blameless
Deukalion as son, and Deukalion fathered me as king over 450
many men in broad Crete.° And now the ships have carried
me here to be a torment to your father and to the other Trojans.”

So Idomeneus spoke. Deïphobos considered two courses—

whether he should give ground and take one of the great-hearted
Trojans as his comrade-in-arms, or whether he should attack 455
domeneus by himself. As he pondered, it seemed to Deïphobos
o be the better course to go find Aeneas.

He found him
anding at the edge of the crowd, angry at the good
riam because Priam seemed not to respect him at all,
hough Aeneas was brave among warriors.° Standing 460
earby, Deïphobos spoke words that went like arrows:
Aeneas, counselor to the Trojans, you should come quickly
o bring aid to your sister’s husband, if care and grief for your kin
will move you. Come now, let us honor Alkathoös. He was your
ister’s husband and raised you up in his halls when you were
465
ust a youngster. But Idomeneus, famed for his spear, has killed him.”

So he spoke, arousing strong feeling in Aeneas’ heart.

And so Aeneas pursued Idomeneus, greatly athirst for making war.
light was not the stuff of Idomeneus, as if he were
spoiled child—he made his stand like a boar in the mountains
470
who trusts in his strength, who awaits the noisy rabble
f men as they come upon him in a lonely place. His back
ristles and his two eyes burn like fire as he sharpens
is tusks, eager to ward off dogs and their men—
ust so Idomeneus, famed for his spear, did not give ground 475
s Aeneas came at him, bearing aid to Deïphobos.

Idomeneus called to his comrades, looking to Askalaphos,

Aphareus, and Deïpyros, Meriones, and Antilochos, all masters
f the war cry.° Urging them on, he spoke words that went
ike arrows: “Come here, my friends! Help me, for I am alone!
480
greatly fear Aeneas as he comes on, swift of foot. He is about
o attack me, he who lusts to kill men in the fight. He has
he flower of youth, the fullness of power. If we were of the same
ge with our mood such as it is, then quickly he would win
he victory, or would I!” 485

So he spoke, and they all with a single

 pirit took their stand in close order, leaning their shields against
heir shoulders. And from the other side Aeneas called to his
ompanions, looking to Deïphobos and Paris and the good
Agenor, who with himself were the leaders of the Trojans.
The army followed after them, as sheep follow the ram 490
o water from the place of feeding and the shepherd rejoices
n his heart—even so the heart of Aeneas rejoiced
n his breast when he saw the throng of the army following
fter him.

Both sides charged on one another in the hand-to-hand

with their long spears, and the bronze rang awfully around
495
heir chests as they aimed at one another in the melée. But above
ll the rest, Aeneas and Idomeneus, the equals of Ares,
ashed at the flesh of the others with their pitiless bronze.

Aeneas cast first at Idomeneus, but Idomeneus saw it

oming and avoided the bronze spear. Aeneas’ spear was fixed 500
uivering in the earth, having gone in vain from his powerful hand.
And then Idomeneus struck Oinomaos° in the middle of the stomach,
reaking the metal of his breastplate. The bronze let his guts
oze out through the spear hole. Oinomaos fell in the dust
nd clutched the dirt with his palm. Idomeneus drew forth 505
is long-shadowed spear from the corpse, but he was not able
o lift the armor from Oinomaos’ shoulders, for he was oppressed
y missiles. The joints of his feet were no longer steady under him
o that he could rush forth after a cast, or avoid an enemy’s.
Therefore while in close fighting he could ward off danger, 510
 is feet were not so nimble that he could flee in terror from the battle.

Deïphobos threw at Idomeneus as he retreated step

y step, for he nourished a lasting hatred for Idomeneus,
ut this time he missed again and instead hit Askalaphos,
he son of Enyalios,° with his spear. The powerful 515
pear went through his shoulder, and falling in the dust
Askalaphos gripped the dirt with his palm. Loud-voiced
owerful Ares did not yet know that his son had fallen
n the furious contendings, but he sat on the top of Olympos
eneath the golden clouds, constrained by the will of Zeus,
520
where the other deathless gods also sat, shut out of the war.

Then they clashed over Askalaphos in the hand-to-hand.

Deïphobos tore off Askalaphos’ shining helmet,
ut Meriones, like to swift Ares, leaped on Deïphobos
nd wounded him in the arm with his spear, and the crested
helmet 525
ell to the ground with a clatter. Meriones leaped again,
ke a vulture, and pulled out the powerful spear from Deïphobos’
pper arm, then withdrew into the crowd of his companions.

But Polites,° Deïphobos’ brother, stretched out his arms

round his waist and led Deïphobos from the savage war
530
ntil they came to the swift horses standing in wait at the rear
f the battle with their driver and fancy car. Then the car
arried Deïphobos toward the city. He groaned heavily,
worn out, and blood flowed from his freshly wounded arm.
 The others fought on amid an undying din. Then
535
Aeneas leaped on Aphareus, son of Kaletor, who was
urned toward him, slicing Aphareus in the throat
with his sharp spear. Aphareus’ head snapped back,
is shield and helmet knocked to one side as Death
hat kills the spirit poured over him. Antilochos, 540
watching carefully, now leaped and slashed Thoön as
e turned his back, completely severing the vein that runs
raight along the back until it reaches the neck.° He severed
completely, and Thoön fell on his back in the dust,
tretching out his hands to his dear companions. Antilochos
545
ushed up and, believing himself safe, began to take the armor
om Thoön’s shoulders. The Trojans surrounded Antilochos
nd thrust from every side at his broad shining shield,
ut they were not able to penetrate it and graze the tender
lesh of Antilochos with their pitiless bronze. Poseidon, 550
he earth-shaker, protected the son of Nestor even in the midst
f many missiles.° For Antilochos never shirked the enemy,
ut ranged among them. Nor was his spear ever at rest,
or he always brandished it. Likewise, his zeal was ever
o strike someone as he rushed upon men in the hand-to-hand.
555

Thus engaged amidst the throng, Antilochos did not escape

he notice of Adamas, the son of Asios, who, rushing up close,
mashed the middle of his shield with his sharp bronze.
ut dark-haired Poseidon, unwilling to give Adamas
Antilochos’ life, sapped the strength from his spear. Part of 560
 remained, like a fire-hardened stake, stuck in Antilochos’ shield,
nd the other half lay on the ground. Adamas himself
hrank back into the crowd of his companions, avoiding death.

But Meriones followed after Adamas as he pulled back.

He hit him with his spear halfway between his sexual organs
565
nd his navel, gruesome, the most savage kind of wound
mortals can suffer. And there the spear fixed. Adamas
ollowed where the spear led him as Meriones pulled it,
writhing like a bull that herdsmen in the mountains drive all
nwilling, bound by cords—even so Adamas, when hit,
570
writhed a little while, but not for long, until the warrior
Meriones came up close and pulled the spear from his flesh.
Darkness enfolded his eyes.

Then Helenos hit Deïpyros

n the temple in the hand-to-hand with a great Thracian sword
nd tore away his helmet.° Dashed from his head, it fell
575
o the ground, and one of the Achaeans picked it up as it rolled
mong the feet of the fighters. Black night enfolded Deïpyros’ eyes.

Then grief took hold of Menelaos, the son of Atreus,

ood at the war cry. He went forth to threaten Helenos
he prince, the warrior, brandishing his sharp spear. Helenos 580
rew back his bow string. Thus they let fly at the same time,
he one with his sharp spear, the other with an arrow from the string.
Helenos, the son of Priam, hit Menelaos on the breast
with his arrow, on the metal of his breastplate, and the bitter
rrow flew off from it. As when from a flat winnowing-fan
585
n a grand threshing floor the dark-skinned beans or chick-peas
eap before a shrill wind or the strength of the winnower,
ven so the bitter arrow glanced aside and flew far from
he breastplate of glorious Menelaos.

Then the son of Atreus,

Menelaos, good at the war cry, threw his spear and hit
590
Helenos on the hand that held his polished bow, driving
he bronze spear straight through his hand and into
he bow. Helenos withdrew back into the crowd
f his companions, avoiding death, his hand hanging useless
y his side, the ash spear trailing behind him. Great-hearted
Agenor° 595
ulled the spear from his hand and bound it with a twisted strip
f sheep’s wool, a sling that his aide, shepherd of the people,
arried with him.

And then Peisander° made straight for glorious

Menelaos, but a cruel fate led him to his death, to be killed
y you, Menelaos, in the dread contendings. For when
600
hey came close to one another, the son of Atreus
missed and his spear was turned aside. Peisander hit
he shield of glorious Menelaos, but he was unable to drive
he bronze straight through, for the broad shield stopped it
nd the spear was broken in the socket. Still, Peisander rejoiced
605
n his heart and hoped for victory.
 But the son of Atreus
ulled out his silver-studded sword and leaped on Peisander.
eisander pulled out a long ax from beneath his shield,
f beautiful bronze, well polished and hafted to an olive
andle. And they set upon one another. Peisander
610
it the plate of the high-crested helmet—he struck
n the topmost part beneath the plume. But Menelaos hit him
n the forehead above the base of the nose as Peisander
ame against him. The bones broke and his two eyes, all bloody,
ell in the dust at his feet. Peisander doubled up and fell.
615

Menelaos put his foot on Peisander’s chest and stripped

ff the armor. Boasting, he said: “Even so shall the haughty
rojans, ever thirsting for the dread din of battle, leave
he ships of the Danaäns with their fast horses! You have no lack
f iniquity and villainy by which you have outraged me— 620
lthy dogs! Nor have you shown any fear in your hearts
or the harsh anger of loud-thundering Zeus, the god of hospitality,
who one day will destroy your high city. You wantonly took
my wedded wife and much treasure because you found her amusing.
Now, again, you want to light devastating fire on the seafaring 625
hips and to kill the Achaean warriors. But Father Zeus, truly
hey say you are superior to others in wisdom, both to men
nd the gods. From you all these things come. Being such,
ou show favor to the malevolent Trojans, whose strength is always
eckless, nor can they ever be gorged with the awesome din
630
f war. Of all things there is enough, of sleep and lovemaking
nd sweet song and blameless dance. Of all these things
would a man rather have his fill than of war. But the Trojans
re insatiate for battle!”

So speaking, blameless Menelaos took

ff the bloody armor from around Peisander’s flesh and gave it
635
o his companions. Then he ran forward and engaged with the fighters
t the forefront. There Harpalion, the son of King Pylaimenes,
who followed his dear father to fight at Troy but never returned
o the land of his fathers—Harpalion leaped at Menelaos.
He came in close and thrust with his spear at the middle 640
f the shield of the son of Atreus, but he was unable to drive
he bronze through it. Harpalion shrank back into the crowd
f his companions, avoiding death, looking warily all around
n case someone should wound his flesh with their bronze.
Meriones fired a bronze arrow at Harpalion as he pulled back, 645
itting him in the left buttock. The arrow pierced straight through
o the bladder beneath the bone. Sitting down where he had stood,
Harpalion breathed out his life in the arms of his companions,
ke a worm stretched out upon the earth, the black blood running
rom him to wet the ground. The great-hearted Paphlagonians
650
ended him. They sat him in a car and drove him toward
acred Ilion, grieving, and with them went his father, pouring
own tears. But there would be no revenge for his dead son.°

Harpalion’s death greatly angered Paris, for among

he many Paphlagonians Harpalion had been his host.
655
Angry for his sake, Paris fired a bronze arrow.
here was a certain Euchenor, the son of the prophet
 olyidos, rich and well born, dwelling in Corinth,
who knowing well his dread fate went, still, on his ship.
Often his old father, the noble Polyidos, had told him
660
hat either he would perish of disease in his halls, or he would
e killed by the Trojans amid the ships of the Achaeans.
hus he avoided the heavy fine of the Achaeans° and terrible
isease, so that he might not suffer a woeful heart. Paris
it him beneath the jaw, under the ear. Swiftly
665
is spirit left his limbs and black darkness took him.

Thus the armies fought like blazing fire. Hector,

ear to Zeus, was not aware that on the left flank
is army was being slaughtered by the Argives. Soon
he Achaeans would have gained glory—of such power 670
was the earth-holder, the earth-shaker, who drove on the Argives
nd helped them with his own strength. But Hector pressed on
where first he had leaped within the gate and the wall, breaking
he thick ranks of the Danaän shield-men, where the ships of Ajax
nd Protesilaos were drawn up on the shore of the gray sea,
675
where the wall was built the lowest and where most of the men
nd the horses were raging in battle.° There the Boeotians
nd the Ionians with trailing shirts, and the Locrians
nd the Phthians and the glorious Epeians had big trouble keeping
he fiery Hector away from the ships as he rushed onward,
680
nable to push him back from their positions—even the picked
men of the Athenians, among whom was Menestheus, the son
f Peteos, and Pheidas and Stichios and brave Bias, while
he Epeians were led by Meges, son of Phyleus, and Amphion
nd Drakios.
685
 In the forefront of the Phthians were Medon,
bulwark in the battle, and the fast Podarkes. Medon was
bastard son of godlike Oïleus and brother of Ajax, but
e lived in Phylakê, far away from the land of his fathers,
ecause he had killed the brother of his stepmother Eriopis,
whom Oïleus had as wife.° As for Podarkes, he was the son
690
f Iphiklos, the son of Phylakos.° These men, dressed in armor,
ought in the forefront of the great-hearted Phthians and defended
he ships along with the Boeotians.

Ajax, the swift son

f Oïleus, would never leave the side of Ajax, son of
Telamon, not even for a moment. For even as in fallow
695
and two oxen, dark as wine, strain with a single heart
o pull the jointed plow, and around the roots of their horns
weat gushes in streams, and the polished yoke
lone holds them apart as they labor through the furrow
ntil the plow cuts to the turning-point at the end of the field—
700
ust so the two Ajaxes, standing together, remained close
y one another. Many fine troops followed the son of Telamon
s companions. One would take up his tower shield whenever
weaty fatigue came over Ajax’s limbs.

But the Locrians

id not follow the great-hearted son of Oïleus, for their hearts
705
were not made for fighting in the hand-to-hand. They did not have
elmets of bronze with thick plumes of horsehair, nor did
hey have rounded shields, nor spears of ash, but trusting
o their bows and well-twisted slings of sheep’s wool they had
ollowed Ajax to Ilion. With these weapons, after their arrival,
710
hey fired thick and fast and with them tried to break the ranks
f the Trojans.

So some men fought in the front in their fancy

rmor against the Trojans and Hector dressed in bronze,
while others behind kept firing from cover. The Trojans,
ppressed by arrows, forgot their lust for battle.
715

The Trojans would have withdrawn sadly from the ships

nd huts to windy Ilion if Poulydamas had not stood beside
Hector and said, scolding: “Hector, you don’t like giving heed to
ersuasive words! Because the god has given to you as to no other
he works of war, you think that you surpass all others 720
n counsel as well. But there is no way that you alone will be able
o do all things. To one the god has given the deeds of war,
o another the dance, to another the lyre and song.
And in the breast of another, Zeus, whose voice carries far,
as placed a fine mind for discernment, from which many men
benefit. 725
eus has saved many, which he himself knows best.
“But I will say what seems to be right: A circle of war
urns all around you. Some of the great-hearted Trojans,
ow that they have passed over the wall, stand idle in their armor.
ome fight, but they are outnumbered and scattered among the
ships. 730
o be wise! Fall back and summon the best fighters. Then
we will shape the best counsel, whether to fall among the ships
with many benches, if a god is willing to give us victory.
Or we might pull back from the ships without suffering harm.
But I fear that the Achaeans will pay back yesterday’s debt.
735
or there is a man among their ships lusting for combat,
who I think will no longer keep himself apart from the war.”°

So spoke Poulydamas, and his good counsel was pleasing

o Hector. At once he leaped from his car to the ground
n full armor. He spoke to Poulydamas words that went
740
ke arrows: “Poulydamas, you hold back all the best fighters here,
nd I will go there and face the fight. I will return quickly again,
nce I have given my orders.”

So he spoke, and he set forth

ke a snowy mountain.° He flew, screaming, through the Trojans
nd their allies. They hurried, one and all, toward the hospitable
745
oulydamas, son of Panthoös, when they heard the voice of Hector.
Hector ranged through the forefighters in search of Deïphobos
nd the powerful prince Helenos, and Adamas, son of Asios,
nd Asios, son of Hyrtakos, expecting he might find them sound.
But he did not find them unharmed or untouched by destruction.
750
ome lay motionless at the sterns of the ships, destroyed
t the hands of the Argives, and some were within the wall,°
it by arrows or wounded by spears.

But Hector
id find one comrade on the left of the tearful battle,
 he good Alexandros, husband of Helen whose hair
755
beautiful. Paris had incited his companions to fight.
tanding near, Hector spoke words of shame: “Evil Paris
retty boy, girl-crazy, con-man! Where is our Deïphobos
nd the powerful prince Helenos? Where Adamas, son of Asios,
nd Asios, the son of Hyrtakos? Where is Othryoneus? Now 760
ll of steep Ilion is utterly ruined. Your own destruction is next!”

Godlike Alexandros then said to him: “Hector, you have

n mind to blame one who is not blameworthy. At other times,
es, I may have withdrawn from the war, but my mother bore
me not as a coward. From the time that you stirred up battle
765
or your comrades beside the ships, we have remained
eadfast here and mixed, deadly, with the Danaäns
without cease. As for the companions you ask about, they
re mostly dead. Only Deïphobos and the powerful prince Helenos
ave departed, both wounded in the arm by the long spears.
770
ut the son of Kronos has warded off death. Now lead
where your heart and spirit leads you. We will follow along
agerly, and I don’t think we will fall short in valor, but fight
s we are able. No man can fight beyond his strength,
o matter how keen.”
775

So speaking, the warrior Paris turned

is brother’s mind. They set off to where the din of battle
was greatest, around Kebriones and blameless Poulydamas.
And Phalkes and Orthaios and godlike Polyphetes. And Palmys
nd Askanios and Morys, son of Hippotion, who had
 ome to relieve their companions from Askania, with its deep soil,
780
ust the morning before—and now Zeus roused them to fight.°

They went like a blast of savage wind that rushes down

pon the earth, accompanied by the thunder of father Zeus,
nd with a wondrous howl mixes with the salt sea,
nd in its track are many bubbling waves of the turbulent sea,
785
rched, specked with white, some in the front, some following—
ven so the Trojans, packed tightly together, some in the front,
ome following, all glittering with bronze, followed their leaders.

Hector, son of Priam, was in the lead, like man-destroying

Ares. He held his shield before him, equal on all sides, 790
made of thick ox-hide with added bronze. His shining helmet
himmered around his temples. Everywhere on this side
nd that he strode forward and made trial of the battalions,
o see if they would give way as he advanced under cover of his shield.
But he could confound no hearts in the breasts of the Achaeans.
795

Ajax was the first to call him out, not mincing words:
Hey, tough fellow, come closer! Do you really believe
ou can make the Argives fearful? We are in no way ignorant
f battle—only by the evil stroke of Zeus were we Achaeans
eaten down. Doubtless you have great hopes to destroy
800
ur ships, but we have hands and the will to defend them.
’s much more likely that your own well-peopled city will fall
 nd be laid waste by our hands. And I think the time
near when you will flee and pray to father Zeus and the other
eathless ones that your horses with fine coats be swifter 805
han falcons—those horses that carry you through the dust
ver the plain to the city!”

Even as he spoke a bird

ew across his right hand, a high-flying eagle. The army
f the Achaeans cried aloud, cheered by the omen.° But glorious
Hector answered thus: “Ajax, you are a rash speaker,
810
bully—so you say! As I would like to be the son
f Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish, and my mother
e the revered Hera, and as I would like to be honored as Athena
nd Apollo—so may this day bear a great evil for all the Argives!
And you too shall die. Stick around and my long spear 815
will feast on your lily-white skin. Yes, and you will glut
he dogs and birds of the Trojans with your fat and your flesh
when you fall amid the ships of the Achaeans!”

So Hector spoke
nd led the way forward. The Trojans followed after him
with a wondrous din, and the people behind shouted assent. 820
And the Argives shouted from the other side, their valor
ot misplaced. And so they withstood the best of the Trojans
s they came rushing on. And the clamor of both sides
aveled to the upper air and the eye-rays of Zeus.

OceanofPDF.com
… of men: Zeus is looking north, across the PROPONTIS first to Thrace, then
beyond to the Mysians (in modern Bulgaria), somehow related to the
Mysians who lived in Anatolia east of Troy (Map 6); then to the Mare-
milkers, no doubt across the Danube in Scythia, where Herodotus describes
tribes that live on milk; and finally to the Abioi, a mythical pacific tribe
beyond the Mare-milkers.
Achaeans: The island of IMBROS intervenes between TROY and SAMOTHRACE
(Maps 1, 6), but Samothrace’s highest mountain peak is visible over Imbros.
This detail, hardly traditional, seems to prove that Homer had visited the site
of Troy.
Aigai: Probably a headland on the coast of ASIA MINOR opposite the
southeast corner of Lesbos.
two Ajaxes: In Book 12 Telamonian Ajax went to the Achaean right wing
along with Teucer to fight against Sarpedon, allowing Hector to break
through the center. Oïlean Ajax stayed in the center, to which Telamonian
Ajax has now somehow returned. But the “two Ajaxes” that Poseidon
addresses could mean “Ajax and his brother Teucer”; probably in
preHomeric epic “the two Ajaxes” did mean that, and sometimes in Homer
the phrase has its old meaning.
masters of the war cry: Poseidon exhorts troops in the center and on the
Achaean left. Teucer is with the two Ajaxes now. Leïtos fights with the
Locrians. Peneleos, prominent only in this battle, fights along with the
Boeotians. The unknown Deïpyros is killed later in the book. Meriones leads
the Cretans. Antilochos, the son of Nestor, is with the Pylians.
to fight: Sometimes this passage is taken anachronistically to refer to a
hoplite formation, but the men are simply densely grouped together to stop
the Trojan attack.
Deïphobos: Helen’s lover after Paris is killed (in the action after the Iliad).
He is a prominent warrior in this book but appears only twice later in the
Iliad: once in Book 22 when Athena takes on his form and in Book 24.
Meriones: The second in command of the Cretan contingent, a good fighter
and a subordinate of Idomeneus, one of the men whom Poseidon, in the form
of Kalkhas, has just exhorted.
spear-fighter: In fact he fights principally with the bow; see Figure 13.2.
… Medesikastê: Imbrios is named after the island of IMBROS, just off the
Troad. The location of Pedaios is unknown. Medisikastê is the only
illegitimate daughter of Priam mentioned in the Iliad.
yanked it out: Odd, because in Book 12 Teucer was armed with his usual
bow and carries it again in Book 15. Perhaps Homer has for the moment
confused Teucer with Oïlean Ajax, unsure what he meant by “the two
Ajaxes.”
son of Aktor: Kteatos is also said to be a son of Poseidon, and, just below,
Poseidon is angry because of the death of his grandson, Amphimachos, one
of four leaders of the Epeians (from Elis in the northwestern Peloponnesus),
according to the Catalog of Ships.
on Hector’s shield: The boss does not appear on Mycenaean armor but
characterized armor between the eleventh and eighth centuries BC. The boss
consisted of a flat circular bronze disk with a central protrusion.
Stichios: “he who orders men in ranks” is merely a name. Hector kills him in
Book 15.
of the knee: Homer does not name the wounded man. It is not clear why
Idomeneus, last seen in Book 11, is not now in the fight, but he will quickly
remedy this failing by a great aristeia, or moment of glory. Idomeneus is
gray at the temples and the second oldest fighter, after Nestor.
Thoas: One of the men whom Poseidon earlier exhorted.
against the best: That is, two are always better than one: Even two poor
fighters can accomplish something when working together, so how much
more should the two of us accomplish, who are superior fighters. Though
Poseidon/Thoas nonetheless goes off by himself, Meriones will soon join
Idomeneus.
two spears: The aristeia is always preceded by an arming scene, here
reduced to this single sentence.
… foremost fighters: Among whom the spear seeks its victim like a man
seeks a woman. This whole passage is permeated with playful sexual
innuendo.
or the other: Ares is traditionally said to come from Thrace, a place of wild
barbarism. The Phlegyes (“burning ones”) are, however, usually thought to
be a tribe from Thessaly: Phlegyas was a son of Ares and the father of
Koronis, the mother of the healing god Asklepios. Phlegyas was also the
father of Ixion, the great sinner, who begot the Centaurs. The mysterious
Ephyra, presumably the hometown of the Ephyroi, is often equated with
Corinth (as in Glaukos’ story of Bellerophon), making altogether obscure
Homer’s reference to these two warring tribes from Thrace.
Deukalion: A son of Minos and father of Idomeneus. Deukalion has the same
name as Prometheus’ son, the first man, located in north or central Greece.
in the fight: “left,” “middle,” and “right” are always from the Achaean
perspective, even when the Trojans are talking.
Demeter: The goddess who makes grain of any kind grow.
of many: That is, the two gods made the Trojans and Achaeans fight a fierce
but indecisive battle. This recurring image is taken from a tug-of-war.
with a thud: The name of Othryoneus is based on a word for “mountain”
(othrys). Kabesos is variously located. Homer ignores the prophetic powers
of Cassandra. In the Classical Period, a bride’s dowry was more common
than the giving of bridal gifts by the groom, probably because the rising
population made it harder to marry off girls. Agamemnon offers Achilles one
of his daughters “without gifts” in Book 9. Othryoneus seems to be strutting
about without a shield, overconfident in his fighting skill, a boastful fool.
Asios: One of the leaders of the Trojan advance (Book 12). His name means
“the man of Asia,” which apparently means “the good land” in an Anatolian
language. Asios disobeyed Poulydamas’ earlier advice that the Trojans leave
their chariots behind the ditch; he now pays the price. We last saw him in
Book 12, where he calls Zeus a liar. His son Adamas will soon fall too, killed
by Meriones.
charioteer through: The charioteer is not named, unless his name is
Heniochos (= “charioteer”). The killing of a charioteer is a common exploit
for a minor warrior like Antilochos.
Antilochos: Like Meriones, Antilochos was one of the Achaeans earlier
encouraged by Poseidon.
two rods: Probably crossed on the inside to give the shield its shape.
groaning deeply: Though he is dead! The slip is a clear sign of oral
composition.
… its fury: Mekisteus (“giant”) and Alastor are just names. In Book 2 the
“tomb of old Aisyetes” is a Trojan landmark. Alkathoös, son-in-law of
Anchises (father of Aeneas), led a Trojan column in Book 12. Hippodameia
is a common name in Greek legend. Ares is a personification of war; the
spear is imagined to have its own vitality.
for one: The three killed are Othryoneus, Asios, and Alkathoös, in exchange
for Hypsenor. Asios’ nameless driver, killed by Antilochos, is ignored.
broad Crete: Minos is somehow related to Minoan power in Crete (c. 3000–
1400 BC); his name might mean simply “king” (the first pharaoh in Egypt
was Min). “Idomeneus” is derived from the Cretan “Mount Ida,” one of the
central mountains in Crete (not the Mount Ida behind the Troad). Idomeneus
is of course not the “son of Zeus,” but his descendant.
among warriors: Aeneas, leader of a Trojan column in Book 12, has not
appeared since then. Aeneas was a member of the Trojan royal house. Homer
does not explain the cause of his disagreement with Priam, but a warrior’s
withdrawal from the fight, then return, is a dominant theme in epic,
including the story of Achilles. Aeneas was produced by Anchises’ sexual
union with Aphrodite; oddly, Anchises never appears in the Iliad, perhaps in
agreement with the tradition that he was punished for sleeping with
Aphrodite. Aeneas is the ancestor of the Roman people in Vergil’s epic the
Aeneid (29-19 BC) and one of the greatest Trojan fighters.
war cry: Askalaphos (“owl”) is a son of Ares and leader of the Achaean
forces from ORCHOMENOS in Boeotia. Along with Aphareus and Deïpyros, he
becomes cannon fodder for the upcoming battle, where these men are killed
in the order in which they are listed here.
Oinomaos: A follower of Asios, he has the same name as the king of Pisa
who lost a chariot race and his life to Pelops, son of Tantalos, after which
Pelops married Oinomaos’ daughter, another Hippodameia. Homer never
mentions this story.
Enyalios: Enyalios/Ares does not learn of his son’s death until Book 15.
Ironically, Ares’ son is killed by the Trojans, whom Ares sponsors.
Polites: The first appearance of Polites, “townsman,” except for Book 2,
where Iris takes on his form. He appears again in Books 15 and 24.
the neck: There is no such vein. Probably Homer means the spinal cord.
Thoön (“swifty”) is a common heroic name.
many missiles: Antilochos is the great-grandson of Poseidon: Poseidon
fathered Neleus; Neleus fathered Nestor; and Nestor fathered Antilochos. In
fact Poseidon was worshiped in Nestor’s town of Pylos in the southwestern
Peloponnesus, as proven by Linear B tablets (from c. 1200 BC) found there.
… his helmet: Helenos, Hector’s brother, shares command of a division with
Deïphobos, also Hector’s brother. Deïpyros was one of the Achaeans earlier
encouraged by Poseidon. The wild Thracians were famous for their
weaponry. Helenos cuts the strap that holds the helmet to Deïpyros’ head,
causing the helmet to fly off.
Agenor: Agenor is the leader of the second Trojan column, now helping the
leader of the third column.
Peisander: “persuader of men,” the same name as a man earlier killed by
Agamemnon (Book 11). Peisander, aptly named, is the son of the man whom
Paris bribed to persuade the Trojans to kill the Greek captains during their
peaceful embassy to Troy at the beginning of the war.
… his dead son: Much of the pathos of the Iliad depends on the death of
sons: “In peace sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons” (Herodotus
1.87.4). Other father/son pairings are Asios/Adamas and Nestor/ Antilochos.
Harpalion’s father, Pylaimenes, is king of the Paphlagonians (see Map 6):
Menelaos killed Pylaimenes in Book 5. The use of a chariot is notable
because only Asios brought his chariot over the ditch. Homer sometimes
forgets such details. Harpalion is dead, the only time in the Iliad that a dead
man is transported from the battle by car.
fine of the Achaeans: If he refused to go to the war.
… in battle: By “Ajax” Homer usually means Telamonian Ajax, but here he
must mean Oïlean Ajax. Homer is not always consistent in his ordering of
the ships, but the following seems to be the general pattern, except in the
Catalog of Ships, where the order differs considerably. Some ships are pulled
further inland than others, and the line is organized from west to east, with
the troops facing south (see Map 3). The wings of the battle are from the
point of view of someone standing behind the line near the edge of the sea
and facing the backs of the troops:

In Book 10 the ships of Meges (Doulichion) and Oïlean Ajax (Locris) are
near the ships of Odysseus (Ithaca), while those of Idomeneus (Crete) and
Telamonian Ajax (Salamis) are a good ways off. In Book 11 Odysseus’ ships
are at the center of the line and those of Telamonian Ajax at the left edge, but
here Menestheus (Athens), Meges (Doulichion, Elis), and both of the Ajaxes
are stationed together. The confusion may result from Homer’s persistent
confusion between “the two Ajaxes” meaning, on the one hand, Oïlean Ajax
and Telamonian Ajax and, on the other, Telamonian Ajax and his brother
Teucer.
… had as wife: Several names in this catalog of fighters appear only to be
killed. The Ionians, never mentioned again, are the same as the Athenians,
who colonized Asia Minor in the “Ionian migration” of the eighth to sixth
centuries BC. Oïlean Ajax—soon prominent in the fighting—is a leader of
the men from Locris northwest of Boeotia, in classical times divided into
three areas. The Phthians, also not mentioned elsewhere, are from Achilles’
homeland of Phthia, but are otherwise called Myrmidons, Achaeans, or
Hellenes. Here the Phthians are ruled by Podarkes, “fast runner,” an epithet
of Achilles, and Medon. Medon’s name means simply “ruler.” In the Catalog
of Ships, Medon takes over for Philoktetes, bitten by a serpent on the island
of Lemnos and abandoned, but here Homer reinvents Medon to replace
(along with Podarkes) Protesilaos, the first Achaean to die at Troy. He brings
Medon to Phylakê (where Protesilaos ruled) through the common device of
exile because he had killed a relative. The location of Phylakê is unknown,
but it is someplace in Phthia. Aeneas kills Medon in Book 15. The Epeians
are from Elis in the northwestern Peloponnesus, now led by Meges from
Doulichion, an island just northwest of Elis that the Epeians seem to have
occupied. The Athenians Stichios and Menestheus rescued the Epeian
Amphimachos earlier in this book.
… Phylakos: Podarkes, “swift-foot,” is named for Iphiklos, son of Phylakos,
a famous fast runner who imprisoned the seer Melampous at Phylakê in
Thessaly when he came to rustle Iphiklos’ cattle as a bride-price for his
brother Bias. Bias wanted to marry the Pylian princess Pero. Melampous
was freed when he unraveled the mystery of Iphiklos’ impotence, who went
on to father Podarkes and then Protesilaos. The story of Melampous’ exploits
in Phylakê is told twice in the Odyssey and must have been well known.
from the war: That is, Achilles.
snowy mountain: Because (1) he is huge and (2) his armor gleams like sun
reflected from the snow.
within the wall: That is, of Troy, not the Achaeans’ defensive wall.
… to fight: The action now returns to the center where Poulydamas and
Hector’s brother and charioteer, Kebriones, followed Hector’s earlier orders
to assemble warriors to fight. The supernumeraries Phalkes, Morys, and
Hippotion all die in Book 14, along with a Periphetes (here Polyphetes). The
death of Hippotion seems a slip, because here he is mentioned simply as the
father of Morys. Askania is someplace in PHRYGIA, but they must have
arrived earlier than the day before because Askanios is mentioned in the
Catalog of Ships.
omen: Bird omens always come true in the Iliad.

OceanofPDF.com
 Book 14. Zeus Deceived

N estor, although he was drinking his wine, still heard

he cry of battle,° and he spoke words that went
ke arrows to the son of Asklepios: “Think, good Machaon,
ow these things will be. The hotheaded youths
eside the ships shout louder still. But you—you
5
t here now drinking the flaming wine until Hekamedê
with the lovely hair heats up a warm bath to wash
way your bloody gore, while I must go to a
ookout site to see what’s what out there.”

So speaking,
Nestor took up the gleaming bronze shield of his son
10
orse-taming Thrasymedes that lay in the hut.°
or the son had taken his father’s shield. Nestor took up
mighty spear, tipped with sharp bronze, and he stood
utside his hut, where he beheld a work of shame—Achaeans
riven back in rout and the high-hearted Trojans pursuing
15
hem … and the wall of the Achaeans utterly knocked down!

As when the great sea heaves with a soundless swell,

ying vainly to foresee the nimble paths of the shrill winds,
s waves rolling aimlessly this way or that until a decisive wind
 omes down from Zeus°—even so the old man pondered,
20
is mind divided this way and that, whether he should go forth
nto the crowd of the Danaäns with their swift horses,
r whether he should go find Agamemnon, shepherd of the people.
hus he pondered, and then it seemed the better course to go
fter the son of Atreus. But the others went on fighting and killing
25
ne another. The unyielding bronze clanged about their bodies
s they stabbed at one another with their swords and their
wo-edged spears.

Nestor met up with the god-nourished captains

s they went up from the ships, all those who were wounded
y Trojan bronze—Diomedes and Odysseus and Agamemnon,
30
he son of Atreus.° The ships were drawn up a good distance
om the battle on the shore of the gray sea. They had drawn up
he first ships and beached them toward the plain, and they built
he wall near their sterns. But the beach was not wide enough
o hold all the ships. The army was crowded, so they drew them
35
p in rows in a curve around the entire shore of the deep bay
etween the two headlands.

The captains, leaning on their spears,

were traveling in a body to see what was going on in the war
nd the battle. What they saw pained their hearts. Old man Nestor
met them and he startled the hearts in their breasts. Lifting up
40
is voice, King Agamemnon spoke to him: “O Nestor,
on of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, why have
ou left the man-destroying war and come here? I am afraid
hat mighty Hector has made good his word when he threatened,
peaking among the Trojans,° that he would not return to Ilion
45
om the ships before he had burned them with fire and killed
ll our men. So he said, and now that is coming to pass.
urely, I fear, the other Achaeans who wear fancy shinguards
re storing up anger in their hearts, just like Achilles,
nd do not want to fight at the sterns of the ships.”
50
Then Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, answered him:
Yes, these things have happened, nor could Zeus himself,
who thunders from on high, make them otherwise. For the wall
as been broken down in which we placed our trust, that it would be
n unbreakable defense for ourselves and our ships. The enemy 55
at our swift ships and conducting a pitiless campaign.
Nor could you tell any more, though you looked closely,
om what side the Achaeans are driven in rout, so mixed up
o they die, and the war cries reach the sky. Let us say how these
hings will be, if any scheme will do any good. But I do not
60
uggest that we ourselves enter the war—in no way may
wounded man ever do battle!”

The king of men, Agamemnon,

hen answered him: “Nestor, because they are fighting
t the sterns of the ships, and the wall is breached, nor is
he ditch at which the Danaäns worked so hard of any use,
65
hough they hoped it would be an unbreakable defense of the ships
nd the men. It seems sure that almighty Zeus has decided
o let the Achaeans perish here, far from Argos, without
name. I knew it when he willingly helped the Danaäns,
ut I know now that he gives honor to the Trojans as if they were 70
he blessed gods, and he has bound-up all of our might.
“But come now, you should be persuaded to do what I say:
et us drag all the ships that are in the first row down to the sea,
nd let us draw them all into the bright sea and moor them
n the deep water with anchor stones until the immortal night 75
omes, if the Trojans at that point will hold back from war.
hen we can launch all the ships, for I see nothing shameful
n fleeing destruction, not even though it is night. It is better
hat one flee destruction and escape than to be taken!”

But resourceful Odysseus, glaring from beneath his brows, 80

aid: “Son of Atreus, what words have escaped from the fence
f your teeth! Accursed man, would that you commanded
ome other inglorious army and did not rule us,
o whom Zeus has given from our youth up to old age
o wind into a ball the yarn of grievous war, until we perish
85
very man.° Do you really mean to flee the city
f the Trojans with its broad streets on account of which
we have suffered terrible wounds and losses? Just be quiet,
o that no other of the Achaeans hears these words, which no man
hould ever allow to pass through his mouth—any man
90
who knows in his heart to speak what is right, who is a
ceptered king whom so many people obey as obey you,
he king of the Argives. As you blather, I despise altogether
our thought, the things you have said—asking us, when the war
nd the cry of war is all around us, to launch the ships 95
with fine benches into the sea! Thus what the Trojans prayed for
may come to pass: to put us to rout. Already they are winning,
bout to bring sheer destruction upon us. For the Achaeans
won’t stay in the fight once the ships are launched, but they too
will look to flee, pulling back from the fight. Then your counsel 100
will prove our destruction. Some shepherd of the people you are!”

The king of men, Agamemnon, answered: “O Odysseus,

ou have moved my heart with your harsh reproach.
’s now certain I won’t urge the sons of the Achaeans against
heir will to drag down the ships with fine benches into the sea. 105
wish that someone, young or old, could come up with a better
lan—that would be most welcome …”

Then Diomedes, good

t the war cry, said: “That man stands near you. You shall
ot seek him for long, if you are willing to be persuaded
nd are not indignant and angry, every one of you, because I am 110
he youngest among you in years. But I can boast a fine father,
ydeus, whom the heaped-up earth covers in Thebes.°
or to Portheus three excellent sons were born, who lived
n Pleuron and in steep KALYDON—Agrios and Melas
nd third was the horseman Oineus, the father of my father. 115
Oineus was the utmost in valor among them. He remained
n Kalydon, but my father Tydeus wandered to ARGOS
nd settled there,° for it was the will of Zeus and the other gods.
ydeus married one of the daughters of Adrastos,° and he lived
n a house rich in substance. He had an abundance
120
f wheat-bearing fields and many orchards around him,
nd many herds too. He surpassed all the Achaeans in his use
f the spear. You probably have heard these things, whether or not
speak the truth. Therefore you ought not say that I am of low birth
 nd cowardly and fail to honor the council that I give you, 125
it is well spoken.
“So come! Let us go up to the war,
hough wounded, because it is what we must do. Let us hold back,
owever, from the fight, away from the missiles, so that
we don’t pile wound on wound. But we will spur on the others
nd send them forth to battle, those who before have indulged
130
n resentment and have stood aloof and do not fight.”

So Diomedes spoke, and they listened to him and agreed. They set off
nd Agamemnon, the king of men, led them. The famous earth-shaker
ept no blind watch, but he went among them in the likeness
f an old man. He took hold of the right hand of Agamemnon, 135
he son of Atreus, and he spoke to him words that went
ke arrows: “Son of Atreus, surely now the resentful heart
f Achilles is happy to see the death and rout of the Achaeans,
or he has no understanding, not even a little. Well,
may he come to ruin soon, and a god bring him down! 140
ut the blessed gods are still not angry with you. Even yet
he leaders and rulers of the Trojans may make the broad
lain dusty with their flight, and you yourself will see them
riven in rout toward the city, away from our ships and our tents.”

So speaking, Poseidon shouted loudly as he sped over 145

he plain. As loud as nine or ten thousand men shout in the battle
when they join in the strife of Ares, even so loud did the lord,
he shaker of the earth, shout from his breast. In the heart
f every Achaean he cast great strength, to make war
 nd to fight without cease. 150

Now Hera, whose throne is golden,

aw Poseidon as she stood on a peak of Olympos. Right away
he recognized Poseidon busying himself with the battle
n which men win glory—her own brother and her husband’s
rother—and she rejoiced in her heart. Then she saw Zeus sitting
n the topmost peak of Ida with its many fountains, and he 155
eemed hateful to her in her heart. Then cow-eyed revered
Hera pondered how she might charm the mind of the bearer
f the goatskin fetish. In her heart this seemed the best plan:
o go to Ida after making herself alluring, to see
f Zeus might desire to embrace her flesh and lie 160
y her side in love so that she might pour out harmless
entle sleep over his eyes and quell his wily mind.

She entered her chamber, which her son Hephaistos had

made for her. He had fitted thick doors into the doorposts with
secret bolt that no other god could open. She went inside
165
nd closed the shining doors. First of all she cleansed
er lovely skin with ambrosia° and washed away
very defilement. She anointed herself with a rich oil,
mbrosial, sweet, with a lovely fragrance. If this
were shaken in the house of Zeus with its bronze threshold,
170
he scent would reach to the earth and the wide heaven alike.
With this she anointed her beautiful skin. She combed
er hair and with her hands plaited her bright tresses,
eautiful and ambrosial, that fell from her imperishable head.
 he put about her an ambrosial robe that Athena had scraped 175
nto a finished product,° and placed on it many beautiful
mbroideries. This she pinned around her breast with golden
ins. She bound a belt fitted with a hundred tassels
bout her waist. In her pierced ears she placed earrings
with three drops shaped like mulberries. A great grace 180
hone from them. Then the bright goddess covered her head
with a kerchief over all—sparkling, brand-new, white
ke the sun. She bound beautiful sandals beneath her shining feet.

When she had decked out her body with every adornment,
he went forth from the chamber and called Aphrodite apart
185
om the other gods, and she spoke to her these words:
Will you obey me, my child, and do what I am about to request?
Or will you refuse me because you hold anger in your heart
ecause I give aid to the Danaäns and you to the Trojans?”

Then Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus, answered her:

190
Hera, august goddess, daughter of great Kronos, say
what you are thinking. My heart urges me to accomplish it,
I can accomplish it and in fact it can be done.”

The revered Hera answered her, with crafty thought:

Give me now love and desire, by which you overcome
195
ll the deathless ones and mortal men too. For I am about
o visit the limits of the much-nourishing earth, and Ocean,
he origin of the gods, and mother Tethys, who nourished
nd reared me in their home. They received me from Rhea when
ar-thundering Zeus shoved Kronos down beneath the earth
200
nd the murmuring sea.° I am going to pay them a visit, and I hope
o resolve their quarreling without respite. For a long time
hey have held aloof from the marriage bed and from lovemaking,
ecause anger has invaded their hearts. If by my words I might
ersuade the hearts of these two, and bring them back
205
o be joined in lovemaking, then I might forever be cherished
nd thus be honored by them.”

Aphrodite, who loves laughter,

hen answered her: “It is not right that I deny you, for you sleep
n the arms of Zeus, the greatest of us all.” So speaking,
he unfastened from her breasts an ornate decorated strap
210
n which all kinds of spells° were fashioned. In it
were lovemaking, and desire, and the murmuring of sweet
othings that steal the wits of even the wise. Aphrodite
laced it in Hera’s hands and spoke and addressed her:
There, place this embroidered strap against your breasts.
215
n it are all things fashioned. And I do not think
hat you will return without accomplishing the goal
hat you have in mind.”

So she spoke, and the revered Hera,

with eyes like a cow, smiled, and then smiling she placed
he gift against her breasts. Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus, 220
went to her house while Hera darted down and left
he peak of OLYMPOS. Hera stepped on Pieria and lovely
mathia, and sped to the topmost peaks of the snowy
mountains of the Thracian horsemen. Her feet did not touch
he ground. Then from Athos she stepped onto the swelling
225
ea and came to LEMNOS, the city of the godlike
hoas.° There she met Sleep, the brother of Death.

She took him by the hand and addressed him: “Sleep,

ord of all the gods and all men, if ever you hearkened
o my word, obey me now, and I will owe you thanks 230
or all my days. Put the shining eyes of Zeus
o sleep beneath his brows right after I lie with him
n love. I will give you the gift of a beautiful imperishable
hrone made of gold. Hephaistos, my own son, the god
with crippled feet, will fashion it with skill, and he will place 235
footstool under it for your feet. You will be able
o rest your shining feet upon it at the banquet.”

Sweet Sleep then answered her: “Hera, august goddess,

aughter of great Kronos, another of the gods that last
orever I might easily put to sleep, even the streams of the river
240
Ocean who is the origin of them all. But I would
ot come near the son of Kronos, nor lull him to sleep,
nless he himself urged me. For I remember another time
ne of your commands pricked me on—that day
when Herakles, that mighty son of Zeus, sailed
245
om Ilion after he sacked the city of the Trojans. For I put
o sleep the mind of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish,
 ouring sweetly my potion about him while you devised
vil in your heart. You raised up the blasts of savage
winds over the sea, and then you carried Herakles
250
o the well-peopled island of Kos, far from his loved ones.
When Zeus woke up he was more than angry and tossed the gods
ll around his house—but it was me he sought above all.
And he would have thrown me from the sky into the sea,
o be seen no more, if Night, the tamer of gods
255
nd men, had not saved me. I came to her in flight,
nd he left off a little, though he was angry. For he feared
hat he might do something displeasing to swift Night.°
And now, again, you urge me to do something else
hat is impossible!”
260

The revered Hera with cow eyes then answered

im: “Sleep, why do you ponder these matters in your heart?
Do you think that far-thundering Zeus will help the Trojans
ust as he became angry on account of his own son
Herakles? Come—I will give you one of the youthful
Graces to marry and to be called your wife.” 265

So she spoke.
leep was glad for her words and answered: “Come now,
wear to me by the inviolable water of Styx. With one hand
ay hold of the bountiful earth and with the other the shining
ea, so that one and all they may be witnesses between
he two of us—I mean the gods who are below with Kronos—
270
hat truly you will give me one of the younger Graces—
 asithea, whom I myself have longed for all my days.”°

So he spoke, and white-armed Hera did not refuse.

he swore just as he asked, and she called on all the gods
elow in Tartaros, who are called the Titans.° When she had
sworn 275
nd completed the oath, the two of them left the cities
f LEMNOS and IMBROS and, clothed in a mist, sped swiftly
n their way. They came to IDA, the mother of wild animals,
with its many fountains, then to Lekton, where they left
he sea. The two of them went over the dry land
280
nd the tops of the trees shook beneath their feet. There Sleep
waited out of sight of Zeus, hidden in a high fir tree,
he highest on Ida, which reached through the mists into the sky.
here he perched, in the form of a shrill-voiced mountain bird
which the gods call Chalkis, but men call Kymindis,° hidden 285
y the dense needles of fir trees.
 FIGURE 14.1 The wedding of Zeus and Hera. The scene is depicted
on a metope (a square sculpture on a frieze) from the gigantic temple to
Hera (the so-called temple E) at Selinus, at the southwestern tip of Sicily.
Selinus (“parsley”) was the westernmost of the Greek cities in Sicily and
destroyed by the Carthaginians in 409 BC. A half-naked Zeus, sitting on a
rock, clasps the wrist of Hera. One of her breasts is exposed as Hera
removes her head covering in a traditional gesture of sexual submission. c.
540 BC

Hera quickly advanced

o Gargaros, the highest peak of lofty Ida. Zeus
he cloud-gatherer saw her. He saw her and lust overran
is wise heart, just as when first they lay together
n love, going to the couch without the knowledge
290
f their parents.

He stood before her and spoke, addressing her:

 Hera, with what desire have you come here from Olympos?
Your horses are not at hand, nor your chariot for you to mount.”

With crafty mind the revered Hera answered:

I have come to visit the limits of the much-nourishing earth, 295
nd Ocean, the origin of the gods, and mother Tethys,
who nourished and reared me in their home. I am going
o pay them a visit, and I hope to resolve this endless
uarreling of theirs. For a long time they have held aloof
rom the marriage bed and from lovemaking, because anger has
300
aken their hearts. My horses stand at the foot of Ida
with its many fountains. They will carry me over the solid
and and the watery sea. But now it is on your
ccount that I have come down here from Olympos, so that
ou will not become angry with me afterwards, if I go 305
without saying anything to the house of deep-flowing Ocean.”

Zeus the cloud-gatherer then answered her: “Hera,

ou can always go there later, but for now let the two
f us take delight, going to bed and making love.
For never yet has the desire for goddess or mortal woman
310
o poured itself about me and overmastered my heart
n my breast—no, not when I lusted after the wife of Ixion,
who bore Peirithoös, a counselor equal to the gods.
Nor when I desired Danaë of the delicate ankles,
he daughter of Akrisios who bore Perseus, preeminent above 315
ll men. Nor when I longed for the far-famed daughter
f Phoinix, who bore Minos and godlike Rhadamanthys. Not even
when I fell in love with Semelê, nor Alkmenê in Thebes,
who gave birth to strong-minded Herakles as her son. And Semelê
ore Dionysos, a joy to mortals. Nor when I loved queen
Demeter, 320
who has beautiful tresses. Not even when I loved famous Leto—
or even yourself! as now I long for you and sweetest desire
ossesses me.”°

The revered Hera answered him with crafty

words: “Most dread son of Kronos, what words you’ve spoken!
f you want to make love on the peaks of Ida, where everything 325
out in open, how would it be if some one of the gods,
whose race is forever, should peep at us as we sleep and then
o tell all the gods? Then I could not rise up from the bed
nd go to your house—it would be too shameful! But if you want
nd it is your desire, there is always your chamber, which your
dear 330
on Hephaistos made for you, and fitted with strong doors
o the door-posts. Let us go and lie down there, since the couch
your pleasure.”

The cloud-gatherer Zeus then answered her:

Hera, have no fear that the gods or men will see! I will wrap
cloud about us, a golden cloud. Not even Helios° could see
335
hrough it, he whose sight is the keenest for seeing things.”

He spoke and the son of Kronos clasped his wife in his arms.
eneath them the shining earth made the luxuriant grass
o grow, and lotus covered with dew, and crocus, and thick
 nd tender hyacinth that bore them up from the ground. 340
he two lay there and were covered in a cloud—beautiful, golden!—
om which fell drops of dew. And so the father slept peacefully
n the peak of Gargaros, overcome by sleep and love.
hus he held his wife in his arms.

But sweet Sleep set out on a run

o the ships of the Achaeans, bearing the news to the earth-holder, 345
he shaker of the earth. Standing close he spoke words
hat went like arrows: “Poseidon! Go now with enthusiasm
o the aid of the Danaäns and grant them glory, though it is
or a short time only—only so long as Zeus is asleep. For I have poured
soft slumber over him. Hera has deceived him into lying 350
n his bed in love.”

So speaking, Sleep went off to the glorious

ibes of men, and pressed Poseidon still more
o come to the aid of the Danaäns. Quickly Poseidon
eaped among the foremost fighters and cried aloud:° “Argives,
re we again to yield victory to Hector, the son of Priam? 355
hould we let him capture our ships and win all the glory?
He boasts that he will do it because Achilles still stays out of the fight
eside the hollow ships, churning anger in his heart. But we
will not miss that man so much if the rest of us get better
rganized, turning to help one another. Come all, 360
o what I say. Let us dress ourselves in the shields that are
he best in the camp and the largest. Let us conceal our heads
n gleaming helmets! Let us take in our hands spears that
 re longest, and go forth! I will lead the way. I do not think
hat Hector, the son of Priam, will long withstand our attack, 365
hough he is eager. And whichever man is tough in the fight—
he has a small shield on his shoulder, let him give it to a lesser
man and take up a bigger shield.”

So he spoke, and all heard him

well and obeyed. The captains themselves, although wounded,
laced themselves in order—Tydeus and Odysseus and
Agamemnon, 370
he son of Atreus. Going through the army, they swapped
heir gear of war. A good man donned good armor
nd gave lesser armor to a lesser man. When they arranged
he pitiless bronze about their bodies, they set out.
oseidon shaker of the earth led them, holding in his strong
375
and a dreaded long-edged sword, quick lightning, against
which no one would advance in battle, held back by fear.

On the other side, glorious Hector again deployed

he Trojans. Then dark-haired Poseidon and glorious
Hector stretched the cords of the dread strife of war, the one
380
earing aid to the Trojans, and the other to the Argives.
he sea rushed up against the tents and the ships of the Argives
s the two sides clashed with a mighty din.° Not so loudly
oes the wave of the sea roar against the dry land,
riven from the deep by the blast of the terrible North Wind, 385
or so loud is the bellow of blazing fire in the woods
f the mountains when it leaps to burn the forest, nor so loud
oes the wind shriek around the high-leafed oaks when raging
most in its anger, as then were the terrifying screams
f the Trojans and Achaeans when they set upon one another, 390
hrieking taunts.

First of all glorious Hector fired at Ajax

with his spear when Ajax turned full toward him. Nor did he miss,
ut he hit him where the two straps were stretched across his chest,
ne strap of his shield, the other of his silver-studded sword.
They protected his tender flesh. Hector was angry because 395
is swift weapon had flown from his hand in vain, and he backed
ff into the crowd of his companions, avoiding fate.

But as he pulled back, great Telamonian Ajax hit him with

rock—there were many propping the fast ships, rolling under
he feet of the men as they fought. Lifting up one of them, Ajax
400
it Hector on the chest above the shield rim, near his neck.
Hector whirled like a top from the blow, spinning round
nd round. As when an oak falls uprooted by the blow of father Zeus
nd the terrible stench of sulfur arises from it—the man
who sees it up close loses all his courage, for the thunderbolt 405
f great Zeus is mighty—even so the powerful Hector
ell at once to the ground in the dust. His spear fell from
is hand. He was covered on top by his shield and helmet,
nd around him rang his armor, decorated with bronze.

Shouting loudly, the sons of the Achaeans ran up, hoping 410
o drag Hector off, and they cast their spears in a thick rain.
ut no one was able to wound the shepherd of the people
y thrusting or throwing, for the best of the Trojans stood up
o guard him: Poulydamas and Aeneas and good Agenor
nd Sarpedon, leader of the Lycians, and the blameless 415

FIGURE 14.2 The duel between Hector and Ajax. Hector falls to his
knees as Ajax stabs him with his spear—unlike in Homer’s text, in which
Ajax hits him with a stone. To the right of the illustration, Aeneas comes to
the rescue. Ajax wears a linen breastplate and bronze plumed helmet and
shinguards. Hector wears a plumed helmet and shinguards but is otherwise
“heroically nude.” Hector’s shield has an unusual design, perhaps a basket
on its side filled with flowers. The figures are labeled in Corinthian script.
Corinthian black-figure wine-jug, c. 570.

Glaukos.° The others saw what had happened to Hector,

nd they held their round shields about him, and his comrades
 fted him up and carried him away from the labor of war
ntil they reached his swift horses that stood at the rear of
he battle and the war, waiting along with his charioteer,
420
ancily decked out. They carried him to the city, groaning
eeply. When they came to the ford of the swift-flowing river,
whirling Xanthos° whom deathless Zeus had begotten,
hey lifted him from the chariot and placed him on the ground
nd poured water over him. He came to and looked around. 425
Kneeling, he vomited black blood. Then he sank back
o the ground again and black night covered his eyes.
Ajax’ blow had stifled his spirit.

When the Argives saw

Hector leaving the field, they rushed more aggressively
gainst the Trojans, mindful of the savage war.
430
hen swift Oïlean Ajax immediately wounded Satnios,
on of Enops, leaping on him with his sharp spear. A blameless
aiad nymph conceived Satnios as Enops tended his herds
eside the banks of the Satnioeis.° The famous son of Oïleus
rew up close and stabbed him between the ribs and his hip. 435
atnios fell backwards as around him Trojans and Danaäns
ontended in vicious struggle.

Poulydamas, son of Panthoös, wielder

f the spear, came to the defense. He hit Prothoënor, the son
f Areïlykos, in the right shoulder, driving the strong spear
hrough his shoulder. Prothoënor fell in the dust 440
nd gripped the earth with his palm. Poulydamas stood over him,
houting a gruesome boast: “I think that once again
he spear of the great-hearted son of Panthoös has sped
uly from his powerful hand! One of the Argives
as got it stuck in his flesh, and I think that leaning
445
n it as support he will go into the house of Hades!”

So he spoke, and pain came to the Argives. Especially

e stirred the martial spirit of Ajax, son of Telamon, who stood
earby where Prothoënor fell. Swiftly Ajax threw
is shining spear as Poulydamas backed off. Poulydamas 450
imself leaped to the side, avoiding black death.
ut Big Ajax hit Archelochos, the son of Antenor,
or the gods had willed his death. Ajax struck him
where the head joins the neck, on the topmost joint
f the spine, and he sheered off both the sinews. His head 455
nd mouth and nose reached the ground far quicker, as he fell,
han his legs and knees.

Ajax then called aloud

o blameless Poulydamas: “Tell me Poulydamas, say the truth,
whether this man was not worthy to be struck down in exchange
or Prothoënor? He does not seem to me to be of low birth,
460
or descended from men of low birth, but the brother of horse-taming
Antenor, or his son. For he seems to be just like him in build.”

So Ajax spoke, knowing full well the truth, as pain took hold
f the spirits of the Trojans. Then Akamas, standing over his brother
Archelochos, stabbed Promachos from Boeotia with his spear.
465
romachos was trying to drag Archelochos’ body away
y the feet. Akamas boasted gruesomely, shouting aloud:
You Argives who rage with bow and never cease your threats,
he labor of war and woe will not be on us alone,
or you too shall die in the same way. Consider how your 470
romachos sleeps, beaten down by my spear. Revenge
or my brother Archelochos was not long in coming.
hus a man prays that a kinsman be left in his halls
s a warder-off of ruin.”

So Akamas spoke, and pain came to the Argives

s he boasted. Especially he stirred up the heart of martial
Peneleös, 475
who rushed on Akamas. But Akamas did not await the charge
f Peneleös the king. Instead Peneleös stabbed Ilioneus, son of Phorbas,
ch in herds, whom Hermes loved above all the Trojans
nd gave him wealth. To Hermes his mother bore Ilioneus,
n only child. Peneleös stabbed him beneath the brow, 480
ght through the roots of his eye, popping out the eyeball.
he spear went straight through the eye and came out through
he bone at the back of his head. Ilioneus thumped down,
preading out both hands. Then Peneleös drew his sharp sword,
riving straight at the middle of Ilioneus’ neck. He struck off 485
is head. It hit the ground, still wearing its helmet, the strong spear
ill stuck in his eye.

Holding the head up like the head of a poppy,

enelëos showed it to the Trojans, crying out in boast:
 Hey you Trojans, tell the dear father and mother
f the good Ilioneus to wail in their halls! Neither 490
will the wife of Promachos, son of Alegenor, rejoice
t her dear husband’s return, when we youths of the Achaeans
o back home from Troy in our ships.” So he spoke,
nd a trembling took hold of the limbs of all the Trojans,
ach man looking around to see how he might escape dread 495
estruction.

Tell me now, you Muses who have houses on

Olympos, who first carried off the bloody warrior’s spoils
when once the famous shaker of the earth had turned the battle?

Telamonian Ajax first stabbed Hyrtios, son of Gyrtios,

eader of the strong-hearted Mysians. Then Antilochos stripped 500
way the armor of Phalkes and Mermeros, and Meriones killed
Moros and Hippotion, and Teucer cut down Prothoön and Periphetes.
hen Menelaos, the son of Atreus, killed Hyperenor,
hepherd of the people, hitting him between the ribs and the thigh,
nd the bronze let forth the guts as it sliced through his entrails.
505
His breath-soul sped on its way through the open wound
nd darkness shuttered his eyes.° But Ajax, the swift son
f Oïleus, killed the most men. There was none other like him
o follow with speed of foot through the riot of men,
nce Zeus had turned the Trojans in rout to flight.° 510

OceanofPDF.com
cry of battle: By a convention of epic storytelling, Homer presents
simultaneous scenes as happening sequentially. Thus Nestor in his tent,
here drinking with Machaon and served by Hekamedê, goes back to Book
12 before the intercession of Poseidon, when the Greeks are in disorder and
the Trojans are advancing. The cry that Nestor hears is the same one at the
end of Book 12 (line 437: “An endless tumult arose”). This is why Nestor
is still drinking in Book 14, which he began in Book 12. Here is an outline
of earlier and upcoming events, with the simultaneous events indented and
italicized:
breaking down of the rampart (end of Book 12)
arrival of Poseidon (beginning of Book 13)
battle leading to Hector’s duel with Ajax (end of Book 13)
council of the captains (beginning of Book 14)
deception of Zeus and aftermath (middle of Book 14)
Hector’s duel with Ajax (end of Book 14)
in the hut: Thrasymedes, the son of Nestor, lent his shield to Diomedes the
night before during the Doloneia (Book 10), because Diomedes forgot to
bring his own shield. Then Thrasymedes was obliged to borrow his father’s
shield. In the meanwhile, Diomedes must have returned the borrowed
shield. Such cross-references to small details suggest that the Doloneia was
part of the original poem. Thrasymedes has not yet appeared in the fighting.
down from Zeus: The image is of a turbulent sea that takes no particular
direction, “vainly foreseeing the nimble paths of the shrill winds,” until a
strong wind gives the sea a firm direction. Even so Nestor at first cannot
make up his mind, then he does.
son of Atreus: All three were wounded in Book 11.
the Trojans: How would Agamemnon know what Hector said to the
Trojans? By convention, if the audience knows, then the characters in the
story know too.
every man: The rather obscure image evokes the thread that constitutes
one’s fate, now wound into a ball.
in Thebes: Tydeus was one of the Seven Against Thebes. Homer omits,
however, the unflattering story of Tydeus’ eating the brains of Melanippos,
one of the defenders of Thebes, as Tydeus lay dying. Discovering him in the
act, Athena refused to give Tydeus the immortality she had planned. The
story was told in the lost epic the Thebaïd, attributed (perhaps rightly) to
Homer himself.
settled there: After Tydeus killed one of his relatives in Kalydon, or several
of them. His “wandering” is really a forced exile. Tydeus and Meleager
(Book 9) have the same father, Oineus.
Adrastos: Leader of the disastrous expedition of the Seven Against Thebes.
ambrosia: “immortal,” the food of the gods as nectar is their drink.
Ambrosia prevents death and decay and is used to embalm the dead. The
immortals also use ambrosia to cleanse their skin, as mortals use olive oil.
This amusing scene parodies the arming of a warrior as he prepares to go
out on an aristeia.
finished product: The cloth was scraped either to make it smooth or to form
a nap on its surface.
murmuring sea: Homer refers to a different cosmogony from that familiar
in Hesiod’s Theogony, where first came Chaos; then Earth; then the
offspring of Earth and Ocean, the Titans; then the Olympians, who under
Zeus’s leadership overthrew the Titans under Kronos’ leadership, a victory
to which Hera refers. Evidently Homer has heard the Mesopotamian story
wherein the first gods were Apsu (Ocean, the fresh water) and Tiamat
(Tethys, the salt water) so that all the world descends from these primordial
waters. It is not clear why Rhea, Hera’s mother and Kronos’ consort, gave
her to Ocean and Tethys to be raised.
kinds of spells: There has been much speculation about the nature of this
amulet. It is not a belt, but perhaps a strap that went over one shoulder,
between the breasts, and under the other arm, to judge from artistic
representations of nude, Near Eastern fertility goddesses.
… godlike Thoas: Pieria is a district of southern MACEDONIA, north of Mt.
Olympos. Emathia, “sandy,” is the coast of Macedonia. THRACE is here
rather west of where it is usually located. The peak of Mt. Athos reaches to
over 6,600 feet (since medieval times the site of famous monasteries). The
grandson of Thoas (“swifty”), Euneos (“good with ships”), traded with the
Achaeans in wine, metals, hides, Phoenician handiwork, and slaves (Book
23). Euneos was the son of Jason, the Argonaut, and Hypsipylê, the
daughter of Thoas.
swift Night: Sleep refers to Herakles’ earlier sack of Troy, already
mentioned in Book 5. Hera was the implacable persecutor of Herakles,
presumably because he was fathered by Zeus on a mortal woman. Sleep
never says why the island of Kos, off the southwest coast of Asia Minor,
was a dangerous place, or what happened to Herakles there.
all my days: An oath sworn by the underworld river Styx (“hateful”) cannot
be broken. The “gods below” with Kronos are the Titans, imprisoned there
after their war with the Olympians, a story told in Hesiod’s Theogony. The
Graces (Charites), usually three in number, were the embodiment of
feminine charm. Pasithea means “all-divine.”
the Titans: This is the only time that Homer mentions the Titans by name.
Tartaros, a word of unknown meaning, is the deepest part of the
underworld.
Kymindis: The Kymindis was a kind of large owl. Gods seem to have a
more elevated speech than men, but otherwise in myth Chalkis was the
mortal woman after whom the famous city of CHALCIS on the island of
Euboea was named.
… possesses me: This hilarious scene is predicated on the hieros gamos,
“sacred marriage,” when sexual intercourse took place between someone
impersonating the storm-god and someone impersonating the mother-
goddess, a fertility ritual prominent in the temples of the Near East and,
probably, in Corinth and on the island of Cythera south of the Peloponnesus
(where Aphrodite, the “Cytherean,” was said to have been born). But
Homer has changed this catalog of women into a delightful parody sure to
amuse his all-male audience: a husband trying to seduce his wife by listing
all the women by whom he has betrayed her! Ixion was himself a notorious
rapist who lusted after Hera, then ejaculated his semen into a cloud that
took her shape and so begot the Centaurs, who raped the women at
Peirithoös’ wedding. Zeus came to Ixion’s wife as a stallion and begot
Peirithoös (“very swift”); later Peirithoös tried to rape Persephone but was
entrapped in the lower world. Zeus came to Danaë as a shower of gold that
fell into her prison chamber. The daughter of Phoinix is Europa, whom Zeus
carried to Crete from Phoenicia in the form of a bull and there possessed
her. Her son Minos became king of CRETE and his brother Rhadamanthys a
judge in the underworld. Zeus appeared to Semelê while pregnant in the
form that he appeared to Hera—a thunderbolt!—and burned her to a crisp;
Dionysos was brought to term by being sewn into Zeus’s thigh. Zeus
appeared to Alkmenê disguised as her husband, but her husband
impregnated her on the same night so that she gave birth to one son fathered
by Zeus, Herakles, and another son fathered by her husband. Zeus begot
Persephonê with Demeter. Hera drove Leto all over the earth before she
gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on the Aegean island of DELOS.
Helios: Ordinarily the sun-god Helios sees all things.
cried aloud: It is not clear what form Poseidon is taking, but his vigor ill
suits the appearance of “an old man” (line 135), his earlier form.
mighty din: The uproar of the two sides clashing returns us to the exact
moment in Book 13 (lines 823–824) when Ajax’s duel with Hector was
interrupted; there the two sides also roared. Now at last Ajax and Hector
meet. The curious episode of the captains’ exchange of armor is a kind of
arming scene, which always precedes an aristeia, but here it involves the
whole army.
… blameless Glaukos: These are the Trojan fighters active in Book 13,
except for the Lycians, last seen in Book 12. Glaukos, shot by Teucer in
Book 12, still suffers from his wound in Book 16. Probably Homer forgot
about Glaukos’ earlier wound, or we are to suppose that Glaukos is fighting
wounded.
Xanthos: The first mention of the ford of the Xanthos (another name for the
Skamandros). Homer is casual about the topography of the Trojan plain;
nowhere before is it stated that the Trojans must cross the Xanthos to reach
the line of battle. Zeus may be called the “father of Xanthos” in the sense
that the rain feeds it, but Ocean is the father of all rivers.
Satnioeis: Satnios is named after the river. His father’s name means
“brilliant” (Enops). The naiad (“flowing”) nymphs (“young girls”) were a
type of water spirit who presided over freshwater fountains, wells, springs,
and streams.
his eyes: The names of the warriors killed are mostly invented just for this
gruesome scene.
to flight: Of course Zeus is on the side of the Trojans, but he turned them to
flight in the sense that the will of Zeus determines everything that happens.

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 Book 15. Counterattack

Bndutthewhen in flight the Trojans had crossed through the stakes

ditch, and many were overcome at the hands of the
Danaäns, then they were stopped and halted beside their cars,
ale white from fear—terrified. And Zeus awoke on the peaks
f Ida beside Hera of the golden throne. He sprang up, stood,
5
nd saw the Trojans and the Achaeans contending, and the Trojans
eing routed—the Argives were driving them out from the rear,
nd among them was Poseidon the king. Zeus saw Hector
ying on the plain, and around him sat his companions. Hector
was gasping for breath, distraught in mind, vomiting blood,
10
or it was not the weakest of the Achaeans who had struck him!

Seeing Hector, the father of men and gods felt pity,

nd looking out from beneath his brows he said this
o Hera: “Well Hera—impossible to deal with!—your evil
rickery has put Hector out of the battle. And you have driven
15
he Trojans in rout. I think that again you should be the first
o profit from your troublesome scheming—to be whipped for it!
Or do you not remember when I hung you up on high,
astening two anvils to your feet, and around your wrists
threw an unbreakable golden bond? And you hung in the air
20
nd clouds. Then throughout high Olympos the gods were plenty
ngry, but they could not come near and set you free.
Whomever I caught, I laid my hands upon him and threw him
om the threshold until he fell to the earth, all strength gone!
Even so, endless pain did not release my heart for godlike
25
Herakles, whom you, in league with blasts of North Wind,
ent across the barren sea, devising evil as you carried him
o well-peopled KOS. I saved him then and brought him again
o horse-pasturing ARGOS, after he had suffered many pains.
Let me remind you of these things so you might give up your
30
eceptions and see whether your lovemaking and the couch
re really of any use to you. You tricked me into it, coming
orth from among the gods!”

So he spoke, and cow-eyed revered Hera

hivered. Addressing him, she spoke words that went like arrows:
May Earth be my witness, and the broad Sky above, and the
water 35
f Styx that flows, which is the greatest and most solemn oath
mong the blessed gods—and by your own holy head I swear,
nd by the couch of the two of us by which I would truly never
orswear myself: Not by my will does Poseidon, the earth-shaker,
work harm to the Trojans and Hector, nor give aid to the
Achaeans. 40
is his own heart that urges and drives Poseidon. He has taken
ity on the Achaeans, seeing them worn down beside the ships.
ut I would counsel even him to walk in the path where you,
O lord of the dark cloud, do lead.”

So she spoke, and the father

f men and gods smiled, and in answer he spoke words 45
hat went like arrows: “Well then, O cow-eyed revered Hera,
 you wish to sit among the deathless ones with thoughts
ke mine, then I think that Poseidon would quickly reorder
is mind to follow your heart and mine, even if he doesn’t like it.
But if you speak truly and frankly, go among the tribes 50
f the gods and summon Iris to come here, also Apollo famed
or his bow—so that Iris might go among the army of the
Achaeans, who wear shirts of bronze, and tell Poseidon the king
o stop interfering in the war and to get to his own house.
“As for Apollo, let him rouse up Hector to the fight. Let him
55
estore Hector’s strength and make him forget the pain that tears
t his lungs. Let him again drive back the Achaeans when he has stirred
anic in them so that in flight they fall among the many-benched
hips of Achilles, son of Peleus. Then he shall send out
is companion Patroklos. Shining Hector will kill him 60
with his spear before Ilion, after Patroklos has killed many other
oung men, including my own son the godlike Sarpedon. Angered
ecause of Patroklos, godlike Achilles will then kill Hector.
After that I will cause a constant and steady retreat from the ships
ntil the Achaeans take high Ilion, through the plans of Athena. 65
efore that I will not give up my anger nor allow another of the
eathless ones to come to the aid of the Danaäns, before the desire
f the son of Peleus be fulfilled that I promised at the first,
nd nodded my head to it, on that day when the goddess Thetis
ook hold of my knees and begged me to give honor to Achilles,
70
he sacker of cities.”°

So he spoke, and the goddess white-armed Hera

id not disobey. She went from the peaks of Ida to high Olympos.
As when the mind of a man who has traveled over far lands
arts about, and he forms a thought in his clever heart—
 Would that I were here, or there!”—and he conceives many
wishes, 75
ven so quickly the revered Hera sped on in her eagerness.
he arrived at steep Olympos and came to the deathless gods
athered in the house of Zeus.

When they saw her, they all leaped up

nd greeted her with cups of welcome. She passed over the others,
ut took a cup from Themis who has beautiful cheeks.° For she
came 80
unning to her first, and spoke words that went like arrows:
Hera, why have you come? You seem so distraught! It looks
s though the son of Kronos has frightened you, who are
is bedmate.”

Then the goddess white-armed Hera

nswered: “Please, Themis, do not ask me about these 85
hings. You know yourself how he has a rough and aloof
manner. But do begin the feast in the house of the gods
nd you will hear among all the deathless ones
what evil deed Zeus has done. I don’t think most of you
will be glad, if perhaps someone is still feasting
90
with a light heart!”

So speaking, the revered Hera

ook a seat. And the gods were angry in the house of Zeus.
Hera laughed with her lips, but her forehead above her dark
rows was cold. With indignation she spoke to all: “Fools!
We who are stupidly angry with Zeus! We should go up
 95
lose to him and stop him either by word or by force.
ut he, sitting apart, doesn’t care a bit—not a damn.
or he believes that he is the best of all in strength and power.
herefore, just take whatever evil he sends to each
f you! For now I think that he has made great pain for Ares. 100
Ares’ son, the dearest of men, has perished in battle—
Askalaphos, whom mighty Ares says is his own.”

So she spoke, but Ares struck his lusty thighs

with the flat of his hands, and wailing he said: “Well,
o not blame me, O dwellers on Olympos, if I go to the ships 105
f the Achaeans to avenge the death of my son! I don’t
are if it is my fate to be struck by the bolt of Zeus
nd to lie together with the dead amid the blood and the dust!”

So he spoke, and he ordered Terror and Rout to yoke

is horses as he himself put on his shining armor. And then 110
greater and more terrible rage would have been raised
etween Zeus and the deathless ones, if Athena had not rushed
hrough the front doorway in fear for the gods, leaving the chair
where she sat. She took the helmet from his head and the shield
rom his shoulders and the bronze spear from his powerful hand
115
nd set it down. And then Athena rebuked the furious Ares:
Madman, crazed fool—are you out of your mind! Have you ears
or hearing? Your wits are gone. You have no sense of shame.
Do you not hear what the goddess white-armed Hera is saying?
he who has just now come from Olympian Zeus? Or do you
want 120
ourself to come back to Olympos by force after indulging
our pain, in spite of your grief, and for the rest of us sow
he seeds of terrible torment? Surely Zeus will leave the proud
rojans and the Achaeans alone and cause havoc among us
n Olympos. He will seize each of us in turn, those who are at
fault 125
nd those who are not. So set aside your anger for your own son.
efore this time many greater in strength and might of hand
ave perished, and more will yet perish. It is hard to preserve
he descent and offspring of all men!”

So speaking, Athena
made furious Ares sit in his chair. Then Hera summoned 130
Apollo to come outside the hall, also Iris the messenger
f the gods, and she spoke to them words that went like arrows:
Zeus orders the two of you to come as quickly as possible.
And when you come and look upon the face of Zeus, then do
whatever he orders and commands.” 135

After she had spoken

he revered Hera went back and took her seat in her chair,
ut the two gods flew off in a rush. They came to Ida,
he mother of wild beasts with its many fountains. They found
he far-thundering son of Kronos sitting on the peak of Gargaros.
A fragrant cloud surrounded him. They came and stood 140
efore Zeus who gathers the clouds. Seeing them, his heart
was not angry, because they had swiftly obeyed the words
f his dear wife.
 He first addressed Iris with words
hat went like arrows: “Go quickly, swift Iris, to Poseidon
he king and tell him all these things, and be sure you speak 145
uthfully. Command him to cease from battle and the war!
et him go among the tribes of gods or into the shining sea.
he will not obey my words, but pays them no attention,
et him consider in his heart and spirit that, no matter
f he is strong, he will not withstand my coming. I would 150
emind him that I am much greater in strength, and older
han he is. He seems to think it is nothing to say that he is my equal—
whom all the others dread!”

So he spoke, and swift Iris,

with feet like the wind, obeyed. She went down from the
mountains of Ida to sacred Ilion. As when snow or icy hail
155
ies from the clouds, driven by a blast from North Wind,
orn in the clear air, even so swiftly did swift Iris
agerly fly off.

Standing near, she spoke to the famous

haker of the earth: “I have come here bearing a certain message,
O enfolder of the earth, O dark-haired one. Zeus has ordered
160
hat you cease from the battle and the war and go into
he tribes of gods or into the bright sea. If you are not
ersuaded by his words, but find them of no consequence,
e threatens to come here and take you on in person.
And he warns you to avoid his hands because he says that he
165
much greater in strength, and older too. Your heart
hinks it is nothing to say that you are his equal—he whom
ll others dread!”

Greatly angered, the famous shaker of the earth

aid: “Well then, though he is strong, he has spoken
uite ill-chosen words. So he thinks that he will hold me back
170
gainst my will—I who am equal to him in honor?
or we are three brothers whom Rhea bore, fathered
y Kronos—Zeus and I and, third, Hades who rules
ver those under the earth. The whole world is divided
nto three parts, and each of us has his share of honor.
175
When the lots were shaken, I took the gray sea to dwell in
orever, and Hades took the misty darkness, and Zeus
ook the broad heaven in the air and the clouds. But the earth
nd high Olympos is common to us all, for which reason
will not accede to the will of Zeus. Though he is powerful,
180
may he remain in peace in his own third domain! May he not try
o frighten me with the might of his hands as though I were
ome miserable coward! It would be better if he threatened his
aughters or his sons with his blustering words, those whom
e himself begot, who will necessarily pay attention to whatever
185
on his mind.”

Then swift Iris, with feet like the wind,

nswered him: “So, O holder of the earth, O dark-haired one,
o you want me to carry to Zeus this harsh and uncompromising
word? Or can you in any way be turned? For the hearts of the good
an be turned. You know how the Erinyes always follow the
elder.”° 190
 Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, then said: “Iris, goddess,
ou have spoken well and in accordance with what is right.
his is good, when the messenger has a righteous heart.
till, this comes as dread grief to my heart and spirit,
when one is willing to upbraid with angry words
195
nother who is of like portion and provided with an equal
llotment. All the same, I will give in for now, though I am
ustly angry. And I will tell you something else, and in my anger
will make this threat: If in spite of me, and Athena who forages
or booty, and Hera, and Hermes, and Hephaistos the king,
200
eus will spare steep Ilion, and be unwilling to destroy the city,
nd shall not give great strength to the Argives—well, he must
now that there will be imperishable anger between the two of us!”

So speaking, the shaker of the earth left the army of the Achaeans.
He went to the sea and plunged in, and the Achaean warriors 205
missed him sorely.

Then Zeus, who gathers the clouds,

poke to Apollo:° “Go now, dear Phoibos, to Hector,
rmed in bronze. Already the holder of the earth, the shaker
f the earth, has gone into the bright sea, evading our
angerous anger. Else the other gods would have learned
210
f our quarrel, those who are beneath the earth in the company
f Kronos.° This was a much better outcome both for me and for him,
hat, although angry, he has yielded to my hands. Otherwise
here would have been a clammy outcome! But take the tasseled
 oatskin fetish in your hands and shake it over the Achaean
215
ghters. Put them to flight! May glorious Hector be your care,
O you who strike from a long way off. For a little while
xcite his power so that the Achaeans flee to their ships
nd to the HELLESPONT. From that point on I will contrive both word
nd deed to see that the Achaeans have respite from the battle.”
220

So he spoke, and Apollo obeyed his father. He went down

om the mountains of Ida like a swift hawk, the speediest
f winged creatures, the killer of pigeons. He found
he son of wise Priam, the good Hector, sitting up—
e was no longer lying down, for he had recently begun 225
o recover his strength. He recognized his companions around him.
His gasping and sweating had stopped, for the will of Zeus,
who carries the goatskin fetish, had revived him. Standing
earby, Apollo, who works from afar, spoke to him: “Hector,
on of Priam, why do you sit apart from the others
230
n a faint? Is something amiss?”

Hector, whose helmet

ashes, his strength spent, said: “Which god are you,
most powerful one, who speaks to me face to face?
Do you not know that at the sterns of the Achaean ships,
s I wreaked havoc on his companions—that Ajax, good
235
t the war cry, hit me in the chest with a stone and put a stop
o my furious valor? Surely, I thought on this day that I had
ied and gone to the house of Hades, that I had breathed
orth my life.”
 Apollo te far-shooter, the king,
nswered him: “Have courage! So mighty a helper has 240
he son of Kronos sent forth from Ida to stand by your side
nd to aid you: I am Phoibos Apollo who carries a golden
word—I who have saved you before, both you yourself
nd the steep city. But come now, order your many charioteers
o drive their swift horses against the hollow ships. I will go 245
efore and smooth the way clear for the horses, and I will turn
round the Achaean fighting men.”

So speaking, he breathed
reat power into the shepherd of the people. Even as when
horse confined to his stall, well fed at the grain crib,
 FIGURE 15.1 The arming of Hector. Hector arms for battle in the
presence of Priam and Hekabê. Hector has already donned his shinguards
and now pulls a breastplate around his middle over a shirt. His mother,
represented as a young woman, holds out his helmet with her right hand and
with her left holds his spear. Hector’s shield, decorated with the head of a
satyr, leans against Hekabê’s leg. The aged Priam, with balding head,
supports himself with a knobby staff and instructs his son. The characters’
names are inscribed. Athenian red-figure water-jug, c. 510 BC.

reaks his bonds and runs galloping over the plain, exulting,
250
e who is accustomed to bathe in the fair-flowing river,
olding his head high, and around his shoulders his mane flows
nd in his splendor he trusts his nimble knees to carry him
o the haunts and pastures of mares°—even so Hector moved
 is feet and his knees, urging on his horses when he heard
255
he voice of the god. Or as when dogs and hunters pursue a horned
ag or wild goat, but he is saved by a sheer rock or a shadowy
hicket, for it was not fated that they catch him—and then at their
houting a bearded lion shows himself in the way and quickly
e turns back the hunters, although they are avid—even so, 260
he Danaäns for awhile followed on in a crowd, thrusting with their
words and their two-edged spears. But when they saw Hector
oing up and down the battalions of men, they took fright,
nd the spirits of the men sank to their feet.

Then Thoas,
he son of Andraimon, spoke to the Achaeans.° He was
265
y far the best of the Aitolians in the use of the spear, good also
n the hand-to-hand. In the assembly few of the Achaeans
urpassed him when the young men contested in words.
With good intent, he spoke to them and said: “Well then,
see a great wonder with my eyes! Hector has again stood up,
270
voiding death. Truly, every man’s spirit hoped that he had died
t the hands of Ajax, son of Telamon. But some god has
aved and delivered Hector, he who has loosed the knees
f many Danaäns, as I think that he will again.
For not without Zeus of the loud thunder does he stand up 275
s an eager champion. But come, let us all be persuaded
y what I say. Let us bid the multitude to return
o the ships, but ourselves—as many as claim to be best
n the army—let us stand our ground, in case we can hold
im off, can push Hector back with our extended spears. 280
think that, though zealous, he will fear in his heart to enter
he throng of the Danaäns!”

So Thoas spoke, and they readily

earkened and obeyed. Those who were in the company of Ajax
nd King Idomeneus and Teucer and Meriones, the equal to Ares,
marshaled the fight against Hector and the Trojans, calling 285
o the chieftains. But behind them the multitude slunk back
o their ships. The Trojans pressed forward in a mass, Hector
n the lead, taking long strides. Before him went Phoibos
Apollo, his shoulders wrapped in a cloud, holding
he dreaded goatskin fetish with its shaggy fringe—awesome,
290
leaming bright, which the smith Hephaistos had given
o Zeus to put warriors to rout.

Holding the fetish in his hands,

Apollo led the Trojans. But the Argives held their ground,
massed together. And the shrill war-cry rose from both sides
s the arrows flew from the bow strings. Many spears 295
were cast by daring hands, and many of them were
xed in the ground before they could eagerly gorge
hemselves on their share of white flesh, while others
were fixed in the skin of young men. So long as Phoibos
Apollo held the goatskin fetish firmly in his hands,
300
or so long did the missiles find their mark on both sides,
nd the people fell. But when Apollo looked the Danaäns
with their fast horses full in the face and shook the fetish,
nd he himself screamed aloud, then he bewitched
he spirit in their breasts and they forgot their furious valor. 305
 As when two wild animals drive a herd of cattle or a large
ock of sheep in confusion in the dead of black night when they
uddenly come upon them, and there is no herdsman nearby,
ven so the Achaeans fled, their strength completely gone.
Thus Apollo sent panic among them, and contrived glory
310
or the Trojans and for Hector.

Then man killed man and the fight

was scattered. Hector killed Arkesilaos and Stichios, the one
leader of the Boeotians who wear shirts of bronze, the other
trusted companion of great-hearted Menestheus. Aeneas
ut down Medon and Iasos. The first, Medon, was a bastard 315
on of godlike Oïleus, the brother of Little Ajax.
He lived in Phylakê, far from the land of his fathers,
fter he killed a relative of his stepmother, Eriopis,
he wife of Oïleus. But Iasos was a captain of the Athenians,
son of Sphelos, who was a son of Boukolos. And then 320
oulydamas killed Mekisteus, and Polites took down Echios
n the forefront of the fight, and good Agenor killed Klonios.
aris hit Deïochos from behind at the base of his shoulder
s he fled from among the forefront fighters—he drove the bronze
traight through.° 325

While Trojans stripped the armor from these men,

he Achaeans flung themselves into the ditch and the sharp stakes,
eeing here and there, forced to take refuge behind the wall.
Hector called to the Trojans in a loud voice to attack
he ships and to let the gory armor go: “Whosoever I see
tanding apart from the ships on the other side of the ditch, 330
will kill on the spot, nor will his relatives, male and female,
urn him on the pyre when he is dead, but the dogs will devour
im before our city!”

So speaking, Hector drove his horses

ver forward, whipping them with a downward sweep of his arm.
He called to the Trojans along the ranks, and they all raised 335
shout along with him—a marvelous din—as they guided
he horses that drew their cars. And before them Phoibos
Apollo easily tore down the banks of the steep ditch
with his feet, collapsing them into the middle of the ditch,
nd he built a causeway as a bridge, as long and wide as a spear
cast 340
hat a man throws when he tests his strength. The Trojans poured
ver it, rank after rank, and before them went Apollo, holding
he precious goatskin fetish. He had torn down the wall
f the Achaeans with ease.

As when some child near the sea

catters sand when he has made a plaything in his childishness, 345
hen in frolic he tears it all down with his feet and his hands—
ven so easily did you, O far-darting Phoibos Apollo,
aze the long labor and toil of the Argives and drive them in rout.

And so the Achaeans were halted beside their ships,

alling to one another and to all the gods and raising
 350
heir hands in prayer, every one of them. Nestor from Gerenia,
specially, the guardian of the Achaeans, raised his hands
n prayer to the starry sky: “O father Zeus, if ever anyone
n Argos, rich in wheat, burned in homage to you the fat
high bones of a bull or a sheep, and prayed that he might
355
eturn home, and you promised that he would and nodded
our head—remember these things now and keep from us,
O Olympian, this pitiless day of doom. Don’t allow
he Achaeans to be conquered by the Trojans.”

So Nestor spoke in prayer, and Zeus the counselor 360

hundered mightily, hearing the prayers of the old man,
he son of Neleus. But the Trojans, when they heard the thunder
f Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish, rushed even more
n the Argives, setting their minds to the battle. As when a great
wave of the sea with its broad ways pours over the sides of a ship 365
when the power of the wind drives it on, which most of all
auses the waves to swell—even so the Trojans came over
he wall with a great cry, and driving their horses they fought
t the sterns of the ships in the hand-to-hand against
he two-edged spears. The Trojans fought from their cars, 370
he Achaeans went up high onto the decks of their black ships
nd fought with long pikes that lay at hand for them
or fighting at sea—jointed together, fitted at the tip
with bronze.

While the Achaeans and the Trojans fought at

he wall beside the swift ships, Patroklos was sitting in the tent
 375
f the hospitable Eurypylos,° and Patroklos entertained him with talk.
And on Eurypylos’ bitter wound he spread ointments as a remedy
or black pain. But when he saw the Trojans rushing at the wall,
when a cry arose from the Danaäns in their panic, then he groaned
nd slapped both his thighs with the flat of his hands, and wailing
380
e said: “Eurypylos, I can no longer stay here with you,
lthough your need is great. For a great struggle has arisen.
et your aide attend you while I hurry to Achilles so that I can urge
im to fight. Who knows if with a little luck I can excite his spirit
y talking. The advice of a companion is good.” 385

So speaking,
e hastened on. In the meanwhile, the Achaeans stoutly
withstood the attacking Trojans, but they were not able
o push them back from the ships though the Trojans were fewer
n number. Nor were the mighty Trojans able to break through
he battalions of the Danaäns and to engage with them among 390
he tents and the ships. But as a carpenter’s line makes a ship’s
mber straight in the hands of a clever workman who is skilled
n all manner of craft through the counsels of Athena, even so
was their battle and war stretched equally.°

And so they fought on.

ome skirmished around some ships, others around other ships.
395
ut Hector made straight for Ajax. The two of them contended
round a single ship. Hector was unable to drive Ajax back
nd set fire to the ship, nor was Ajax able to push
ack Hector, for a god drove him on. Then the glorious Ajax
 it Kaletor, the son of Klytios,° in the chest with his spear 400
s he carried fire to the ship. Kaletor thudded to the ground
nd the torch fell from his hand.

When Hector saw his cousin

allen in the dust before the black ship, he called out
n a loud voice to the Trojans and Lycians: “Trojans
nd Lycians and Dardanians who fight in close, don’t pull back 405
om the fight in this narrow spot, but come to the aid
f the son of Klytios so that the Achaeans do not take his armor,
ow that he has fallen amid the gathering of the ships.”

So speaking, Hector threw his shining spear at Ajax,

ut he missed him and hit instead Lykophron, the son of Mastor, 410
n aide to Ajax from CYTHERA.° Lykophron lived with Ajax
ecause he had killed a man in holy Cythera. Hector hit him
n the head above the ear with his sharp bronze as Lykophron.
ood close by Ajax. Lykophron fell back to the ground in the dust
t the stern of the ship, and his limbs were loosened. 415

Ajax shivered,
nd he spoke to his brother: “O Teucer, a trusted companion
f ours has been killed, the son of Mastor from Cythera, whom we
onored in our halls like our own parents, while he lived there.
Great-hearted Hector has killed him. Where now are your arrows
 FIGURE 15.2 Ajax defends the ships. A bearded Ajax, clad in helmet,
breastplate, and shinguards, attacks Hector (?), who backs off before the
prow of a ship. Hector holds a curiously shaped shield. Between them a
dying beardless Achaean falls to the ground, a folded leg and one hand
touching the earth. Etruscan two-handled water jug, c. 480 BC.

hat bring a swift death, and the bow that Phoibos Apollo 420
ave you?”

So Ajax spoke, and his brother Teucer heard him.

eucer ran up and stood beside Ajax with his back-bent
ow in his hands and the quiver that held his arrows.
Quickly Teucer rained his arrows on the Trojans. And he hit
Kleitos,° the glorious son of Peisenor, the noble companion
425
f Poulydamas, son of Panthoös, as he held the reins in his hands,
usy with his horses. Kleitos was driving them to where the bulk
f the battalions were being driven in rout, giving pleasure
o Hector and the Trojans. But swiftly there came to him an evil
hat none could prevent, however much someone desired it. 430
he arrow, filled with groaning, hit him in the back of the neck.
He fell from the car and the horses started in all directions,
attling the empty chariot. Prince Poulydamas saw him at once
nd was first to go calm the horses. These he gave to Astynoös,°
on of Protiaon, and, watching him, he told him to hold the horses
435
earby. He himself returned to the melée amid the foremost fighters.

Then Teucer drew another arrow on Hector, armored

n bronze, and he would have put a stop to his battle
t the ships of the Achaeans if he had hit him in the flush
f his power and taken his life. But Zeus’s clever mind, 440
which watched over Hector, was aware of what happened,
nd he took away the glory from Teucer, son of Telamon.
eus broke the well-twisted string° of the blameless bow
s Teucer drew it. The arrow, heavy from the bronze,
was turned aside, and the bow fell from his hand.
445

Teucer shivered and he addressed his brother: “Hear

rother, some god is intent on cutting short our counsels of war!
ee how he has cast the bow from my hand! And he broke
he string, which I twisted and bound fast this very morning
o that it would speed the arrows flying thick and fast
 450
om it.”

Great Telamonian Ajax then answered him:

Alright then, let the bow go and the many arrows that lie
bout, for some god has made them useless in malice
oward the Danaäns. Take up your long spear, instead,
nd a shield on your shoulder and fight the Trojans, and urge 455
n the others. Let us prevent them from taking the ships with their
ne benches without a struggle, even if they defeat us!
et us turn our thoughts to war!”

So he spoke, and he placed

he bow in his tent, and he hoisted a shield made of four layers
f ox-hide around his shoulders, and on his powerful head 460
e put on his well-made helmet with a crest of horse hair,
nd the plume waved terribly down from above. He took up
strong spear tipped with the sharp bronze. Then he set out,
unning quickly up to Ajax and standing beside him.°

When Hector saw that the arrows of Teucer were useless, 465
e called out to the Trojans and the Lycians in a loud voice:
Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians who fight in close,
e men, my friends! Keep in mind your furious valor
midst the hollow ships! I’ve just seen how Zeus
as brought to nothing the arrows of a captain. It is easy 470
o recognize the power of Zeus, and those to whom
e grants superlative glory and those he makes small
nd will not help, as even now he makes small the strength
f the Argives. But he increases ours. So go in mass to fight
t the ships! If any of you is hit by an arrow or spear, 475
nd meets his death and fate—then die! It is not a bad thing
o die defending the land of your fathers. Then your wife
safe, and your children whom you leave behind, and your house
nd your lots of land are untouched, if only the Achaeans
o back home to the land of their fathers in their ships.” 480

So speaking, Hector roused the strength and the spirit

f each man. But Ajax on the other side also called to his companions:
Shame, Argives! Now it is sure that either we will die
r be saved by pushing back the danger to the ships. Do you think
hat if Hector with his flashing helmet takes the ships 485
ou will get back home on foot? Do you not hear Hector
n his fury urging on his men to burn all our ships?
don’t think he is inviting them to come to a dance, but to fight!
or us there is no better plan and counsel than this—that we
ight in close combat with our hands—our power against theirs.
490
is better once and for all to live or die than for long to be
queezed out like this, drop by drop, in the dread contendings
mong the ships, at the hands of men who are less than us.”

So speaking, Ajax roused the strength and spirit of each man.

Then Hector killed Schedios, son of Perimedes, a captain 495
f the Phocians, and Ajax killed Laomedon, a leader
f the foot soldiers, the glorious son of Antenor. Poulydamas
 illed Otos from Kyllenê, a companion of Meges, the son
f Phyleus, the great-hearted leader of the Epeians.° Meges saw
what had happened, and he leaped toward Poulydamas, but
Poulydamas 500
werved away and Meges missed—Apollo was not going to allow
he son of Panthoös to be killed among the frontline fighters!
nstead Meges stabbed Kroismos in the chest with his spear.
Kroismos fell to the ground with a thud.

Then Meges went

o strip the armor from his shoulders, but in the meanwhile 505
Dolops, the son of Lampos, well-skilled in the use of the spear,
ushed on him. Lampos, son of Laomedon, fathered
Dolops, his bravest son, learned in furious valor.
Dolops stabbed the middle of Meges’ shield, hitting him
rom close in. But the thick breastplate that Meges wore,
510
tted with plates, saved him. Phyleus had brought it from Ephyrê,
om the river Selleïs.° A guest-friend of Phyleus had given
to him, Euphetes the king of men, to carry to war—a defense
gainst the enemy. This breastplate now warded off death
rom the flesh of Phyleus’ son. Meges then struck with his sharp 515
pear the topmost plate of Dolops’ helmet of bronze with its
orsehair plume. He cut off the horsehair plume and the whole
hing fell to the dirt and dust, shining with its new scarlet dye.

Meges held his ground and fought with Dolops, still hoping
or victory. In the meanwhile the martial Menelaos came to the
aid 520
f Meges. He stood on one side with his spear, unnoticed
y Dolops, and he threw and hit Dolops in the shoulder from behind.
 he spear in its fury went through Dolops’ chest, speeding eagerly
nward, and Dolops fell on his face.

Then Menelaos and Meges

were eager to strip the bronze armor from Dolops’ shoulder. 525
ut Hector called to his kinsmen, one and all, and first
f all he reproached the powerful Melanippos, son of Hiketaon.
Up to this time Melanippos had herded his cattle, who shuffled
s they walked, in PERKOTÊ° while the enemy was still far away.
But when the curved ships of the Danaäns came, he came back 530
o Troy. He was outstanding among the Trojans, and he lived in the house
f Priam, who honored him as if he were his own child.

Hector remonstrated with Melanippos, saying: “Melanippos,

why do you slack off now? Is your heart not moved by the death
f your cousin? Do you not see how they are stripping Dolops’
535
rmor? Follow me! We can no longer fight the Argives from afar—
ither we kill them or they utterly destroy steep Ilion and kill
veryone in the city.”

So speaking, he led the way, and Melanippos

ollowed him, a man like a god. But Telamonian Ajax likewise
tirred on the Argives: “Comrades, be men! Take shame 540
nto your hearts, and feel shame each for the other in these fierce
ontendings. When men feel shame, more are saved than perish.
ut for men who flee, there is neither glory nor help.”°
 So he spoke.
ut the Trojans themselves were still eager to attack the enemy.
ust so they took to heart Hector’s words, and they fenced in the
ships 545
with a hedge of bronze. For Zeus, too, urged on the Trojans.

But Menelaos, good at the war cry, stirred up Antilochos:°

Antilochos, no young Achaean runs faster than you, nor is so courageous
n the fight. I wish you would leap forward and cut down one
f the Trojans!”
550

So he spoke and hurried back again, rallying the others.

hen Antilochos leaped forward among the foremost fighters.
ooking about him, he cast with his shining spear.
he Trojans withdrew as he threw, but his weapon did not fly
n vain—he hit the high-hearted Melanippos, son of Hiketaon,
s he came into the battle, in the chest next to the nipple.
555
Melanippos fell with a thud, and darkness covered his eyes.

Antilochos rushed up, like a dog that rushes on a wounded

awn that a hunter has hit as the fawn leaped from his lair,
nd he loosed limbs—even so, O Melanippos, did Antilochos,
tubborn in the fight, leap on you to take your armor. 560

But the good Hector saw what was going on, and he ran to face
Antilochos in the midst of the battle. Antilochos did not await him,
hough he was a seasoned warrior, but he fled in terror, like a wild
nimal that has done something vile—one that has killed a hound
r a cowherd working his cattle, and then flees before a throng
565
f men can be gathered. Even so fled the son of Nestor,
nd Hector and other Trojans poured on him with wondrous war
whoops, their arrows filled with groans. Antilochos stopped running
nd turned around when he came to the tribe of his companions.

The Trojans rushed on the ships like flesh-eating lions,

570
ulfilling the commands of Zeus, who constantly inspired
reat strength among them, while he bewitched the spirit
f the Argives, depriving them of glory as he urged on the Trojans.
or his heart was set on giving glory to Hector, son of Priam,
hat his own eyes might see him cast wondrous unwearied fire 575
nto the curved ships, thus fulfilling to the utmost
hetis’ immoderate prayer. Zeus the counselor had waited
or this—to see with his own eyes the glare of a burning
hip. From that time onwards he was going to order
retreat of the Trojans from the ships and grant glory
580
o the Danaäns.

With this plan in mind, he was rousing Hector,

he son of Priam, at the hollow ships, though Hector
was furious enough by himself. He raged like Ares,
wielder of the spear, or a dangerous fire on the mountains
n the thickest part of a deep wood. He foamed at the mouth, 585
nd his two eyes shone beneath his bushy brows, and his helmet
 hook terribly around his temples as Hector fought. Zeus
imself was his defender from on high—Zeus honored him
nd gave him glory, peerless as he was among the many
warriors. But he would not last long! Already Pallas Athena 590
astened-on the fateful day at the hands of Achilles,
he mighty son of Peleus. Hector wanted to break
he ranks of men, trying them in war wherever he saw
he largest grouping and the finest armor. But he was not
ble to accomplish his keen desire. The Danaäns 595
eld their ground. They arranged themselves like a wall,
ke a crag, steep and high, close to the gray sea that withstands
he sudden paths of the shrill winds and the swollen waves
hat break foaming against it—even so the Danaäns
eld their ground against the Trojans steadfastly,
600
nd they did not run away.

But Hector, lit-up like fire,

eaped among them. He fell upon them from all sides,
s when beneath the clouds a furious wave falls
n a swift ship, driven by the wind, and she is hidden
y the foam, and the ghastly blast of the wind breaks
605
gainst the sail, and the sailors, terrified, tremble in their hearts,
or only by a little have they escaped death—even so
were the hearts of the Achaeans torn within their breasts as Hector
ell upon them, like a vicious lion attacking a herd of cattle
hat graze in the meadow of a great marsh, an enormous
610
umber of them. And the herdsman as yet has little experience
n fighting off a wild beast from the carcass of a cow
with curly horns that has been killed. He walks along now
with the foremost cattle, now with the hindmost, but the lion
ttacks in the middle and devours a cow as the rest run away 615
n terror—even so, divinely guided, did the Achaeans,
ne and all, run away under the attack by Hector
nd his father Zeus.

Still, Hector killed only one Achaean:

eriphetes from Mycenae, the dear son of Kopreus. It was
he custom of Kopreus to relay messages between the king, 620
urystheus, and mighty Herakles. Kopreus, a baser man, fathered
son far better in every kind of excellence, both in fleetness
f foot and in the battle, and in intelligence he was one of the best
n Mycenae. It was Periphetes who then yielded the glory of victory
o Hector, for as he turned back he tripped on the rim 625
f his shield that, reaching to his feet, he carried as a defense
gainst javelins.° He stumbled on its rim and fell backward, and
is helmet rang terribly around his temples as he fell. Hector saw
hat happen, and he ran up beside Periphetes and stabbed his spear
nto his breast and killed him close by his companions, who were
630
nable to do a thing for their comrade. Though they were in sorrow,
hey were themselves wholly afraid of brash, intrepid Hector.

Now the Trojans were in the midst of the ships, but the outermost
hips that were first drawn up confined them. The Argives rushed
t the Trojans, but gave way and of necessity pulled back from
635
he outermost ships. They made their stand in a crowd among the huts,
or were they scattered throughout the camp. Shame held them—
nd fear. They called to one another without cease.
 Gerenian Nestor,
he guardian of the Achaeans, sought to rouse each man in the name
f his parents, beseeching them: “O my friends, be men and place
640
n your hearts shame before other men, and remember,
very one of you, your children, your wives, your possessions
nd your parents, whether they are alive or dead. In their name
earnestly beg you, even though they are not present here—
make your stand! Do not turn away in panic!”
645

So speaking,
e encouraged the strength and the heart of every man. Athena
ushed away from their eyes the bedeviling cloud of mist. A great light
ppeared to them from both sides—from the side of their ships
nd from that of the terrifying war. And they all saw Hector,
ood at the war cry, and his companions, both they who stood
650
t the back and did not fight, and they who contended
eside the swift ships.

But it no longer pleased the heart

f great-hearted Ajax to stand where the other sons
f the Achaeans stood in the rear and did not fight.
And so he trod up and down the half-decks of the ships,°
655
aking long strides, and he wielded a great pike for sea-fighting
n his hands, a pike joined with glue and pegs, thirty-two
eet in length.° As when a man, highly skilled in riding tricks,
arnesses together four horses selected from many,
nd he races from the plain toward the great city along a public
 660
ighway as many men and women gaze at him,
s ever with sure step he leaps from one horse to another
nd they fly along—even so Ajax ranged over the decks
f the swift ships, taking long strides, and his voice went up
o the sky. Shouting terribly, he commanded the Danaäns
665
o defend the ships and the huts.

Hector did not wait

mong the crowd of the thickly mailed Trojans, but as a tawny
agle leaps on a flock of winged birds feeding along a river’s bank,
f geese or cranes or long-necked swans—even so Hector
went straight toward a dark-prowed ship, rushing right at it.
670
eus pushed him on from behind with his great hand,
nd Hector roused his army along with him. Again the piercing
attle blazed beside the ships. You might think that unwearied
nd fresh they went against one another in war, so furiously
id they fight. These were their thoughts as they fought: 675
he Achaeans believed that they would not escape from the peril,
ut that they would perish, and the heart of every Trojan hoped
o set fire to the ships and to kill all the Achaean warriors.
hese were their thoughts as they stood against one another.

Hector then seized the stern of a sea-faring ship—

680
eautiful, fast on the salt sea, that had carried Protesilaos° to Troy,
ut did not bear him back to the land of his fathers. Around his ship
he Achaeans and Trojans fought one another in the hand-to-hand.
No longer did they await the whizzing bow-shots of arrows
nd javelins, but standing close to one another, all of one mind,
 685
hey fought with keen battle-axes and hatchets, great swords
nd two-edged spears. Many beautiful swords fastened
with dark thongs at the hilt fell to the ground,
ome from their hands, others from the shoulders of the men
s they fought there. The black earth ran with blood.
690

Hector had seized the stern of a ship, and he did not let go
ut held onto the carved stern-post° as he commanded the Trojans:
Bring fire! Together in a mass raise the war cry! Now Zeus
as given us a day as repayment for all— let us take
he ships that came here against the will of the gods
695
nd brought us so much pain through the cowardice of the elders
who held me back and restrained the people when I wanted
o fight at the sterns of the ships.° But if loud-thundering Zeus
affled our wits then, now he himself urges us on and gives
he command.” 700

So he spoke, and they rushed still harder

t the Argives. Ajax could take it no longer. Oppressed
y missiles he backed off a little, thinking he would die there
n the seven-foot bench—he abandoned the half-deck of
he well-balanced ship.° There he took his stand, watching,
nd he ever warded off the Trojans who carried fire from the
ships, 705
houting ever terribly, he commanded the Danaäns: “My friends,
Danaän warriors, followers of Ares—be men, be men
my friends! Remember your furious valor! Or do we think
hat there are other helpers at our backs, or a stronger wall
 hat will ward off destruction from our men? There is no city
nearby 710
enced with walls by which we can defend ourselves—no,
we have no other people who will turn the tide of battle.
We are sitting in the plain of the thickly mailed Trojans, far
om our native land, with nothing as support save the sea.
Therefore the light of deliverance is in our hands,
715
ot in wavering in the fight!”

So Ajax spoke and kept driving

uriously with his sharp spear. He awaited the man who
would bring blazing fire to the hollow ships, doing the
leasure of Hector’s bidding. Ajax waited, hoping to pierce
Hector with his long spear. And he did kill twelve
720
rojan warriors in the hand-to-hand before the ships.

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 sacker of cities: From time to time Homer give a précis and foretelling of
the action to remind his listeners (and himself) of what the story is and
where it is going.
beautiful cheeks: Themis, “law” or “order,” presides over feasts. In fact
themis can mean “feast.” She has friendly relations with Hera.
the elder: The Erinyes, avenging spirits of the underworld (the “furies”),
punish breaches of respect within the family, here the disrespect of the
younger son toward the elder.
to Apollo: Apollo is appropriate for this task because he is on the side of the
Trojans and he is a healing god.
–212 in the company of Kronos: The Titans.
of mares: The same simile appears in Book 6 (lines 500–506), of Paris
returning from Helen’s boudoir to the plain to fight. There are about 180
similes in Homer; 8 of them are repeats (7 in the Iliad). Similes often
precede battle scenes, as does this one.
to the Achaeans: Thoas is a respected older fighter of the second rank. In
Book 13 Poseidon took his form to exhort Idomeneus. He does not figure in
the upcoming battle, but in Book 4 we saw his superior work with the
javelin.
… straight through: Many of these victims were introduced in Book 13.
Arkesilaos and Klonios were among the Boeotian leaders in the Catalog of
Ships; two of their relatives died in Book 14. The Athenian Stichios was a
follower of Menestheus in Book 13. Medon, “ruler,” a captain of the
Phthians, also appears in Book 13. Iasos, a common name, is otherwise
unknown. Deïochos is obscure, but later his descendants were said to have
colonized the island of Samos from Athens. In Book 13 Mekisteus is not a
comrade of Echios, but his son (13.421–422)!
… Eurypylos: We last saw Patroklos at the end of Book 11, when he
operated on Eurypylos’ thigh.
stretched equally: That is, the line of battle is straight, with neither side
penetrating the other. The carpenter’s line is a string infused with a
pigment; when twanged, it leaves a mark on the wood, like a modern chalk
line.
Klytios: Klytios was a son of Laomedon, so his son Kaletor, “caller” (apt
name for a herald), would be Hector’s cousin.
Cythera: This island, off Cape Malea on the southernmost tip of the
Peloponnesus (Maps 1, 2), is not in the Catalog of Ships, and it is not clear
who ruled there; nor is it clear who Lykophron (= “with the mind of a
wolf”) killed there or why he fled to Ajax on the island of Salamis off the
coast of Athens. But Phoinix, Patroklos, and Medon, too, were exiled for
murder, a standard epic theme.
Kleitos: Apparently invented just for this scene.
Astynoös: Another Trojan with this name dies in Book 5. Protiaon is
unknown.
string: The bow string would be made of twisted ox sinew. Homer has no
word for a “chance” event. All events are willed by a god, even if there is
an obvious human cause.
beside him: But Teucer in his armor achieves nothing, and he drops from
the narrative hereafter.
… the Epeians: Hector kills another Phocian leader named Schedios in
Book 17, but his father is Iphitos. Of the eleven sons of Antenor mentioned
in the Iliad—here Laomedon, who has the same name as that of Priam’s
father—nine are killed. Otos is unknown. Kyllenê is the mainland port of
ELIS opposite the island of DOULICHION, where Otos’ friend Meges is ruler
(this is not the famous Mount Kyllenê in ARCADIA in the PELOPONNESUS).
The Epeians are the inhabitants of Elis.
… river Selleïs: Kroismos is a unique name. Dolops is a cousin of Hector
because Priam, Lampos, and Klytios are all sons of Laomedon. Klytios lost
a son earlier in this book (line 400). One Ephyrê was in THESSALY (Book
13), another was CORINTH (Book 5), but this Ephyrê must be in Elis,
Phyleus’ place of origin before he migrated to the island of DOULICHION,
explaining why Otos of Kyllenê in Elis was one of his officers. This river
Selleïs must be in Elis, too. The breastplate appears to be an heirloom, like
the boars’ tusk helmet in the Doloneia (Book 10).
Perkotê: On the Hellespont; see Map 3. Melanippos, too, is Hector’s cousin,
apparently invented for this scene.
… nor help: An explicit statement of the basis for action in a “shame
culture,” where one’s worth is dependent on others’ valuation; as opposed to
a “guilt culture,” where valuation comes from one’s inner sense of worth.
Antilochos: Antilochos is a son of Nestor. He saved Menelaos’ life in Book
5 and is important in the narrative later on.
 … against javelins: Kopreus, “dungman” or simply “farmer,” was a son of
Pelops and the herald of Eurystheus, Herakles’ cousin who held tyrannical
power over the great hero. Eurystheus communicated his commands to
Herakles through Kopreus because he was frightened to deal with Herakles
in person. Periphetes, the only “Mycenaean” in Homer, is otherwise
unknown and no doubt invented for this scene. The shield he trips over
could be an early Mycenaean tower shield (see Figure 4.1). Hector’s oxhide
shield (Book 6) is similar, because its rim taps his neck and ankles as he
walks, and of course Big Ajax carries such a shield. Periphetes seems to
wear no breastplate, in accord with early Mycenaean custom.
of the ships: Homeric ships had two half-decks, one at the prow and one at
the stern; the steersman worked from the stern’s half-deck. The center was
open with benches for the rowers, and a large beam across the center gave
the hull strength and supported the mast when it was raised (see Figure 2.2).
in length: Perhaps epic exaggeration, but the Macedonians in classical times
used spears as long as 22 feet.
Protesilaos: The first man to die at Troy.
stern-post: Evidently a kind of curved horn fixed to the stern, to judge from
pictures on pottery.
of the ships: Hector’s tendency to self-delusion is clear here: In fact the
gods did will the Achaean expedition, because Paris had violated xenia,
protected by Zeus, by taking Helen; and the Trojan elders did not through
cowardice prevent Hector and his men from fighting, but through fear of
Achilles’ prowess.
well-balanced ship: The “seven-foot bench” is the wide cross beam in the
center of the ship that gave the ship stability and supported the mast. Ajax
seems to retreat from the half-deck at the stern to the central bench, though
the description is not clear.

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 Book 16. The Glory of
Patroklos

A s they fought around the well-benched ships, Patroklos

ame up to Achilles the shepherd of the people.° Tears
oured down his cheeks, like the dark water of a spring
hat pours its black waters over a high cliff. When Achilles
aw him, godlike Achilles the fast runner felt pity
5
nd he spoke words that flew like arrows: “Why do you weep,
atroklos? You are like a little girl, a babe who runs
o her mother and begs to be picked up, clutching her gown,
olding the mother back from her work. Crying
he stares upward, begging to be lifted—you are like
10
hat little girl, pouring forth your tender tears.
Do you have something to say to the Myrmidons, or to me
myself? Or have you heard some private news from PHTHIA?
urely your father Menoitios, the son of Aktor,
s still alive, they say, and Peleus too, the son
15
f Aiakos, among the Myrmidons. Certainly
we would grieve to hear that either had died!
Or are you sad because of the Argives, who die beside
he hollow ships on account of their own arrogant action?
ay it, don’t hide it, so that we both may know.”
20
 You groaned deeply then, Patroklos the horseman,
nd said: “O Achilles, son of Peleus, by far the best of
he Achaeans, do not be angry! For so great an anguish has
ome to the Achaeans. Those who before were best in the
ontendings, all of them now lie wounded among the ships,
25
ierced by missiles. The great Diomedes, son of Tydeus,
wounded. Odysseus too, famed for his work with the
pear. And Eurypylos is shot with an arrow in the thigh.
he doctors, learned in drugs, are working to heal them.

“But you, Achilles, are impossible! I hope that no such

30
nger ever lays hold on me such as you nourish—a rashness
hat only destroys! How shall anyone yet to be born
ver have benefit of you if you will not ward off from the Argives
terrible fate? You are pitiless. I don’t think that Peleus
he horseman was your father, or Thetis your mother.
35
he gray sea bore you and the steep cliffs! For your mind
unbending.
“But if in your mind you are avoiding some
racle, and your revered mother has told you something she heard
om Zeus, at least quickly send me forth, and with me
he host of the Myrmidons, so that I might be a light 40
f salvation for the Danaäns. Let me wear your armor—
erhaps if I look like you, the Trojans will pull back from
he war and the sons of the Achaeans can catch their breath,
worn out as they are. For the breathing space in battle is brief.
Easily, I think, we who are fresh may drive back 45
oward the city men worn out by the battle cry, away
om the ships and the huts.”
 So he spoke in supplication.
he fool! For in truth he prayed for his own dark death
nd fate.

Deeply moved, Achilles the fast runner, said:

Patroklos, who are like a god, what words you have spoken! 50
take no heed of any oracle that I know of, nor has
my revered mother said anything to me that she learned
om Zeus. But this terrible grief lies on my heart
nd soul—when a man aims to steal from his equal
nd take from him his prize, because he is greater in power.
55
his is a horrendous grief to me. I have suffered
ain in my heart! The girl that the sons of the Achaeans
hose for me as prize, whom I myself captured
when I sacked a well-walled city—this very girl
King Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, has taken from my
60
ands, as if I were some mere wanderer without rights!
“All the same, we will let that pass. It is something
hat happened. It was never my intention to nurse an unending
nger in my heart. I thought I would hold onto my anger
nly until the war cry and battle should reach my own ships … 65
“But go ahead—you can dress in my glorious armor
nd lead the war-loving Myrmidons to battle. If in truth the
ark cloud of the Trojans has powerfully shrouded the ships,
nd only the shore of the sea supports the others,
nd the Argives have a scant dab of land still left,
70
nd the whole city of the Trojans has come without fear
gainst them—for the Trojans do not see the face of my helmet
 linting before them. Or they would soon fill the channels
with the bodies of the dead as they flee—if only Agamemnon
were well disposed toward me!
75
“As it is, the Trojans have
urrounded the camp with battle. For the spear in the hands
f Diomedes, son of Tydeus, does not rage to ward off
estruction … Nor have I yet heard the voice of the son
f Atreus, as he bellows from his loathed maw. No,
t is the voice of man-killing Hector that breaks about me 80
s he urges on the Trojans, who with their din possess
he whole of the plain, overwhelming the Achaeans in battle!
“But even so, Patroklos … go, fall upon them with power.
Ward off destruction from the ships, so that they do not burn
he ships with blazing fire and take away our homecoming.
85
Only listen! Let me place in your mind the sum of my counsel,
hat you might win for me great honor and glory
mong all the Danaäns, who then will return that most
eautiful woman along with wonderful gifts.°
“Once you have driven the Trojans from the ships,
90
ome back. If the loud-thundering husband of Hera grants
ou success, do not desire to fight without me against
he war-loving Trojans. You will make my honor less.
And do not exult in war and the contendings, in killing the Trojans.
Do not lead on to Ilion! I fear that one of the Olympians, 95
who never die, may enter the fight. For Apollo,
who works from afar, loves them very much. Come back,
hen, once you have shown a light of salvation
mong the ships. Let the others fight on the plain.
“How I wish that father Zeus and Athena and Apollo 100
would allow not one of the Trojans to escape, of all
here are, and not one man of the Argives either,
ut that just the two of us might escape death, that alone
we might loose the sacred veil of the city!” And so
he two spoke to one another in this fashion. 105
But Ajax no longer held his ground, overcome
y missiles. The mind of Zeus and the mighty Trojans wore him
own with their constant firing. His shining helmet
ang incessantly around his temples as it was struck,
it constantly on the handsome cheek pieces. His left shoulder 110
rew weary from holding the gleaming shield, but still
he Trojans could not drive it back upon him with their steady
usillade. Ever tormented by heavy breathing, sweat poured
verywhere from his limbs in abundance, nor could Ajax
et a chance to catch his breath. Everywhere evil 115
iled on evil.

Tell me now, Muses who live

n Olympos, how fire first fell on the ships of the Achaeans!

Hector closed in on Ajax and with his great sword

ruck his spear of ash just behind the socket.
He cut it clean away so that Ajax, son of Telamon, 120
ow wielded a useless shaft. The spear’s bronze point
pun away and clanged on the ground. Ajax saw
n his daring heart the doing of gods and he shivered,
eeing how Zeus, who thunders on high, had brought
o nothing Ajax’ counsels of war, and how 125
e willed a Trojan victory.
 Ajax withdrew
om the hail of arrows as the Trojans cast consuming
re into the ship. Quickly an unquenchable flame
ngulfed it. Thus fire took hold of the ship’s stern,
ut Achilles, striking both his thighs, addressed Patroklos: 130
Rise up now Patroklos, master of horses. I see the rush
f consuming fire in the fleet. May they not take the ships
nd prevent our escape! Quick, put on my armor. I will
ssemble our companions.”

So Achilles spoke. Patroklos put on

he gleaming bronze. First he bound the beautiful shinguards 135
o his calves, fitted with silver fasteners. Second,
e placed around his chest the breastplate of the swift-footed
randson of Aiakos,° handsomely made, decorated with stars.
 FIGURE 16.1 Patroklos and Achilles. The younger, beardless Achilles
wraps a bandage around the arm of his older, bearded friend. Achilles is in
full armor, but without shinguards. Patroklos, who looks away in pain and
squats on a shield decorated with a tripod (?), carries a quiver and bow on
his back. He wears a felt cap. An arrow lies parallel to his calf. There is no
such scene in the Iliad, but the painting was inspired by the intimacy of the
two men and modeled on the scene where Patroklos binds the wounds of
Eurypylos. Athenian red-figure wine-cup (kylix) by Sosias found in Vulci,
Italy, c. 500 BC.

Around his shoulders he slung the sword of bronze with silver

tuds, then he took up the large and powerful shield, 140
nd on his mighty head he set the helmet, well made,
with a crest of horsehair. Its plume nodded terribly
 om on high. He took two strong spears that perfectly
tted his grasp, but he did not take the spear of the grandson
f Aiakos—heavy, great, powerful! No other Achaean 145
ould wield this spear. Achilles, son of Peleus, alone
ould wield it. Cheiron from the peak of Pelion had given
to his father to be used for the killing of heroes.

Achilles ordered Automedon,° the breaker of ranks,

uickly to yoke the horses. Patroklos honored him
150
most after Achilles, trusting him to await his call
n the midst of battle. Automedon led the swift horses
Xanthos and Balios, who ran like the breath of the wind,
eneath the yoke. The Harpy Podargê had born them
o Zephyr, West Wind, as she grazed in the meadow beside
155
he stream of Ocean.° In the traces he placed the fine horse
edasos, whom Achilles had captured when he sacked the city
f Eëtion, a mortal stallion following deathless horses.°

But Achilles went through the huts and urged all

he Myrmidons to arm. And they ran out like flesh-eating wolves 160
n whose hearts is an unspeakable rage—wolves who have killed
horned stag in the mountains and who dine upon him,
nd their cheeks are red with blood, and in a pack they course
o the black waters of a dark spring. With their thin tongues
hey lap the surface of the water, all the while vomiting
165
lood and gore, and their hearts in their breasts are unflinching,
nd their bellies are gorged—even so did the leaders
nd rulers of the Myrmidons swarm forth around Patroklos,
he companion of the grandson of Aiakos the fast runner.
And among them stood warlike Achilles, urging on the horses
170
nd the men in their armor.

Fifty fast ships did Achilles,

eloved of Zeus, lead to Troy, and in each fifty
men rowed, his companions. He appointed five men
whom he trusted as leaders, to give commands, but he
imself ruled all, great in his power. Menesthios°
175
f the flashing corselet led one band, son of the
eaven-fed river Spercheios. The daughter of Peleus,
ovely Polydora,° bore him to untiring Spercheios, bedding
own with the god, but in name Menesthios was the son
f Boros, the son of Perieres, who wedded Polydora in a public
180
te after Boros gave wedding gifts beyond counting.

Warlike Eudoros led the second band. His mother

was unmarried, Polymelê the daughter of Phylas fair
n the dance. The powerful killer of Argos fell in love
with her when he saw her among the singers on the dance floor
f Artemis of the golden arrows and the echoing chase. 185
Hermes the Deliverer promptly went to her upper chamber
nd slept with her in secret, and she gave him the noble son
udoros, superior in running and war. When the goddess
f childbirth Eileithyia had brought him forth into the light 190
nd he saw the rays of the sun, Echekles, strong
nd powerful, the son of Aktor, led Polymelê to his house,
fter giving countless wedding gifts. The old man Phylas
aised Eudoros, nursing him and cherishing him as if
e were his own son.°
195

Peisander led the third band,

he warlike son of Maimalos. He stood out among
ll the Myrmidons for his spear-fighting, second only
o Patroklos, the companion of the son of Peleus, in his fighting
kills. Phoinix, the old horseman, led the fourth band,
nd the fifth was commanded by Alkimedon, son of Laerkes. 200

When Achilles had organized them all in companies with

heir leaders, he lay upon them a powerful command: “Myrmidons,
o not forget the threats that you made against the Trojans
s you waited beside the fast ships, all during the time of my anger.
And then you criticized me, saying, ’Cruel son of Peleus,
205
urely your mother suckled you on bile, pitiless one,
who hold your unwilling companions back beside the ships.
et us sail home in our seafaring ships, because an evil anger
as fallen on his heart.’ Often you would gather together
nd make such criticism. But now the great work of war,
210
which before you so desired, is set before you. So let every
man go to the fight against the Trojans with a brave heart.”

So speaking he roused up the strength and the spirit

n each man. They closed up their ranks when they heard
heir king. As when a man builds a wall of close-set stones
215
or a high-roofed house that will resist the blasts of the winds,
ven so they set side by side their helmets and their bossed
hields. Shield leaned against shield, helmet against helmet,
man against man! The horse-hair crests attached to the bright
hield-plates touched each other as the men nodded their heads, 220
o close to one another did they stand. In front of all, two men
ut on their armor, Patroklos and Automedon, being
f a single mind—to fight in the forefront of the Myrmidons.

But Achilles went off to his hut, and he opened the lid
f a chest—beautiful, ornate—that silver-footed Thetis
225
ad placed in his ship to carry with him, after filling it with shirts
nd cloaks that keep away the wind, and woolen rugs.
He kept a well-made cup there, nor did any other man
rink from it the flaming wine, nor did he pour from it
n offering to any other god than father Zeus. 230
Achilles took it from the chest. He first purified it
with sulfur, then he washed it in beautiful streams of water.
hen he washed his hands and poured out the flaming wine.

Standing in the middle of the court, he prayed to Zeus.°

He poured out wine looking to the sky, and Zeus
235
who delights in the thunder was aware of him: “Zeus
he king, lord of Dodona, Pelasgian, you who live
ar away, ruler of wintery Dodona—around you
ve the Selloi, your diviners, who sleep on the ground
with unwashed feet.° Surely in earlier times
240
ou heard my word when I prayed, and you honored me:
You punished the army of the Achaeans. So fulfill for me
ow my desire. I myself remain now amidst the gathering
f the ships, but I send forth my companion with my many
Myrmidons to fight. O Zeus who thunders from afar, 245
rant him glory! Make brave his heart in his breast, so that
ven Hector will know whether my companion knows
ow to fight alone, or whether his hands rage invincibly
nly when I have entered the toil of Ares.
“But when he has driven
he battle and war cry away from the ships, may he then 250
eturn unscathed to the swift ships, with all his armor
nd his companions who fight in close.”

So he spoke in prayer,
nd Zeus the counselor heard him. The father gave him one half
is wish, but the other he refused: He granted that Patroklos
ush back the war and the battle from the ships, but he denied
255
hat he return safe from the battle.

Once he had poured out

drink-offering and prayed to Zeus the father, Achilles
went back into his hut, and he put the cup back into the chest.
He came forth and stood outside his hut. For he desired
n his heart to behold the dread contendings of Trojan 260
nd Achaean.

They who were arrayed with great-hearted

 atroklos rushed out in high spirits against the Trojans. At once
hey poured forth like wasps on the roadside that boys habitually
orment, always teasing them in their houses on the road, the foolish
oung children, and the wasps make a common evil for many.
265
And if some wayfaring man stirs up the wasps by accident,
hey all fly out in the bravery of their hearts to defend
heir children—with a heart and spirit like this the Myrmidons
oured from the ships, and an unquenchable cry arose.

Patroklos gave a loud shout, calling out to his companions:

270
Myrmidons, companions of Achilles, the son of Peleus!
e men, my friends! Remember your furious valor that
we might show honor to the son of Peleus, who is by far
he best of the Argives—himself and his followers who fight
n close—so that the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon,
275
may know his blindness, who showed no honor to the best
f the Achaeans!”

So speaking, he roused up the strength

nd the spirit of each man, and they fell upon the Trojans in a mass.
Around them the ships rang terribly from the shouting
f the Achaeans. When the Trojans saw the powerful son
280
f Menoitios, himself and his aide° shining in their armor,
he heart in every man was stirred, and the battalions were shaken,
hinking that among the ships the swift-footed son of Peleus
ad cast aside his anger and chosen to work as a team.
Each Trojan looked to where he might flee total destruction. 285
 Patroklos threw his shining spear straight into the midst
f them, where men thronged the closest, beside the stern
f the ship of great-hearted Protesilaos. He hit Pyraichmes,
who led the chariot-fighting Paeonians from Amydon,
rom the wide-flowing AXIOS RIVER.° He hit him in the
290
ght shoulder. Pyraichmes fell on his back in the dust, groaning,
nd his companion Paeonians were driven in rout. Patroklos
rove them all in rout when he killed their leader,
who was the best in the fight. He drove them from the ships.
He extinguished the blazing fire. The ship was left 295
here half-burned as the Trojans fled with a wondrous roar
s the Danaäns poured forth from the hollow ships. An
nquenchable cry ensued. Just as when Zeus who gathers
he lightning moves a thick cloud from the highest peak
f a great mountain, and all the mountain toplands and the high 300
eadlands and the valleys are revealed as the infinite air breaks out
om heaven, so the Danaäns drove back the destructive fire
om the ships and gained a brief breathing space. But there was
o end to the war.° For the Trojans did not yet run headlong
rom the black ships before the war-loving Achaeans—they still 305
eld their ground and backed off from the ships only when
ard pressed.

Then among the captains man killed man

s the fighting was scattered. First Patroklos, the powerful
on of Menoitios, hit the thigh of Areïlykos with his sharp
pear just as Areïlykos turned around, and he drove the bronze
310
raight through. The spear broke the bone, and Areïlykos fell
 n his face on the earth.

Then war-loving Menelaos stabbed Thoas

where his chest was exposed by his shield. He loosed his limbs.
Meges, the son of Phyleus, watched the Trojan Amphiklos
s he rushed at him, but Meges was quicker and hit him on top 315
f his leg, where a man’s muscle is thickest. The tendons were
ut by the point of the spear and darkness fell over his eyes.

Then of the sons of Nestor, one, Antilochos,

abbed Atymnios with his sharp spear and he drove
he bronze spear through his side. Atymnios fell forward. 320
ut Maris, his brother, standing nearby, rushed on Antilochos
with his spear, enraged because of his brother, and he took a stand
n front of the dead body. But godlike Thrasymedes, another
on of Nestor, was too quick for him, and before
is enemy could thrust he stabbed at Maris. He did not miss 325
ut hit him in the shoulder. The point of the spear sliced off
he base of the arm from its muscles and completely broke
he bone. Maris fell to the ground with a thud and darkness
losed over his eyes. Thus the two brothers, conquered
y two brothers, went to Erebos, the noble companions 330
f Sarpedon—the spearman sons of Amisodaros, the man
who raised up the raging Chimaira, an evil to men.°

Ajax the son of Oïleus leaped on Kleoboulos and took him

live as he tripped in the melée, but then he loosed
 is strength by hitting him in the neck with his hilted sword. 335
he whole sword was warmed by his blood, and the
owerful fate of dark death covered Kleoboulos’ eyes.

Boeotian Peneleös and the Trojan Lykon ran right up

n one another, for with their spears they had missed—
he two men cast their spears in vain! So then they ran against
340
ne another with their swords. Lykon smashed down on the plate
f Peneleös’ helmet with its plume of horsehair, but the sword
was shattered at the hilt. Peneleös slashed Lykon on the neck,
eneath the ear, and the whole blade went in so that only
kin held on his head. The head hung to one side as Lykon’s 345
mbs were loosened.

Then the Cretan captain Meriones

vertook Akamas with swift strides and hit him in the right
houlder as he was mounting his car. Akamas fell from the car,
nd a mist came over his eyes. Meriones’ companion
domeneus stabbed Erymas in the mouth with his pitiless 350
ronze.° The bronze spear went straight through
nd came out beneath his brain, splitting the white bones.
rymas’ teeth came flying out and both his eyes
lled with blood. He gaped, spewing blood through his mouth
nd nostrils, and the black cloud of death came down over him. 355

And so each of these men, the leaders of the Danaäns,

illed his man. As ravening wolves assail sheep or kids,
electing them from a flock who are scattered over a mountain
hrough the carelessness of a shepherd, and seeing the flock
he wolves quickly snatch them up, for the flock knows no valor
— 360
ven so the Danaäns assailed the Trojans, who thought only
f shrieking flight, forgetful of their zealous valor.

And Big Ajax wished to throw his spear at Hector,

lothed in bronze, but Hector, through his knowledge of war,
id his broad shoulders beneath his shield of bull’s hide, 365
watching the whizzing of arrows and hearing the thud of spears.
ruly, he knew that the tide of victory was turning,
ut he nonetheless held his ground and sought to save
is trusting comrades. As when from Olympos a cloud
omes into the heavens after clear weather when Zeus
370
preads out a squall, even so did the cry of the rout
ome from the ships,° nor did Trojans cross the ditch
gain in good order. Hector’s swift horses bore him away
n full armor, but he left his Trojan troops behind,
or the ditch held them back against their will.° In the trench 375
hey had dug, many swift horses who drew chariots
roke the poles behind their yokes and abandoned the cars
f their riders.

Patroklos followed close in, calling

iolently to the Danaäns, urging on evil to the Trojans
who filled all the ways with cries of rout, for their ranks 380
were broken. On high a storm of dust spread up to beneath
he clouds, and the single-hoofed horses strained to go back
o the city, away from the ships and the tents. Patroklos,
wherever he saw the Trojans most huddled together
n rout, there he went, screaming. And the men kept falling 385
om their cars—headlong beneath the axles, and their chariots
ell over, rattling. Straight over the ditch leaped his swift horses,
mmortal, that the gods had given to Peleus as a glorious gift.
lying ever onwards, his heart urged him to go up against Hector.
He wanted to strike him down, but Hector’s swift horses 390
arried him safely away.

As when a storm weighs down

he whole black earth on the harvest day, when Zeus
ours down the rattling rain because he rages against men
who by violence give false judgments in the assembly,
riving out justice without regard for the vengeance
395
f the gods, and all the rivers rise in flood, and the torrents
ouge ravines into many hillsides, and down to the dark sea
he rivers rush with a mighty roar headlong from the mountains
nd they ruin the fields of men—even so mighty
was the crash of the Trojan mares as they raced away. 400

When Patroklos had cut off the foremost battalions, he hemmed them in
y turning back toward the ships. Nor would he allow them to enter
he city, though they desired to, but in the space between the
hips and the river and high wall of the city he rushed
pon them, killing as he went, taking revenge for many.
405
 First of all he struck Pronoös with his bright spear
n his chest where the flesh was exposed, next to his shield,
nd he loosed his limbs. Pronoös fell with a thud. Next
e rushed on Thestor, son of Enops, as he cowered
n his highly polished car, his wits distraught with terror, 410
nd the reins had slipped from his hands. Patroklos came up
lose and hit him with his spear in the right jaw. The spear
went through the teeth and with the spear Patroklos
ragged Thestor over the chariot rail, as when a man
itting on a projecting cliff hauls in a sacred fish°
415
ut of the sea to the land with a line and a gleaming
ronze hook—even so he dragged him, gaping,
with his shining spear. He released him face down.
hestor’s breath-soul left him as he tumbled down.

Then Patroklos hit Erylaos with a rock as Erylaos 420

ushed on him. He hit him full on the head.° The head
plit in two inside the heavy helmet. Erylaos fell prone
n the earth, and death that dissolves the breath-soul was poured
ll around him. Then one after another he brought down
o the nourishing earth Erymas and Amphoteros and Epaltes
425
nd Tlepolemos, son of Damastor, and Echios and Pyris
nd Ipheus and Euippos and Polymelos, son of Argeas.°

When Sarpedon saw his companions, who wore their

hirts unbelted, fallen at the hands of Patroklos, the son
f Menoitios, he called aloud, scolding the godlike Lycians:
 430
Shame, O Lycians! Where are you running to?
Now sharpen up! I will myself take on this man so that I
might know who is wielding this power here and doing
o many evils to the Trojans.° For he has loosed the knees
f many fine men.” 435

He spoke and leaped from his chariot

n full armor. Patroklos from the other side saw him jump
om the car, and just as vultures with bent claws and curved
eaks fight on the top of a high peak, scolding terribly,
ven so did they rush on one another, shrieking. The son
f wily Kronos took pity when he saw them, and he spoke
440
o Hera, his sister and wife: “Woe, woe, that Sarpedon,
he dearest of men to me, is fated to die at the hands
f Patroklos, son of Menoitios!° My heart is divided
n two ways as I consider whether to snatch him alive
myself from the tearful battle and place him in the rich 445
and of Lycia, or whether I should kill him
t the hands of the son of Menoitios.”

Then the cow-eyed

evered Hera answered: “Most dread son of Kronos,
what words you have spoken! You want to relieve from
ainful death a mortal man long ago doomed by fate? Do it! 450
ut all the other gods will disapprove. And I will tell you
omething else, and you best give it careful consideration:
you send forth Sarpedon still alive to his own home,
onsider then whether another of the gods will wish
 lso to send his own dear son out of the ferocious
455
ontendings. For there are many offspring of the deathless
nes fighting around the great city of Priam,° and you
will instill a dread anger among them. But if he
so dear to you, and your heart grieves for him—
well, let him be killed at the hands of Patroklos, son of 460
Menoitios. But when his breath-soul and life have left him,
hen send Death and sweet Sleep to carry him off until
hey come to the land of broad Lycia, where his brothers
nd relatives will bury him in a tomb and set up a marker.
For that is the reward of mortals.”
465

So she spoke, and the father

f men and gods did not disobey. He poured out a bloody
ain to the earth in honor of his dear son, whom Patroklos
was about to kill in deep-soiled Troy, far from the land
f his fathers.

When the two men had come close

o one another, Patroklos cast at famous Thrasydemos,
470
he gallant aide to Prince Sarpedon. He hit him
n his lower belly and loosed his limbs. Then Sarpedon,
hrowing at Patroklos next, missed Patroklos with
is bright spear, but he killed the trace-horse Pedasos,
itting the horse with his spear in the right shoulder. 475
edasos whinnied aloud and breathed out his life
s he fell down in the dust and his spirit flew from him.
he other two horses reared in opposite directions. The yoke
 reaked and the reins were tangled as the trace horse
ied in the dust. But for this Automedon, famed for his spear,
480
ound a solution. Drawing his stout sword from beside
is thigh, he leaped down and cut away the trace horse,
nd he succeeded in doing so. The other two horses straightened
nd strained at the reins.

Then the two fighters again

ame together in strife that consumes the soul. Sarpedon
485
missed his shot with his bright spear. The point
f the spear went over Patroklos’ left shoulder and did not
it him, and Patroklos then rushed on with the bronze.
His missile did not leave his hand in vain. He got Sarpedon
here where the lungs shut-in around the throbbing heart. 490
arpedon fell, as when some oak falls or a poplar
r a tall pine that carpenters cut in the mountains with
heir sharpened axes to be a beam for a ship—even so
efore his horses and his car he lay stretched out, groaning
nd grasping at the bloody dust. 495

Just as a lion goes

nto a herd and kills a tawny great-hearted bull
mong the cows that shuffle as they walk, and the bull
erishes moaning in the jaws of the lion, even so the leader
f the shield-bearing Lycians raged as he lay dying at the hands
f Patroklos, and he called out to his dear companion: 500
Dear Glaukos, a warrior among men, now you must be
he spearman and the bold fighter. Now let evil war be your desire,
nd you must be swift! First go up and down the ranks
nd urge the leaders of the Lycians to fight for Sarpedon,
hen yourself fight for me with the bronze. If the Achaeans 505
ake my armor now that I have fallen in the gathering
f the ships, I will on every day in time to come be a shame
nd a reproach to you. Hold your ground with power
nd urge on all the people.”

So speaking, the end that is death

overed his eyes and nostrils. Patroklos set his foot
510
n Sarpedon’s chest and drew the spear out of the flesh.
arpedon’s lungs came with it. At one moment he drew out
he point of the spear and with it came the breath-soul.
he Myrmidons held Sarpedon’s snorting horses who longed
o flee, no longer connected to the chariot of their master.° 515

But dread grief came on Glaukos when he heard the voice

f Sarpedon. His heart was sore because he had been unable
o defend him. With his hand Glaukos took his own arm
nd pressed it. The wound that Teucer had dealt him with his arrow
when Glaukos rushed on the high wall, defending his
companions, 520
ormented him.°

In prayer, Glaukos called out to Apollo who works

om afar: “Hear me, O king, who may be in the rich land
f Lycia or in Troy! But you are everywhere able to hear
man in trouble, even as now trouble has come to me.
For I have a terrible wound. My arm on both sides 525
wracked with sharp pains, nor can I stop the flow
f blood, and my shoulder is heavy from the wound.
cannot hold a spear firmly so that I can go and fight against
he enemy. A man has perished, Sarpedon, by far our best—
he son of Zeus, who cannot defend even his own son! 530
ut do you, O king, heal this terrible wound. Make the pain
o away. Give me strength so that I may call aloud to urge on
he Lycians to make war, and myself fight around the body
f him who has died.”

So he spoke in prayer, and Phoibos

Apollo heard him. At once he stopped the pain in the grievous 535
wound. He dried up the blood, and he placed strength
n his spirit. Glaukos recognized what had happened
nd rejoiced that the great god had quickly heard his prayer.
irst he urged on the leaders of the Lycians to fight
round Sarpedon, going up and down the troops.
540
hen he went into the ranks of the Trojans, taking long strides,
o Poulydamas, the son of Panthoös, and good Antenor,
nd he went after Aeneas and Hector clothed in bronze.

Standing near Hector, he spoke words that went like arrows:

Hector, certainly now you have forgotten the allies who on 545
our account waste away their lives far from their loved ones
nd the land of their fathers. But you are not willing to defend them!
arpedon, the leader of the shield-bearing Lycians, lies dead—
e who guarded Lycia by his judgments and strength.
Brazen Ares has killed him beneath the spear of Patroklos.° 550
My friends, take your stand beside him. Feel anger in your hearts!
Don’t let the Myrmidons take away his armor and treat his body
with contempt, angry because of all the Danaäns who have died,
ll those whom we killed with our spears beside the swift ships.”

So he spoke, and deep grief seized the Trojans—unbearable, 555

ot to be endured. For Sarpedon was a bulwark of the city
lthough he came from afar. Many men followed him,
ut he himself was best in the fight. Then the Trojans
went straight for the Danaäns in a vengeful rage. Hector
ed the way, aflame because of Sarpedon. 560

But Patroklos of the shaggy

eart,° the son of Menoitios, urged on the Achaeans.
irst he addressed the two Ajaxes, already anxious to fight:
Ajaxes, now is the time! Let it be your desire to put up
defense for us, acting as you always did in the midst
f warriors, or braver still. A man lies dead who first leaped 565
within the wall of the Achaeans—Sarpedon. Let us see
we can take his corpse and mutilate it and then strip the armor
om his shoulders, and with the pitiless bronze perhaps kill
ome of his companions who come to defend the corpse.”

So Patroklos spoke, and the Ajaxes themselves were

570
ager to put up a defense. When the fighters on either side
ad bolstered their battalions—the Trojans and Lycians
nd the Myrmidons and Achaeans—they gathered around
he dead man to fight, shouting terribly. Greatly resounded
he arms of the men. Zeus stretched all-destroying night 575
ver the dread contendings so that a ruinous labor
f battle might rage around his own son.

At first the Trojans

rove back the Achaeans with twinkling eyes. A man
was hit, in no way the worst among the Myrmidons—
he good Epeigeus, the son of great-hearted Agakles.
580
He ruled in Boudeion, well populated, in olden times.
ut then he killed a noble relative and fled to Peleus
nd to Thetis with feet of silver. They sent him to follow
long with Achilles, breaker of men, to Ilion
with its fine horses in order to fight the Trojans.° 585

Hector got Epeigeus when he was taking hold of the corpse,

itting him on the head with a stone. The whole head split
n two within its heavy helmet, and he fell on his face
ver the corpse, and over him poured out death that rends
he spirit.
590

Pain overcame Patroklos when his companion

was killed. He headed straight through the forefighters
ke a swift falcon that puts to flight crows and starlings—
ke that, O Patroklos, master of horses, did you rush
 raight at the Lycians and Trojans, and your heart was filled
with anger on account of your companion.
595

Patroklos smashed
thenelaos, the dear son of Ithaimenes,° in the neck with a rock
nd it broke away the tendons. Glorious Hector
nd the foremost Trojans gave ground beneath the assault.
As far as the flight of a long javelin that a man makes
when he tests himself in a contest and also in war
600
nder pressure of the murderous enemy—even so far
id the Trojans pull back and the Achaeans advance.

Glaukos, leader of the shield-bearing Lycians, first turned

round and killed great-hearted Bathykles, the dear son of Chalkon,
who lived in Hellas, outstanding among the Myrmidons for his
605
ches and prosperity.° Glaukos stabbed him in the middle
f the chest with his spear, turning around suddenly when
athykles was about to overtake him in pursuit. Bathykles
it the ground with a thud.

A heavy grief took hold

f the Achaeans when that good man fell, but the Trojans
610
were happy. They moved up and surrounded Bathykles in a crowd.
he Achaeans did not forget their courage, but carried
heir power straight against the Trojans. Meriones took a Trojan,
aogonos, heavy with armor, the brave son of Onetor,
priest of Idaean Zeus° whom the people honored
 615
ke a god. Meriones hit him beneath the jaw under the ear
nd swiftly his breath-soul left his limbs, and hateful
arkness took him.

Aeneas threw his bronze spear at Meriones,

or he hoped to get him as he advanced under cover of his shield.
But Meriones saw it coming and avoided the bronze spear,
620
ooping forward. The long spear was fixed in the ground
ehind him, and the butt of the spear quivered. Then Ares
t length put a stop to the spear’s fury.° Aeneas grew angry
nd said: “Meriones, although you dance nimbly, my spear
would have put a quick end to your dancing forever, if I’d hit
you!” 625

Meriones, famed for his spear, then answered him:

Aeneas, it’s a hard thing for you, although you are strong,
o stifle the strength of every man who defends himself
nd comes against you. For you are mortal too. If I
hould hit you a direct blow with my sharp spear, though
630
ou’re strong and depend on the strength of your hands,
oon you would give up your glory to me, and your breath-soul
o Hades, famed for his horses.”

So he spoke, but the brave

atroklos reproached him: “Meriones, why do you,
good man, start this kind of talk? Surely, I do not think
635
hat insulting words will drive back the Trojans from the corpse!
 efore that the earth will hold many. The outcome of the war
in your hands. Words are for the council—there is no need
o multiply words, but to fight!”

So Patroklos spoke
nd led the way, and Meriones, a man like a god, followed 640
fter him. As a clamor of woodcutters arises in the valleys
f a mountain, and the sound is heard from far off,
ven such a clamor arose from the earth with its broad roads,
clanging of bronze and of hide and of well-made shields
s they thrust at on another with sword and two-edged spears.
645

No longer could even a clever man have seen good Sarpedon,

ecause he was wrapped in missiles and blood and dust
om his head all the way to the bottom of his feet. They crowded
round the corpse as when flies swarm in a farmstead
round the full milk pails in the season of spring when
650
milk drenches the vessels—even so they crowded
round Sarpedon’s corpse. Nor did Zeus ever turn his shining
yes away from the savage contendings, but he gazed steadily
t the men and pondered much in his heart about the killing
f Patroklos. He wondered whether there in the savage fight 655
ver godlike Sarpedon glorious Hector should kill Patroklos
with the bronze and strip away the armor from his shoulders,
r whether he should increase the labor of war for still more men.
As he thus pondered, this seemed to him to be the better course—
hat the valiant aide to Achilles, the son of Peleus, should 660
gain drive the Trojans and the heavily armed Hector
oward the city, and take the lives of many.

In Hector first
f all he implanted the coward’s spirit: Mounting his chariot,
Hector turned in flight, and he called to the other Trojans
o flee. For he recognized a turning of the sacred scales
665
f Zeus. The brave Lycians did not wait then but they
ed, all of them, when they saw their leader pierced
n the heart, lying in the assembly of the dead with many
allen on top of him, for the son of Kronos strained taut
he cords of war. 670

From the shoulders of Sarpedon they stripped

he armor—bronze, shining!—and they carried it to the hollow
hips. The brave son of Menoitios gave it to his companions
o carry. And then Zeus who gathers the clouds spoke to Apollo:
Come now, dear Phoibos, cleanse Sarpedon of the dark blood
when you have removed him from the shower of arrows, and
carry 675
im far away and bathe him in the streams of the river. Anoint him
with ambrosia, and put around him immortal clothing. Send him
o be borne by swift conveyers, the twins Sleep and Death,
who will quickly place him in the rich land of broad Lycia,
where his brothers and relatives will bury him in a tomb and set
up 680
grave stone. For that is the reward for mortals.”

So he spoke,
nd Apollo obeyed his father. He went down from the mountains
 f Ida to the dread din of battle, and immediately he raised up
arpedon from the storm of arrows. He carried him far away
nd washed him in the streams of the river. He anointed him with 685
mbrosia and put around him immortal clothing. Then he sent him
o be borne by swift conveyers, the twins Sleep and Death,
who quickly set him down in the rich land of broad Lycia.

But Patroklos with a call to his horses and to Automedon

went after the Trojans and the Lycians—he was blind, blind,
690
he fool! If he had obeyed the word of the son of Peleus,
e would have avoided the dire fate of black death. But the intent
f Zeus is always stronger that that of men. He drives even
rave men to rout and easily takes away victory when he
imself rouses men to fight. And it was Zeus who then put
695
pirit into the breast of Patroklos! Who first, who last
id you kill, O Patroklos, when the gods called you to death?
Adrastos first and Autnoös and Echeklos and Perimos, son of
Megas, and Epistor and Melanippos, and then Elasos and Mylios
nd Pylartes°—you killed all these men, and all the rest, 700
very last one, thought only of flight.

Then the sons

f the Achaeans would have taken high-gated Troy at the hands
f Patroklos, for he raged around them and in front of them with his spear,
Phoibos Apollo did not take his stand on the well-built wall,
iming destructive thoughts against Patroklos and helping the
Trojans. 705
hree times Patroklos leaped on the corner of the high wall,
hree times did Apollo push him back, thrusting against his
hining shield with his deathless hands. But when Patroklos leaped

FIGURE 16.2 Death of Sarpedon. Sleep and Death prepare to carry

away the dead Sarpedon in the presence of Hermes. Two unknown warriors,
Leodamas and Hippolytos, look on from either side; the names are
inscribed. Sleep, to the left, and Death, to the right, are winged, but
otherwise fully armed mature warriors. The naked Sarpedon, stripped of his
armor, is pierced by three wounds—one to his throat, one to his belly, and
one on his thigh. The messenger-god Hermes, in charge of all
transportation, wears a traveler’s cap with broad brim and carries his wand,
the caduceus. His feet are winged. One of the most celebrated of ancient
paintings, the Euphronios wine-mixing bowl was a possession of the
Metropolitan Museum in New York City between 1972 and 2008, when it
was repatriated to Italy. It is now in the Villa Giulia in Rome. Athenian red-
 figure wine-mixing bowl signed by Euxitheos (potter) and Euphronios
(painter), c. 515 BC, found in Cerveteri, Italy.

n them for the fourth time, like a god, Apollo spoke words
with a terrible cry that went like arrows: “Pull back, god-
nourished 710
atroklos! It is not fated that the city of the high-minded
rojans perish beneath your spear—nor by that of Achilles,
who is much better than you!” So he spoke, and Patroklos retreated,
voiding the anger of Apollo who shoots from a great distance.

Hector pulled up his single-hoofed horses at the Scaean Gates.

715
He debated whether he should fight, driving again into the melée,
r whether he should call out to the people to shut themselves
ehind the walls. While he was so pondering, Phoibos Apollo
ood beside him in the form of a man, young and strong—
Asios, the uncle of horse-taming Hector, the brother
720
f Hekabê, the son of Dymas, who lived in PHRYGIA
n the banks of the SANGARIOS RIVER.

Taking his likeness,

Apollo, the son of Zeus, said: “Hector, why do you cease fighting?
Gather yourself! I wish that I were as much stronger than you
s I am weaker. Then you would regret pulling back from the war.
725
ut come, send your strong-hooved horses against Patroklos.
Maybe you can take him and Apollo will give you glory.”

So speaking, he went again, a god, into the labor of men.

Glorious Hector ordered wise Kebriones to lash his horses
nto the battle. But Apollo went away into the crowd.
730
He sent evil tumult into the Argives and gave glory
o the Trojans and to Hector. Hector let the other Danaäns go
nd did not try to kill them, but he drove his strong-hooved
orses against Patroklos, who from his side leaped
o the ground from his car, holding his spear in his left hand.
735
With his other hand he picked up a rock—shining, jagged—
is hand covered it completely. He planted his feet firmly
nd threw it. He did not back off from his enemy, nor did he hurl
n vain, but he hit Hector’s charioteer Kebriones, bastard son
f the famous Priam, right on the forehead with the sharp stone
740
s Kebriones held the reins of the horses. The stone smashed
oth his brows together, and the bone did not withstand the blow.
His eyes fell to the ground in the dust right there before his feet.
ike a diver he sailed from the well-made car, and his breath-soul
eft his bones. 745

Mocking him, O horseman Patroklos,

ou said: “Ha, hey, here is a nimble man! How lightly he dives!
he should ride on the fishy sea, he would satisfy many by
iving for oysters, leaping from the ship even in a storm—
onsidering how he now dives onto the plain from his car!
Well now, there are plenty of divers among the Trojans.”
750

So speaking, he made for the warrior Kebriones, swooping

n him like a lion that in laying waste a farmstead has taken
blow on its chest, and his own bravery brings him to ruin—
 ven so, O Patroklos, did you leap eagerly on Kebriones.

And against him Hector leaped to the ground from his car. 755
he two of them grappled like lions who fight on the peaks
f a mountain over a dead deer, both hungry, both with high heart—
ven so the two masters of the war-cry fought over Kebriones.
atroklos, the son of Menoitios, and glorious Hector
ried to slash each other’s flesh with the pitiless bronze.
760
Hector took hold of the head of the corpse and would not let go.
atroklos pulled at the foot, and other Trojans and Danaäns
oined the dread contending.

As East Wind and South Wind

rive with one another to shake a deep wood in the valley
f a mountain—a wood of oak and ash and smooth-barked 765
ogwood that dash their long branches against one another
with a wondrous sound amid a crashing of broken branches—
ven so the Trojans and Achaeans leaped upon one another
nd cut each other to pieces. Nor did either side think of ruinous
light. Many sharp spears were fixed around Kebriones
770
nd arrows flew from many bowstrings, and many large stones
mashed against the shields of the men as they fought around Kebriones,
where he lay great in his greatness, in the whirl of the dust, forgetful
f his horsemanship.

Now for as long as Helios straddled mid-heaven,

or so long missiles hit men on both sides, and the people fell.
 775
ut when Helios turned to the time for the unyoking of oxen,
hen the Achaeans were stronger than what was fated to be.°
Out from the range of arrows they carried the warrior Kebriones,
ut of the battle-din of the Trojans, and they stripped the armor
rom his shoulders. And then Patroklos, intending evil, fell on
780

FIGURE 16.3 Kebriones. Hector’s charioteer mounts his chariot before

being killed by Patroklos. Hector, holding a spear and wearing a robe, and
an armed companion stand to the left of the chariot; Glaukos, holding a
spear and wearing a similar robe, and an armed companion stand to the
right. Kebriones is in the chariot. The figures are labeled. It is a four-horse
chariot, which never appears in Homer, unless the outside horses are trace-
horses. Athenian black-figure wine-jug, c. 575–550 BC.

he Trojans. Three times he rushed on them, the equal to swift Ares,

creaming terribly, and three times he killed nine men. But when
or the fourth time he charged, like a god, then, O Patroklos,
ame the end of your life. For Phoibos met you in the dread
onflict, an awesome power. 785
 Patroklos did not see Phoibos
s he came through the melée: Hidden in a thick cloud Apollo
met him. Apollo stood behind him and struck him on the back
etween his broad shoulders with the flat of his hand, and his eyes
went spinning. Phoibos Apollo then knocked the helmet
rom Patroklos’ head, and it rolled ringing beneath the feet 790
f the horses—the helmet with its fitted crest and plumes,
ll befouled with blood and dust! It was not allowed before
hat this helmet with horse-hair plume be befouled with dust,
or it protected the head of a godlike man and his handsome
orehead—Achilles! But then Zeus gave it to Hector
795
o wear on his head. And now destruction was coming on Hector.

And the long-shadowed spear that Patroklos held in his hands

was wholly broken—heavy, large, strong, with a bronze tip.
rom his shoulders the tasseled shield with its shield-strap fell
o the ground. And Apollo, the son of Zeus, the king, loosed
800
he breastplate.

Now blindness seized Patroklos’ mind,

is shining limbs were loosed beneath him, and he stood
n a daze. Then Euphorbos, the son of Panthoös, a Dardanian,
ast at him with his sharp spear from close range and hit him
n the middle of the back between the shoulders—Euphorbos
805
who surpassed all his agemates in throwing the spear and
n horsemanship and in swiftness of foot. He had
lready thrown twenty men from their cars, coming
ecently with his chariot to learn the art of war. He first cast
is spear at you, O horseman Patroklos, but he did not kill you.°
 810

Euphorbos pulled his ashen spear from Patroklos’ flesh

hen ran back to mix-in with the crowd. He did not come again
t Patroklos, now naked in the fight. Patroklos, overcome
y the blow of the god and by the spear, withdrew back into
he throng of his companions, avoiding death. When Hector 815
aw great-hearted Patroklos withdraw, wounded by the sharp bronze,
e came close to him through the ranks, and he stabbed him with his spear
n the lower part of the belly. He drove through the bronze.
atroklos fell with a thudding sound, greatly paining the Achaeans.

As when a lion conquers an untiring boar in fight, struggling

with 820
igh hearts over a small spring on the peaks of a mountain
hat they both want to drink from—the boar pants hard but the lion
vercomes him with his strength—even so did Hector, son of Priam,
ake away the life of the brave son of Menoitios, who had
illed many, standing near him and striking him with his spear.
825

Boasting, Hector spoke words that went like arrows:

Patroklos, you said that you would sack our city and take away
he day of freedom from our Trojan women, and drive them
n your ships to the land of your fathers—fool! In front of them
he swift horses of Hector stride out to fight. And I myself 830
m preeminent among the war-loving Trojans, I who can keep them
om the day of slavery. But you—vultures will devour you now, dog!
Achilles for all his excellence did you no good. He no doubt
 ave you much advice as you went forth and he remained behind.
Don’t return to the hollow ships, Patroklos, master of horsemen, 835
efore you have torn the bloody breastplate from around the chest
f man-killing Hector!’ Thus, I imagine, he spoke to you,
nd he persuaded you in your folly.”

Patroklos, the horseman,

ou spoke back to Hector, all strength gone: “You make a great
oast now, O Hector. Zeus the son of Kronos has given you
victory, 840
nd Apollo, who easily overcame me—for they took my armor
om my shoulders. But if twenty men such as you had faced me,
ll would have perished here, conquered by my spear.
ut ruinous fate and the son of Leto has killed me,
nd of men, Euphorbos. You are only the third in my killing.
845
“But I will tell you something, and you best lay it to heart:
Your own life is not long, but death already stands close beside you,
nd powerful fate, that you be killed at the hands of Achilles,
he blameless grandson of Aiakos.”°
o he spoke, and then death
overed him, and his breath-soul fled to the house of Hades, 850
amenting its fate, leaving behind manliness and youth.

Even though he was dead, glorious Hector spoke to him:

Patroklos, why do you prophesy for me my sheer destruction?
Who knows whether Achilles, the son of Thetis with pretty hair,
might first be hit by my spear and lose his life?”
855
 So speaking he put his heel on the corpse and pulled out his bronze
om the wound, and he pushed Patroklos backwards from the spear.
At once he went after Automedon with his spear, the godlike
ide of Achilles the fast runner, for Hector wanted to strike him.
But the swift immortal horses, which the gods had given 860
o Peleus as splendid gifts, bore Automedon away.

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shepherd of the people: In Book 11 Achilles sent Patroklos to ask about the
wounded Machaon, but his errand was interrupted when he met Nestor (he
never gets to Machaon), who asks him to try to persuade Achilles to return
to the fight, or at least to allow Patroklos to fight in Achilles’ place. This
will give the Achaeans a break. Patroklos starts back to Achilles’ hut but
stops on the way to help the wounded Eurypylos. He does not leave
Eurypylos’ hut until Book 15. Now at the opening of Book 16, he finally
returns to Achilles.
wonderful gifts: Critics have complained that in Book 9 the Achaeans made
this very offer to Achilles. But although Achilles then rejected
Agamemnon’s attempt to buy him off, he remains angry and anxious to
receive restitution.
grandson of Aiakos: Achilles.
Automedon: First mentioned in Book 9, he is third in command among the
Myrmidons. He serves as Patroklos’ driver, as Patroklos was Achilles’
driver.
… of Ocean: Xanthos is “red” and Balios is “patches.” Podargê is either
“white-foot” or “swift-foot.” The Harpies, “snatchers,” were personified
storm winds, perhaps originally spirits of Death, but here Podargê takes on
the form of a horse. It was widely believed in antiquity that the wind could
impregnate mares in sexual heat. With both parents being winds, Achilles’
horses were the fastest at Troy.
deathless horses: Pedasos was taken in the same raid on which Achilles
captured Chryseïs.
Menesthios: In the following catalog of Myrmidon leaders, the names seem
to be made up—they do not reappear in the narrative—except for old man
Phoinix, Achilles’ tutor (Book 9, also 17).
Polydora: Hence Achilles’ half-sister (by another woman, not Thetis).
his own son: Because Polymelê abandoned Eudoros when she married
Echekles.
… to Zeus: Achilles’ hut is imagined to have an open courtyard with an
altar to Zeus Herkeios, “Zeus of the Courtyard,” the guardian of the house
to whom the hero prays. Such altars were typical of Greek houses
throughout antiquity.
unwashed feet: Achilles prays to the Zeus of DODONA, far west from PHTHIA
across the PINDUS range in a remote mountainous part of EPIRUS, where
there was an ancient shrine to Zeus. Dodona is 12 miles southwest of the
modern city of Yaninna. Homer derives Peleus’ family from here. The
Pelasgians were a prehistoric tribe who did not speak Greek, attesting to the
shrine’s antiquity. The unwashed feet of the Selloi and their practice of
sleeping on the ground are probably ritual taboos. At first Zeus was thought
to indwell the sacred oak itself, which had the power of speech, then the
Selloi were the interpreters of the sounds made by the wind in the tree. In
classical times the Selloi were replaced by women. Some read “Helloi”
instead of “Selloi,” and Aristotle said that the Hellenes originated from here
before migrating to Hellas near Phthia. Dodona was also the home of the
tribe of the Graikoi, from whom the Romans, just across the Adriatic Sea,
took the name “Greeks” to refer to the inhabitants of the southern Balkan
peninsula—the name we use today.
his aide: Automedon.
Axios River: Pyraichmes means “fire-spear,” appropriate to the action. The
location of Amydon on the Axios river in northern Macedonia (Map 1, 2) is
unknown.
… to the war: As the sudden light breaks through the clouds during a
storm, so did the Achaeans suddenly gain the advantage over the Trojans,
but the storm is not yet over.
… to men: A Greek also has the name Areïlykos in Book 14. Thoas is a
common name, also borne by a Greek in Books 13 and 17. This is the only
time that two brothers, the sons of Nestor—Antilochos and Thrasymedes—
kill two other brothers, the sons of Amisodaros, Amphiklos and Atymnios.
Erebos, “darkness,” is the daughter of Night, and refers to the subterranean
gloom where the dead dwell. Nothing else is known about Amisodaros’
rearing of the Chimaira, the three-bodied fire-breathing monster that lived
in LYCIA, killed by Bellerophon (Figure 6.1).
… pitiless bronze: Kleoboulos is otherwise unknown. In Book 14 Peneleos,
from Boeotia, missed Akamas, the son of Antenor, but beheaded another
Trojan. Here the Cretan archer Meriones kills Akamas, and Peneleos
beheads the unknown Lykon. Another Erymas dies later in this book!
from the ships: The cloud starts on Zeus’s mountain top, then moves off it
as Zeus builds the storm, just as the Trojans are moved off from the ships.
their will: Evidently Hector escapes across the causeway that Apollo
cleared earlier, while the other Trojans are caught in the ditch.
sacred fish: No one has ever explained what Homer means by “sacred fish.”
on the head: Patroklos must now be on the ground to pick up a rock: Homer
takes it for granted that his audience understands how Patroklos mounts and
dismounts his chariot as the need arises.
… Argeas: All these victims’ names are Greek. Most are unknown. Erymas
is reused from earlier in the book, and Echios, “snake,” from Book 15.
Epaltes means “owl.”
to the Trojans: Sarpedon knows only that the man is not Achilles, not that
this is Patroklos. Homer makes surprisingly little use of the dramatic device
of Patroklos being mistaken for Achilles because he wears Achilles’ armor.
son of Menoitios: The Lycian leader Sarpedon is second only to Hector in
prowess. Fate is stronger even than Zeus, whose power is thus limited.
city of Priam: Actually, not very many. The sons of the gods who fight at
Troy are: Sarpedon (Zeus) and Aeneas (Aphrodite) on the Trojan side, and
Achilles (Thetis), Eudoros (Hermes), and Askalaphos and Ialmenos (Ares)
on the Achaean side.
their master: In fact the horses are still attached to the chariot—a slip.
his companions: Teucer wounded Glaukos in Book 12.
Patroklos: So ends the motif, little developed, of Patroklos deceiving the
Trojans by wearing Achilles’ armor.
shaggy heart: Apparently Homeric heroes have a strong heart in a hairy
chest!
to fight the Trojans: Epeigeus, perhaps “hastener,” and Agakles, “very
famous,” are invented for this scene. The place Boudeion is unknown but is
probably in Phthia. The motif of exile because of murdering a relative is
common in epic.
Ithaimenes: Both Sthenelaos, “strength of the people,” and Ithaimenes,
perhaps “of sure courage,” are unknown.
and prosperity: Bathykles, “of deep fame,” and Chalkon, “man of bronze,”
are just names, although Chalkon has a name from Glaukos’ own family.
Hellas, a region in southern Thessaly (Maps 1, 2), is close to or includes
Phthia, Achilles’ territory.
Idaean Zeus: Laogonos, “child of the people,” and Onetor, “beneficiary,”
are handy names used elsewhere. Zeus had cults on both Trojan Mount Ida
and on the Mount Ida in central Crete.
spear’s fury: The spear is like a living thing that has fury and courage, to
which Ares, the force of war, puts a stop; that is, the spear stopped
quivering.
Pylartes: The names of these cannon-fodder Trojan characters are all Greek.
fated to be: This is the only time in Homer that something happens “beyond
what is fated,” emphasizing the extraordinary nature of Patroklos’
achievements.
…not kill you: Patroklos’ death is strange. Probably in an early form of the
story the armor was magical, invulnerable, and so could only be removed
by a god. The scene is perhaps modeled on the death of Achilles told in
some other epic. Euphorbos, of whom we have never heard, is a stand-in for
Paris, who killed Achilles at the Scaean Gates in alliance with Apollo. Like
Paris, he is a noble herdsman, good at the games, handsome, and an enemy
of Menelaos, who kills him in Book 17.
of Aiakos: Dying men are thought to have prophetic powers.

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 BOOK 17. The Fight Over the
Corpse of Patroklos

IftAtreus,
did not escape the notice of war-loving Menelaos, the son
that Patroklos had been killed in battle by the Trojans.
He strode through the vanguard troops armed in shining bronze.
He stood over the corpse like a mother stands over her calf,
whimpering, the first one she has given birth to—even so
5
ght-haired Menelaos stood over Patroklos. He held
efore him his spear and shield, equal on all sides,
ager to kill whoever should come against him.

Nor was Euphorbos, the son of Panthoös, unaware

hat the blameless Patroklos had fallen, so he strode up close
10
nd accosted war-loving Menelaos: “O Menelaos, son
f Atreus, god-nourished leader of the people—step back!
eave the corpse! Let the bloody armor go! For before me
ot one of the Trojans or her famous allies struck the good Patroklos
with his spear in the dread contendings. So let me gain 15
noble reputation among the Trojans—and I’ll now
ast at you and take away your life, sweet as honey!”

Growling deeply, light-haired Menelaos spoke:

 Father Zeus, it is no good thing to make a proud boast!
But the strength of a leopard is not so great, nor a lion,
20
or a wild destroying boar whose spirit in its breast
xults in its power more than any creature, as is the spirit
f the sons of Panthoös who hold fine ashen spears!
Nor did the might of horse-taming Hyperenor have much
rofit of his youth, when he scorned me and awaited
25
my coming, and said I was the worst fighter among the Danaäns.°
don’t think that he went home on his own feet to bring joy
o his beloved wife and caring parents! Even so, I think,
will I loose your own strength, if you stand against me.
o back off, I urge you, into the crowd! Don’t stand against me,
30
r you will suffer some evil. Even a fool is smart once
he deed is done!”

So he spoke, but Euphorbos did not

eed him. He said in reply: “Now, god-nourished Menelaos,
ou will pay the price. You killed my brother and now
ou boast. You made his wife a widow in her newly 35
uilt bridal chamber, and you fashioned unspeakable sorrow
nd pain for his parents. Surely I will end their grief,
heir sorrow, when I bring home your head and armor and place
hem in the hands of Panthoös and the queenly Phrontis.
But the struggle will not be untried or unsought for long,
40
ither for victory or flight!”

So speaking, he stabbed
t Menelaos’ shield, balanced on every side, but the bronze
id not break through. The point of the spear was bent
n the powerful shield. Then, swiftly, Menelaos, the son of Atreus,
ushed on Euphorbos with his spear, praying to father Zeus.
45
As Euphorbos faded back, Menelaos hit him at the base of the throat
nd he put his weight in it, trusting to his powerful thrust.
he spear point went straight through the tender neck
nd Euphorbos fell with a thud. His armor clanged about him.
His hair was drenched in blood—hair like the Graces’—
50
nd his locks pinched together with gold and silver, like
he waist of a wasp.° As a man nourishes a blooming olive
n a lonesome place where an abundance of water wells up—
beautiful tree, luxuriant, and the blasts of all the winds
make it quiver, and it teems with white blossoms, but suddenly 55
wind comes up in a destructive tempest and tears
from its trench and lays it low on the earth—
ven so Menelaos, the son of Atreus, stripped off
he armor of Euphorbos after he killed him: Euphorbos,
who carried a fine ashen spear, the son of Panthoös. 60

As when a lion reared in the mountains, trusting

n its power, seizes the best of the cows from a herd while
grazes, and first he seizes her neck in his strong teeth
nd breaks it, then gulps down the blood and the guts
n his rage, and all around him the dogs and herdsmen wail
65
oud from a distance, but they do not want to get too close,
or giddy fear has taken hold of them—even so,
o heart in any Trojan breast dared to come against
he mighty Menelaos.
 Then the son of Atreus would
asily have carried away the famous armor of the son
70
f Panthoös, but Phoibos Apollo would not allow it.
Apollo aroused Hector, the equal to swift Ares, in the likeness
f Mentes, a leader of the Ciconians.° He spoke and addressed
im with words that went like arrows: “Hector, you are
unning now after what you can never attain, the horses 75
f the war-loving grandson of Aiakos. They are hard for mortal
men to control or to hold fast—except for Achilles, the child
f an immortal mother. In the meanwhile the warrior Menelaos,
he son of Atreus, bestrides Patroklos after killing Euphorbos,
on of Panthoös, the best of the Trojans, and he has put an end
80
o his bravery.”

So speaking Apollo, a god, went back

nto the work of men. But a dread grief covered Hector’s dark
pirit. He glanced then along the ranks, and immediately he saw
Menelaos stripping away the glorious armor from Euphorbos
ying on the ground. The blood poured from the open wound. 85
Hector went through the forefighters, armed in his flaming
ronze, shouting aloud like the unquenchable flame of Hephaistos.

The son of Atreus heard his shrill cry. Groaning,

e spoke to his own abundant spirit: “Well, if I let
o of the beautiful armor,° and Patroklos, who died 90
or the sake of my own honor, I fear that many of the Danaäns
may be angry with me, if somebody should see. But if
om shame I fight against Hector and the Trojans,
 eing alone, I fear that they will surround me—there
re so many! Hector of the flashing helmet is leading 95
ll the Trojans here!
“But why is my heart having
his conversation? When a man wants against the gods’
will to fight another man, a man whom the god honors,
reat pain comes quickly rolling down upon him.

FIGURE 17.1 Hector and Menelaos fight over Euphorbos. Hector is

on the right, Menelaos on the left, while Euphorbos lies dead between them.
The warriors, labeled, are armed as classical hoplites. Hector’s shield is
emblazoned with a crow. Two apotropaic eyes (“turning away evil”) are
suspended from a central decorative device. Hector does not actually fight
Menelaos over Euphorbos in the Iliad, but he tries to. The philosopher
 Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 495 BC), who taught metempsychosis, claimed to be a
reincarnation of Euphorbos. He said that he recognized Euphorbos’ shield
as his own, hung in the temple to Hera at Argos where Menelaos had taken
it. An early representation of an Iliadic scene on a plate made in Rhodes
around 610 BC.

Therefore no man of the Danaäns will be angry with me 100

who sees me back off from Hector, for he fights with the
upport of the gods. But if I might somewhere find Ajax, good
t the war cry, the two of us may return, having
elish for the war, even if the gods are against us.
Then perhaps we can drag out the body of Patroklos and 105
eliver it to Achilles, the son of Peleus. Of evil outcomes,
hat would be best.”

While he thus meditated in his heart

nd mind, the ranks of the Trojans came on with Hector
n the lead. Menelaos pulled back and left the corpse,
urning constantly around like a long-whiskered lion 110
hat dogs and men chase from a farm with swords
nd shouts, and the lion’s brave heart is congealed in his breast
s he goes unwilling from the fold—even so light-haired
Menelaos pulled back from Patroklos.°

He stopped and turned

round when he reached the throng of his companions, looking 115
round for Big Ajax, the great, the son of Telamon. He saw
im quickly on the far left of the battle, arousing his companions
nd urging them to fight. For Phoibos Apollo had cast a strange
ear into the Achaeans.

Menelaos ran to meet him,

nd soon stood by his side and said: “Ajax,° come quick, 120
my friend, so that we might retrieve the dead Patroklos,
nd maybe we can carry his body to Achilles, his naked corpse.
ut Hector of the flashing helm has his armor.”

So he spoke,
nd he wakened the warlike spirit in Ajax, who strode
hrough the front fighters together with light-haired Menelaos.
125

Now Hector, when he had stripped off Patroklos’ glorious

rmor, tried to pull him away so that he could cut off the head
om his shoulders with the sharp bronze and drag away the corpse
nd give it to the dogs of Troy. But Ajax came near,
arrying his shield like a tower. Then Hector gave ground,
130
ack into the crowd of his companions, and he leaped into
is chariot. He gave the beautiful armor to the Trojans to carry
o the city, to be a great glory for him.

Meanwhile Ajax
overed the son of Menoitios with his broad shield. He stood
here like a lion around his cubs, one that the huntsmen
135
ave met in the forest while he leads his young, and he exults
n his power as he draws down the skin over his brows so as
o cover his eyes—even so Ajax bestrode the warrior Patroklos.
he war-loving Menelaos, son of Atreus, took his stand
n the other side of the corpse, nursing great sorrow in his breast. 140

Glaukos, the son of Hippolochos, leader of the Lycians,

with an angry glance from beneath his brows, spoke to Hector
ard words: “Hector, nice to look at, in battle you are
xceedingly lacking! Your fine reputation is worthless. You are
coward! So have a thought for how you will save your country
145
nd its capital alone with only those born in Ilion
t your side. Of the Lycians no one will go forth to fight
he Danaäns on behalf of the city when there is no thanks
or fighting against the enemy constantly, without respite.
“For how is it that you would save a worse man in the
150
ress of battle—scoundrel!—when you left Sarpedon, your
uest-friend and companion, to be the prey and spoil of the Argives,
ne who was a help to the city and to yourself while he was alive?
As it is, you have not had the courage to defend him from the dogs.
f any Lycian will obey us, we will head home, and utter
destruction 155
or Troy will be certain. I wish that the Trojans were fearless
nd undaunted such as men are who fight and contend against
he enemy for their fatherland—then right away we would drag
atroklos into Ilion. If we could get his dead body into the great city
f King Priam and snatch him from the battle, the Argives would 160
uickly give up the beautiful armor of Sarpedon, and we could bring
arpedon’s body back to Ilion.° For Patroklos was aide to Achilles,
he best of the Argives by the ships, and his followers are fighters
n the hand-to-hand. But you did not have the courage
o take your stand before great-hearted Ajax and to look 165
 im in the eye in the contest of foes, nor to fight him—
e is a better man than you are!”

Peering at him from beneath

is brows, Hector of the flashing helmet said: “Glaukos,
why do you talk with such arrogance, considering what kind
f man you are? Yes, I thought that you were superior 170
n understanding to all those who dwell in Lycia with its rich soil.
ut now I despise your intelligence, in light of your words,
who say I would not stand up to huge Ajax! I do not shudder
t the battle nor the thundering of horses, but always the mind
f Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish is stronger,
175
who puts to flight even brave men and easily deprives
hem of victory—it is thus when Zeus rouses men to fight.
ut come now, my friend, stand beside me and watch what I do,
whether I will be proven a coward all day long, as you say,
r whether I will put a stop to the valor of any of the Danaäns
180
who is eager to mount a defense over the dead body of Patroklos.”

So speaking, he shouted aloud to his armies: “Trojans and Lycians

nd Dardanians who fight in close—be men, my friends!
urn your thoughts to the dread contendings while I put on
he beautiful armor of blameless Achilles, which I took 185
om powerful Patroklos after I killed him.”

Having thus spoken,

Hector of the flashing helmet went off from the dire war.
At a run, he quickly arrived to his companions who were nearby,
urrying after them on swift feet. They were carrying the glorious
rmor of the son of Peleus to the city. Standing aside
190
om the fearful fighting, he exchanged armor. He gave
is own armor to the war-loving Trojans to carry to sacred Ilion,
ut dressed himself in the immortal armor of Achilles,
he son of Peleus, which the heavenly gods had given to his
ather Peleus, and he gave the armor to his son when he grew old.
195
ut the son was not to grow old in this armor of the father.

When cloud-gathering Zeus saw from afar Hector

utting on the armor of the godlike son of Peleus,
e shook his head and addressed his own heart: “Ah wretch,
eath is not in your thoughts, but it is close. You put on 200
he immortal arms of a very great man, of whom all others
re in terror. You have killed his companion who was gentle
nd strong, and you removed the armor from his head and shoulders
ot in accordance with what is right. But for now I will instill
great power in you, in recompense for this fact—that never
205
will Andromachê receive from you, as you return from battle,
he glorious arms of the son of Peleus.”

Zeus spoke,
nd the son of Kronos nodded with his dark-blue brows.°
eus fitted the armor to Hector’s flesh, and Ares entered
nto him, the terrifying Enyalios, and he filled Hector’s limbs
210
with strength and power. Hector went his way, shouting loudly,
nto the company of his renowned allies, and he appeared
n front of all, shining in the armor of the son of Peleus.
He urged the Trojans on, man by man, addressing them
s he went up and down the ranks: Mesthles and Glaukos° and
Medon 215
nd Thersilochos and Asteropaios and Deisenor and Hippothoös
nd Phorkys and Chromios and the bird-prophet Ennomos.°

He urged them on, speaking words that went like arrows:

Hear me, you ten thousand tribes of allies who live hereabouts!
Not because I sought or needed a huge number of you did I 220
ather each man of you here from your cities, but so that you might
with a ready heart save the wives and little children of the Trojans
om the war-loving Achaeans. With this in mind I waste
he substance of the people with gifts and food so that I might
ncrease the strength of every one of you—and now is the time 225
hat you turn against the enemy and either perish or be saved!
uch is the sweet-talk of war. Whoever succeeds in pulling
atroklos, although he is dead, into the midst of the horse-taming
rojans, and makes Ajax to back off, him I will give half the spoils
nd take half for myself. Thus he will win as much glory as I.” 230

So Hector spoke, and they went straight for the Danaäns,

utting all their weight into it, holding their spears high.
hey hoped very much to snatch the corpse away
om Ajax, son of Telamon—the fools! Truly, Ajax
ook the lives of many in the fight over Patroklos!
235
 Ajax spoke to Menelaos, good at the war cry: “My friend,
od-nourished Menelaos, I don’t think that the two of us
re going to get out of this war by ourselves alone.
am not so much afraid for the corpse of Patroklos, who will soon
lut the dogs and birds of the Trojans, as I fear for my own life 240
hat is in danger, and for yours, because the cloud of war
overs everything, including Hector, and sheer destruction
plain for us to see. But come, call the chiefs of the Danaäns,
n the hopes that someone will heed.” So he spoke,
nd Menelaos, good at the war cry, did not disobey. 245

Menelaos let out a piercing shout and called to the Danaäns:

My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, those of you
who drink at the king’s expense with Agamemnon and Menelaos
s hosts, the sons of Atreus, and give commands to your own
eople—from Zeus comes your honor and your glory!—it is hard
250
or me to spy out each of you leaders because so great
urns the strife of war. But let every one of you go forth
y himself and have shame in his heart that Patroklos
ecomes a flesh-toy for the dogs of Troy!”

So he spoke,
nd swift Ajax, the son of Oïleus, heard Menelaos clearly. 255
He came first on a run to meet him in the battle, and after him
domeneus and the comrade of Idomeneus, Meriones, the equal
o man-killing Enyalios. Of the others who came, who could name
hem from his own intelligence?—so many there were who aroused
he battle of the Achaeans.
260
 Then the Trojans pressed forward
n a mass with Hector in the lead. As when at the mouth
f a river swollen with rain a great wave of the sea roars
gainst the stream, and round about the cliffs of the shore
cho as the salt sea belches beyond—so great was the shouting
f the Trojans.
265

But the Achaeans took their stand around

he son of Menoitios, and with a single mind fenced
with their shields of bronze. And the son of Kronos
oured a great mist over their shining helmets, for he had
o hatred for the son of Menoitios in earlier times,
while he was alive and aide to the grandson of Aiakos. 270
eus deplored that Patroklos might become the booty for the dogs
f the Trojan enemy, and so he roused the Achaeans to defend him.

At first the Trojans drove back the bright-eyed Achaeans,

who left the corpse and shrank back, but not a single man
id the high-hearted Trojans kill with their spears, although 275
ager to do so, as the Trojans tried to drag off the corpse.
lagging, the Achaeans held off only a short while from their task
efore Ajax quickly rallied them, superior in his bearing
nd in the deeds of war to all other Danaäns, after the blameless
on of Peleus. Ajax went straight through the forefighters 280
ke a wild boar in his strength who easily scatters dogs
nd lusty youths, wheeling on them in a clearing of the woods—
ven so the illustrious Ajax, son of noble Telamon,
 asily scattered the battalions once he had got among
he Trojans, those who had gathered around Patroklos, 285
onging to carry the body to their city and so gain glory.

Then Hippothoös,° the glorious son of Pelasgian Lethos,

ot a strap around the tendons of both ankles and dragged
atroklos through the ferocious contendings, bringing pleasure to Hector
nd the Trojans. But swiftly did an evil come on him that no one
290
ould prevent, though desiring it. For the son of Telamon darted
hrough the crowd and struck Hippothoös up close through the helmet
with its bronze cheek pieces. The helmet with its crest of horsehair
was split around the point of the spear, smashed by the great spear
rom Ajax’s powerful hand. And the bloody brains ran out 295
long the socket from the wound. Hippothoös’ strength
was loosened, and out of his hands he dropped to the ground
he foot of great-hearted Patroklos. Hippothoös fell there
n his face beside the body of Patroklos, far from Larisa
with its deep soil, nor did he pay back to his beloved parents
300
he cost of his upbringing. Brief was the span of his life,
allen beneath the spear of great-hearted Ajax.

Then Hector
hrew his shining spear at Ajax, but Ajax, watching him steadily,
voided the bronze spear by a hair. Instead Hector struck
reat-hearted Schedios, the son of Iphitos,° by far the best 305
f the Phocians, who dwelled in a house in famous Panopeus,°
uling over many men. He hit him beneath the middle of his
ollar bone. The point of the bronze spear went straight through
 nd came out beneath the base of his shoulder. He fell with a thud.
His armor rattled about him. 310

Then Ajax hit Phorkys,

he warlike son of Phainops, full in the middle of the belly
s Phorkys strode over Hippothoös, and he broke the curved plate
f his breast protector, and his guts oozed out through the bronze.
He fell in the dust and clutched the earth in his palms.
hining Hector and his vanguard retreated, and the Argives
315
houted aloud and pulled out the bodies of Phorkys and
Hippothoös and undid the armor from around their shoulders.

Then the Achaeans would again have driven back the Trojans
o Ilion, vanquished in their cowardice, and the Argives would have won
lory through their strength and power beyond what was fated, 320
ut Apollo himself roused up Aeneas. He took on the likeness
f Periphas the herald, son of Epytos,° grown old in the house
f Aeneas’ aged father Anchises while heralding,
nd being well disposed to Aeneas. In Periphas’ likeness,
Apollo, the son of Zeus, said: “Aeneas, how could you ever 325
rotect steep Ilion in defiance of a god? Surely I have
een other men, dependent on their strength and their power
nd their bravery, hold their realm in spite of scanty resources.
ut Zeus wants a victory for us more by far than for the Danaäns—
et you are held by unbounded fear! You do not fight!” 330
 So he spoke, and Aeneas realized when he looked on his face
hat it was Apollo who shoots from a long way off, and he shouted
ver to Hector: “Hector, and you other captains and leaders
f the Trojans, this would be a shame, to be driven back
o Ilion by the war-loving Achaeans, vanquished by our
cowardice. 335
ut one of the gods has just stood by my side and said
hat Zeus the Most High Counselor is our helper in the fight.
o let’s go straight at the Danaäns. Let them not drag the dead
atroklos at their ease to the ships!”

So he spoke,
nd leaping in front of the forefighters he took his stand. 340
hen the Trojans whirled around and stood against the Achaeans.

Aeneas stabbed Leokritos° with his spear, son of Arisbas,

he brave companion of Lykomedes.° War-loving Lykomedes
ook pity on Leokritos when he fell, and he moved in close
nd gored Apisaon, son of Hippasos, shepherd of the people, 345
with his shining spear, in the liver beneath the stomach. Immediately
e loosed his knees—Apisaon who came from PAEONIA
with its rich soil and after Asteropaios° was best in the fight.

The warring Asteropaios took pity on Apisaon when he fell

nd he rushed forward, anxious to take on the Danaäns.
350
ut he could do nothing, for the Achaeans with their shields were
enced in on all sides around Patroklos, and they held their spears
n front of them. Ajax ranged back and forth before them all,
 irring them up, and he enjoined them not to retreat
rom the corpse, nor for any single man to fight in front 355
f the Achaeans as one preeminent above the others,
ut to stand in front of the corpse and fight in the hand-to-hand.

So mighty Ajax ordered them, and the ground was wet

with dark blood, and the dead fell thick and fast of both
he Trojans and their mighty allies, and of the Danaäns. 360
or they did not fight without the shedding of blood, although
ar fewer of the Achaeans were dying, because they were
ccustomed always to push off fell destruction from one another
n the midst of the melée.

And so they fought like blazing fire,

or would you say that there was a sun or a moon, for they
365
were shrouded in the darkness of battle, all the chieftains who stood
round the corpse of Patroklos. But the other Trojans and Achaeans
who wear fine shinguards fought more freely in the open air.
Above them the piercing rays of the sun were spread,
nd no cloud appeared over all the earth or the mountains. 370
hey took some ease at fighting, avoiding the groan-bearing
weapons of one another by standing far apart from each other. But those
n the middle suffered agonies because of the darkness and the war.
hey wore each other to pieces with the pitiless bronze, all those
who were captains.
375
 Now two men—fine men—Thrasymedes
nd Antilochos° had not yet heard that the blameless Patroklos
was dead, but thought he was still alive and fighting in the forefront
gainst the Trojans. The two men, guarding against the death
nd flight of their companions, were fighting apart, because Nestor
ad ordered them to do so when he was rallying them to battle 380
om the black ships.°

And so the great strife of their skirmishes

aged the whole day through. The knees and legs and feet
eneath each man were wet with the sweat of war-work,
yes and hands too, as the two sides fought over the good aide
f the grandson of Aiakos, the fast runner. As when a man 385
ives to his people the hide of a great bull, drenched
with fat to stretch, and when they have taken it they stand
round in a circle and stretch it out, and right away
he moisture evaporates but the fat sinks in as many pull
n the hide, and the whole hide is stretched to the utmost°—
390
ven so the Trojans on one side and the Achaeans
n the other dragged the corpse now here, now there.

The Trojans greatly desired to pull the corpse

o Ilion, but the Achaeans wanted to drag it to the hollow ships.
Around Patroklos a savage turmoil of battle arose. 395
Not Ares, the savior of the people, nor Athena, would have made
ght of it, seeing the battle—not even if their anger
was very great, so mighty a labor of men and horses
id Zeus on that day stretch out over Patroklos.
 The good Achilles did not yet know anything about 400
he death of Patroklos, for they fought very far from
he swift ships under the wall of the Trojans. Never did he imagine
n his heart that Patroklos was dead, but thought that he would
eturn, still alive, once he had reached the gates. Not at all
id he think that Patroklos would take the city without him—
405
or with him, because often he had heard this from his mother,
stening to her in private when she brought to him information
bout great Zeus’s intent. But his mother did not say
word about this great calamity, that his companion, by far
he most dear, would perish. 410

So they pressed on continually

round the corpse, holding their sharp spears as they killed
ne another. Thus would one of the Achaeans, who wear shirts
f bronze, say: “My friends, there will be no fame if we retreat
ack to the hollow ships, but may the black earth open
p right here—for us all! That is a far better outcome
415
han if we are going to let this man go to the horse-taming
rojans, to carry it to their city and to win all the glory!”
And in similar manner one of the great-hearted Trojans
would say: “My friends, if it is our fate to fall—
ll of us—before this corpse, still let no one 420
ep back from the fight!” Thus one would speak and arouse
he might of each. And so they fought, and an iron shout
ose up to the brazen sky through the turbulent air.
 The horses of the grandson of Aiakos wept, standing
part from battle, when once they realized that Patroklos,
425
heir charioteer, lay in the dust, killed by man-killing Hector.
n truth Automedon, the son of brave Diores, often
would use the quick lash to drive them on, and often
poke to them with honeyed words, and often with threats,
ut the two horses did not want to go back to the ships 430
long the broad HELLESPONT, nor did they want
o go out among the Achaeans. As a pillar waits forever,
anding on the tomb of a dead man or woman,
ven so they waited, immovable beside the beautiful car,
owing their heads to the earth. Hot tears ran 435
o the ground from beneath their eyelids, weeping from
orrow for their charioteer.° Their rich manes were befouled
s they streamed on both sides from beneath the yoke-pad
ext to the yoke.°

When the son of Kronos saw them weeping,

e took pity, and shaking his head he spoke to his own heart: 440
You poor beasts, why did we ever give you to King Peleus,
mortal, when you are ageless and deathless! So that
ou might share the sufferings among wretched men?
or there is nothing more miserable in all the world than a man,
who breathes and slithers along the earth. But Hector,
445
he son of Priam, will not mount you in the fancy car.
won’t allow it! Isn’t it enough that he has the armor
nd is going around boasting—in vain! I shall put strength
n your knees and in your hearts so that you might save Automedon
rom the war and carry him to the hollow ships. For still 450
 will grant glory to the Trojans, to go on killing until
hey reach the ships with their fine benches, and the sun
oes down, and holy darkness comes on.”

So speaking,
eus breathed a noble power into the horses. And the two horses
hook the dust from their manes to the ground and quickly carried 455
he swift chariot into the melée of the Trojans and the Achaeans.
ehind them Automedon fought, although sad for his comrade
atroklos, swooping down with his horses like an eagle after swans.
With a light touch he fled from the Trojan melée, then just as lightly
e charged, pressing hard through the crowd. But he killed no
men 460
s he hastened to pursue them, for it was not possible, being alone
n the sacred car,° for Automedon to overwhelm someone
with his spear and at the same time hold onto the swift horses.

At last a companion saw him—Alkimedon,° the son

f Larkes, the son of Haimon. He stood behind the chariot
465
nd spoke to Automedon: “Automedon, what god has put
profitless counsel in your breast and taken away your intelligence?
You fight against the Trojans at the forefront of the throng, alone!
ut your companion is dead, and Hector himself has taken
is armor and wears it on his shoulders, the armor of the grandson 470
f Aiakos. And he glories therein!”

Automedon, the son of Diores,

hen answered: “Alkimedon, what other man of the Achaeans
 of similar worth to guide and tame these immortal horses
xcept Patroklos, the equal to the gods in counsel while
e was alive? But now death and fate have intervened. But you 475
hould take the whip and the shining reins while I dismount
om the car, so that I can fight.”

So he spoke, and Alkimedon

eaped into the car, swift in the battle, and quickly he grasped
n his hands the whip and the reins while Automedon
umped down. Glorious Hector saw them and immediately
480
e spoke to Aeneas, standing nearby: “Aeneas,
ounselor to the Trojans who wear shirts of bronze, I see
he two horses of the grandson of Aiakos, the fast runner,
oming into the battle, with weakling charioteers. I would like
o take these horses, if your heart is willing, because I don’t think 485
hose two will dare to stand against us in battle if we rush
pon them.”

So he spoke, and Aeneas, the good son of Anchises,

id not disobey. The two men went straight ahead, their
houlders wrapped in the shields of bull’s hide—dry, tough!—
nd with plates of bronze affixed to the shields. With them
490
went both Chromios and godlike Aretos,° both hoping in their hearts
o kill Automedon and Alkimedon and take the long-necked
orses—the fools! For they were not to return from Automedon
without the shedding of blood.
 Automedon prayed to father Zeus
nd his dark heart within him was filled with strength and power. 495
ight away he turned to Alkimedon, his trusty companion,
nd he said: “Alkimedon, hold the horses close to me
o that they breathe on my back. I don’t think that Hector,
he son of Priam, will give up his fury before he mounts
ehind the horses of Achilles, with their lovely manes, and kills 500
he two of us and puts the ranks of the Argives to flight,
r he is himself killed.”

So speaking, Automedon called

o the two Ajaxes and to Menelaos: “Ajaxes, both of you,
eaders of the Argives, and Menelaos—turn over the corpse
o those who are bravest to stand firm about it and ward off 505
he ranks of men. Come, defend us who are living
om the pitiless day of doom, for Hector and Aeneas,
he best of the Trojans, are pressing hard in the tearful war.
ut all this lies on the knees of the gods. I will cast my spear,
hen the rest is up to Zeus.”
510

Thus Automedon spoke and brandished

is long-shadowing spear. He threw it, and he struck Aretos
n the center of his shield, well balanced on every side.
ut the shield did not stay the spear. It went straight through,
nd Automedon drove it through the belt into Aretos’ lower belly.
As when a lusty man with a sharp ax strikes behind the horns 515
f an ox of the field and cuts entirely through the tendon,
nd the ox leaps forward and falls—even so Aretos leaped
orward, then fell on his back. The sharp spear, quivering
n his guts, put an end to life.

Hector now threw

t Automedon with his shining spear, but Automedon saw 520
he bronze spear coming and avoided it as he stooped forward,
nd the butt of the long spear quivered, fixed in the ground
ehind him. Finally, strong Ares stopped its fury.

Hector and Automedon would have rushed each other

with swords, except that the Ajaxes in their fury separated them 525
when they came through the crowd, answering Automedon’s cry.
hen Hector and Aeneas and godlike Chromios backed
way in fear, leaving Aretos lying there, stricken to death.
Automedon, the equal to swift Ares, looted the armor of Aretos
nd bragging said: “Well, I have eased just a little 530
my sorrow for the dead Patroklos, the son of Menoitios,
lthough I have killed a far lesser man.”

So saying he took up
he bloody armor and placed it in his car and himself
mounted the car, his feet and hands, too, covered in blood,
ike a lion who has just eaten a bull.° 535

Then again dread conflict

was stretched over Patroklos—terrible, tearful!—and Athena
 irred up the fight, coming down from the sky. For far-seeing
eus had sent her to urge on the Danaäns. His mind
was turned. Even as Zeus stretches out a dark-shimmering
ainbow from the heavens as a portent to men, either of war, 540
r a freezing storm that puts an end to the work of men
n the earth and distresses the flocks, even so Athena
loaked in a dark-shimmering cloud went down into the tribe
f the Achaeans, where she roused up each man.

Stirring the son

f Atreus first of all, she spoke to powerful Menelaos,° 545
or he was close by. She took on the appearance of Phoinix
n form and untiring voice: “To you, Menelaos, it will be
hame and reproach if the swift dogs rend the loyal companion
f noble Achilles under the wall of the Trojans. So hold
our ground, and urge everybody on!” 550

Then Menelaos,
ood at the war cry, answered her: “Phoinix, you dear man,
ld-timer from long ago—if Athena would only give me
rength and protect me from the onrush of arrows, I’d be
roud to stand by Patroklos’ side and make a defense.
For his death has very much touched me to the heart. 555
Yet Hector has the dread fury of fire in him. He is not going
o give up killing with the bronze. It is Zeus who gives him glory.”

So he spoke and flashing-eyed Athena rejoiced because,

 f all the gods, Menelaos prayed to her first, and she put
trength into his shoulders and into his knees and injected 560
n his breast the brashness of a fly: No matter how many times
man brushes it away from his skin, it persists in biting,
o sweet to it is the blood of a man. With such boldness she filled
is dark spirit.

Thus he stood over Patroklos and thrust

with his shining spear, and he took down Podes, the son
565
f Eëtion,° rich and noble. Hector honored Podes most
f all the people because he was a companion and a beloved
omrade at the feast. Light-haired Menelaos hit him on the belt
s he started to run away, and he drove the bronze straight through.
odes fell with a thud. Then Menelaos, son of Atreus, 570
ragged the corpse out from under the Trojans into the midst
f his companions.

Next Apollo, standing beside Hector,

rged him on in the likeness of Phainops, son of Asios,° who of
ll his guest-friends was dearest to him. He lived in ABYDOS.
n his likeness Apollo, the far-shooter, spoke to Hector:
575
Hector, who of the Achaeans will ever be afraid of you now?
ow that you tremble before Menelaos, who before was a weakling?
Now he is going off with a corpse snatched all by himself
om under the Trojans. And he has killed a noble companion
f yours among the vanguard—that Podes, the son of Eëtion.” 580
 So Apollo spoke, and a black cloud of pain overcame Hector.
He went through the forefighters armed in all his glimmering bronze.
And then the son of Kronos took his tasseled goatskin fetish—
flashed!—and he covered Ida in clouds and he lightened
nd thundered mightily, and he shook the fetish, giving victory 585
o the Trojans and putting the Achaeans to rout.

First of all Peneleos°

he Boeotian started the rout. Always facing the enemy, a spear
it him in the shoulder, just on the surface, a glancing blow,
ut the spear point of Poulydamas° still pierced to the bone—
or Poulydamas threw it up close.
590

Then Hector in a tight fight

abbed Leïtos, the son of Alektryon,° on the hand at the wrist
nd put him out of the fight. Leïtos looked around, then pulled back
n fear because he no longer thought that he could hold a spear
n his hands to fight against the Trojans. Then as Hector
eaped after Leïtos, Idomeneus hit Hector in the breastplate
595
hat covered his chest, beside the nipple—but the long spear was broken
n the socket.° All the Trojans shouted aloud! Then Hector
hrew at Idomeneus, the son of Deukalion, as he stood in his car,
nd he missed him only by a little, but hit Koiranos,
he comrade and charioteer of Meriones, who had followed
600
Meriones from well-built LYKTOS.° Idomeneus had first come
n foot from the ships with curved prows. He would have given
great victory to the Trojans if Koiranos had not quickly brought up
he swift-footed horses, for Koiranos came as a light of deliverance
o Idomeneus, warding off the pitiless day. But he himself
 605
ave up his life at the hands of Hector, killer of men.
Hector hit him beneath the jaw and the ear, and the base
f the spear smashed out his teeth and cut his tongue in two.
Koiranos pitched from the car and the reins poured to the ground.

Meriones stooped and took the reins from the earth

610
nto his own hands, then yelled to Idomeneus:° “Use the whip!
Get to the swift ships. I think that you know very well
hat victory no longer belongs to the Achaeans.” So he spoke,
nd Idomeneus drove the horses with beautiful manes back
o the hollow ships, for fear had fallen upon his spirit.
615

Nor did it escape the notice of great-hearted Ajax

nd Menelaos that Zeus had now given to the Trojans the victory
hat turns the tide of battle. Great Telamonian Ajax
hen spoke out: “Even a fool could tell that father Zeus
imself is behind the Trojan advance! No matter who throws 620
hem—whether coward or brave—their missiles strike home.
eus guides theirs, as ours fall uselessly to the ground. But come,
et us ourselves devise the best plan, so that we can both
rag away our dead man and ourselves return home as a joy
o our companions, who are pained when they look this way and
think 625
hat the power and irresistible hands of man-killing Hector cannot
e stayed, that he will again fall on the black ships. But there must
e some comrade who can quickly go tell the son of Peleus—
ecause I do not think that he has learned the sad news—that his dear
ompanion has been killed. But I can’t see such an Achaean,
630
or they are all wrapped in darkness, they and their horses.
ather Zeus, please save the sons of the Achaeans from this darkness!
et there be light, let our eyes see! Let us be destroyed in the light,
that is your pleasure!”

So Ajax spoke and the father pitied him

s he wept. He quickly scattered the mist and then pushed aside
635
he darkness. And the sun shone, and the battle was plain
or all to see.

Then Ajax spoke to Menelaos, good

t the war cry: “Look now, god-nourished Menelaos: If you
an see Antilochos still alive, the son of great-hearted
Nestor, tell him to go quickly to war-loving Achilles to tell him
640
hat his companion, the most dear to him, has been killed.”

So he spoke, and Menelaos, good at the war cry, did not disobey.
He went off like a lion from an outbuilding who grows tired
om the harassment of dogs and men, who staying up all night
o not allow him to snatch the fattest of the herd. But the lion, 645
usting for flesh, goes straight on, yet it does no good.
he javelins fly thick at him from bold hands, and blazing
rebrands too, which cause him to quail although he is eager.
At dawn the lion goes off with a sad heart—even so
Menelaos, good at the war cry, went off from Patroklos, 650
much unwilling. For he very much feared that the Achaeans,
iving into rout, would leave the body of Patroklos as a prey
o the enemy.

Menelaos instructed Meriones and the two Ajaxes:

You two Ajaxes, and Meriones, commanders of the Argives,
on’t forget the kindliness of sad Patroklos. To all 655
e was like honey when he was alive. Now death and fate
ave overtaken him.”

Having thus spoken, light-haired Menelaos

went off, looking around like an eagle, which they say has the keenest
ght of all the birds beneath heaven. Even when he is on high
e sees the swift-footed hare lying down beneath a thick bush, 660
nd he leaps upon him and grabs him and in a moment takes
is life—even so, O god-nourished Menelaos, did your bright eyes
can everywhere across the tribes of your many companions, looking
or the son of Nestor, if he was still alive.°

He soon saw Antilochos

n the left of the battle line, urging on his companions and
exhorting 665
hem to fight. Coming up near him, light-haired Menelaos said:
God-nourished Antilochos, come here so that you might learn
ad news, that I wish had never happened. I think that,
y looking around, you already know that some god is bringing
efeat to the Danaäns. The Trojans are winning! The best
670
f the Achaeans is dead, Patroklos, and a great sadness is felt
mong the Danaäns. But you—run fast to the ships of the Achaeans
nd tell Achilles in hopes that he might quickly bring
he naked corpse safe to his ship. Hector of the flashing
elmet has taken the armor.”
675

So Menelaos spoke, and Antilochos

was horrified when he heard. For a long time he was speechless,
is eyes filled with tears, his full voice checked. Nonetheless,
e did not hesitate to fulfill Menelaos’ command.
He ran off, first giving his armor to a blameless companion,
Laodokos,° who wheeled his single-hoofed horses nearby.
680

The swift feet of Antilochos bore him out of the battle.

ouring tears, he brought that dismal news to Achilles,
on of Peleus. And you, O god-nourished Menelaos, did not
want to come to the aid of your much-worn companions whom
Antilochos had just abandoned. But a great longing for Antilochos
685
ell over the men of Pylos. Instead, you sent the good
hrasymedes° to them, while you yourself went to stand
ver the body of the warrior Patroklos.

Menelaos ran up and stopped

eside the two Ajaxes, then right away he said: “I have sent
hat man over there to the swift ships, to Achilles the fast runner.
690
ut I don’t think that Achilles will come out now, though he is very
ngry with godlike Hector. I don’t think he will fight
gainst the Trojans naked! Let us ourselves think of the best plan—
ow we might rescue the body and ourselves flee death and fate
n the battle din of the Trojans.”
 695

Great Telamonian Ajax then

nswered him: “You have spoken aright, O renowned Menelaos.
ook, you and Meriones get under him and raise the corpse
p quickly and get it out of the fighting. In the meanwhile, we will fight
he Trojans and godlike Hector, one in heart as we are in name,
men who have before stood firm in battle, standing each 700
y the other’s side.”

So he spoke. Then Meriones and Menelaos

ook the corpse in their arms and raised it high off the ground.
he Trojan fighters cried out loudly when they saw the Achaeans
aising up the corpse. They charged straight ahead like dogs
hat leap on a wounded boar in the presence of young hunters: 705
or awhile they pursue him, longing to rip him apart,
ut when the boar wheels around, trusting in his strength,
he hunters run off and fade into fear, one here, one there—
ven so the Trojans followed in a crowd for awhile,
tabbing with their swords and their two-edged spears. But when 710
he two Ajaxes wheeled around and stood against them,
hen their color would change and not one dared to dart
orth and fight for the corpse.

Thus Menelaos and Meriones

astened to carry the corpse out of the war to the hollow ships.
But a conflict like savage fire was stretched against them, 715
 re that rushes on a city of men in sudden attack
nd sets it afire, and houses fall in the mighty radiance,
nd the power of the winds sets it to roar—even so
he unceasing din of horses and spear-bearing men
ame against them as they went. As mules put forth
720
ll their strength to drag a beam, or a great ship’s timber,
om the mountain down a rugged path, and within them their
earts are worn by work and sweat, even so the Achaeans
astened to rescue the corpse. Behind them the two Ajaxes
eld the Trojans in check—like a ridge holds back water,
725

FIGURE 17.2 Fight over Patroklos. Big Ajax, on the left, holds a
“Boeotian” shield, either an artistic adaptation of the ancient Mycenaean
figure-of-eight shield or an actual shield shape (but no such shield has been
found). His opponent is presumably Hector, holding a shield with a
 “triskelis” blazon, a design showing three running legs. Other unnamed
Trojans and Greeks fight. Patroklos’ corpse lies in the center. Black-figure
wine-drinking bowl in the style of Exekias, c. 530 BC, from Pharsalos,
Greece.

wooded ridge that lies by chance across a plain, containing

he dread streams of the powerful rivers, and at once
turns their flow back over the plain, but never does
he might of the flood break through—even so the two Ajaxes
eld back the Trojans. 730

But the Trojans continually followed after,

nd especially two among them, Aeneas, the son of Anchises,
nd glorious Hector. As a cloud of starlings flies or crows,
hrieking doom when they see a hawk that brings death
o little birds coming at them, even so were the Achaean youth
hrieking doom, forgetful of valor as they fled before Aeneas 735
nd Hector. Many beautiful arms fell around and about
he ditch as the Danaäns fled. And there was no end of war.

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 the Danaäns: In Book 14 Menelaos killed Hyperenor, apparently the
brother of Euphorbos and Poulydamas, all sons of the powerful Trojan
noble Panthoös. Menelaos had the reputation of being a lackluster fighter.
waist of a wasp: Spirals of gold, apparently for binding braids of hair, are
found in graves from c. 1000–800 BC, and Homer could be referring to them
here.
Ciconians: A Thracian tribe (Map 6). Odysseus’ first stop on his way home
from Troy is in the land of the Ciconians, where he and his men raid the
land.
armor: The armor of Euphorbos, because Hector has the armor of
Patroklos.
Patroklos: We hear no more about the body of Euphorbos, presumably
recovered by the Trojans along with his armor.
Ajax: Last seen in Book 16 fighting over the body of Sarpedon.
into Ilion: Glaukos does not know that Sarpedon’s body has been taken to
Lycia by Sleep and Death.
dark-blue brows: Probably based on the Near Eastern practice of inlaying
statues of the gods with dark-blue lapis lazuli.
Glaukos : This is the last time we see Glaukos in the Iliad, but he has
played an important role so far: He is introduced as a comrade of Sarpedon
in the Catalog of Ships (Book 2); he encounters Diomedes (Book 6) and
kills a Greek (Book 7); he leads a charge in the company of Sarpedon,
listens to Sarpedon’s disquisition on honor, and is wounded by Teucer
(Book 12), but is present at the rescue of Hector (Book 14); the dying
Sarpedon begs Glaukos to defend his armor; he is healed by Apollo,
rebukes Hector, and kills a Greek (Book 16). According to later tradition,
Ajax finally kills Glaukos in the fight over the body of Achilles.
… Ennomos: Mesthles the Maeonian appears only in the Trojan Catalog
(Book 2); later in this book Ajax will kill Hippothoös the Pelasgian and
Phorkys the Phrygian; Ennomos the bird-prophet did not foresee his own
upcoming death in the river, at Achilles’ hands, according to the Trojan
Catalog (but in fact Achilles does not kill him in the river: Book 21);
Asteropaios the Paeonian arrived just 10 days before, so does not appear in
the Trojan Catalog, but Sarpedon chooses him, along with Glaukos, as the
bravest Lycian fighter after himself (Book 12)—Asteropaios dies after
wounding Achilles (Book 21); Chromios may be the same as Chromis the
Mysian, an associate of Ennomos according to the Trojan Catalog; Achilles
will kill Thersilochos in the river (Book 21); Medon and Deisenor are
unknown.
Hippothoös: The leader of the Pelasgians in the Trojan Catalog, mentioned
earlier in this book in the list of Trojan leaders, along with Phorkys.
… Iphitos: Hector kills a Phocian named Schedios in Book 15, but there he
is the son of Perimedes— Homer has a mental lapse. Iphitos was an
Argonaut, according to later tradition.
Panopeus: A town near Delphi, listed without comment in the Catalog of
Ships. In the Odyssey, Panopeus is said to be the place where the giant
Tityos attempted to rape Leto, a crime for which he was punished in the
underworld (Odyssey Book 11).
Epytos: Heralds usually have “speaking names,” so Periphas means
“speaker” and his father, and no doubt predecessor, Epytos means “caller.”
Leokritos: The name of one of Penelope’s suitors!
Lykomedes: One of the lesser Greek leaders, mentioned in the groups of
captains (Book 7, 19) and once in the company of Little Ajax (Book 12).
Asteropaios: Mentioned in the catalog of Trojan fighters earlier in this book,
he had arrived at Troy only 10 days before this battle.
Thrasymedes and Antilochos: The two brothers, sons of Nestor, have been
fighting together since Book 16. Antilochos is important further on in this
book, but according to tradition died later in the war. Thrasymedes survived
the war and you could see his tomb near Pylos.
black ships: Homer has not recorded these instructions of Nestor.
to the utmost: Nothing is known of this process.
charioteer: Patroklos was the horses’ regular charioteer, but Automedon has
fulfilled this function for Patroklos.
yoke: Apparently there was some kind of protective pad between the yoke
and horse’s neck, which here imprisons the horses’ manes. Soiling one’s
hair is a standard display of grief.
sacred car: Perhaps because it is drawn by two divine horses.
Alkimedon: He led a contingent of Myrmidons to battle in Book 16. Later,
he is in charge of Achilles’ horses (Book 19), helps Achilles serve a meal,
and unyokes the horses of the suppliant Priam before Achilles’ hut (Book
24).
… Aretos: Chromios (perhaps “thunderer”) is a common name: five
different persons in the Iliad bear this name. He is listed in the catalog of
Trojan captains early in this book. Aretos (“longed for”) is also the name of
a son of Nestor. He is introduced here for the first time, only to be killed.
… eaten a bull: Automedon and the horses now disappear until Book 19,
when Automedon prepares them for Achilles’ aristeia. One might wonder
why Automedon does not tell Achilles about Patroklos’ death, but this task
is left to Antilochos.
Menelaos: The two Ajaxes have gone off to help Automedon, leaving
Menelaos as the principal defender of Patroklos’ body.
son of Eëtion: Presumably this Podes is not the son of the Eëtion who was
king of Thebes, the father of Andromachê, whose seven sons Achilles killed
(Book 6). There is a third Eëtion too, of Imbros, who ransomed a son of
Priam (Book 21).
son of Asios: Another Phainops is mentioned earlier in the book and still a
third in Book 5.
Peneleos: Listed in the Catalog of Ships as one of the five leaders of the
Boeotians. He was prominent in the attack inspired by Poseidon (Book 14)
and in that led by Patroklos (Book 16).
Poulydamas: Last mentioned with Glaukos in Book 16, he will have a big
scene with Hector in the next book.
… Alektryon: Leïtos, perhaps “booty man,” is in the Catalog of Ships along
with Peneleos. Leïtos killed a Trojan in Book 6 and is mentioned when
Poseidon exhorts the troops in Book 13. The name of his father Alektryon
appears in the Linear B tablets.
in the socket: Homer does not mention that Hector is now wearing armor
made by Hephaistos, which, presumably, is invulnerable.
Lyktos: A city in central Crete mentioned in the Catalog of Ships.
… Idomeneus: Idomeneus has come to the battle on foot without a chariot
as support, but in the battle Koiranos, the charioteer of Meriones, drives up
to help him. Meriones has earlier left the chariot in order to fight on the
ground.
… still alive: Homer addresses Menelaos directly seven times in the poem,
always when he is about to perform some admirable service or otherwise
evoke our sympathy.
Laodokos: Never heard of again.
Thrasymedes: The brother of Antilochos.

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 BOOK 18. The Shield of
Achilles

Afastndrunner,
so they fought like blazing fire, and Antilochos,
came as a messenger to Achilles. He found him
n front of his ships with pointed bows and sterns.
Achilles feared in his heart that what had actually happened
would come to pass.
5

Sorely troubled, Achilles spoke

o his own great spirit: “But why are the Achaeans with their
ong hair again gathering in confusion around the ships,
riven in rout from the plain? I only hope that the gods
ave not made terrible suffering for me, as once my mother
redicted. She said that while I was yet alive the best
10
f the Myrmidons would leave the light of the sun at the hands
f the Trojans. I fear that the strong son of Menoitios is dead—
he fool! I told him to come back to the ships when he had pushed
onsuming fire away from the ships. And not to take on Hector!”

While he pondered thus in his heart and spirit, the son

15
f brave Nestor came up close. Pouring down hot tears,
Antilochos spoke the sad message: “O son of Peleus, lover
f war, you are about to hear a sad tale, which ought never
o have happened. Patroklos is struck down, and they war
round his naked corpse. And Hector of the flashing helmet
20
as taken his armor.”

So he spoke, and a dark cloud

f pain covered Achilles. With both his hands he took up
he grimy dust and poured it over his head, wrecking
is pretty face, and black ashes° fell on his scented shirt.
He lay outstretched in the dirt, great in his greatness,
25
nd with his hands he tore at his hair and disfigured it.
he slave girls that Achilles and Patroklos had taken as booty
ried aloud in anguish of heart, and they ran outside
o the battle-hardened Achilles, and all of them struck their breasts
with their hands, and the limbs of each were loosened beneath
them. 30
Opposite them Antilochos wailed, pouring down tears.
Antilochos held Achilles’ hands as Achilles moaned
n his noble heart, and Antilochos feared that he would cut
is throat with a knife.°

As Achilles groaned terribly,

is revered mother heard him, sitting in the depths 35
f the sea beside her aged father. She then let out
shrill cry, and the goddesses gathered around her,
ll the daughters of Nereus who were in the deep sea:
Glaukê and Thaleia and Kymodokê were there, and Nesaiê
nd Speio and Thoê and cow-eyed Heliê and Kymothoê 40
nd Aktaiê and Limnoreia and Melitê and Iaira and Amphithoê
 nd Agavê and Doto and Proto and Pherousa and Dynamenê
nd Dexamenê and Amphinomê and Kallianeira and Doris
nd Panopê and the very famous Galatea and Nemertes and Apseudes
nd Kallianassa. And there Klymenê came and Ianeira and Ianassa 45
nd Maira and Oreithyia and Amatheia with the lovely hair,
nd other Nereids who were in the deep sea.°

The bright cave

was filled with them and they all beat their breasts, and Thetis
ed in the wailing: “Listen, my sister Nereids, so that all of you
may know and hear the sorrow that is in my heart. I am wretched.
50
am miserable in having borne the best of men. After I gave birth
o a son blameless and strong, the finest of warriors—he shot up
ke a sapling, and I nourished him like a tree in a rich
rchard plot. Then I sent him forth in the beaked ships
o fight at Troy. But I shall never receive him again 55
oming home to the house of Peleus.° While he lives and sees
he light of the sun, he has sorrow, and I am not able to go
o him and help … I will go all the same, so that I might see my dear
on and hear what sorrow has come to him while he stayed
part from the war.” 60

So speaking, she left the cave. The Nereids

went with her, pouring down tears, and around them the waves
f the sea broke. When they came to Troy with its rich soil,
hey stepped out onto the beach, one after another, to where
he ships of the Myrmidons were packed in close around swift Achilles.
 Standing beside him as he groaned deeply, and crying shrilly,
65
hetis took hold of the head of her son. In pitying tones
he spoke words that went like arrows: “Why do you weep, my son?
What sorrow has come to you? Tell me, don’t hide it!
eus has fulfilled your wish, what you earlier prayed for
nd raised your hands to—that the sons of the Achaeans be
huddled 70
t the sterns of the ships, longing for you, and that they should suffer
isastrous things.”

Then Achilles the fast runner spoke, groaning deeply:

My mother, yes, the Olympian has fulfilled my wish. But what
leasure is this to me when my dear companion has died—
atroklos, whom I honored above all my other companions, 75
ke myself. I have done him in. Hector killed him and has taken
my beautiful armor, huge in size, a wonder to behold.
he gods gave it as a glorious gift to Peleus on that day
when they placed you in bed with a mortal man. I wish that you
ad stayed where you were, with your deathless friends of the sea, 80
nd that Peleus had taken a mortal wife!
“But as it is—
ow you too will have ten thousand pains in your heart because
f your dead son, whom you will never receive at home again.
ut my heart no longer wants to live and remain among men—
nless Hector first, stabbed by my spear, gives up his life 85
n revenge for making Patroklos the son of Menoitios his spoil!”

Then Thetis answered him, pouring down tears: “Then

ou are doomed to a quick death, my son, if you do what you say.
or your death will follow soon after the death of Hector.”

FIGURE 18.1 Thetis consoles Achilles. Thetis has pulled a cloak over
her head in a sign of mourning. Achilles, lying on a couch before which
stands a table filled with food, holds his hand to his forehead in a sign of
grief for the death of his friend Patroklos. In this representation Thetis has
already brought Achilles new armor from Hephaistos, which hangs on the
wall. The shield is decorated with the face of a lion. Shinguards hang
nearby. To the right of the couch is old man Phoinix and to the left
Odysseus—unlike in Homer’s description—and Nereids (?) stand on either
side. The names of all figures (except the Nereids) are written out. Black-
figure Corinthian wine jug, c. 620 BC.

Greatly moved, Achilles the fast runner said: “Then may I die 90
 oon! For I was of no use in warding off death from my companion.
He has perished far from the land of his fathers, and he needed me
o ward off ruin from him. So, seeing that I am never going
ome to the land of my fathers, and when Patroklos was alive
was no light of deliverance to him, nor to his other comrades, 95
he many who perished at the hands of the good Hector—
ut here I sit beside the ships, a useless burden on the land,
who in war am such as none other of the Achaeans who wear
hirts of bronze, though in the conference others are better.
“I wish that strife would perish from among gods and humans, 100
nd anger that drives a man mad, though he is wise.
Much sweeter is anger than honey. It drips down into the hearts
f men and it swells there like smoke … even so the king of men,
Agamemnon, angered me. But let all that go, though it makes
s sad. We must overcome the spirit in our own breasts.
105
We have to! And now I will go out to find the killer of the man
loved—Hector.”

As for my own fate, I will accept it, because

eus and the other deathless gods wish to bring it about.
Not even mighty Herakles, who was the dearest of all
o Zeus the king, the son of Kronos, escaped fate, but fate
110
vercame Herakles and the terrible anger of Hera. Even so—
a like fate is really fashioned for me—I will be brought low
when I am dead … But for now I will seize noble fame!
will set many of the women of Troy, and of the deep-bosomed
Dardanians, to wail as they wipe away with both hands the thick
tears 115
om their tender cheeks! May they see that for a long time
have held back from the war. So don’t try to keep me from going
o war, though you love me. You will not persuade me.”
 Then silver-footed Thetis, the goddess, answered him:
Yes my child, as you have said, in truth it’s not a bad thing to
ward 120
ff sheer destruction from your friends when they are hard pressed.
ut your beautiful armor is held by the Trojans—bronze, glimmering.
Hector of the sparkling helmet has it. He wears it on his shoulders,
xulting. But I do not think he will glory in your armor
ong—for his death is very near. But do not enter into 125
he turmoil of war before your own eyes see me coming
ere again. In the morning I will return as the sun comes up,
ringing beautiful armor from Hephaistos the king.”

So she spoke and turned away from her son. And, turning,
he spoke to her sisters: “Go down now into the broad bosom
130
f the waters to visit the old man of the sea, in the house of our father.
ell him everything. I am off to high Olympos, to the house of Hephaistos,
he famous craftsman, to see if he is willing to give my son glorious,
hining armor.”

So she spoke, and the Nereids plunged immediately

eneath the surge of the sea. Thetis, whose feet are silvery,
135
went off to Olympos so that she might bring glorious armor
o her son. While her feet bore her to Olympos, the Achaeans fled
with a fearful shouting, driven by man-killer Hector as they
ame to the ships and to the Hellespont. Nor were the Achaeans
with their fine shinguards able to drag away the body
140
f Achilles’ aide from the flying weapons.° For they were again
 vertaken by the Trojans and their horses, with Hector, son
f Priam, in fighting glory like a flame. Three times brilliant Hector
eized the corpse from behind by the feet, anxious to drag it off,
s he called mightily to the Trojans. Three times did the two
Ajaxes, 145
utting on the mantle of furious valor, hurl him back from the corpse.
ut Hector, trusting always in his valor, would again charge at them
n the tumult of battle, then he would stand and howl aloud. And in no
way did he retreat, even a little. Just as when shepherds in the fields
annot drive away a tawny lion from a carcass when the lion is
hungry, 150
ven so the two Ajaxes could not frighten away the armored
Hector, son of Priam, from the corpse.

And Hector would have dragged

ff the corpse and won undying renown if the swift-footed Iris,
ent from Olympos, had not come running to the son of Peleus
s a messenger: He should arm himself! She came unbeknownst 155
o all the other gods: Hera sent her forth. Standing near,
is spoke these words that went like arrows: “Rise up,
on of Peleus, most fear-inspiring of all men. Defend Patroklos!
On his account have the dread contendings arisen before the ships.
Men kill men! The one side wants to defend the dead body, 160
he other side—the Trojans—wants to take it to windy Ilion,
nd above all brilliant Hector wants to drag it off. He wants
o cut off his head from the tender neck and to fix it onto a stake.
o get up! Don’t lie around! Be enraged that Patroklos
ecome a plaything for the dogs of Troy. Shame on you 165
his body is mutilated!”
 The godlike Achilles, swift of foot,
hen answered: “Iris, goddess, who of the gods sent you here
s a messenger?”

The swift-footed quick Iris answered him:

Hera sent me, the illustrious wife of Zeus. The high-throned son
f Kronos knows nothing about it, nor do the other gods 170
who dwell on snowy Olympos.”

Achilles, the fast runner, then

nswered her: “But how am I to go into the melée? They have
my armor! My mother forbade me to prepare for the fight before
see her coming with my own eyes. She vowed to bring beautiful
rmor from Hephaistos. I know of no other man whose glorious
armor 175
might wear, except for the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon.
ut I think he is mixed in with the forefighters who rage
with their spears around the dead Patroklos.”

Then Iris,
wift as the wind, said: “We know well that the Trojans have
our armor. Nonetheless, go to the trench as you are and show
180
ourself to the Trojans—perhaps you will put a fright into them
nd they will pull back from the war, and the warlike sons of the
Achaeans will catch their breath. For the Achaeans are worn out.
is hard to catch your breath in the midst of war.”

So speaking,
 ris went off, swift of foot. Achilles, dear to Zeus, stood up.
185
Around his strong shoulders Athena threw the tasseled
oatskin fetish, and around his head the goddess made
golden cloud—now a blazing flame burned from the man!

As when smoke goes up from a city and reaches the heavens

rom afar, from an island that the enemy has surrounded—all day 190
ong the besieged have fought a savage battle from the city, but when
he sun goes down, beacon fires burst forth close by one another,
nd high above shines the glare, visible to all who live nearby,
o that the dwellers around may come in their ships and avert
estruction—even such a brilliance went from the head of
Achilles, 195
o the heavens.

He went from the wall to the trench and took his stand
here. He did not mingle with the Achaeans. He respected his mother’s
rm command. Standing there, he shouted, and Pallas Athena
dded her own voice from afar. He created an unspeakable
onfusion in the Trojans. As when the trumpet sounds its clear
voice 200
n the midst of a murderous enemy who have invested a city,°
ven so clear was the voice of the grandson of Aiakos.

When the Trojans heard the brazen voice of the grandson

f Aiakos, the spirit was crushed in the heart of each man. All at once
he horses with lovely manes turned their cars backwards—
205
hey foresaw evil things. The charioteers were struck with terror
when they saw the unstinting fire burning above the head
f the great-hearted son of Peleus. The flashing-eyed goddess
Athena made the fire burn. Godlike Achilles shouted
hree times over the trench—three times the Trojans
210
nd their far-famed allies were stunned. Twelve of their best
men died right there! tangled in their cars and fallen
n their spears, as the Achaeans happily pulled out
atroklos from the rain of arrows. They placed him on a bier.
His beloved comrades stood about it and wept.
215

In their midst
Achilles the fast runner followed, pouring down hot tears
when he saw his beloved comrade lying on the bier, mangled
y the sharp bronze. He had sent Patroklos forth with his horses
nd chariot into the war, but he did not receive him returning.

The revered Hera with the cow eyes sent the tireless
220
un to the shores of Ocean, although he did not want to go.
ut the sun went down, and the godlike Achaeans eased
om the bitter strife and the evil war. The Trojans,
n their side, pulled back from the dread contendings
nd set loose the swift horses from their cars. They gathered
225
nto an assembly° before having any thought of dinner.
hey kept to their feet. During the assembly none dared
ake a seat, for fear held all—Achilles had appeared, after
hunning engagement in battle for so long a time.°
 Poulydamas,° the son of Panthoös, was first to speak 230
is sage advice, for he alone saw both first and last things.
He was Hector’s companion, born on the same night, but that
ne was best with words, while the other ranked first by far
with the spear. Poulydamas spoke, making a civil address:
Consider both sides of the matter. I for my part urge you 235
o go to the city right now, not to wait for the bright dawn
n the plain beside the ships. We are far from the wall!
o long as Achilles raged at the good Agamemnon, the Achaeans
were easier to war against. I was glad when we slept
eside the swift curved ships, hoping we would take them.
240
ut as it is, I fear terribly the swift-footed son of Peleus. His spirit
so violent that he will not be willing to stay on the plain.
here, in the middle, the Trojans and Achaeans are accustomed
o do their fighting, but Achilles will fight near the city
nd for its women.
245
“But let us go to the city—trust me!
his is the way it will be. Now the deathless night holds back
he fast running son of Peleus. If he comes across us still here
n the morning, when he comes in full armor, one will notice!
With joy every man will arrive at sacred Ilion then—that is,
e who escapes!—and the dogs and birds will consume many
250
rojans. I don’t want to think a bit more about it.
“But if all will follow my words, though distressing, at night
we shall have our army in a good gathering place. The walls
nd high gates, the well-polished doors fitted inside and bolted,
will protect the city. In the morning, at the coming of dawn
255
we will stand on the wall in our full armor. The worse
will be for him who wants to come from the ships
nd fight against us around the walls! For he will go back
o the ships, when his high-necked horses are tired prancing
ack and forth before the city. But no matter how great
260
is anger, that anger will not let him carry the attack
within the city, and he shall not lay it waste. Before that
he swift dogs will devour him!”

Hector of the flashing helmet

ooked angrily at Poulydamas from beneath his brows: “Poulydamas,
ou no longer speak to my liking. You advise us to go back
265
o the city, to be confined in the city. Haven’t you had your fill
f being penned up in the city? In the old days mortal men
sed to tell stories about the city of Priam and its abundant
old and bronze. Now the beautiful treasures have disappeared
rom our houses. Many things have been sold off to PHRYGIA and
lovely 270
MAEONIA,° ever since great Zeus grew angry with us. But now
hat the son of Kronos has given to us the winning of glory at the ships
nd to pen in the Achaeans by the sea, don’t—you fool!—
e voicing such thoughts before the people! You will not persuade
ny of the Trojans. I won’t allow it!
275
“But come, just as I say.
et us all be persuaded. Now take your meal throughout the army
y companies, and put up a watch. Let every man stay awake.
As for those Trojans who are overmuch concerned about
heir possessions, let them gather them together and give all
o the people to enjoy in common. Better that the Trojans 280
rofit from it than the Achaeans!
“But early in the morning,
t the coming of dawn, in full armor we will arouse steep war
t the hollow ships. If it is true that the godlike Achilles
as stood up at the ships, the worse for him if that’s
what he wants! I shall not flee from savage war but face 285
o face I will hold my ground, to see if he wins a great victory,
r I. Enyalios is common to all, and he kills whom he wants.”

So Hector spoke to the gathering, and the Trojans shouted

ssent—the fools! Pallas Athena had taken away their wits.
They all gave praise to Hector, though he advised them
290
adly, but no one praised Poulydamas, whose advice was good.
he army took their meal and bedded down.

But the Achaeans

ayed up all night lamenting Patroklos, and the son of Peleus
egan the sad wailing, placing his man-killing hands on the chest
f his companion, moaning deeply, like a whiskery lion 295
om whom a stag-hunter has snatched its brood in the thick
wood, and the lion, coming back to his lair, is desolate
nd tracks the hunter through valley after valley in hopes
f finding him, for an extreme anger has come over the lion—
ven so, groaning deeply, Achilles addressed the Myrmidons:
300
I spoke a vain word on the day when I encouraged the warrior
Menoitios in my halls. I said that when I had sacked Ilion,
would bring back to Opoeis° his glorious son, with a rich
hare of the spoil. But Zeus does not allow all the designs
f men. Both of us are fated to redden with blood the selfsame 305
oil here in Troy, because I doubt that the aged horseman
eleus will receive me in his halls when I have returned,
or will my mother Thetis. Here the earth will hold me.
“But as things stand, because I will go under the earth
 fter you, O Patroklos, I will not bury you, big-hearted man, 310
efore I bring here the arms and the head of Hector,
our killer. And I will cut the throats of twelve glorious sons
f the Trojans in front of your pyre, in my anger at your killing.
Until then, you will lie beside the beaked ships, just as you are,
nd the Trojan and Dardanian women, with full breasts, 315
will bewail you night and day, pouring forth tears—all those
whom the two of us captured by the force of our long spears
when we ravaged the rich cities of mortal men.”

So speaking,
he godlike Achilles called to his companions to put a large
ripod in the fire so that they could wash away the bloody gore 320
om Patroklos as soon as possible. They set on the blazing fire
tripod for filling the bath, and they poured water in it.
hey took some wood and added it beneath the tripod.
he fire licked around the belly of the tripod, and the water warmed.
When the water had boiled in the bright bronze, they washed
325
he body and anointed it with soothing oils. They filled
is wounds with ointment that was nine years old. They lay him
n a bed and covered him over with a soft linen cloth,
om his head to his feet, and on top of that they placed a white robe.
Then all night long the Myrmidons, in the company of Achilles 330
he fast runner, bewailed and lamented Patroklos.

In the meanwhile
eus spoke to Hera, his sister and wife: “You’ve got your way,
hen, O revered Hera with eyes like a cow. You’ve roused
Achilles, the fast runner. Truly, the Achaeans with their long hair
re your own children!” 335

Then said the revered Hera,

whose eyes were like a cow’s: “Most dread son of Kronos,
what words you have said! Why, even a man will achieve
what he can for another man, one that is mortal and does
ot know all that I know. How could I—who say I am
he best of the goddesses, both because of my birth 340
nd because I am called the bedmate of one who rules
ver all the other deathless ones—you!—How could I not
n my anger against the Trojans contrive evil for them?”

Thus they spoke to one another. But Thetis with the silver feet
ame to the house of Hephaistos—deathless, decked with stars,
345
utstanding among the dwellings of the immortals, made of bronze.
Hephaistos himself had made it, though he had a lame foot.
he came on him when he was sweating around the fires,
oing back and forth in haste. He was making twenty tripods
o stand around the wall of his well-built hall. He cleverly 350
laced golden wheels beneath the foot of each of them
o that they could run all by themselves into the assemblies
f the gods, then go back to his house, a marvel to behold.
He had, however, not yet finished. He was still affixing
he handles, like ears, cunningly fashioned. These he was fitting, 355
nd forging the rivets.
 While he was working on this project
with his clever skill, the silver-footed goddess Thetis came up
lose to him. The beautiful Charis,° wearing a gleaming
ead-covering, came forward and saw her. The famous god
with his two strong arms had married Charis, and she took 360
hetis by the hand and spoke her name: “Why, O Thetis
f the long robe, have you come to our house, an honored guest
nd a welcome one? Before you were not used to visit.
ut come here, so that I may set before you some good food.”

So speaking, the goddess guided her on. Charis made Thetis 365
t on a chair with silver rivets—beautiful, highly-wrought,
nd there was a footstool for her feet. She called to Hephaistos,
he cunning craftsman, and said: “Hephaistos, come here!
hetis needs you.”

Then the famous god with two strong arms

nswered: “Well then, an august and welcome goddess
370
as come here, who saved me when pain came to me.
had fallen far, through the will of my bitch mother!
he wanted to hide me because of my bum leg.°
hen I would have suffered pains in my heart if Eurynomê°
nd Thetis had not received me in their bosom—Eurynomê, 375
he daughter of back-flowing Ocean. I spent nine years making
many lovely things—brooches, and golden spirals for the hair,
nd rosette earrings, and necklaces—in their hollow cave.
And around about me flowed the stream of Ocean, murmuring
with foam, an unspeakable flood. Nor did any other of the gods
380
r mortal men know, but Thetis and Eurynomê knew—
hey saved me! And now she has come to my house. So I think
need to make full payment to Thetis with the beautiful tresses
or saving my life. But Charis, you place before her now some good
hings to eat while I put aside my bellows and all my tools.” 385

He spoke and arose from the huge puffing anvil, limping.

ut beneath him his thin legs moved nimbly. He placed the bellows
way from the fire, and all the tools with which he worked
n a silver chest. He washed off his face and his two arms
nd his strong neck and his hairy chest with a sponge, and he put
on 390
shirt. He took up a stout staff and walked to the door, hobbling.
hen handmaidens made of gold moved swiftly to support their master,
ooking like living girls. There is a mind within them and the power
f speech and strength and they know clever handiwork,
gift of the deathless gods. They bustled about their master. 395
He limped over to where Thetis was and then sat on a shining chair.

He took her hands in his and addressed her by name:

Why, Thetis, who wears a long gown, have you come here to our house,
ugust as you are, and welcome? Before you were not accustomed
o visit us. Tell me what you are wanting. My spirit urges me
400
o accomplish it, if I can, and it can be done.”

Thetis answered him,

ouring down tears: “Hephaistos, is there any other goddess
n Olympos who has suffered so many awful pains as Zeus,
he son of Kronos, has heaped upon me before all others?
Of all the daughters of the sea he subjected me alone 405
o a mortal—Peleus, the son of Aiakos. I had to put up with
ying with a mortal, although I was unwilling.° Now he stays
n his palace fitted out with horrid old age, but other causes
or grief are now mine. Peleus gave me a son to bear
nd to raise up, the finest of warriors. He shot up 410
ke a sapling. When I had raised him like a plant in a rich
rchard, I sent him forth on the beaked ships to Ilion,
o fight against the Trojans. I will never receive him again
oming home to the house of Peleus. And while he lives
nd sees the light of the sun, if he is in pain, I am unable 415
o go to him and to be of help. A girl whom the sons of the
Achaeans chose out for him as his prize—King Agamemnon
ook her from his hands. Achilles wastes away grieving for her.
n the meanwhile, the Trojans have hemmed the Achaeans in
t the sterns of the ships and will not let them come out. The
elders 420
f the Argives begged Achilles to return and offered him many gifts,
ut he refused to help them ward off ruin. Instead he dressed
atroklos in his own armor and sent him out to the war,
nd he sent many troops along with him. They fought all day
round the Scaean Gates, and on that same day Patroklos
425
would have taken the city, had not Apollo killed him after he had
wounded many fighting in the forefront—and so gave Hector the glory.
“For this reason I have come now to your knees,
o see if you are willing to give my son, doomed to die soon,
shield and a helmet and beautiful shinguards fitted with ankle 430
hains, and a breastplate.° For trusty Patroklos lost his armor
when he was killed by the Trojans. And now my Achilles
es on the ground, troubled at heart.”
 The famous god with two
rong arms answered her: “Courage! Don’t be undone
y any of this. As I wish that I could protect Achilles from 435
miserable death, when dread fate comes on, I assure you that beautiful
rmor will be his, such that in the aftertime men will be astonished seeing it.”

So speaking, he left her there and went to the bellows.

He turned them toward the fire and ordered them to get to work.°

FIGURE 18.2 Peleus wrestles Thetis. Thetis is dressed in an elaborate

gown, probably linen, and an elegant cloak. She tugs at her hair-covering
 while turning into various shapes to escape Peleus’ attentions, here
symbolized by the lion that bites Peleus on the arm. The young beardless
Peleus wears only a shirt and a sword. It is not clear what the building on
the right symbolizes. According to the story, Peleus hung on in spite of the
transformations until Thetis relented and agreed to marry him. Athenian
red-figure wine-cup, c. 490 BC, from Vulci, Etruria.

The bellows, twenty in number, blew from all angles on the

crucibles, 440
ending forth a generous blast of every kind of force on hand
or the busy smith as he time and again employed their blasts
o help in whatever way he might wish—thus Hephaistos got on
with his work.

He put the stubborn bronze and tin and precious

old and silver on the fire. Then he placed a great anvil 445
n the anvil block. He took a massive hammer in one hand,
nd in the other he took the tongs. First he made a great
nd powerful shield, decorating it cleverly in every part,
nd around it he set a glittering threefold rim, and a silver
hield-strap. The shield was of five layers, and on it he made 450
many fancy devices with his cunning skill.° On it he made
he earth and the sky and the sea and the unwearied sun
nd the full moon and all the constellations with which the sky
crowned—the Pleiades and the Hyades and mighty Orion
nd the Bear, which men also call the Wagon, which always 455
oes around in the same place, watching Orion. The Bear alone
as no part in the baths of Ocean.°

He made on it two
ities of mortal men—beautiful! In the one there was a wedding
oing on, and a feast. By the light of burning torches the men
ed brides from their chambers through the city and the bridal
song 460
ose loudly. Young men whirled in the dance, and among them
utes and lyres gave forth song. Women stood each
t the doorway and marveled. People were crowded into the assembly
rea. A dispute had arisen there. Two men were quarreling
ver the blood-price for a man who had been killed. The one
465
aid that he would pay for all, declaring recompense to the people.
he other refused to accept anything. Each wanted to win
he judgment by turning the matter over to someone who knew the facts.
he people applauded both parties, showing favor now to this side,
ow that. The heralds held the people back, while the elders 470
at on polished stone seats in the sacred circle,° holding
n their hands the scepters of the heralds, whose voices resound
hrough the air. With these they then rose up and gave judgments
n turn. In the center lay two talents of gold that they would give
o the elder who gave the soundest judgment.°
475

But around
second city two forces of armed men sat in siege,
esplendent in their gear. They were of two minds—either
o lay the city waste, or to divide in two all the property
hat the lovely city contained.° The townspeople would not
o along with the plan, but instead put on their armor in secret, 480
o meet the enemy in ambush. Their dear wives
nd their children guarded the wall, standing upon it,
nd also the old men. But the rest marched out. Ares
nd Pallas Athena led them, all set in gold, and they wore
 olden clothes—beautiful and majestic were they 485
n their armor, as is appropriate to gods! They stood out
mid the rest because the people were somewhat smaller.

When the townspeople came to the place of ambush—

riverbed where there was a watering place for all their herds—
here they sat down, clothed in flaming bronze. They sent out
490
wo scouts, apart from the army, to wait until they saw
he sheep and the cattle with curly horns. These came soon,
nd two herdsman followed them, playing on their panpipes.
hey did not suspect the ambush. Then when the townsmen
aw them coming, they ran out and quickly cut off the herds 495
f cattle and fine flocks of white sheep, and then killed
he herdsmen.° The besiegers, when they heard the noise
mong the cattle, being seated in assembly,° immediately
mounted their chariots drawn by high-stepping horses and set out.
They came upon the townspeople quickly. They put the battle
500
ne in place and fought beside the banks of the river, striking
ach other with bronze spears. In their midst Eris and Tumult
mixed in, and deadly Fate,° who grasped one wounded man
ill alive, another without any wounds, and she dragged
nother, dead, by the feet through the melée. Her cloak 505
round her shoulders was red with the blood of men.
ike living mortals, they mixed in the contendings and fought,
nd each hauled off the dead of the other.

And on the shield

Hephaistos worked soft rich fallow-land—broad, three-times
 lowed.° Many plowmen in the field were whirling 510
heir yokes around and driving this way and that.
When after turning they came to the end of the field,
man would come up to them and place in their hands
cup of honey-sweet wine. They turned around
n the furrows, anxious to reach the other end of the deep 515
allow-land.° The field grew black behind, just as if
had been plowed, although it was made of gold.°
hus was fashioned the astounding marvel of his work!

Then Hephaistos set in a royal estate, where laborers

were holding sharp sickles in their hands. Some dropped handfuls 520
o the ground thick and fast along the furrow, others the sheaf-binders
were binding with twisted ropes. Three sheaf-binders stood
earby, and behind them boys gathered together handfuls.
hey carried the sheaves in their arms, and busily gave
hem to the binders. Among them the boss-man stood in silence,
525
etting his staff on the furrow, joyful at heart. Apart, under an
ak tree, heralds prepared a feast. They were dressing an ox
hey had killed at sacrifice, while the women sprinkled
he flesh with white barley as a meal for the reapers.°

Then Hephaistos placed a vineyard bursting with large 530

rapes—beautiful, golden! The grapes were black, and set up
n silver vine poles throughout. And around the vineyard
e put a dark-blue trench, and around that he fashioned a fence
f tin. A single path led up to it on which the vine-workers
ame and went when they harvested the grapes. Young girls
 535
nd youths carried the honey-sweet fruit in woven baskets
with glee. In the middle of them a boy made pleasant
music with his clear-toned lyre. He sang the Linos-song° sweetly
with his fine voice, and his companions all together stamped
heir feet and followed on with skipping feet in the midst
540
f dance and joyful shoutings.

And Hephaistos inlay a herd

f straight-horned cattle, made of gold and tin. With lowing
hey set out from the farmyard to the pasture beside the burbling
ver, beside the waving reeds. The herdsmen who followed
long with the cattle were golden, four of them, and nine dogs 545
wift of foot followed along. But two terrible lions
eld down a lowing bull among the foremost of the cattle,
nd dragged him off as he bellowed. The dogs and young men ran
fter him. But the two lions had broken open the hide
f the great bull and were eating the guts and the black blood
550
while the herdsmen tried vainly to scare them off, urging on
heir swift dogs. But the dogs shrank back from ripping the lions,
anding nearby and barking, avoiding the beasts.

And the far-famed god

with strong arms made a pasture in a beautiful clearing—large in size,
illed with white sheep, and corrals and roofed huts and pens. 555
And the far-famed god with the two strong arms made a dancing
oor like that which Daidalos once made in broad KNOSSOS
 FIGURE 18.3 Hephaistos prepares arms for Achilles. The smithy-god,
bearded and wearing a felt cap, sits in an elaborately draped hall on a
platform holding a cloth with which he is polishing the finished shield. A
servant holds it up for inspection. The surface of the back of the shield is so
bright that it reflects the figure of Thetis, sitting in a chair with a footstool
just as Homer describes. Behind Thetis stands Charis, Hephaistos’ wife.
Another servant works on the helmet in the lower left. Between him and
Thetis are the breastplate and the shinguards (the surface of the fresco is
damaged here). From Pompeii, c. AD 60.

or Ariadnê with the lovely hair. There youths danced

with young girls worth many cattle, holding their hands
ach on the wrist of another.° Of these, the young girls wore fine
560
nen and the youths wore shirts wonderfully woven, faintly
listening with oil. The girls had beautiful chaplets, the boys
ad golden daggers hanging from silver chest straps.
hey moved around with skillful movements, light on their feet,
s when a potter sits by his wheel fitted in his hands
565
nd makes trial to see if it will go. And then they would run
n rows towards one another. A large crowd stood around
he lovely dance, taking joy. Two tumblers whirled through
heir middle as leaders in the dance.

And Hephaistos set

he great power of the river Ocean around the outermost rim
570
f the strongly made shield. When he had finished the great
nd powerful shield, he then made a breastplate brighter than
he blaze of fire. And he made a helmet fitted to Achilles’
emples—beautiful, richly worked! On it he set a plume
f gold, and he made shinguards of pliant tin.
575

When the far-famed

od of two strong arms was done, he took the armor and placed
before the mother of Achilles. Like a falcon she sprang down
om snowy Olympos, carrying the flashing armor from Hephaistos.

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 black ashes: From the hearth fire.
a knife: At this point Antilochos drops from the scene.
in the deep sea: Such lists of sea-deities are common in early oral poetry,
and many of these same names appear in Hesiod’s Theogony. Homer’s
catalog contains thirty-three names (but he adds that there were other
Nereids): Glauke “blue” is an epithet of the sea; Thaleia “blooming” is the
name of one of the Muses and one of the Graces; Kymodokê is “calmer of
the sea”; Nesaiê “island girl”; Speio, “cave” in the sea; Thoê “swift” (as of
waves); Heliê “of the salt sea”; Kymothoê “swift wave”; Aktaiê “of the
shore”; Limnoreia, perhaps “harbor protector”; Melitê “sweet as honey”;
Iaira “swift”; Amphithoê “very swift”; Agavê “wondrous”; Doto “giver”;
Proto, perhaps “provider”; Pherousa, perhaps “she who carries ships along”;
Dynamenê “enabler”; Dexamenê, perhaps “protector”; Amphinomê “rich in
pasture land”; Kallianeira “handsome”; Doris “giver”; Panopê “all-seeing”;
Galatea “milk-white,” referring to the foam of the sea; Nemertes
“infallible” and Apseudes “truthful” are qualities of Nereus, the old man of
the sea, a prophet; Kallianassa “beautiful queen”; Klymenê “famous”;
Ianeira and Ianassa both mean “strong”; Maira “sparkler”; Oreithyia
“mountain-rushing,” perhaps of the wind rushing from a mountain down to
the sea; Amatheia “sandy.”
house of Peleus: According to the story current later, Thetis abandoned
Peleus shortly after Achilles’ birth, but here Thetis speaks as if she and
Peleus were still married.
flying weapons: The last time we looked (17.713ff.), Meriones and
Menelaos were carrying off Patroklos’ body, but this effort seems to have
failed.
a city: It is not clear whether the trumpet has sounded to signal an attack or
to rally the defenders.
assembly: The last Trojan assembly was in Book 8 after they had pushed the
Greeks back behind the ditch. Then they approved, without dissent,
Hector’s suggestion that the Trojans camp that night on the plain.
so long a time: In fact Achilles has been absent from the fighting for only
three days.
Poulydamas: Last seen in Book 17 fighting alongside Hector and wounding
the Boeotian Peneleos.
Phrygia … Maeonia: Inland territories to the east and southeast of Troy
(Map 6).
Opoeis: The chief city of Locris, northeast of Boeotia, mentioned in the
Catalog of Ships, the birthplace of Patroklos (Map 2).
Charis: “Grace.” In Hesiod, Hephaistos is married to another of the Graces.
Perhaps his marriage and divorce to the adulterous Aphrodite, reported in
the Odyssey, took place earlier than this marriage.
bum leg: In Book 1 Hephaistos tells how Zeus threw him from heaven when
he went to help Hera, and he was received by the Sintians on the island of
Lesbos; the fall must explain his lameness. In this version, Hera threw him
from heaven because she was disgusted by his lameness, the only time in
Homer that the same myth is told twice, with different details.
Eurynomê: According to Hesiod, a daughter of Ocean and mother of the
Graces, hence Hephaistos’ mother-in-law.
unwilling: Thetis seems to refer to the story that Zeus had lusted after her,
but when a prophecy revealed that her child would be greater than the
father, Zeus forced her to marry a mortal. Of course Achilles was greater
than Peleus.
breastplate: For some reason Thetis forgets to request a sword, but the spear
was the main weapon, which Achilles already has because Patroklos was
not warrior enough to carry it.
work: The bellows are intelligent robots, like the “handmaidens made of
gold” and the tripods (metal bowls supported by three legs).
cunning skill: We cannot really reconstruct how this magical, living shield
was decorated, but in the usual view the heavenly bodies are in the center
with the various scenes occupying successive bands, moving outwards
toward the rim. The innermost band is divided between the city at peace and
the city at war; the second band is divided into the three seasons of the
farmer (plowing, reaping, harvest); the third band has the cattle attacked by
lions and the sheep; the fourth band is given to the dance; finally, the river
Ocean surrounds the whole. The five “layers” may consist of progressively
larger circles moving out from the center, as in a target, but it is not clear
what is meant by a “threefold rim.”
… Ocean: These constellations still bear the same names. The meaning of
Pleiades is unknown, but a later form Peleiades means “doves”; they are
the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas, for some reason changed into stars
by Zeus. The five Hyades were also daughters of Atlas, by a different
mother; when their brother Hyas (“rain”?) died, Zeus changed the mourning
sisters into stars. Orion was the great hunter, still pursuing the Bear (the Big
Dipper) in the sky. Orion was killed for some sexual offense against
Artemis, then turned into a constellation. Of course the Big Dipper never
sets in Ocean, that is, it never disappears beneath the horizon.
sacred circle: Sacred because Zeus presides over judicial proceedings.
… soundest judgment: It is uncertain exactly what are the rules of the legal
proceeding that Homer is describing. One man has killed another and he
offers to pay a blood-price, but the relative of the dead man will not accept
it. If he does not accept it, then blood vendetta will follow. Judgments are
not made by kings, but by a body of elders who voice their views in turn in
a public assembly. On the shield of Achilles Homer describes the society of
his own day in the late Iron Age, as contrasted with his fictitious
construction of a “heroic age” in the narrative. The elders will decide if the
offended party must accept payment, and if so how much. Whoever speaks
“straightest” in this matter apparently will receive the two talents of gold. In
Book 23, two talents of gold are fourth prize in a chariot race, after an
unused cauldron and before a two-handled jar. Still, it is a very large sum.
… contained: The besiegers have made an offer to the townspeople: either
be destroyed or give up half of all their property without a fight, and the
attackers will go away. The image of two forces attacking the city may be
based on artistic representations from Homer’s time that show city walls
under attack from both sides: Examples of such a scene survive on a
Phoenician metal plate from the eighth century BC.
herdsmen: You would think that the besiegers would be attacking flocks
near the city, not the townspeople; Homer may have misunderstood some
picture showing a town besieged and the capture of cattle.
assembly: No doubt to discuss what course of action to take.
Fate: The only time that Fate acts like this in Homer.
three-times plowed: For good luck.
fallow-land: The description is not clear, but the general situation is that the
plowmen are going back and forth over a fallow field, and at the turning at
one end of the field a boy comes up to them with refreshment.
of gold: Homer seems to be thinking of dark inlay in a precious metal, such
as we find on the dagger blades in Mycenaean graves (Figure 4.1). Niello is
a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulfides used as an inlay on
engraved metal, known to the Mycenaeans but not used in Greece after the
Bronze Age.
meal for the reapers: Likewise in the Odyssey the swineherd Eumaios
prepares a meal of pork by sprinkling it with barley (Book 14).
Linos-song: Linos was a mythical musician, said to be the first mortal gifted
with song by the gods. He was killed by a jealous Apollo and mourned by
his mother Ourania, one of the Muses. The “Linos-song” was some kind of
lament, but not much is known about it.
of another: The Cretans were famous dancers. Daidalos has a “speaking
name,” meaning “decorator.” He built the labyrinth that contained the
Minotaur. The dancing boys and girls may refer to the myth that the
Minotaur required a periodic sacrifice of boys and girls. A daidaleon is
referred to in the Linear B texts from Knossos, evidently a shrine. Dancing
circles have been identified in Minoan ruins, c. 1400 BC. Ariadnê means
“the most holy one” and in origin was probably one of the names of the
Cretan mother goddess.

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 BOOK 19. Agamemnon’s
Apology

Df Ocean
awn with her robe of saffron rose from the streams
to bring light to the deathless ones and to mortals.
And Thetis came to the ships bearing the gifts of the god.
he found her son lying down, clinging to Patroklos,
wailing shrilly. Around him his companions wept.
5

The goddess stood beside him and she took

is hand and she called his name: “My son, we must let
his man lie, though we grieve much, seeing he has been killed
eyond mending by the will of the gods. Now you must take
his exquisite sturdy armor, such as no man ever wore
10
n his shoulders.”

So speaking the goddess set down the armor

n front of Achilles—it rang in its terrible splendor. Dread took
old of all the Myrmidons, and not one dared to look,
s they shrank back in fear. But when Achilles saw the armor,
nger gripped him even more strongly, and his eyes blazed
15
orth beneath his lids as if they were flames. He exulted,
olding the glorious gifts of the god in his hands.
 But when he had taken delight in his heart, looking
t the exquisitely wrought objects, right away he addressed
is mother with words that went like arrows: “My mother,
20
he arms that the god has given are just as the works
f the deathless ones should be, and nothing that a mortal man
ould fashion. Now I will arm myself. But I am so afraid that
ies will come down into the wounds of the brave son of Menoitios,
ent by the bronze, and beget maggots, and defile the corpse,
25
or the life in him is gone, and all his flesh will rot.”

Silver-footed Thetis, the goddess, answered him:

My child, don’t let these things be a trouble to you in your heart.
shall surely ward off from him the savage tribes of flies,
who devour men killed in battle. Even if he should lie there
30
or a whole year, his flesh will remain always fresh, or even
etter than it now is. But you call the fighting men of the Achaeans
 FIGURE 19.1 Achilles receives the arms from Thetis. Thetis hands her
son, in “heroic nudity” and carrying a spear, a wreath of victory. With her
other hand, she give him a “Boeotian” shield. Behind her a Nereid named
Lomaia (“bather”?), not named by Homer, carries a breastplate and what
seems a jug for oil. Behind her an unnamed Nereid carries the plumed
helmet and the shinguards. To the left, an armed Odysseus keeps guard (not
in Homer). The figures are labeled. Detail of an Attic black-figure hydria, c.
550 BC.

o an assembly and give up your anger at Agamemnon,

hepherd of the people. Then arm yourself quickly for the war,
nd resume your valor.”
35

So speaking, Thetis instilled

n Achilles unvanquished courage, and on Patroklos she let seep
hrough his nostrils ambrosia and a red nectar so that his flesh
would remain incorruptible.° Then the godlike Achilles strode along
he shore of the sea, roaring a terrible cry, and so roused the fighting
men of the Achaeans. And those who remained in the gathering
 40
f the ships—the pilots and the steersmen and those who provided
ood beside the ships—these men too came to the assembly,
ecause Achilles had returned, he who had too long absented himself
om the grievous war. Two followers of Ares came limping along,
he stalwart son of Tydeus, Diomedes, and godlike Odysseus,
45
eaning on their spears. For painful wounds still afflicted them.
hey went and they sat down in front of the assembly. Last of all
ame wounded Agamemnon, the king of men. For Koön,
he son of Antenor, had cut him in the savage contendings
with his bronze-tipped spear.° 50

When all the Achaeans were

athered together, Achilles the fast runner stood up and spoke
efore them: “Son of Atreus, was this, then, the better course
or you and me—that we two raged in spirit-devouring strife
n account of a girl? I wish that amid the ships Artemis
ad killed her with an arrow on that day when I took her from 55
he loot after I sacked LYRNESSOS!° Then so many of the Achaeans
would not have bitten the vast earth with their teeth
t the hands of the enemy because of my ferocious anger.
his is better for Hector and for the Trojans. I suspect
hat the Achaeans will long remember the disharmony 60
etween us.
“But let us leave all these things as past and done,
hough we are full of grief. Of necessity we must tame
he spirit in our breasts. So here and now I renounce my anger.
here is no need for constant, unending anger. Come, let us
ouse the Achaeans who wear their hair long to battle, so that 65
may go against the Trojans and put them to the test, to see
 they still are willing to spend the night beside the ships.
ut I think that many of them will be happy to bend their knees
n rest—whoever escapes from our savage war and my spear!”

Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans with their fancy shinguards 70

ejoiced that the great-hearted son of Peleus had given up his anger.
he king of men Agamemnon spoke to them from his seat,°
ot standing up in their midst: “My dear friends, fighting men,
Danaäns, the followers of Ares—it is a good thing to listen to a man
who is standing up, and it is not proper to interrupt him. That is 75
ard even for a man skilled at speaking. And in the middle of an
proar of men, how can one hear or speak? That man is hampered,
hough he speaks with clear voice.° Now I will explain to the son of
eleus how things stand, and you other Argives pay attention,
nd mark my words, each one of you. Often the Achaeans 80
ave spoken, and were ever happy to revile me. But I am
ot at fault. Zeus and Fate and Erinys who walks in darkness° are.
was they who in the assembly infected me with a wild blindness,
n that day when I myself took away the prize of Achilles.
But what could I do? The gods are responsible for everything! 85
lindness is the oldest daughter of Zeus, who blinds everyone—
uinous Blindness!° Her walk is gentle, but she does not get close
o the ground—she walks across the heads of men, doing them harm.
he ensnares now this one, now that.
“Even Zeus was subject
o Blindness, and they say that he is the best of men and gods. 90
Hera, who is but a female, deceived him with tricks on that day
when Alkmenê was about to give birth to powerful Herakles
n Thebes with its fine battlements. Zeus spoke, invoking
ll the many gods: ‘Hear me, all you gods and goddesses,
 o that I might speak what the spirit in my breast urges me to. 95
On this day Eileithyia, the producer of birth-pangs, will bring forth
nto the light a man who will rule over all those who dwell nearby,
f the race of men who have my blood.’ And crafty revered Hera
eplied: ‘You are lying. You will never bring this word to pass.
Come, then, O Olympian, and swear a strong oath to me,
100
hat he who on this day shall fall between a woman’s feet°
will rule over all those who dwell nearby, a man who is of the race
f men who have your blood.’ So she spoke, and Zeus
id not see the trick, but he swore a great oath, for he succumbed
o great Blindness. Hera jumped up and left the peak 105
f Olympos, and swiftly she came to Achaean Argos, where,
he knew, was the strong wife of Sthenelos, son of Perseus,
regnant with a dear child and in her seventh month.
Hera brought the child out into the light, though it was premature,
nd she held up the birth of Alkmenê’s child—she held back the
Eileithyia 110
oddesses. Hera, making a pronouncement, spoke to Zeus,
he son of Kronos: ‘Zeus, father, lord of the white lightning—
sten to me now. A man of good birth has been born
who will rule over the Argives: Eurystheus the son of Sthenelos,
he son of Perseus. Your own line!° It is not unseemly
115
hat he shall rule over the Argives.’ So she spoke, and a sharp pain
ruck him in the depths of his heart. At once he seized Blindness
y the head with her bright tresses, angry in his heart, and he
wore a mighty oath, that never again would Blindness come
gain to Olympos and the starry heaven, she who blinds everyone.
120
o speaking he whirled her in his hand and flung her from the starry
eavens, and quickly she fell to the tilled fields of men. He groaned
onstantly at the thought of her, whenever he saw his own son
ngaged in an unseemly task because of the contests that Eurystheus
 mposed on him. 125
“Even so did I, when great Hector of the flashing helmet
was destroying the Argives at the sterns of the ships, constantly
hink of Blindness by whom at first I was blinded. But because
was blinded and Zeus took away my wits, I am willing
o make amends and to give a boundless recompense. So rouse up
attle and rouse up your other people! I am willing to give you 130
ll the gifts that Odysseus described yesterday° when he came
o your hut. If you want, wait awhile, though you are eager for the war,
nd I will have my aides take the gifts from my ship and bring them
ere so that you might see that I am giving you gifts that will satisfy
our heart.”
135

Achilles the fast runner answered him in this way:

Son of Atreus, most glorious king of men, Agamemnon, you can give
he gifts if you want, as is fitting, or you can keep them—
is up to you. But for now let us think as soon as possible of battle.
We should not spend time wasting words, nor make delay.
For our great work is still undone—as each man again sees
Achilles 140
mong the foremost, destroying the battalions of the Trojans
with his spear of bronze! So let each one of you take thought
f this as he fights his man.”

But the resourceful Odysseus

nswered him: “Godlike Achilles, though you are valiant,
lease don’t be urging the sons of the Achaeans to go against Ilion
145
with an empty stomach, to fight the Trojans. For the din of battle
will not be for a short time once the battalions of men come together
 nd the gods breathe might into each side. Bid the Achaeans
eside the swift ships first to take their share of food and wine.
Therein is strength and courage. For a man without food 150
annot fight against the enemy until the sun goes down.
He may want in his heart to fight, but unawares his limbs
row heavy— thirst and hunger come over him, and his knees
row tired as he moves along. But the man who has had his fill
f wine and food can fight against the enemy all day long, 155
nd his heart in his breast is filled with courage, and his limbs
o not grow tired before everyone has withdrawn from the war.
o come, dismiss the men and ask them to prepare the meal.
“In the meanwhile, Agamemnon will bring out the gifts into
he middle of the assembly so that each of the Achaeans can see
them 160
with his own eyes, and you may be warmed by looking upon them.
And let Agamemnon swear an oath, standing up among the Argives,
hat never did he go into her bed or have intercourse with Briseïs
s is the custom, O king, of men and women. And Achilles, let your heart
e open to appeasement. Thus let Agamemnon makes amends
165
o you by a rich banquet in his hut so that you are in no way lacking
n justice. And, son of Atreus, you must be more just in your future
ealings with men. There is no blame for a king to appease a man
ully when a king has started the trouble.”

The king of men

Agamemnon answered Odysseus: “I am glad to hear your
opinion, 170
O son of Laërtes. You have set the matter forth appropriately
nd told the tale. I am willing to swear this oath. My heart
ids me to do it, and I shall not forswear myself before
he gods. But let Achilles remain here, though he is anxious
 o go to war. All you others remain together until the gifts
175
rrive from my hut and we have a chance to swear the oaths
f faith with a sacrifice. But to you yourself do I make
his command and give this order: Pick young men,
he best of all the Achaeans, to bring the gifts from my ship,
ll those that we promised to Achilles the other day, 180
nd you bring the women too. And let Talthybios quickly
make ready a boar in the broad camp of the Achaeans
o sacrifice to Zeus and to Helios the sun.”

Achilles
he fast runner answered him in this way: “Son of Atreus,
most glorious king of men, Agamemnon, be busy with these
185
matters at some other time, when there is some pause
n the war and the fury in my heart is not so great. As it is,
he men lie all mangled up whom Hector the son of Priam
illed when Zeus was giving him glory. And you two
re urging us to eat! I would rather urge the sons of the Achaeans
190
o fight hungry, with an empty stomach, until the sun goes down,
hen make ready a big meal once we have taken revenge
or that shame. Down my throat, at least, neither drink nor food
hall pass, for my companion lies dead in my tent, torn
y the sharp bronze, his feet turned toward the door,° and around
him 195
is companions mourn. Other matters are of no moment
o me, but only death and blood and the agonized groans
f men!”

Then the resourceful Odysseus answered him:

O Achilles, son of Peleus, by far the strongest of the Achaeans,
ou are greater than I, and stronger with the spear by not just a
little. 200
ut I am much superior to you in counsel because I am born
rst and I know more things. So please allow your heart
o pay attention to my words. Men quickly have their surfeit
f war wherein the bronze strews the most straw on the ground,
ut the harvest is sparse when Zeus inclines his scales—he
205
who dispenses for men what happens in war.° But fasting
no way for the Achaeans to mourn a corpse. As it is,
oo many fall one after another day after day—when is
ne to find respite from the labor of war? We should bury
he man who has died, steeling our spirits and weeping 210
or just one day. But for all those who are left alive
om this hateful war, they should have a mind for drink
nd food, that they might fight against the enemy without cease
with the unwearied bronze about their skin. Then not one of you
may hold back, awaiting some other summons. This is the
summons! 215
will go ill for anyone hanging around the ships! Setting out
n a horde, let us stir up dread war with the horse-taming Trojans!”

Odysseus spoke, and then he made the sons of bold Nestor

ollow him—also Meges the son of Phyleus and Thoas and Meriones
nd Lykomedes, the son of Kreon, and Melanippos.° They made
220
heir way to the hut of Agamemnon, son of Atreus. In a moment
he word was spoken and the deed was done. They carried
even tripods from the tent, which he had promised, twenty gleaming
auldrons and twelve horses. They quickly led forth the women,
even of them wise in handiwork, and the eighth was Briseïs 225
 f the beautiful cheeks. Odysseus measured out ten talents
f gold and led the way, and with him many youths of the Achaeans
arried the gifts. Then they placed them in the middle of the gathering place,
nd Agamemnon stood up. Talthybios, in his voice like to a god,
tood beside him, the shepherd of the people, holding the boar 230
n his hands. The son of Atreus drew out the knife that always
ung next to the great scabbard of his sword, and cutting away
he hairs from the boar,° he raised his hands and prayed.
All the Argives sat in silence, by themselves, listening
o the king, as was appropriate.
235

FIGURE 19.2 Achilles and Briseïs. Achilles stands armed with a spear,
sword, helmet, shinguards, and breastplate. Briseïs is dressed in an elegant
gown and smells a flower. Two sides of an Athenan red-figure water jug by
Oltos, c. 510 BC.

Agamemnon spoke in prayer, looking up

o the heavens: “Be first witness, O Zeus, highest and best
 f the gods, and Earth and Helios the sun and the Erinyes
who under the earth take vengeance on those men
who swear false oaths—that never did I lay hands on the girl
Briseïs, either to make love to her, or for any other reason, 240
ut she remained untouched in my hut. And if any of this oath
false, then may the gods give me full many afflictions, as many
s they reserve for whoever has transgressed against them
n his swearing.”

Agamemnon spoke, and then cut the throat

f the boar with the pitiless bronze. Talthybios whirled and threw
245
he boar into the mighty depths of the gray sea to be food for fishes.
ut Achilles stood up and spoke to the war-loving Argives:
O father Zeus, truly, great is the Blindness that you set upon men.
Otherwise the son of Atreus never would have aroused anger
n my heart, nor ruthlessly led the girl away against my will—
250
ut, I suppose, Zeus wished many of the Achaeans to die.
Go now to your meal, so that, after, we may join in battle.”

So he spoke, and he quickly dissolved the assembly.

hey scattered, each man to his own ship, while the great-hearted
Myrmidons busied themselves with the gifts, bearing them to the
ship 255
f godlike Achilles. And they placed them in his hut and made the women
t down and then the noble aides drove the horses into the herd.

Then Briseïs, like golden Aphrodite, when she saw Patroklos

orn by the sharp bronze, threw herself about him and shrieked
 loud, and with her hands she tore at her breasts and her tender
skin 260
nd her beautiful face. With a wail she spoke, a girl like the goddesses:
O Patroklos, most dear to my sad heart, I left you alive
when I went from the tent, but now when I return, I find you dead,
leader of the people. So to me evil ever follows evil.
saw my husband, to whom my father and revered mother gave
me, 265
orn by the sharp bronze before our city, and my three brothers,
whom my mother bore, beloved—all of them met their day
f doom. But you would not let me weep, when swift Achilles
illed my husband and sacked the city of godlike Mynes,° but you
aid you would make me the wedded wife of godlike Achilles,
270
nd that he would carry me to Phthia in his ships, and make me
marriage feast among the Myrmidons. So, dead, I bewail you
without end, for you were always kind to me.”

So Briseïs spoke,
wailing, and the women too mourned, ostensibly for Patroklos,
ut each one really bemoaned her own sorrows. Around Achilles 275
he elders of the Achaeans were gathered, begging him to eat.
n his sorrow he refused: “I beseech you, if I can persuade
ny of my dear companions, do not urge me to satisfy
my heart with food or drink, for a dread pain has fallen
pon me. I will hold out until the sun goes down.
280
will endure even as I am.”

So speaking, Achilles sent

he other chieftains from him, but the two sons of Atreus
emained, and godlike Odysseus and Nestor and old-time
 hoinix, the driver of horses, seeking to comfort him
n his terrible sorrow. But his heart would not be comforted 285
efore he had entered the mouth of bloody war.

Thinking about the matter, Achilles breathed a deep sigh

nd said: “Yes Patroklos, in the old days you were accustomed
o prepare a hasty pleasant meal in my tent, poor fellow, most
eloved of my companions, when the Achaeans scrambled to
carry 290
earful war against the horse-taming Trojans. But now you
e mangled, and my heart will have nothing of drink and food,
hough they are at hand, from desire for you. I could suffer
othing more awful, not if I should learn of the death
f my own father, who now in Phthia sheds tender tears 295
or lack of a son like me, while I make war against the Trojans
n a foreign country because of the detested Helen—not though
were for my own son who is reared for me in SKYROS,
in fact godlike Neoptolemos still lives.° Before, the heart
n my breast hoped that I alone would perish far from Argos, 300
he nurturer of horses, here in Troy, and that you would return
o Phthia so that you could take my son in your swift black
hip from Skyros and show him all my things, my possessions—
my slaves, and my great house with the high roof. For by now
think that Peleus is dead and gone, or if he still lives, 305
hat he is now sorely pressed by hateful old age, and by ever
waiting to hear bitter tidings of me—when he shall hear
hat I am dead!”

So, moaning, he spoke, and the old men

roaned with him, each remembering what he had left in his own
ouse. As they grieved, the son of Kronos took pity on seeing
them, 310
nd quickly he spoke to Athena words that went like arrows:
My child, surely you have altogether abandoned your man!
s there no longer a care in your heart for Achilles? There
e sits in front of his ships with upright horns, bewailing
is dear companion. The others have gone to their meal, 315
ut he will not eat, he fasts. But go and drip nectar
nd lovely ambrosia into his breast so that the pangs
f hunger do not come to him.”

So speaking he urged
n Athena, who was already alarmed. She darted down
o Achilles from heaven, through the sky like a long-winged
320
alcon with shrill voice. While the Achaeans speedily armed
hemselves throughout the camp, she poured nectar and lovely
mbrosia into Achilles’ breast so that the painful pangs
f hunger did not seep into his limbs.

She herself went then

o the well-built house of her powerful father, while the 325
Achaeans burst forth from the swift ships. As when thick
hill snowflakes fly down from Zeus beneath the blast
f North Wind, engendered in the bright air, even so the splendid
hining helmets issued forth from the ships, and the bossed
hields and the breastplates with massive pieces of metal,
330
nd the spears made of ash wood. Their gleam reached the sky.
All the earth around laughed from the flashing bronze.
A din went up from the beneath the feet of the men.

In their midst, godlike Achilles armed himself for battle.

There was a gnashing of teeth, and his two eyes showed like 335
he gleam of a fire. Into his heart an unbearable pain descended.
And raging against the Trojans, he put on the gifts
hat the god Hephaistos had labored so to make. First,
e strapped on the shinguards around his legs—beautiful,
itted with silver ankle straps. Second, he placed 340
he breastplate around his chest. Around his shoulder
e set the silver studded sword of bronze. Then he took up
is great sturdy shield, and its sheen gleamed like
he moon. As when the flash of a burning fire appears
o sailors over the sea, a fire that blazes high on the mountains 345
n the corral of a lonely farm—but much unwilling the storm
winds carry the sailors over the fishy deep far from
heir friends—even so the gleaming of the shield of Achilles,
eautiful, skillfully made, reached the heaven. He lifted
he strong helmet and placed it on his head and it shone
350
ke a star with its crest of horsehair. And around it waved
he golden plumes that Hephaistos set thick around the crest.

Then godlike Achilles made a test of his armor, to see

hat it fitted him well, that his glorious limbs were free to move
within it. Achilles felt as though he wore wings, and the armor 355
fted him, the shepherd of the people. He drew forth his
ather’s spear from the spear case—heavy, huge, strong.
None other of the Achaeans could brandish it, but Achilles
 lone knew how to wield it—the Pelian spear of ash
hat Cheiron had given his father from the peak of Pelion 360
o be the death of warriors.

Automedon and Alkimos busied

hemselves with yoking the horses.° Around them they placed
he beautiful harness-straps. They put bits in the horses’ jaws
nd drew the reins back toward the jointed car. Automedon
rasped in his hand the bright well-fitted lash and he 365
eaped onto the car. Achilles mounted behind him,
dorned for the fight, shining in his armor like bright
Hyperion.° He cried aloud a terrible cry to the horses
f his father: “Xanthos and Balios, far-famed offspring
f Podargê!° Think how better to save your driver 370
nd bring him back into the throng of the Danaäns when
 FIGURE 19.3 Achilles’ horses. The great hero prepares his team of
divine horses for battle. Here they are named Chaitos (probably short for
Pyrsochaitos, “red-haired”) and Eutheias (“straight-ahead”) instead of
Xanthos and Balios. With his right hand Achilles (labeled) adjusts the
harness and with his left holds the horse’s mane. He is “heroically nude”
from the waist down, but wears a breastplate and shinguards. To the far
right Automedon (?) seems to attach a trace horse. Between Achilles and
Chaitos are the words “Nearchos painted me.” Fragment of an Athenian
white-ground vase, c. 560 BC.

we have had enough of war. You must not leave your

river there, dead, as you did Patroklos!”

Then beneath the yoke

imble Xanthos, swift of foot, spoke to him, as suddenly
Xanthos bowed his head, and all his mane streamed from beneath 375
he yoke-pad next to the yoke and touched the ground.
he white-armed goddess Hera gave him a voice:
Yes, for this time we will save you, mighty Achilles, but near
the day of doom. We will not be the cause, but a great
od and powerful Fate will be. It was not through our slowness
380
r laxity that the Trojans stripped the armor from the shoulders
f Patroklos, but the best of the gods, whom Leto of the fair
esses bore, killed him among the vanguard and gave glory
o Hector.° As far as we are concerned, we might run as fast
s the West Wind, which men say is the swiftest of all the winds. 385
ut you yourself are fated to die by the strength
f a god and a man.”°

When Xanthos had so spoken, the Erinyes°

 opped his voice. Then, groaning deeply, Achilles the fast runner
aid: “Xanthos, why do you foretell my death? There is no need.
know well, of myself, that it is my fate to perish here, far from 390
my beloved father and my mother. Nonetheless I will not cease
ntil I have give the Trojans their fill of war.” He spoke,
nd with a cry drove his single-hoofed horses into the forefront.

OceanofPDF.com
 incorruptible: Homer seems to refer to some kind of embalming. In
Egyptian embalming, the brains were removed through the nostrils and
various preservative resins poured in, but no such technique is known from
Greece.
spear: Diomedes, Odysseus, and Agamemnon were all wounded in Book
11, but on the day after this day they are well enough to participate in the
funeral games of Patroklos (Book 23).
Lyrnessos: The account of its sacking is in Book 2.
seat: Because he is wounded.
clear voice: Achilles had the advantage of standing up when he spoke, but
Agamemnon will do the best he can from his sitting position.
in darkness: Ordinarily in Homer Erinys, mentioned on a Linear B tablet, is
the goddess who executes curses, punishes oath breakers, and takes revenge
for misdeeds against parents, but here she seems to be the force who sees
that the decrees of Fate are carried out.
Blindness: We earlier saw Blindness (atê) in Phoenix’s parable of Blindness
and Prayers in Book 9. Atê, the “blindness” that prevents one from seeing
the consequences of one’s actions, is an important concept in early Greek
thought.
feet: Evidently in Archaic Greece women gave birth in a standing position.
own line: Zeus’s pronouncement comes true because both Herakles and
Eurystheus are of Zeus’s blood line, although only Herakles was Zeus’s son.
Zeus was the father of Perseus, who was the father of both Elektryon,
Alkmenê’s father, and of Sthenelos, father of Eurystheus.
yesterday: Actually it was the day before yesterday.
toward the door: So the ghost knows the way out of the house.
in war: The point of these lines has been much discussed. Apparently, the
meaning is that many die, as men are cut down like the stalks of wheat at
the harvest, but the harvest is sparse, that is, there is little profit from the
labor. It all depends on the will of Zeus.
Melanippos: “Nestor’s sons” are Antilochos and Thrasymedes, who often
fight together. Meges from DOULICHION and Thoas from AETOLIA are
mentioned in the Catalog of Ships and appear with the Cretan Meriones in
Hector’s aristeia (Book 15). Meges is listed among important leaders in
Book 10 and wears notable armor in Book 15; Poseidon takes on the form
of Thoas when he speaks to Idomeneus (Book 13). Lykomedes avenges a
friend in Book 17. No Greek named Melanippos is found elsewhere, but
three men of this name (presumably all different) are killed on the Trojan
side (Books 8, 15, 16).
from the boar: The hairs are cut off from the head as a first offering and
usually thrown in the fire, but because there is no fire at an oath-sacrifice,
they are distributed to the chiefs (as in Book 3).
Mynes: The king of Lyrnessos, assumed by later commentators to be
Briseïs’ husband, but nothing in Homer suggests this.
still lives: The only mention of Achilles’ son in the poem. Later tradition
reported how Odysseus went to Skyros after Achilles’ death and took
Neoptolemos back to Troy, where he gave him his father’s armor. During
the sack of Troy, Neoptolemos killed Priam on the altar of Zeus. Achilles
had fathered Neoptolemos on one of the daughters of the local king when as
a young man he was hidden in the women’s quarters dressed as a girl.
Thetis placed Achilles there, fearing he might one day go to Troy and die on
the windy plain.
yoking the horses: Alkimos is a shortened form of Alkimedon. The two men
and the horses figure together in a scene in Book 17.
Hyperion: The sun, a Titan.
Podargê: A Harpy. Achilles’ horses Xanthos (“red”) and Balios (“patches”)
were begotten by the West Wind (Zephyros) on Podargê (“swift-foot”),
according to Book 16. Two of Hector’s horses also have the names Xanthos
and Podargos (Book 8).
… to Hector: This is the first time that Achilles has heard of Apollo’s role
in the death of Patroklos. Achilles had warned Patroklos of the danger of
Apollo in Book 16.
of god and a man: In Book 22 Hector reveals that the god and man who will
kill Achilles are Apollo and Paris.
Erinyes: This is the only time in Homer that the Erinyes function as
guardians of the natural order. Probably Homer is thinking of their more
usual function as the punishers of those who violated the rights of the gods
(as in the breaking of oaths) and the rights of older family members (as in
Books 9, 15, and 21), extended here to cover maintaining the normal rules
of behavior.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 20. The Duel Between
Achilles and Aeneas

A nd so around you, O son of Peleus, insatiate of battle,

he Achaeans armed themselves beside the beaked ships,
nd over against them the Trojans did the same on the rising
round of the plain. Zeus ordered Themis to call to assembly
he gods from the top of Olympos with its many ridges.
5
he went all around and ordered the gods to come
o the house of Zeus. There was no river that did not come,
xcept Ocean, nor any nymph of those who dwell in the beautiful
woods and the springs of the rivers and the grassy meadows.
Coming to the house of the cloud-gatherer Zeus, they sat down
10
within the polished colonnades that Hephaistos had made for his father
eus with his matchless skill.

And so they were gathered

within the house of Zeus, nor did the shaker of the earth
ail to listen to the goddess, but he came to the assembly
rom the sea. He sat down in the middle and he questioned
15
he purpose of Zeus: “Why, O lord of the white lightning,
ave you called the gods to assembly? Do you have some
houghts about the Trojans and the Achaeans? For now
the time their battle is beginning.”
 Answering him, Zeus who
athers the clouds said: “You know, O shaker of the earth,
20
he purpose in my heart for which I have called you together.
hese men are a concern of mine, even though they are about
o die. Well, I will remain here sitting in a fold of Olympos,
om where I will look down with pleasure. But you others go forth
ntil you come amid the Trojans and the Achaeans, and bear
25
id to this side or that, however you are inclined. For if
Achilles will fight alone against the Trojans, they will not
withstand the son of Peleus, the fast runner, even for
little. Even before they trembled in looking upon him,
ut now that he is enraged because of his friend’s death, I fear
30
hat he might smash the wall beyond what is fated to be.”
 FIGURE 20.1 Achilles. The beardless youthful warrior is labeled
ACHILLEUS. Dressed in a diaphanous shirt beneath a breastplate
decorated with a Gorgon’s head, he stands looking off pensively to his left.
In his left hand he holds a long spear over his shoulder, his right hand
propped on his hip. A cloak is draped over his left arm and a sword in a
scabbard hangs from a strap that crosses his chest and rests at his side. He
has no helmet, shield, or shinguards. On the other side (not visible) a
female, probably Briseïs, holds the vessels for a drink-offering. Athenian
red-figure water jar by the Achilles Painter, c. 450 BC.

So spoke the son of Kronos, and he roused up war that is not

o be turned aside. And the gods went each their way into the war,
eing divided in their minds. Hera went to the gathering of the ships,
nd Pallas Athena and Poseidon, who embraces the earth,
35
nd the helper Hermes who surpasses all in the cleverness
f his mind. Together with them Hephaistos went, exulting
n his power, halting, though beneath him his slender legs moved
uickly. But Ares, whose helmet flashed, went to the Trojans,
nd with him Phoibos, whose locks are unshorn, and Artemis, 40
who pours forth arrows, and Leto and the river Xanthos,
nd laughter-loving Aphrodite.

So long as the gods were apart

om the mortal men, the Achaeans triumphed mightily because
Achilles had come forth, he who had kept apart from
he contendings for such a long time. An awesome trembling 45
ame to the limbs of the Trojans in their terror when they saw
he son of Peleus, the fast runner, blazing in his armor,
he likeness of man-destroying Ares. But when the Olympians
ame into the crowd of men, up stood mighty Eris,
he rouser of the people, and Athena shouted aloud. Standing 50
ow beside the ditch outside the wall, now on the loud-sounding
hore, she would give her brash cry. On the other side, Ares
ried like a dark whirlwind, summoning the Trojans
with shrill tones from the topmost citadel, now speeding toward
leasant Hill° that rises beside the Simoeis.
55

Thus the blessed

ods urged on the two sides to clash in battle, and among
hem made deadly war break forth. The father of men
nd gods thundered terribly from on high, but from below
oseidon caused the huge earth and the steep peaks of the mountains
o quake. All the foothills of Ida with its many fountains
 60
were shaken, and all her peaks, likewise Troy and the ships
f the Achaeans. Hades, the king of the dead, was terrified
om below, and in fear he leaped from his throne and cried out,
earing that Poseidon the shaker of the earth might cleave
he earth above his head and his house be opened to mortals 65
nd to the deathless ones—a dreadful moldy place
hat the very gods do loathe. So great a din arose from
he strife of the gods as they came together! For against
King Poseidon stood Phoibos Apollo, with his winged shafts,
nd the goddess flashing-eyed Athena stood against Enyalios. 70
Against Hera stood the clanging huntress of the golden arrows,
he archer Artemis, sister of the god who strikes from a long way
ff. And against Leto stood the strong helper Hermes, and against
Hephaistos stood the great deep-eddying river that the gods
all Xanthos, but men say Skamandros. 75

And so gods went forth

gainst gods,° but Achilles wanted above all to meet Hector,
he son of Priam, in the melée, for his spirit urged him more
han anything to glut Ares with Hector’s blood, that warrior
with the toughest shield of hide. But Apollo, rouser of the people,
made Aeneas to go forth against the son of Peleus, and he instilled
80
n him great power. Apollo made his voice like that of Lykaon,°
he son of Priam, and in his likeness Apollo, the son
f Zeus, spoke to him: “Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans,
where are the threats that you made to the captains of the Trojans
ver wine, that you would war in the hand-to-hand against
Achilles, 85
he son of Peleus?”
 Aeneas said in reply: “Son of Priam,
why are you asking me to fight against the bold-hearted
on of Peleus though I do not want to? I will not stand now
or the first time against Achilles the fast runner. Once before now
e drove me forth from Ida when he came against our cattle, 90
nd he destroyed Lyrnessos and Pedasos. But Zeus saved me—
e roused up my strength and made my knees nimble.
Otherwise I would have been overcome at the hands of Achilles
nd Athena, who went before him and set a light over him
nd urged him to kill the Leleges° and Trojans with his brazen 95
word. And so no man should fight against Achilles,
or there is always one of the gods at his side who shields him
om ruin. And his spear flies straight by itself, and does not
acken before it has pierced the flesh of a man. But if
god should put the war on an equal footing, Achilles 100
would not easily conquer me, not even if he boasts to be made
wholly of bronze.”

Apollo the son of King Zeus

hen answered Aeneas: “But come, warrior, you too
ray to the gods that are forever. They say that you
were borne of Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus, whereas Achilles 105
from a lesser god. Your mother is a daughter of Zeus,
whereas his mother is a child of the old man of the sea.
o bear against him your stubborn bronze, and do not let him
urn you back with contemptuous speech and with threats.”
 So speaking, Apollo breathed great power into the shepherd 110
f the people. Aeneas strode through the forefighters arrayed
n flaming bronze. Nor did the son of Anchises escape
he notice of white-armed Hera as he went through the storm
f men to find the son of Peleus. She gathered the gods
ogether and spoke among them: “Consider in your breast, 115
he two of you, Poseidon and Athena, how these things will be.
Here Aeneas has gone forth arrayed in flaming bronze
o find the son of Peleus, and it is Phoibos Apollo who has set
im on. But come, let us turn him back at once, or else
et one of us stand at Achilles’ side and give him great strength
120
nd not allow the heart in his breast to fail, so that he might know
hat the best of the deathless ones love him, and that those who
arlier warded off war and battle from the Trojans are as empty
s the wind. We have all come down from Olympos to participate
n this battle so that Achilles not suffer any hurt from the Trojans
125
n this day. Later he will suffer whatever Fate has spun
with her thread at the time that his mother bore him. If Achilles
oes not learn this fact from the voice of the gods, he shall take fear
when some god comes against him in the war. It is hard when the gods
ppear in their true forms!”
130

Then Poseidon, the shaker of the earth,

nswered her: “Hera, don’t be angry beyond reason. There’s no need.
would not wish that we set the other gods against each other,
or we are much better than that. But let us move away from that
ath, let us take our seats on a place of outlook, and leave the war
o men. But if Ares or Phoibos Apollo get in the fight, 135
r hold Achilles in check and do not permit him to make war,
hen we will enter the strife of war at once. I think that
hey will then quickly separate themselves from the battle
nd go back to Olympos, to the gathering of the other gods,
verwhelmed through the power of our hands!” 140

So speaking,
he dark-haired god led the way to the wall heaped high
or the godlike Herakles, which the Trojans and Pallas Athena
made so that he might flee there and escape from the sea-monster,
when the monster drove him from the seashore to the plain.°
There Poseidon and the other gods sat down, and they put an
145
mpenetrable cloud about their shoulders. But the proTrojan gods
at down opposite them on the brow of Pleasant Hill—around you,
O archer Phoibos, and you, Ares the sacker of cities. So they sat
n either side, devising plans. Both sides hesitated to begin the grievous
war, although Zeus, who sits on high, had urged them to.
150

Now the whole plain was filled and flashed with the bronze
f men and horses, and the earth resounded beneath their feet
s they rushed at one another. Two warriors, by far the best,
ame into the space between the two armies, eager to fight—Aeneas
he son of Anchises, and godlike Achilles. Aeneas first stalked
forth 155
n a threatening manner, his heavy helmet nodding above him.
He held his great shield before his breast, and he brandished
is bronze spear. From the other side the son of Peleus leaped
ke a lion, a ravening lion that an entire press of men gathered
ogether long to kill—at first the lion ignores them as he goes
160
n his way, but when one of the youths, swift in the battle,
 its him with the cast of a spear, then he pulls himself together
with gaping mouth. Foam gathers around his teeth and in his heart
is bold spirit groans, and he lashes his tail against his ribs
nd flanks on both his sides as he rouses himself to fight,
165
nd with glaring eyes he rushes on in his fury, either to kill
ne of the men in the foremost throng or to die himself—
ven so Achilles roused up his strength and his brave heart
o go against great-hearted Aeneas.

When they had come near

o one another, godlike Achilles, the fast runner, first spoke:
170
Aeneas, why have you come so far from the crowd? Does your
eart drive you on to fight against me in the hopes of winning
riam’s rule over the horse-taming Trojans? But if you kill me,
ot even then will Priam place the power in your hands.
For he has sons, he is of sound mind and not thoughtless.
175
Or have the Trojans cut out for you a territory superior to all,
beautiful tract of orchard and a plowland, so that you might have
if you kill me? I think that you will find that hard to do!
Yes, I recall that on another day I drove you in flight with my spear—
r do you not remember when you were alone with your cattle
180
nd I drove you headlong down from the peaks of Ida with
wift steps? You did not look back one time in your flight.
rom there you fled to Lyrnessos, but I sacked it with the aid
f Athena and Zeus the father, and I took the women captive.
took away their day of freedom. But you yourself Zeus
185
nd the other gods saved. I don’t think that Zeus will save
ou today, as you may think in your heart! You best go back
nto the crowd and not to stand against me, before you suffer
reat misfortune. Even a fool recognizes a deed when it is done!”
 Aeneas answered him and said: “Son of Peleus, don’t think
190
hat you can frighten me with words as if I were a child,
or I know well myself how to speak words that are mocking and evil.
We know the lineage of one another, we know one another’s parents.
We have heard the tales told in olden times by mortal men.
But you have never seen my parents with your own eyes,
195
or have I seen yours. They say that you are the offspring of blameless
eleus and that your mother was Thetis of the lovely hair,
daughter of the sea. But I am proud to be the son of great-hearted
Anchises, and my mother is Aphrodite. Of these one pair
r the other will today bewail their son! For not, I think,
200
with childish words will the two of us depart from one another
nd return from the battle. But if you need to hear this again so that
ou might remember my lineage—well, many men know it!°
“Zeus the cloud-gatherer first begot Dardanos, and Dardanos
ounded Dardania, for not yet was holy Ilion built
205
n the plain to be a city of mortal men. Still they lived
n the slopes of Ida with its many fountains. Dardanos
egot a son, King Erichthonios,° the richest of mortal men.
He had three-thousand horses that fed in the marshland, mares
who delighted in their tender foals. North Wind loved them
210
s they grazed, and taking on the appearance of a dark-maned horse
e covered them. They became pregnant and bore twelve foals.
When the foals bounded over the earth, the giver of grain, they
would run over the topmost of the ripened wheat without breaking it,
nd when they bounded over the broad back of the sea, they
215
would course over the topmost breakers of the gray sea.
“Erichthonios begot Tros, king over the Trojans. Three blameless
 ons were begotten of Tros—Ilos and Assarakos and godlike Ganymede,
he most beautiful of mortal men. The gods brought Ganymede up on high
o be cupbearer to Zeus on account of his beauty, that he might
dwell 220
with the deathless ones. Then Ilos begot the blameless Laomedon
s a son. Laomedon begot Tithonos and Priam and Lampos and Klytios
nd Hiketaon, the child of Ares. Assarakos begot Kapys, who begot
Anchises as a son, and Anchises was my father, as Priam was
he father of the good Hector.
225
“Such is my genealogy, the blood from which
am sprung. But it is Zeus who increases the valor of men
r diminishes it, as he wishes. For he is the strongest of all.
ut come, let us not long speak of these things as if we were children
anding in the midst of furious war. There are plenty of revilings
o make on both sides, so many that a ship of a hundred benches
230
ould not bear the weight. The tongues of men are glib,
nd there are strong pronouncements of all kinds we could make,
nd the range of words is large on this side and that. Whatever word
ou speak, you will hear the same. So what is the point
or us two to bandy in strife and to wrangle at each other
235
s if we were women, angry in soul-consuming quarrel,
who go to the middle of the street only to fuss with one another,
aying many things that are true and many that are not?
Anger leads people on to speak in this way. You will not turn me
 FIGURE 20.2 Zeus and Ganymede. Zeus, naked except for a cloak
wrapped over his arms, his scepter at his side, seizes the handsome naked
boy by the arm and shoulder. Ganymede holds a cock in his left hand, a
typical gift in pederastic relationships. He looks down modestly. Zeus’s
thunderbolt rests against the frame of the picture to the left. Athenian red-
figure wine cup by the Penthesilea Painter, fifth century BC.

way from battle with your words, I who am eager to fight

240
n the hand-to-hand with the bronze. Come, let us quickly get
taste of each other with our bronze-tipped spears!”

So he spoke,
nd he drove his powerful spear into the dread and terrible shield,
nd loud it rang around the point of the spear. But the son
f Peleus held the shield away from him with his strong hand, 245
 ripped with fear. He thought the far-shadowing spear of great-hearted
Aeneas would easily penetrate the shield—fool! who did
ot recognize in his breast and his spirit that it is not easy for men
o master or to make yield the glorious gifts of the gods.

The mighty spear of warlike Aeneas did not then break

250
he shield. The gold held it back, the gift of the god,
ut it did penetrate two layers, yet there were three more still,
or the lame-footed god had fashioned five layers, two of bronze,
wo of tin on the inside, and one of gold, which stopped
he spear of ash.°
255

Now Achilles threw his spear that made a

ong shadow. It hit on the well-balanced shield of Aeneas beneath
he outermost rim where the bronze ran thinnest, and the bull’s hide
was thinnest. The ashen spear of the son of Peleus drove
raight through, and the shield rang loudly from the blow.
Aeneas cringed and held the shield away from him 260
n fear. The spear shot over his back and in its fury
was fixed in the ground. But it tore apart two circles of
he protecting shield. Escaping the long spear, Aeneas stood up
nd an immense pain spread over his eyes in terror
hat the spear was fixed in the ground so nearby.
265

Achilles drew
is sharp sword and in a fury attacked, crying a terrible cry.
ut Aeneas took up a rock in his hand—a mighty deed!—
hat not two men could carry today, such as men are now.
ut he brandished it easily all by himself. Then Aeneas
would have struck Achilles as he rushed upon him, 270
ither on the helmet or on the shield that had warded off
rievous destruction from Achilles, and the son of Peleus
would have taken away Aeneas’ life too with his sword, fighting
n close combat, except that Poseidon, the shaker of the earth,
ight away saw what was happening. 275

Poseidon spoke at once

o the deathless gods: “Well, I am pained for great-hearted
Aeneas who quickly, overcome by the son of Peleus, will go
own to the house of Hades because he trusted the words
f Apollo who shoots from afar—the fool! Nor will Apollo
ward off grievous destruction from Aeneas. But why should 280
his man, who is without blame, suffer vain evils because
f grievances that belong to others?° Does he not always give gifts
hat are pleasing to the gods who dwell in broad heaven?
ut come, let us lead him out of death so that the son of Kronos
oes not become angry if Achilles should kill him. For it is fated
285
hat Aeneas escape and that the race of Dardanos not be
without seed, seen no more—Dardanos, whom the son
f Kronos loved more than all his children who were begotten
om mortal women. For the son of Kronos has come to hate
he race of Priam. The mighty Aeneas will be king among 290
he Trojans, and his sons’ sons who come in later times.”°

Then the revered Hera with the cow eyes answered him:
 Earth-shaker, you yourself take counsel in your own heart
whether you will save Aeneas or whether you will permit Achilles,
he son of Peleus, to kill him, though Aeneas is brave. 295
ut we two—Pallas Athena and I—have sworn many oaths
o all the deathless ones never to ward off that evil day
om the Trojans, when all of Troy burns in the destroying fire
nd the warlike sons of the Achaeans do the burning.”

When Poseidon, shaker of the earth, had heard these things,

300
e set off to the battle and the press of spears, and he came to where
Aeneas and glorious Achilles were. He shed a mist over the eyes
f Achilles and drew out the ashen spear, clad in bronze,
om the shield of great-hearted Aeneas, and he placed it before
he feet of Achilles. Then he lifted up Aeneas and swung him on
high 305
om the earth. Aeneas sprang above the many ranks of warriors,
nd the many chariots, rushed by the hand of the god, and he came
o the outermost edge of the furious war where the Kaukones°
were armed for the battle.

Then Poseidon the earth shaker

ame close to Aeneas and he spoke words that went like arrows: 310
Aeneas, who of the gods urges you to fight like a crazed man
gainst the high-hearted son of Peleus, who is stronger
han you and dearer to the deathless ones? Just draw back,
whenever you come near to him, so that you do not go beyond
ate into the house of Hades. When Achilles has met his death
315
nd fate, then take courage and fight among the foremost. No other
f the Achaeans can kill you then.”
 So speaking, Poseidon left him there,
fter he had told him everything. Then quickly Poseidon dispersed
he marvelous mist from the eyes of Achilles. Achilles stared hard
with his eyes, and groaning he spoke to his big-hearted spirit:
320
Well, I see this great marvel with my eyes. My spear lies here
n the ground, but I do not see the man at whom I hurled it,
esiring to kill him. Surely this Aeneas too is beloved
y the deathless gods, though I thought his boasting was idle,
ain. Let him go! He will not have the heart to try me again 325
who has now fled gladly from death.° But come, I will call
he war-loving Danaäns. I will go against the other Trojans
nd make trial of them.”

Achilles spoke, and leaped along the ranks,

iving commands to every man: “No longer, now, let any man
tand apart from the Trojans, you good Achaeans. But may every 330
man go against his man—let every man be avid for battle.
is hard for me, although I am strong, to pursue so many men
nd to fight against all. Not even Ares, though he is an immortal god,
or Athena, could control the jaws of such a conflict. But let
his be known: However much I accomplish with my power, 335
e assured I will never slacken, not a bit. I will go straight
hrough their line. I don’t think that any Trojan will be glad,
whoever comes close to my spear!”

So Achilles spoke, urging them on.

And glorious Hector called out to his Trojans. He said he would
 o up against Achilles: “You Trojans of high spirit, do not fear 340
he son of Peleus! I too could fight against the immortals
with words, but with a spear it is hard, for they are much stronger.°
Nor will Achilles bring to fulfillment all his words, but a part
e will accomplish, and a part will he leave incomplete. I will go
gainst him even if his hands are like fire—yes, if his hands
345
re like fire, and his strength like the shining steel!”

So Hector spoke,
rging on his men. Thus the Trojans faced their enemy.
hey raised their spears on high, and the fury of both sides
lashed in confusion, and the war cry rose up. And then Phoibos
Apollo, standing at his side, spoke to Hector: “Hector, 350
o not go forth as a champion against Achilles, but wait
or him in the crowd amid the din of battle, so that he does
ot hit you with a cast of his spear or cut you down
with his sword, coming in close.” So Apollo spoke, and Hector
gain withdrew into the crowd of men, seized with fear 355
ecause he had heard the voice of a god speaking to him.

But Achilles leaped amid the Trojans, crying fearsomely,

is heart clothed in might. First of all he took down Iphition
he noble son of Otrynteus, the leader of many people, whom
Naiad nymph bore to city-sacking Otrynteus beneath snowy
360
molos in the rich land of Hydê. Awesome Achilles hit him
with his spear, full in the head, as he came straight on, eager.
His skull was split in half, and he fell with a thud.
 Then dreaded Achilles boasted over him: “You lie there,
most dread of men, you son of Otrynteus. Here is your 365
eath, though you were born beside LAKE GYGAIA,
where the territory of your father is, on the banks of Hyllos
nd the whirling HERMOS.”° So he spoke, boasting, and darkness
overed Iphition’s eyes. The chariots of the Achaeans
ore him to pieces with their metal tires in the forefront 370
f the fray.

Then on top of Iphition he pierced the temples

f Demoleon,° the son of Antenor, a noble defender in the battle,
ght through the bronze cheek pieces of his helmet. Nor did
he bronze helmet stay the spear, but through it the spear
oint sped and smashed the bone, and the brains within 375
were spattered all over. Thus Achilles killed him in his fury.
hen he hit Hippodamas in the middle of his back
with his spear as Hippodamas leaped down from his car
nd ran before him. As Hippodamas breathed out his spirit,
e bellowed like a bull bellows when he is dragged by
380
oung men around the altar of the lord of Helikê.° In such
acrifices the shaker of the earth delights. Even so Hippodamas
ellowed as his noble spirit left his bones.

Then Achilles
went after godlike Polydoros with his spear, a son of Priam.
His father would not allow him to fight because he was the
youngest 385
f his children and dearest to him, and in fleetness of foot he
urpassed all. But now in his folly, showing off his fleetness of foot,
e was rushing through the foremost fighters until he lost his life.
earsome Achilles, the fast runner, hit him in the middle
f the back with a cast of his spear as he rushed past, 390
it him where the clasps of his belt were fastened and the pieces
f the breastplate overlapped.° The point of the spear went
raight on its way beside the navel, and he fell to his knees
with a groan, and a cloud of darkness enveloped him. But as
olydoros collapsed, he clutched his guts tightly with his hands. 395

When Hector saw his brother Polydoros bent down

o the earth and holding his guts, a mist sank down over his eyes.
He no longer endured to range apart, but he turned
gainst Achilles, brandishing his sharp spear like a fire.
Achilles, when he saw him, sprang up and, boasting, spoke:
400
The man is near who above all has stung me to the heart, the one
who killed my honored companion. We’ll no longer shrink
om one another along the bridges of war!” He spoke,
nd looking angrily from beneath his brows he addressed
he good Hector: “Come close, so that you may the sooner 405
ome to the means of your destruction!”

Hector, whose helmet

ashed, was not afraid, and he said: “Son of Peleus, do not hope
o frighten me with words as if I were a child, for I myself
now well myself how to speak mocking stinging words.
know that you are brave, and that I am much weaker than you. 410
 ut these things lie on the laps of the gods, whether I
will take away your life by a cast of my spear, though I am weaker,
or my weapon has been keen enough until now.”

He spoke,
nd brandishing his spear he cast it, but Athena with a breath—
reathing full lightly—turned it back from glorious Achilles. 415
he spear went back to good Hector and fell before his feet.
Achilles leaped on Hector with a fury, anxious to kill him,
rying terribly, when Apollo snatched up Hector full easily,
s a god can do, and Apollo concealed Hector in a thick mist.

Three times the good Achilles, the fast runner, leaped on Hector
420
with his spear of bronze, and three times he struck the thick mist.
ut when he rushed onward a fourth time, like a spirit, then with
n awesome shout Achilles spoke words that went like arrows:
You have escaped death for now, you dog! But your evil day
omes close enough. Phoibos Apollo has saved you, to whom 425
ou ought to offer a prayer when you go into the hurtling
f spears. But surely I will make an end of you when next
we meet, if any god is a helper to me too. For now
will go after others, to see whom I can find.”

So speaking, he hit Dryops in the middle of the neck

430
with his spear, and Dryops fell down before his feet. Achilles
et him go, and he knocked bold and tall Demouchos the son
f Philetor from the fight, hitting him on the knee with one cast
 f his spear. Then Achilles sliced him with his great sword
nd took away his life.
435

And then he set on Laogonos and Dardanos,

he sons of Bias. He forced them from their chariot to the ground,
itting the one with his spear, the other with his sword
n the hand-to-hand. Then Tros, the son of Alastor—he came
o him and grasped his knees in the hope that Achilles
would take him captive and let him go alive, not kill him, 440
aking pity on one of a similar age. The fool! He did
ot know there was to be no persuading, for Achilles
was in no way a man soft of heart or gentle of mind,
ut excessively ferocious. Tros tried to seize Achilles’ knees
with his hands, longing to make a prayer, but Achilles 445
ut him in the liver with his sword, and the liver slipped out.
he black blood coming from him filled Tros’s breast.
ros lost consciousness as darkness covered his eyes.

Then Achilles came close to Moulios. He cut him on his ear

with his spear—the bronze went straight through the other ear.
450
hen he hit Echeklos the son of Agenor full on the head with his
ilted sword, and the whole blade grew warm with the blood.
Down over the eyes of Echeklos came dark death
nd powerful fate.

Then Achilles pierced Deukalion through the arm

with his bronze spear where the sinews of the elbow come
together. 455
Deukalion awaited him, his arm dangling heavily down.
He saw death before him. Achilles hit Deukalion on the neck
with his sword, whirling the head afar, still wearing its helmet,
nd the marrow spurted forth from the spine,° and the body
ay stretched out on the ground.
460

Then Achilles went after the blameless

on of Peires, Rhigmus, who came from THRACE with its rich soil.
He hit him with his spear. The bronze fixed in his belly
nd he fell from his car. He stabbed his aide Areithoös
n the middle of the back with his sharp spear, and thrust him
rom the chariot as he was turning his horses around, and they 465
an wild.°

As a wondrous-blazing fire rushes through

he deep folds of a dry mountain, and the deep forest burns,
nd the winds whirl on the flame, driving it every which way,
ven so Achilles raged everywhere with his spear, like a god,
ollowing hard on those he killed. And the dark earth ran 470
with blood, as when a man yokes bulls with broad brows
o trample down the white wheat in a well-built threshing
oor, and quickly the grain is trodden out beneath the feet
f the bellowing bulls—even so beneath Achilles, with his
reat soul, the single-hoofed horses trampled alike on the bodies
475
nd the shields, and all the axle beneath was totally
renched in blood, and the rails at the front and sides
f the car too, splattered by drops driven by the horses’ hooves
nd the tires.° But Achilles, the son of Peleus, pressed on 480
o win glory, and his invincible hands were splashed with gore.

OceanofPDF.com
 Pleasant Hill: In the Greek, Kallikolonê, mentioned only once again later in
this book when the proTrojan gods assemble there.
against gods: After so long a build-up, nothing comes of this war of the
gods until the next book.
Lykaon: Mentioned so far only in Book 3, but killed in a famous scene in
the next book.
Pedasos … Leleges: Most commentators place the Leleges someplace in
southwest Asia Minor. Pedasos was their principal city, which Achilles
sacked on one of his forays. But others place the people and their city
somewhere in the southern Troad.
to the plain: Poseidon sent a sea monster against Troy as punishment when
Laomedon refused to pay him and Apollo (who sent a plague) for building
the walls of Troy. Laomedon exposed his daughter Hesionê as a sacrifice to
the sea monster, but Herakles, returning from an expedition against the
Amazons along with Telamon the father of Ajax, promised to save her on
one condition: that Laomedon give him the horses that he received from
Zeus as compensation for Zeus’s kidnapping of Ganymede. Herakles killed
the monster, but Laomedon refused to give up the horses. In revenge
Herakles later attacked Troy and killed Laomedon and all Laomedon’s sons
except the youngest, named Podarkes. Podarkes was renamed Priam
(“ransomed one”) when Herakles allowed Hesionê to ransom one of her
brothers with her veil of chastity (that is, she submitted sexually to
Herakles). Herakles then gave Hesionê to Telamon, to whom she bore a
son, the famous archer Teucer, the half-brother of Big Ajax.
men know it: See note to Book 2, line 819, for the stemma of the Trojan
House.
Erichthonios: “peculiarly of the earth,” curiously also the name of a
primordial king of Athens, a coincidence never explained.
spear of ash: Many commentators, beginning in the ancient world, have
noted how improbable is such a shield, with two outer layers of bronze, two
inner layers of tin, and a layer of gold sandwiched between. Homer seems
to follow the model of a leather-layered shield, but this one, according to
Hephaistos’ manufacture in Book 18, is made up of three precious metals.
to others: Poseidon refers to the insult that Laomedon gave to Poseidon and
Apollo by not paying them for building the walls of Troy; Aeneas is not
descended from Laomedon and should bear no responsibility.
later times: This remark is usually taken to refer to a dynasty of the
descendants of Aeneas ruling in the Troad. The same prediction is made in
the Hymn to Aphrodite (which Homer may himself have composed), but
there is no other evidence. This passage is the basis for the legend of
Aeneas told in Vergil’s Roman epic, the Aeneid (c. 19 BC).
Kaukones: In Book 10 Dolon mentions the Kaukones, evidently a tribe that
lived somewhere in Asia Minor, allies of the Trojans.
from death: In fact Aeneas is not mentioned again in the Iliad.
much stronger: That is, talk is cheap, deeds are another matter.
whirling Hermos: Iphition is one of the Meiones, mentioned in the Trojan
Catalog. Its leaders are associated with Mt. Tmolos and Lake Gygaia. The
location of Hydê is unknown, but it may be the same as Sardis beneath Mt.
Tmolos. The Hyllos is a tributary of the Hermos River.
Demoleon: Not heard of elsewhere.
Helikê: Hippodamas appears only here. Helikê was on the coast of Achaea
in the northwestern Peloponnesus, where there was a temple to Poseidon.
The bull is a typical sacrifice to Poseidon.
was fitted: The belt was made of or decorated with metal and was put on
above the breastplate to hold it in place, but its fasteners are mentioned only
here.
from the spine: This is quite impossible.
ran wild: Achilles’ victims are mostly named only to be killed. Dryops and
Demouchos appear only here, as do Dardanos and Tros, although they bear
names famous from Trojan history. Laogonos, son of Bias, appears only
here (though Meriones kills a man of the same name, but son of Onetor, in
Book 16). Patroklos also killed a Moulios and an Echeklos (Book 16).
Deukalion is found only here (another Deukalion was father to Idomeneus,
Book 13). Rhigmos and Areïthoös appear only here.
and the tires: Nothing has been said about Achilles mounting his chariot to
pursue the Trojans, but omission of such details are normal.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 21. The Fight with the
River and the Battle of the
Gods

A nd when they came to the ford of the easy flowing river,

he whirling Xanthos, the child of deathless Zeus, there
Achilles cut them in half, and the one troop he drove
o the plain toward the city where the Achaeans had fled
n rout only the day before, when brave Hector was raging.
5
ome fled away in rout there, and Hera spread out
deep mist as they went, to hinder them. And the other half
Achilles penned up in the deep-flowing river with its silvery
ddies. Those fell in the water with a great racket,
nd the descending steep streams resounded, and the high banks 10
oomed all around. They thrashed every which way in uproar,
whirled about in the eddies, as when beneath the surge
f a fire locusts take wing to flee to a river as the
elentless fire sears them with its sudden oncoming,
nd they shrink down beneath the water—even so before
15
Achilles’ onslaught the sounding stream of the deep-eddying
Xanthos was filled with a confusion of horses and men.

Then Zeus-begotten Achilles left his spear there on the bank,

eaning against a tamarisk bush, and like a wraith he leaped in,
 aving only his sword. He had stored wicked deeds in his heart,
20
nd turning now here, now there, he stabbed and he struck,
nd a horrible groaning rose as the Trojans were cut down
y the sword, and the water ran red with blood. As when fish
ee before a voracious dolphin and fill the crannies of a harbor
with good anchorage in their terror, for the dolphin greedily
25
evours every one he can catch, even so the Trojans
owered in the streams of the dread river beneath
he steep banks.

When Achilles’ arms grew tired

om killing, he chose twelve youths from the river, alive,
s blood-price for the dead Patroklos, son of Menoitios.
30
He hauled them forth, dazed like fawns, and he bound
heir hands behind them with well-cut thongs that they
hemselves wore around their stoutly woven shirts. He gave
hem to his companions to drag away to the hollow ships.°
Then he leaped back in again, eager to kill.
35

He came upon Lykaon, a son of Dardanian Priam,

ying to flee from the river—Lykaon, whom he had once
aken on a night raid, quite to Lykaon’s surprise, catching
im in his father’s orchard. Lykaon was cutting young
hoots of wild fig with the sharp bronze to serve as the rims
40
f a chariot. Achilles came on him like an unexpected evil,
nd then he sold him into well-built LEMNOS, taking him
here in his ships. The son of Jason gave Achilles
price for him.° From there a guest-friend paid a high sum
 or him, Eëtion of Imbros. And Eëtion sent Lykaon
45
o shining ARISBÊ, from where he escaped and returned
o his father’s house.° Escaped from Lemnos, he enjoyed himself
with his friends for eleven days. But on the twelfth day a god
ast him again into the hands of Achilles, who would send him
o the house of Hades, where he had no desire to go. 50

When godlike Achilles, the fast runner, saw Lykaon

aked without helmet or shield, nor did he have a spear because
e had thrown these things to the ground as his sweat oppressed him
when he fled from the river, and weariness overcame his knees
eneath him—then, Achilles spoke to his own large-hearted spirit: 55
Well now, I think I see a great wonder with my eyes!
ruly the great-hearted Trojans that I have killed will rise up again
eneath the murky darkness! Look, this man has come back
fter fleeing his day of doom, although he was sold into holy Lemnos.
The deep of the gray sea that holds back many against their
60
will has not held him. But now he will taste the point
f my spear so that I may see whether in like manner he will
ome back from there too, or whether the life-giving earth,
which holds down even strong men, will hold him down too.”

Thus Achilles pondered as he took his stand. But Lykaon 65

ame close to him, bewildered, eager to grasp his knees,
or Lykaon wanted very much in his heart to escape
vil fate and black death. The good Achilles raised his long
pear high, ready to stab him, but Lykaon ran beneath
t, and stooping down he took hold of Achilles’ knees.
 70
he spear went over his back and was fixed in the ground,
hough eager to be glutted with a man’s flesh.

But Lykaon
with one hand beseeched Achilles, holding Achilles’ knees,
while with the other he grasped the sharp spear and would not let go.
peaking words that went like arrows he addressed Achilles:
75
I beg of you, O Achilles, respect me and take pity! In your eyes,
O Zeus-nurtured one, I am already a holy suppliant,
or at your table I first tasted of the grain of Demeter on that
ay when you captured me in the well-ordered orchard,
nd you sold me far away, taking me from my father and my
80
iends, into the sacred island of Lemnos. And I brought you
he value of a hundred oxen. But now I have bought my freedom
y paying three times as much.° This is the twelfth morning
nce I have come back to Ilion, and I have suffered very much.
“And now deadly fate has again placed me in your hands. 85
urely I am hated by Father Zeus, who has again given me
o you. My mother bore me to a short life, Laothoê,
he daughter of aging Altes—Altes who is king over
he war-loving Leleges, who hold steep Pedasos on the Satnioeis
iver. Priam had Altes’ daughter as a wife, and many other 90
women too. The two of us were born from Laothoê, and you
will butcher us both! For you killed godlike Polydoros
mong the soldiers who fight in the forefront when you hit him
with your sharp spear. But right here, now, an evil will come
n me too, for I do not think I will escape your hands. A spirit 95
as brought me close to you. But I will tell you something,
nd you lay it to heart: Do not kill me! I do not come
 om the same belly as Hector, who killed your friend,
ind and strong!”

So spoke the bold son of Priam,

egging Achilles with words, but the voice Lykaon 100
eard was unlike honey: “Fool! Don’t promise me
our ransom or hope to persuade me. Before Patroklos
met his day of destiny, I was more inclined to have
mercy on the Trojans, and many whom I took captive
sold for ransom overseas. But now of all the Trojans 105
o one whom the god has placed in my hands before Ilion
will escape death—and above all not the sons of Priam!
o, my friend, you die too. Why are you sad? Patroklos
ied, he who was much better than you. Don’t you see
ow I am more handsome than you, and taller? I come 110
om a good father, and my mother was a goddess.
ut dread fate and death hang on me too, whether it will be
t dawn, at dusk, or at noon, when someone will give
my spirit to Ares by a cast of the spear or an arrow
lying from the string.” 115

So he spoke, then he loosed the knees

nd the strong heart of the man. Lykaon let go of Achilles’
pear and he crouched and spread his arms wide, both of them.
Achilles drew his sharp sword and cut him on the collarbone
eside the neck, and then he buried the double-edged sword
n his neck. Lykaon fell flat on the earth, and he lay there
stretched 120
ut as the black blood flowed from him and wet the ground.
 Achilles picked him up by the foot and threw him in the river
o be carried away, and he went on boasting, speaking
words that went like arrows: “Lie there now with the fishes,
who will gladly lick the blood from your wound without a care
for you. 125
Nor will your mother get to weep over you and lay you out
n your bed, but Skamandros will bear you spinning to the broad
reast of the sea. Many a fish, as it leaps amid the waves,
will dart up beneath the black ruffling of the water to eat
our white fat, rash Lykaon. 130
“So die Trojans! while I come
o the city of sacred Ilion—you in flight and I plundering
he rear! The broad-flowing river with its silver swirls will be
f no use to you, to whom you sacrificed many bulls and cast
ngle-hoofed horses alive into its eddies. In this way you will
erish by an evil fate until all of you pay the price for the death
135
f Patroklos and the sorrow of the Achaeans whom you killed
t the swift ships when I was away!”

So he spoke, and the river Xanthos grew

more angry in his heart, and he pondered in his spirit how he should
ut a stop to Achilles and ward off destruction. from the Trojans.

In the meanwhile the son of Peleus with his long-shadowing

140
pear leaped on Asteropaios, eager to kill him, the son of Pelegon
whom the broad-flowing AXIOS begot on Periboia, the eldest
aughter of Akessamenos—the deep-eddying Axios had
ntercourse with Periboia. Well, Achilles rushed on Asteropaios
 s he stepped out of the river, awaiting Achilles. Asteropaios 145
ad two spears, and Xanthos had placed courage in his breast,
ngry because of all the young men killed in the battle,
whom Achilles had cut in pieces along the bank,
without pity.

When the two warriors had advanced

n close against each other, then first of all Achilles 150
he fast runner addressed Asteropaios: “Who are you
mong men, and where do you come from, you who dare
o stand against me? You are the children of wretched men
who stand against my power!”

The fine son of Pelegon

nswered Achilles: “O great-hearted son of Peleus, why do you
155
sk about my lineage? I am from PAEONIA, with its
ch soil, far away, leading the Paeonians with their long
pears. This is now the eleventh dawn since I have come
o Troy. As for my lineage, I am a descendant of the Axios,
he most beautiful water of those that go on the earth,
160
who begot Pelegon famous for his spear. They say that
am his son. Now let us fight, most glorious Achilles!”

So he spoke in a threatening manner. The good Achilles,

he son of Peleus, then raised high his ashen spear, but the warrior
Asteropaios hurled with both spears at once, for he was
ambidextrous. 165
 he one spear struck Achilles’ shield, but did not break through,
or the gold layer, a gift of the god, held it.° But with the other
e grazed the right forearm of Achilles, and the black blood
owed.° Then the spear went beyond and stuck in the earth,
onging to be glutted on flesh. 170

Then Achilles let loose

is straight-flying spear of ash at Asteropaios, eager to kill.
ut he missed him and hit the high bank, and the ashen spear
was fixed half its length in the bank. Then the son of Peleus drew
is sharp sword from his thigh and leaped furiously on
Asteropaios, who tried but could not withdraw Achilles’
175
pear from the river bank with his powerful hand. Three
mes he made it quiver as he eagerly tried to pull it out,
hree times he gave up the effort. For a fourth time he tried
o bend and break the ashen spear of the grandson of Aiakos,
ut before that Achilles moved in close and took his life
180
with his sword. He stuck him in the stomach beside the navel
nd out poured all his guts to the ground. Darkness covered the eyes
f Asteropaios as he struggled to breathe.

Achilles leaped
n his breast and stripped him of his armor° and, boasting, said:
Lie there then. It is a hard thing to fight against the children 185
f the mighty son of Kronos, even for one begotten of a river.
You say that you are begotten of the race of the wide-flowing river,
ut I claim to be of the line of great Zeus! A man begot me
who was king over the plentiful Myrmidons—Peleus, the son
f Aiakos. And Aiakos was a son of Zeus. Even as Zeus
 190
stronger than rivers that gurgle their way to the sea,
o stronger is the seed of Zeus than the seed of a river.
And look, there is a river right beside you, a great river,
it can do you any good. You ought not to go up against
Zeus the son of Kronos. Even King ACHELOÖS° does not think 195
e is equal to him, nor is the great power of deep-flowing
Ocean, from whom all the rivers flow and every sea and all
he fountains and the deep wells. Even he fears the lightning
f great Zeus and the ferocious thunder that he smashes
own from heaven.” 200

So he spoke, and out of the bank

e pulled his bronze spear, and he left Asteropaios there
ying on the sand after he had taken away his life, and the dark
water lapped around him. The eels and the fishes finished
ff Asteropaios, tearing away the fat from his kidneys,
lucking it away as Achilles went his way among the Paeonians,
205
masters of the chariot, who fled along the bands of the swirling
ver, because they saw their best man killed in the savage
ontendings at the hands and sword of the son of Peleus

Then he killed Thersilochos and Mydon and Astypylos

nd Mnesos and Thrasios and Ainios and Ophelestes— 210
nd swift Achilles would have killed a lot more except that
he deep-swirling river spoke to him in anger, taking on the form
f a man and speaking from the whirling depths: “O Achilles,
ou are strong beyond all other men, and you do evil things
eyond all men. For the gods themselves are always
 215
n your side. If the son of Kronos has given it to you
o destroy all the men of Troy, at least drive them
ut of my stream and do your dirty work on the plain.
or my lovely streams are filled with dead bodies,
nd I can no longer run my waters into the bright sea
220
ecause it is crammed with corpses that you ruthlessly kill.
o leave off! Astonishment holds me, O leader of the people!”

Achilles the fast runner then answered him: “So it will be,
O Skamandros, nurtured of Zeus, just as you command.
But I shall not give over killing the Trojans before I have driven 225
hem into the city and made trial of Hector in the hand-to-hand.
ither he will destroy me, or I him.”

So speaking, Achilles
eaped on the Trojans like a power from the spirit world.
And then the deep-swirling river spoke to Apollo: “You
f the silver bow, son of Zeus—Why have you not kept
230
he commandments of the son of Kronos, who strictly ordered
ou to stand by the Trojans and to defend them until the late-setting
un comes forth and casts the deep-soiled earth into shadow?”

Xanthos spoke and Achilles, famed for his spear, sprang

rom the bank and leaped into the middle of the river.
235
ut Skamandros rushed upon him with a swelling flood,
nd he roused all his streams, stirring them up, and he swept along
he many bodies of the dead that lay thick within his bed,
whom Achilles had killed. These he cast forth onto the dry land,
ellowing like a bull, but the living he saved beneath
240
is beautiful streams, hiding them in the enormous deep eddies.

A sudden tumultuous wave stood up around Achilles,

nd the stream fell over his shield and drove him backward.
He could not stand. He grabbed onto an elm tree with his hands—
hapely, tall—but it fell uprooted and carried away the whole
245
ank with it. The elm stretched over the beautiful streams
with its thick branches, damming the river, falling entirely
nto the river. In fear Achilles tried to leap out of the eddy
nd to run with his powerful feet over the plain, but the great god
id not let up. He rushed on him with his dark-crested wave 250
o that he might hold back powerful Achilles from his labor,
nd ward off destruction from the Trojans. But the son of Peleus
prang backward as far as a cast spear, like a swooping black eagle,
hunter who is both the strongest and the swiftest of birds.
Like him, Achilles darted back and on his breast 255
he bronze rang terribly. Swerving, he ran beneath the flood,
ut the river flowed just behind him with a great roar.

As when a man draws off dark water from a spring

o flow beside his plants and garden plots, holding a mattock
n his hands as he clears away obstructions in the channel,
260
nd as the water flows all the pebbles beneath are pushed
long and the water murmurs as it glides swiftly down a
ope and outstrips even the man who guides it—even so
he wave of the stream overtook Achilles although he was fleet
f foot: For gods are stronger than men! 265

For as long
s the good Achilles, the fast runner, tried to make a stand
gainst the river and to learn if all the gods who hold the broad sky
were putting him to flight, for so long the great wave of the
eus-nourished river would strike his shoulders from above,
nd he sprang up high with his feet, agonized in spirit.
270
he river ran at his knees with a vicious current, and it
natched away the ground from his feet.

The son of Peleus

roaned and looked into the broad heaven: “Father Zeus, why does
ot any one of the gods undertake to save me, pitiful as I am now?
f I escape, I should not mind dying later! I do not blame 275
ny other of the heavenly gods so much as my mother,
who tricked me with lying words, saying that I would perish
om the fast missiles of Apollo beneath the wall of the heavily armed
rojans. I wish that Hector had killed me there, the best man
hey have. Then a brave man would have been my killer,
280
nd a brave man he would have killed. But am I now
estined to die a miserable death, trapped in the great river
ke a swine-herder boy swept away as he tries to cross
water course in the winter?”

So he spoke, and very quickly

 oseidon and Athena went to him and stood close by,
285
aking on the appearance of men. Holding his hand
n their hands, they made pledges of trust with words.
Among them Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, began to speak:
Son of Peleus, don’t tremble so, nor be so afraid.
We two are your helpers from the gods, and Zeus has given 290
is approval to Pallas Athena and me. It is not your destiny
o die by the river. The river shall soon let up. You will know
yourself! But we shall give you some good advice,
you will listen: Do not let your hands rest from the wicked
war before you have penned up the Trojan army 295
ehind the famous walls of Ilion—those who get away!
hen get back to the ships, once you have taken Hector’s life.
We grant that you gain victory.”

When the two had spoken,

hey went off to the deathless ones. Achilles went towardx
he plain, for the bidding of the gods had much roused him.
300
ut now the plain was entirely filled with water. A great deal
f fine armor and the corpses of young men killed in battle floated
here. His knees flashed on high as he rushed straight at the flood,
nd the broad-flowing river could not stop him, for Athena
laced great power in him. Yet Skamandros did not give up 305
is own power, but raged still more at the son of Peleus.

Raising himself on high, Xanthos formed the wave

f his flood into a crest, and he called with a shout to SIMOEIS:
Dear brother, let us work together to put a stop to this man’s might,
 r he will quickly sack the great city of King Priam, and the
Trojans 310
will be unable to stop him and the din of battle. So come quickly
o my aid—fill your streams with the waters of springs!
Arouse all your torrents, and raise a great wave, and stir
huge roar of tree trunks and stones so that we might stop
his savage man who vies with the gods, and who now prevails.
315
don’t think that his strength will do him any good, nor his
ood looks, nor his fancy armor that will soon lie at the bottom
f a slime-covered lake. For I will cover his body with sand and pour
n a ton of gravel, and the Achaeans will not know where to gather
is bones, with so great a quantity of mud will I enshroud him! 320
 FIGURE 21.1 The Skamandros River. Two shepherds herd their sheep
on a hill above the Skamandros River in the Troad. Homer seems to have
had personal knowledge of the Troad and the river’s steep banks. Photo
taken May 1, 1915.

his will be his tomb, so there will be no need of a burial mound when
he Achaeans celebrate his funeral.”

Xanthos spoke and rushed

n tumult on Achilles, raging from on high, seething with foam
nd blood and corpses. The dark wave of the god-nourished river
ose up high in the air and was about to overwhelm the son 325
f Peleus when Hera called aloud, in terror for Achilles
hat the great deep-eddying river might sweep him away.
At once she spoke to Hephaistos, her beloved brother:
Get up, my little club-footed boy! It was against you, I suppose,
hat the swirling Xanthos was matched in battle! So help us 330
ght now. Make clear your mighty flame. I will go
nd arouse from the sea a ferocious blast of West Wind
nd the rapid South Wind that will burn the Trojan bodies
nd armor, driving on an evil flame. And you must
urn the trees along the banks of the Xanthos—surround 335
he river with fire! Don’t let Xanthos turn you aside
with sweet talk and threats. Don’t give up your fury until I call
o you with a shout. Then stop your tireless fire.”

So she spoke, and Hephaistos prepared his wondrous fire.

First the fire was kindled on the plain. He burned the many
corpses 340
whom Achilles had killed that lay thick upon it. All the plain
was dried up and the bright water was halted. As when at harvest
me North Wind speedily dries up an orchard that has recently
een watered, and glad is he who tills it, even so Hephaistos
ried the entire plain and also burned up the corpses. 345
hen he turned his gleaming fire against the river. The elms
were burned and the willows and the tamarisks and the lotus were
urned, and the reeds and the marsh-grass that grew in abundance
long the beautiful streams of the river. The eels and the fishes
were tormented in the eddies. In the beautiful streams they
tumbled 350
his way and that, ruined by the blast of clever Hephaistos.

The might of the river was burned too, and Xanthos

poke, addressing the god: “Hephaistos, no one of the gods
able to resist you, blazing with fire, nor can I
ight against you. Let go of strife! As for the Trojans,
355
may the good Achilles drive them forth from their city.
What is strife to me? Why should I concern myself
with bringing aid?”

So Xanthos spoke, burning with fire,

nd his beautiful streams bubbled up. As a cauldron boils
within when a furious fire is lit beneath it, and the 360
auldron melts the lard of a fat hog that bubbles
n every part, and dried wood is set on the fire,
o burned the river’s beautiful streams with fire and its
waters boiled. Nor did Xanthos wish to flow onward—
e was stayed: The blast from the might of wise Hephaistos 365
ad worn him down.
 Then, pleading to Hera, Xanthos spoke words
hat went like arrows: “Hera, why has your son attacked
my stream so as to torment it above all the other allies of Troy?
urely I am not so much to blame as the other defenders
f the Trojans. I will step back if you so command, 370
ut let him step back too. I will swear this oath:
ot ever to ward off the day of evil from the Trojans,
ot even when all of Troy burns with raging fire
nd the warlike sons of the Achaeans are burning it!”

When the goddess, the white-armed Hera, heard this,

375
he called at once to Hephaistos, her dear son: “O Hephaistos,
my glorious son—stop! It is not right that you jostle
n immortal god for the sake of mortals.”

So she spoke,
nd Hephaistos extinguished his wondrous fire, and backward
olled the wave along the beautiful streams. When the might 380
f Xanthos had been overcome, the two gods ceased the struggle.
Hera stopped them, although she was angry.

But on the other gods

ell a grave and heavy strife, and the spirit in their breasts
moved in different directions. They clashed together
with an enormous clamor and the wide earth rang out, and all 385
round the sky rang as from a trumpet.° Zeus heard it, sitting
n Olympos. His own heart laughed, rejoicing, when he saw
he gods coming together in strife.° Then none dared stand apart.

Ares, the piercer of shields, began, and first he

eaped on Athena, holding his spear of bronze, and
390
e gave this insulting speech: “Why, O fly of a dog,
o you again set on the gods to fight in your reckless
aring, as your proud spirit impels you? Have you
orgotten the time when you set on Diomedes
he son of Tydeus to wound me, and you yourself took 395
he spear, in the sight of all, and drove it straight into me,
nd you rent my handsome flesh? Therefore you will
ow, I think, pay the full price for what you have done!”

So speaking, Ares stabbed at the tasseled goatskin fetish,

he awesome thing that not even the thunderbolt of Zeus can
400
ubdue. The blood-stained Ares stabbed at it with his long spear,
ut Athena gave ground and took up in her thick hand
stone that lay on the plain—black, jagged, and huge,
which men of former times had placed to be a marker for a field.
Athena cast it and struck the bold Ares in the neck and loosed 405
is limbs. He fell down over two acres! His hair mixed with
he dust, and his armor clanged.

Pallas Athena laughed,°

nd boasting over him she spoke words that went like arrows:
 Fool! Not even yet have you learned how much better I am
han you—that you should match your strength against mine! 410
hus will you satisfy to the full the Erinyes of your mother,°
who in her anger devised evil against you because you abandoned
he Achaeans and brought aid to the proud Trojans.”

So speaking
Athena turned her bright eyes away. Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus,
ook Ares by the hand and led him away as he groaned mightily.° 415
carcely could he gather his spirit.

When the goddess Hera,

whose arms are white, saw Aphrodite, at once she spoke
o Athena words that went like arrows: “Well look at this!
O child of Zeus who carries the goatskin fetish, unwearied
ne—there she goes again! This fly of a dog is leading 420
man-destroying Ares out of the tearful war, beyond the melée.
Well, after her!” So Hera spoke, and Athena went off
n pursuit, glad at heart. Rushing upon Aphrodite she struck
er on the chest with her thick hand. Aphrodite’s knees
were loosened right there, and her heart too. 425

So the two of them,

Ares and Aphrodite, lay on the bountiful earth, and Athena,
oasting, spoke words that went like arrows: “So be it to all
who are helpers of the Trojans when they fight against
he heavily armed Argives. Yes, they are bold and reckless,
 ust like Aphrodite who came to the aid of Ares—
430
oing up against my power! Then we would long ago have
eased from this war, after sacking the well-built city
f Ilion.”

So she spoke, and the goddess Hera, whose arms

re white, smiled. But the kingly earth-shaker Poseidon
poke to Apollo: “Phoibos, why do the two of us stand apart 435
om the battle? I don’t think it’s right, for the others have begun.
would be shameful if we were to go back to Olympos to the house
f Zeus, with its bronze threshold, without a fight. So begin!
You are the younger in age. It would not be appropriate
or me to begin, because I was born first and I know more.
440
“And you have a stupid heart, fool! Do you not remember
ll the ills that we alone of all the gods suffered at Ilion
when we served the proud Laomedon for a year for a fixed wage
n Zeus’s command? Laomedon was the boss and laid on
he orders. Well, I built a wall for the Trojans all around the city— 445
road and very beautiful—so that the city could never be taken.
And you herded the sleek cattle who have a shuffling walk
n the folds of wooded Ida, with its many ridges.° But when
he glad seasons brought an end to the term of our hire, then the awful
Laomedon defrauded us of the entire sum. He sent us away
450
with a threat. He threatened to bind our feet and hands
bove and sell us off into islands that are far away.
He made as if he would cut off the ears of both of us
with the bronze! So we went off with anger in our hearts,
urious that he did not pay us our fee, which he promised 455
ut then did not give. You are showing favor to this man’s people,
 or do you try along with the rest of us to see that the proud
rojans perish in deserved ruin, along with their children
nd their chaste wives.”

Then King Apollo, who shoots

rom a long way off, spoke: “Earth-shaker, you would not 460
hink me to be of sound mind if I should fight against you
or the sake of wretched mortals, who like the leaves of the trees
ow are filled with flaming life, eating the fruit of the field
efore they dwindle away and perish. However, let us quit
he battle as soon as possible. Let the mortals battle by
themselves.” 465

So speaking, Apollo turned his back. He was ashamed to mix

n war against his own father’s brother. But his sister upbraided him,
Artemis of the wild wood, the mistress of the wild animals,
s she spoke a reproachful word: “So you are fleeing,
ou who work from afar, turning over the whole victory
470
o Poseidon, giving him the glory for nothing. You fool!
Why do you have your bow, now worthless as the wind?
et me no longer hear you in the halls of your father boasting,
s you have done earlier among the deathless gods, that you
would fight against Poseidon in the hand-to-hand.” 475

So Artemis
poke, and Apollo, who works from a long way off, said nothing,
ut the respected wife of Zeus grew angry and upbraided
he archer queen with reproachful words: “What? You want
o stand against me, you fearsome bitch? I am hard to oppose
n power, although you carry the bow. Zeus made you
480
lion against women, and he gave you the power to kill
whomever of them you wish.° But it is better to be cutting
own beasts and wild deer on the mountains than to fight
with those who are stronger than you. If you want to learn
bout war, so that you might know how much stronger I am than
you, 485
nasmuch as you want to match your strength against mine—”
ut then Hera caught both of Artemis’ hands by the wrist

FIGURE 21.2 Apollo and Artemis. Apollo was the aoidos, the “singer,”
among the gods. Here young and beardless and holding a lotus staff, he
 greets his sister Artemis, who carries a bow and is accompanied by a deer,
her usual attributes. In classical times the triad Leto, Apollo, and Artemis
made up a holy family, although in origin they were unrelated. Athenian
red-figure wine-cup by the Brygos painter, c. 470 BC.

with her left hand, and with her right she removed the bow
nd quiver from her shoulders. With them, smiling, she beat
Artemis around the ears as she struggled this way and that,
490
nd the swift arrows fell from her quiver. Weeping, the goddess
ed from Hera like a dove that takes refuge in a hollow rock,
cleft, when a falcon attacks—for it was not Aphrodite’s
estiny to be taken. Even so she fled, weeping, and she left
er bow and arrow there. 495

Then Hermes, the killer of Argos,

he messenger, spoke to Leto: “Leto, I will not fight
with you. It is a rough matter to exchange blows with the wives
f Zeus who gathers the clouds. Just say it—speak right out
nd tell the deathless gods that you beat me with your mighty
trength …”
500

So Hermes spoke, and Leto gathered up the curved

ow and the arrows that fell scattered in the swirl of dust.
he took the bow and arrows and went after her daughter. But Artemis
ad gone back to Olympos. There that maiden came to the house of Zeus
with its bronze threshold. Weeping she sat down on the knees
f her father. The fragrant robe trembled around her. Her father, 505
he son of Kronos, clasped Artemis and asked, laughing sweetly:
Who, of the dwellers in heaven, my dear child, has treated
ou ill, to no purpose, as if you were doing some wicked thing
n full view?”

Artemis answered him, the fair-crowned huntress

f the echoing chase: “It was your wife who beat me up, 510
O father—Hera who has white arms, from whom strife
nd quarreling have fallen upon the immortals!”

So they said these

hings to one another. But Phoibos Apollo went into holy Ilion.
He was concerned about the wall of the well-built city, in case
he Danaäns, tempting fate, should knock it down that very day. 515
he other gods, who live forever, went back to Olympos,
ome angry, others exulting greatly. There they sat down beside
he father, lord of the dark cloud.

But Achilles was still killing

he Trojans and their single-hoofed horses. As when smoke
ises up and enters broad heaven from a burning city, and
520
he anger of the gods drives it on, causing pain to all and inflicting woes on
many, even so did Achilles cause pain
o the Trojans and inflict woes upon them.

Old man Priam stood

n the heaven-built wall and from there watched the monstrous
Achilles. The Trojans were being driven in headlong rout 525
 efore him. There was no help! With a groan he descended
om the wall and then he called out to his glorious gatekeepers
long the wall: “Hold open the gates wide so that the army
an come into the city, chased in rout. For Achilles is here,
nd he is driving them on. Now there will be ghastly destruction. 530
ut when our troops have found respite, gathered tightly behind
he walls, then shut the closely fitted doors again. For I am afraid
hat this ravaging destroying man will leap inside the wall!”
o he spoke, and they undid the gates and thrust back the bars.
Then the gates, thrown wide open, offered the light of
deliverance. 535

And Apollo leaped forth so that he could stave off ruin

om the Trojans as they fled straight for the city and the high wall,
urning with thirst and covered with dust from the plain.
Achilles stayed on them ferociously with his spear, for a wild
madness had seized his heart and he longed to capture glory.
540
hen the sons of the Achaeans would have taken high-gated
roy, if Phoibos Apollo had not roused up the good
Agenor, son of Antenor, blameless and strong. He filled
is heart with courage and himself stood by his side
o that he could ward off the heavy hands of death. 545
Apollo leaned against the oak, hidden in a thick mist.

When Agenor saw Achilles, the sacker of cities,

e stopped, and many were his dark thoughts as he held
is ground. Moved deeply, he spoke to his own great-hearted
pirit: “What should I do now? If I flee before mighty Achilles, 550
here where the others are driven in rout, he will take me
nyway, and he will butcher me in my cowardice. But if I let
hese men be driven before Achilles the son of Peleus,
can flee on my feet away from the wall to the Ileïon plain°
ntil I arrive at the valleys of Ida where I can hide in the 555
hickets. When the sun sets I can wash myself in the river,
dding myself of the sweat, and then return to Ilion.
ut why does my spirit ponder these things? Let him not
ee me as I turn away from the city toward the plain
nd overtake me, coming after me on his swift feet. 560
hen there will be no way to avoid death and the fates,
or he is more powerful than all other men.
“And if I go
o meet him in front of the city? Well, that man’s flesh
oo can be torn by the sharp bronze. There is but one life
n him! Men say that he is mortal … It is Zeus, the son of Kronos,
565
who gives him glory!”

So speaking, Agenor pulled himself

ogether and awaited Achilles, his brave heart now stirred up
o fight—to do battle. Even as a leopard goes forth
om a deep thicket in full view of a hunter and he is not afraid,
e does not flee when he hears the baying of the hounds.
570
And even if the hunter gets in first and stabs the leopard
r hits him with an arrow, even pierced through with the spear
e does not give up his attack before the leopard grapples
with the hunter or is killed—even so the good Agenor,
on of brave Antenor, was not going to flee before 575
e put Achilles to the test.
 He held his shield before him,
well balanced on every side, and he aimed with his spear, and he
ried aloud: “I suppose you hope in your heart, O excellent
Achilles, on this day to sack the city of the brave Trojans—fool!
Many are the pains that shall be borne on her account. There are 580
many brave men within her, ready to defend Ilion under the eyes
f our dear parents and wives and children. You will meet
our doom here, although you are a bold fighter and dreaded in war!”

He spoke and cast his sharp spear from his heavy hand,
nd he hit Achilles on the shin beneath the knee. He did not miss!
585
he shinguard of newly wrought tin clanged terribly and back
eaped the bronze from the man it had struck. But it did not
enetrate, for the gift of the god stayed it.

Then the son

f Peleus rushed on godlike Agenor, but Apollo did not
llow him to win glory. He snatched Agenor away 590
nd hid him in a thick mist. He sent him out of the war
o go his way in peace. Then by craft he kept the son
f Peleus away from the Trojan army. Taking on the exact
keness of Agenor, Apollo who works from afar stood before
Achilles’ feet, and Achilles rushed on him in pursuit.
595
While Achilles pursued Apollo over the wheat-bearing plain,
urning him toward the deep-eddying river of the Skamandros,
Apollo running just a little ahead, for Apollo beguiled Achilles
with this trick, making him think he could at any time overtake him.
 Meanwhile the other Trojans, fleeing in rout, came in a glad
600
rowd toward the city, and the city was filled with the throng
f them. Nor did they dare any longer to await one another
utside the city and the wall, and to learn who had fled
nd who had been killed in the fight. With haste they poured
nto the city—whoever was saved by the swiftness of his feet.
605

OceanofPDF.com
 to the hollow ships: This is the only time in the Iliad that prisoners are
taken. Probably the “well-cut thongs” are belts that the men wore.
price for him: According to Book 23, Euneos, son of Jason and Hypsipylê,
gave as payment for Lykaon a valuable mixing-bowl of Phoenician
manufacture.
father’s house: Eëtion has the same name as the father of Hector’s wife,
Andromachê. Living in Arisbê on the Hellespont (Map 3), this Eëtion was
evidently a guest-friend of the house of Priam.
as much: Apparently Lykaon had to pay Eëtion back the price of his
freedom even though Eëtion was a guest-friend in the house of Priam. And
a fancy Phoenician bowl must be worth a hundred oxen!
held it: Now the gold layer seems to be on the top!
black blood flowed: This is the only time that Achilles in wounded in the
Iliad.
his armor: In Book 23 Achilles will offer the breastplate and sword of
Asteropaios as prizes in the funeral games for Patroklos.
Acheloös: The longest river in Greece, in northwest Greece (another
Acheloös river, in Lydia, is mentioned in Book 24).
from a trumpet: Homer knows about war trumpets, but they are never used
in battle.
in strife: Why Zeus should have laughed at the war of the gods has been
much debated, but evidently it is because of the comic scenes that follow:
As Zeus laughed, so are we the audience supposed to laugh at the ridiculous
antics of these gods acting so absurdly.
laughed: This second mock battle of the gods (the first is in Book 5)
puzzled ancient commentators and inspired allegorical interpretations, but it
provides comic relief between the scene of Achilles’ fight with Skamandros
and Achilles’ killing of Hector.
of your mother: In Book 5 Athena says that Ares has broken his promise to
her and Hera that he would help the Greeks against Troy. The Erinyes take
vengeance for broken oaths.
groaned mightily: In a famous story in the Odyssey, Ares and Aphrodite are
lovers. No doubt the Judgment of Paris, referred to obliquely in Book 24,
lies behind the enmity between Aphrodite and Hera and Athena.
many ridges: In Book 7 Poseidon says that they both built the walls, but
here Apollo’s service was as a herdsman. No reason is given why Zeus
ordered that Poseidon and Apollo should perform this service.
you wish: When a woman died in ancient Greece from “natural causes,” she
was said to fall before the arrows of Artemis.
Ileïon plain: Referred to only here. Apparently the plain “of Ilos” is meant,
the early king of Troy whose tomb is mentioned in Book 10.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 22. The Killing of
Hector

Sheiro throughout the city, huddled like fawns, they cooled off
sweat and they drank and quenched their thirst, leaning against
he beautiful battlements. But then the Achaeans came close
o the wall, propping their shields on their shoulders,° and
dreadful fate bound Hector to remain where he was, there
5
n front of Ilion and the Scaean Gates.

And then Phoibos

Apollo spoke to Achilles the son of Peleus: “Why, O son
f Peleus, do you pursue me on your swift feet when you are
ut a mortal and I a deathless god? Haven’t you yet recognized
hat I am a god? And still you rage incessantly. Are you
indifferent 10
o all the trouble you went through, routing the Trojans,
nd now they are safe inside the city while you are stuck out here!
You will never kill me—I am immortal!”

With a flash of deep

nger the fast runner Achilles said: “You have fooled me,
ou most destructive of gods, you who shoot from afar!
15
You have turned me away from the wall. Otherwise, many Trojans
would have bitten the earth with their teeth before they got
nto Troy. As it is you have robbed me of great glory,
while you have saved them easily. You had no fear that
would take revenge for your actions in the future, for truly
20
would take revenge upon you if it were in my power!”
o speaking, Achilles went off toward the city with grand ambition,
unning like a race horse, a prize-winner who pulls a chariot,
who easily runs full-out over the plain—even so Achilles
wiftly moved his feet and his knees.
25

Then old man Priam

rst saw him as he sped all-gleaming over the plain, like the star
hat appears at harvest time, when its rays shine in the midst
f many stars in the murk of the night, the star called the dog
f Orion.° It is most brilliant, but a sign of evil, bringing
much fever to wretched mortals—just so, the bronze shone
30
round Achilles’ chest as he ran. The old man groaned,
nd he beat his head with his hands, raising them up high,
nd moaning mightily he called out, begging, to his dear son,
who stood motionless before the gates, eager to do battle with
Achilles. The old man spoke pitiful words, stretching out his
arms: 35
Hector, do not wait for this man, my dear son, alone
without others, or you may quickly meet your doom,
illed by this son of Peleus! He is much more powerful—
cruel man! I wish that the gods loved him just as I do!
Then the dogs and vultures would quickly devour him as he lay 40
nburied, and this terrible sorrow would leave my breast.
or he has taken away many of my noble sons,
illing them or selling them off to islands that lie far away.
And now I do not see two of my sons Lykaon and Polydoros—
whom Laothoê, princess among women bore me—gathered
45
nto the city of the Trojans. But if they are still alive and in the
Achaean camp, then we will ransom them for bronze and gold.
We have it! For the famous old man Altes gave away much wealth
t the wedding of his daughter. If they are dead and in the house
f Hades, there will be agony in my heart and in that of their
mother, 50
he who bore them. But there will be less suffering to others
you do not also die, Hector, overcome by Achilles!
“So come inside the wall, my son, so that you might save
he Trojan men and women, and so that you do not give
bundant glory to the son of Peleus, and you yourself lose your
life. 55
ake pity on me, who yet can feel! O how wretched
am, how ill-fated I am—I whom the father, the son
f Kronos, will destroy in a pitiful fate at the threshold
f old age, I who have seen many evils—the death of my sons,
my daughters hauled away, treasure-chambers looted, 60
ttle children thrown to the earth in the horrid war, my sons’
wives taken away at the hands of the deadly Achaeans.
And now, now the savage dogs will rip me to pieces at the doors
f my own house after someone has taken the life from my limbs
with a blow, or a cast from some sharp bronze. And my
65
wn dogs, those that I raised in my halls at my own table—
fter drinking my blood in the madness of their hearts, they will
hen lie down in the forecourt!
“Certainly, all looks good when
young man dies in war, slashed by the sharp bronze, and there he lies—
verything is lovely that shows, though he is dead. But when dogs
70
ut to shame a gray head and a gray beard and the shameful parts°
f a dead old man—this is the most pitiful thing for wretched mortals.”
 So spoke the old man and with his hands he plucked
he gray hairs from his head. Still, he did not persuade Hector.
Then his mother Hekabê, standing beside Priam, wailed and shed
tears, 75
xposing her chest, and with one hand she held her breasts
nd poured forth tears, speaking words that went like arrows:
Hector, my child, honor these breasts! Take pity on me!
ever I gave you suck to ease your pain—remember these,
my son, and ward off that savage man from within the wall. 80
Do not stand forth to face him, stubborn boy! If he kills you,
shall never bewail you on your bier, my dear child, whom I bore
om my own body. Nor will your wife, with her rich dowry,
ut far away, beside the ships, the swift dogs will devour you!”

Thus importuning, they spoke to their son, begging him.

85
ut they could not persuade Hector. He awaited Achilles
s he came ever closer in his might. As a serpent in the mountains
waits in his hole for a man to come along after eating
oxious herbs,° and a terrible rage has gone into him,
nd he glares ferociously as he coils about in his hole,
90
ven so Hector in his voracious might did not retreat
ut leaned his shining shield against the projecting wall.

Grieving, Hector spoke to his great-hearted spirit:

Oh no! If I go through the gate and behind the walls, Poulydamas
will be the first to criticize me. For he encouraged me to lead 95
he Trojans to the city during this deadly night, when godlike Achilles
ose up.° But I wouldn’t listen. It would have been a lot better if I had!
And now, after I have destroyed many through my own stupidity,
am ashamed before the Trojans and the Trojan women with
heir fine robes. I fear that someone, some lower-class type, will
say, 100
Hector, trusting in his own strength, has destroyed the army!’
hey will say that. It would be much better for me to meet
Achilles in the hand-to-hand, then return home after killing
im, or myself perish in glory for the land of my fathers.
“Or what if I set my bossed shield aside and my powerful 105
elmet, and lean my spear against the wall and myself go up
o the relentless Achilles and promise that we will give up Helen
nd with her all the treasure that Alexandros took to Troy
n the hollow ships for the sons of Atreus to take away—
he beginning of this dread conflict … And in addition, what if
110
we were to divest ourselves of half of all the things that the city
ontains? I will take from the Trojans an oath sworn by the elders
n behalf of the Trojan people that they will not conceal anything,
ut will divide in half all the wealth that our lovely city holds within …°
“But why am I having this conversation with myself?
115
must not go to him! He will not pity me nor have any regard.
He will kill me right there, all unarmed, as if I were a woman,
nce I have taken off my armor. There is no way, as if from
n oak or a rock, I may exchange pleasantries with him,
uch as when a young girl chats with a youth—a young girl! 120
youth!° Better to fight this out, and the sooner the better.
hen we will know to which man Zeus the Olympian gives glory.”

So he pondered as he waited. But Achilles was already

pon him, like Enyalios, warrior of the waving helmet, brandishing
 ver his right shoulder his terrifying spear of Pelian ash. 125
Around him the bronze flashed like the flames of a blazing fire
r the rays of the sun as it rises.

A trembling came over Hector

when he saw Achilles, and he did not dare to stay there
ny longer, but he left the gates behind him and ran in fear.
The son of Peleus rushed after him, trusting in his powerful feet.
130
As a falcon in the mountains, the fastest of all birds swoops down
n a trembling dove who flees before him, but he darts in right
n top of her, crying shrilly, close, for his falcon spirit urges him on
o devour the dove—even so Achilles in his fury sped straight on.

Hector fled in terror beneath the wall of the Trojans, 135

wiftly plying his limbs. He ran beneath the place of watching,°
ast the wind-tossed fig—always out from under the walls,
long the wagon track. He ran to the two fair-flowing
ountains where the two springs of the eddying Skamandros rise.
One flows with warm water, and around it much smoke rises 140
s if from a blazing fire. The other flows cold even in the summer,
ke hail, or cold snow or ice formed from water.
here, close to the springs are broad-flowing washing-tanks—
eautiful stone tubs—where the lovely Trojan women
nd their daughters used to wash their shining clothes in the old 145
ays of peace, before the coming of the sons of the Achaeans.°
 They ran past that place, one fleeing, the other close behind.
A man of worth fled in front, and behind him a man far greater
n strength swiftly pursued. It was not for a sacrificial beast
r for a bull’s hide, which are prizes in a foot-race, that they
competed, 150
ut they ran for the very life of Hector, tamer of horses.
As when single-hoofed prize-winning horses turn swiftly around
he turning-posts, a great prize is at stake, a tripod or a woman
n games celebrated for a dead man—even so three times
hey ran around city of Priam on their fast feet.° 155

And all the gods looked on. The father of men and gods
was first to speak: “Look now, I see with my own eye an esteemed
man pursued around the wall. My heart goes out to Hector,
who has burned the thigh-bones of many oxen on the crests of Ida
with its many ridges,° and at other times made sacrifice in the
upper 160
arts of the city. And now godlike Achilles is chasing Hector
round the city of Priam on his quick feet. But come, contemplate
nd decide, my fellow gods, whether we will save Hector
om death, or whether we will deliver him to destruction at the hands
f Achilles, the son of Peleus, although he is a fine man.”
165

Flashing-eyed Athena then answered him: “O father

f the white lightning, gatherer of the dark clouds, what words
ou have spoken! Again you want to pull back from evil death
mortal man who has long ago been doomed by fate?
Well, go ahead and try it. But none of the other gods will agree.” 170
 Zeus the cloud-gatherer then said in reply: “Ease up,
ritogeneia, my dear daughter, I am not so set on what
have been saying! I want you to be pleased—do whatever
your pleasure. Don’t hold back!”

So speaking, he urged on Athena,

who was clearly anxious. She went dashing from the peaks
175
f Olympos while swift Achilles was unrelenting in pursuit of Hector.
As when a dog has rousted the fawn of a deer from its lair and chases
through valleys and woods, and although the fawn evades it
or a while, hiding in a thicket, still the hound tracks him
own, running ever on until he finds him—even so Hector
180
ould not escape the son of Peleus, the fast runner.

As often as Hector rushed toward the Dardanian Gates°

o gain shelter beneath the well-built walls, in hopes
hat the Trojans could defend him with missiles from above,
ust so often Achilles would anticipate his movements and move 185
n front and turn him back, toward the plain, while he himself
ped on beside the city’s walls. As in a dream where you
annot snare someone fleeing from you—the one cannot evade
nd the other cannot capture—even so Achilles could not
vertake Hector with his fleetness, nor could Hector get away. 190

How could Hector then have escaped from the fates

f death were it not that Apollo came close to him
or the last time, to rouse his strength and quicken his knees?
Godlike Achilles nodded with his head to his followers—
e did not want anyone shooting deadly arrows or javelins
195
t Hector so that someone else might gain the glory
with a cast and he lose out.

When Achilles and Hector

ame for a fourth time to the springs, then the father lifted
he golden scales. He placed in the pans two fates of bitter death,
he one for Achilles, the other for Hector, tamer of horses.
200
eus took the scales by the balance and held it up.
Down plunged the fateful day for Hector. He went toward
he house of Hades, and Phoibos Apollo deserted him.

Flashing-eyed Athena then came up to the son of Peleus.

he stood near him and spoke words that went like arrows: 205
Now I hope that the two of us, O glorious Achilles, beloved
f Zeus, will be able to carry off to the ships great glory
or the Achaeans, once we have killed war-crazed Hector
n the hand-to-hand. Now he can no longer escape us,
ot even if Apollo, who works from a long way off, 210
hould suffer a great deal, thrashing around before father Zeus
who carries the goatskin fetish! Take your stand now—
atch your breath, while I will go and persuade that man
ver there to fight in the hand-to-hand.”

So spoke Athena,
nd Achilles obeyed, glad in his heart, and he stood leaning
 215
n the ashen spear with barbs of bronze. Athena left him
nd went up to the majestic Hector in the likeness of Deïphobos°
oth in shape and familiar voice. Standing next to him
he spoke words that went like arrows: “My dear brother,
urely Achilles is doing you awful harm, pursuing you
220
with his swift feet around the city of Troy. But come,
et us take our stand, and staying here let us repel his attack.”

And big Hector, whose helmet flashed, said to her:

Deïphobos, of all the brothers whom Hekabê and Priam bore,
ou were in the past always to me the most beloved! 225
And now I think that I will honor you still more in my heart,
ecause you have dared to come out from the wall on my account
when you saw me, while the others remained within.”

Then the goddess flashing-eyed Athena said to him:

My dear brother, truly my father and my revered mother,
230
nd our comrades around me, begged me in turn—pleaded mightily—
hat I stay. For they all tremble before Achilles. But my head
was troubled with bitter grief. Now let us charge straight at him
nd fight, and let there be no sparing our use of the spears,
o that we might learn whether he will kill us and carry away 235
he bloody armor to the hollow ships, or whether you will kill
im with your spear.”

So speaking and with such cunning

Athena led him on. When they came near Achilles, as each
dvanced against the other, Hector, whose helmet flashed,
poke first, saying to Achilles: “I will flee from you
240
o more, O son of Peleus, as before I ran three times
round the great and shining city of Priam, when I did
ot dare to await you as you came on. But now
my heart urges me to take my stand against you,
o see if I will kill you or you kill me. And let us take
245
he gods to witness—they will be the best witnesses
nd guardians of our covenant! For I will do nothing unseemly
o you, if Zeus grant me to outlast you and I take your life.
After I have taken the famous armor of Achilles, I will give back
our dead body to the Achaeans. And you do the same …”
250

Then Achilles, the fast runner, glaring angrily from beneath

is brows, said: “Hector, you are mad! Don’t talk to me of covenants!
As there are no trusted oaths between lions and men, nor do
wolves have a friendly heart toward lambs but always they
hink evil toward one another—even so there is no way 255
hat you and I can be friends. Nor will there be oaths
etween us before one or the other shall fall and glut
Ares with blood, the warrior with a tough hide shield.
o think now of all your fancy valor. Now you must be
spearman and a bold fighter. There is no more escape. 260
allas Athena will kill you by my spear. Now you
will pay full price for the sorrow of my companions
whom you killed, raging with your spear!”
 Thus Achilles spoke,
nd brandishing his long-shadowing spear he cast. But the bold
Hector saw it coming and ducked, crouching in anticipation. 265
o the bronze spear flew over him and stuck fixed in the earth.
ut up leaped Pallas Athena and gave it back to Achilles,
nseen by Hector, shepherd of the people.

Then Hector spoke

o the blameless son of Peleus: “You missed! Nor have you
earned from Zeus—O Achilles like to the gods!—of my fate,
270
hough surely you thought so. But you have been glib of tongue
nd a thug with words so that you frightened me out of my power.
You made me forget my valor. But you shall not spear me
n the back as I flee. Drive your spear straight through my breast
s I charge upon you, if any god grants it! Or avoid my spear of
bronze— 275
may you take it entirely in your flesh … This war would be lighter
or the Trojans, if you were dead, for you are our greatest evil!”

Hector spoke, and brandishing his long-shadowing

pear he cast it, and it hit in the middle of the shield of the son
f Peleus—he did not miss. But the spear glanced far away
280
om the shield. Hector raged that his missile had flown in vain
om his hand, then he stood abashed, for he did not have another
shen spear. He called aloud for Deïphobos of the white shield,
equesting another long spear. But Deïphobos was nowhere near.

Hector then knew in his heart, and he spoke: “I understand.

 285
he gods have called me to my death. I thought that Deïphobos
he warrior was nearby, but he is behind the walls. Athena has
eceived me. Now wretched death is near, not far away. I cannot
void it. In the olden times Zeus was more friendly to me,
nd the son of Zeus, Apollo who shoots from a long ways off. 290
He who in times before stood by me with a steady heart.
ut now my doom has come upon me. Let me not die without
struggle, without fame, but having done something great,
omething for those in later times to remember.”°

So speaking
Hector drew his sharp sword, large and powerful, which hung
295
t his side, and pulling himself together he swooped like a
igh-flying eagle that goes over the plain and through
he dark clouds to seize a tender sheep or a cowering hare—
ven so Hector swooped, brandishing his sharp sword.
Achilles rushed to meet him. He filled his heart with wild
300
rength, and he protected his chest by holding the sturdy
nely crafted shield before him. As he ran he tossed the crest
f his shining four-plated helmet. All around it waved
he beautiful plumes of gold that Hephaistos set thick as the crest.

As the evening star, the most beautiful star in the sky, 305
oes forth among all the other stars in the gloom of night,
ust so the sharp spear that Achilles balanced in his right hand
leamed as he looked at the fair flesh of majestic Hector,
ooking to find the place that was most open to a thrust.
Now, bronze armor covered up all the rest of Hector’s flesh,
 310
he beautiful armor that he had plundered from the body
f Patroklos when he killed him. But there was an opening
where the collarbone joined the neck with the shoulders,
he gullet where the destruction of life comes most quickly.
Achilles drove in his spear right there as he rushed on Hector, 315
nd the point of the spear went straight through the tender neck.
ut the bronze-heavy ash did not cut the windpipe, so that
Hector was able to speak and make answer to his enemy.

Thus Hector fell in the dust. And then Achilles gloated

ver him: “Hector, you probably thought that you could despoil 320
atroklos and stay safe. You had no thought of me, who remained
long way off—you fool! Far from Patroklos a far greater helper
was left behind at the ships—me! I, who have just killed you!
Dogs and birds will eat you now, in an unseemly manner. But the
Achaeans will bury Patroklos.” 325

Hector, whose helmet flashed, spoke

s his strength drained away: “I beg you by your life and your knees°
nd your parents—do not give me to be devoured by the dogs
eside the ships … My father and mother will give you bronze
nd a lot of gold as gifts if you give back my body to be taken home,
o that the Trojans and the wives of the Trojans can give me my
due 330
f fire when I am dead.”

Achilles, the fast runner, said to him,

ooking with anger from beneath his brows: “Don’t beg me,
ou dog, by my knees or by my parents. As much as I wish
hat my anger and my spirit would drive me on to cut up your flesh
nd eat it raw for the things you have done, just as much 335
know that no one will save the dogs from your skull—
ot though your parents should come here and offer ten times
s much, or twenty times, and promise still more. Not if Dardanian
riam should promise to weigh out your body in gold. Not even so
will your revered mother place you on a bier to bewail 340
er dear son. But dogs and birds will devour you completely!”

FIGURE 22.1 Achilles kills Hector. The figures are labeled. The
illustration does not follow Homer’s account very well. Both men are in
“heroic nudity.” A beardless Achilles attacks from the left, wearing
shinguards, a helmet, and carrying a hoplite shield, sword, and spear. The
bearded Hector is similarly armed (but without shinguards). He has already
been wounded in the left thigh and in the chest and is about to go down.
Blood flows from the wounds. Athena (half-visible) stands behind Achilles
wearing the goatskin fetish as a cape. Athenian red-figure wine-mixing
bowl by the Berlin Painter, c. 490–460 BC. Found at Cerveteri, Lazio, Italy.
 Then, dying, Hector whose helmet flashed answered:
I know you too well. I knew this would be—that I could not persuade
ou. The heart in your breast is of iron. Only think of this —
hat I will become the anger of the gods on that day when Paris 345
nd Phoibos Apollo kill you at the Scaean Gates,° though you
re great …”

Thus Hector spoke. Then death covered him over, and his
reath-soul flew out of his limbs and went to the house of Hades,
ewailing her fate,° leaving behind manliness and youth.
Godlike Achilles addressed him, though he was dead: 350
Die then! I will meet my own fate whenever Zeus and
he other deathless gods want to bring it about.”

So Achilles spoke
nd he pulled his bronze spear from the corpse. He laid it aside
nd stripped Patroklos’ bloody armor from Hector’s shoulders.
The other sons of the Achaeans ran up to admire the physique
355
nd the wonderful handsomeness of Hector. And they all dipped
n their weapons, those who went near. And so one would say,
urning to his neighbor: “Yes, Hector seems more gentle to the
ouch now than when he burned the ships with deadly fire!”

Thus someone would speak and plunge his weapon in the

corpse, 360
anding nearby. When the good Achilles, the fast runner,
ad finished stripping the corpse, he stood up among the Achaeans
nd spoke words that went like arrows: “My dear leaders
 nd rulers of the Argives—because the gods have given it to us
o overcome this man who has done more harm than all the other 365
rojans combined, let us stand in our might in front of the city,
ully armed, to find out what are the Trojans’ intentions—
whether they will leave their high city now that their man is dead,
r whether they are eager to remain even though Hector is gone.
“But why does my heart have this conversation with itself?
370
atroklos still lies dead at the ships, unwept and unburied.
will never forget him, not so long as I am among the living
nd my limbs still function. Even if in the house of Hades
men forget their dead, even there I will not forget my dear
ompanion. Anyway, let the Achaean youth sing our song 375
f victory and return to the hollow ships. We will bring
Hector there. We have won great glory. We have killed
he gallant Hector, to whom the Trojans prayed throughout
heir city as if he were a god.”

So he spoke, contemplating how he

would treat Hector shamefully. He pierced the tendons of both
feet 380
om behind, from the heel to the ankle, and made fast ox-hide
hongs, which he tied to the back of his chariot. He let Hector’s head
rag on the ground. Then he mounted his chariot and loaded
he famous armor. He snapped the whip and drove away,
nd his two horses gladly sped onward. The dust rose up
385
om Hector’s head as he was dragged, and his dark hair
pread out on either side, and all in the dust lay the head that
efore was so charming. But now Zeus had given him to the enemy
o be treated shamefully in the land of his fathers. And all of
is hair was befouled by the dust. 390
 His mother tore at her own hair,
nd she flung her shining headscarf far away—Hekabê wailed
loud when she saw her son. His father Priam piteously bewailed
im too, and the people fell into a howling and shrieking throughout
he city. It was as if all of Ilion with its beetling brows burned utterly
with fire. 395

The people could scarcely hold back the old man,

orn by grief, who wanted to go outside the Dardanian gates.
He prayed to everyone, rolling around in the filth, and he called
ach man by name: “Hold off my friends, though you are distressed,
nd let me go alone outside the city, to the ships of the Achaeans.
will beseech this wicked man, this doer of evil, if perhaps
400
e will take shame before his fellows and have pity for my old age.
He has a father like me too—Peleus, who begot him and raised him
o be a curse to the Trojans. He has made sorrow for me above all
ther men, so many are my sons that he killed in their prime.
“But of all those I do not rue any so much, though I am rent 405
with sorrow, as for this one—Hector. Grief for him
will carry me into the house of Hades. How I wish that he had
ied in my arms! Then we’d have had our fill of lamentation—
is mother who bore him to her sorrow, and I myself.”

So Priam spoke, weeping, and the citizens cried too. 410

Among the Trojan women Hekabê led the loud lament:
My child, how wretched I am! How will I live in my bitter
nguish with you dead? You who night and day were
my boast throughout the city—a help to all the Trojan men
nd the Trojan women in the town. They greeted you as a god. 415
You were a great glory to them while you were alive.
Now death and fate has come upon you.”

So she spoke, wailing.

ut Hector’s wife Andromachê had not yet heard, for no truthful
messenger had come to her to announce that her husband
emained outside the gates. She was weaving in a corner 420
f her high room, weaving a double cloth, purple in color.
Andromachê was weaving-in a design of multicolored flowers.
he called out through the house to her handmaids with lovely hair
o set a great tripod on a fire so there would be a hot bath for Hector
when he came home from the battle—poor woman! She did
425
ot yet know that flashing-eyed Athena had killed him at the hands
f Achilles, far from any warm bath.

Then Andromachê heard

he shrieking and shouting from the wall. Her limbs spun around
nd the weaving comb fell from her hand to the earth.
he spoke to her handmaids with the lovely hair: “Come here, 430
he two of you—follow me so that we can see what has happened.
heard the voice of my husband’s mother, and from my breast
my heart leaps into my mouth, and beneath me my knees are numb.
ome evil is close by for the children of Priam. Would such word
e far from my ear, but I fear terribly that stalwart Achilles 435
as cut off Hector alone from the city and pursues him
ver the plain, that he has put an end to the reckless manhood
hat possessed him. For Hector would never remain in the mass
f men, but always ran ahead, yielding to no one in his power.”

So speaking Andromachê rushed out of the hall like a mad

woman, 440
with throbbing heart. Her handmaids went with her, and when
hey came to the wall and the crowd of men, she stood gazing
ver the wall, and she saw Hector dragged before the city.
he swift horses dragged him without pity toward the hollow ships
f the Achaeans.
445

Dark night covered her eyes. Andromachê fell backward

nd gasped out her breath-soul. She threw the shining bonds
ar from her head —the frontlet and the cap, and the woven band
 FIGURE 22.2 Achilles drags Hector. Achilles (labeled) has already tied
Hector to his car. As he steps up behind his charioteer, he looks behind at
Priam and Andromachê lamenting from the wall. His shield bears a triskelis
(“three-legged”) design. Iris appears (she is white) to ask him not to treat
Hector in this fashion (see Book 23). Behind the horses is the tomb of
Patroklos. His breath-soul (psychê), shown as a miniature winged armed
warrior, hovers above the tomb. Patroklos’ name is inscribed on the tomb.
Notice the serpent at the base: The beneficent spirits of the dead were
thought to live as friendly snakes in tombs (“good spirit,” agathos daimon).
Athenian black-figure wine-mixing bowl, c. 510 BC.

nd the headscarf° that golden Aphrodite had given her on that day
when Hector, whose helmet flashed, led her from the house of Eëtion
fter Hector had given countless bridal gifts. Around about her 450
 ame Hector’s sisters and the wives of Hector’s brothers
nd they bore her up, distraught unto death, in their midst.

When Andromachê caught her breath and her spirit was

athered in her breast, she spoke to the Trojan women with
deep moan: “Hector, I am wretched. We were born to a single
fate, 455
he two of us—you in the house of Priam in Troy, I in THEBES
eneath Plakos covered in woods, in the house of Eëtion that
ourished me when I was little, an unlucky father to a
ruel-fated child. I wish I had never been born! But now you go
eneath the depths of earth to the house of Hades. You have 460
eft me in dreadful sorrow, a widow in my halls. And our child
still a mere babe, that you fathered and I bore—we who
re doomed to a wretched fate! You will be of no use to him,
Hector, now that you are dead. Nor he to you. If he escapes
he tearful war of the Achaeans, still there will be nothing 465
ut labor and sorrow ahead for him. Others will take
is fields. The day of orphanhood cuts off a child completely
om those his own age. He bows down his head, his cheeks
re covered with tears. He goes in need to the companions
f his father, plucking one by the cloak, another by the shirt—, 470
nd of them who are touched by pity one holds out his cup
or a moment. The child wets his lips, but he does not wet
he roof of his mouth.° And one whose father and mother
ill live pushes him from the feast, striking him with his hands
nd reproving him with insulting words: ‘Get away from here! 475
You have no father to dine with us!’ Then in tears the boy
omes back to his widowed mother …
“O Astyanax! Before
e ate only marrow and the rich fat of sheep, sitting on his
ather’s knees. And when sleep came on him and he left off
is childish play, he would sleep on his couch in the arms 480
f his nurse, in a soft bed, his heart filled with happy thoughts.
ut now he will suffer much sorrow because he has lost his dear father—
Astyanax, whom the Trojans call by that name because you alone
ave their gates and their high walls.° Now by the beaked ships,
ar from your parents, wriggling maggots will eat you after 485
he dogs have had their fill, as you lie naked … All the while
hat finely woven and lovely garments made by the hands of women
e in your halls. But I will burn all these things in the blazing fire.
hey are no longer of use to you. You shall not lie in them.
’ll do it as an honor to you from the men and women of Troy.” 490
o she spoke through her tears, and all the women lamented too.

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shoulders: Apparently holding out their shields horizontally and propping
one end on their shoulders, to create a protection against missiles thrown
from the walls.
of Orion: Sirius, the brightest of the fixed stars, called the dog-star. It
appears at the same time as the rising of the sun in July, and henceforth
until mid-September it brings excessive heat in Greece and Asia Minor.
These are the “dog days,” when the dog-star is in the ascendant. Throughout
antiquity the rising of the dog-star was considered to bring disease and
pestilence.
shameful parts: In general Homeric decorum prevents all reference to the
genitals, except here and in Book 2 when Odysseus threatens to expose
Thersites’ private parts. Also, decorum prevents any reference to excretion
or urination.
noxious herbs: Evidently snakes were thought to acquire their poison
through the food they ate.
rose up: Poulydamas urged retreat behind the city wall in Book 18, advice
rejected by Hector.
within: This same proposal was made by the besieged city on the Shield of
Achilles in Book 18.
a youth: Hector seems to fix on the pastoral scene of peaceful flirtation by
repeating these words. In spite of speculation ancient and modern, no one
has been able to explain what is meant by “from an oak or a rock,” a figure
of speech that occurs only here in the Iliad. In any event, Hector realizes
that he will be unable to chat in a friendly way with Achilles.
place of watching: Not clear where this would be, but the fig is near the city
walls (Book 6).
of the Achaeans: No such springs have ever been found in the vicinity of
Troy, but Homer wants to emphasize the contrast between the days of peace
and the time of war.
fast feet: In fact you cannot run around Troy, located on a headland that
projects into the plain.
many ridges: In Book 8 Zeus has a precinct on Gargaros, a peak of Ida.
Dardanian Gates: It is not certain whether these are same as the Scaean
Gates or different.
Deïphobos: Hector’s brother, first mentioned in Book 12. He has a strong
presence in Book 13, where he is wounded by Meriones, Idomeneus’ aide.
According to postHomeric tradition, Deïphobos took up with Helen after
Paris’ death (probably implied in Odyssey Book 4).
to remember: Divine forces are behind it all: Athena, Zeus, Apollo, Fate.
But the fame that will last forever depends on the warrior’s personal effort.
Scaean Gates: Hector foretells the death of Achilles as Patroklos had
foretold the death of Hector: Achilles will die by an arrow fired by Paris,
guided by Apollo, according to the usual account.
her fate: “breath-soul” is feminine in Greek.
frontlet … headscarf: The first three items are named only here in Homer
and it is not clear what they are, but the fourth word means “headscarf”
(krêdemnon). The “headscarf” was the symbol of Andromachê’s married
state, now brought to nothing.
of his mouth: That is, he receives only crumbs, but never enough to satisfy
his hunger.
their high walls: The name Astyanax means “king of the city,” that is, its
defender.

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 BOOK 23. The Funeral of
Patroklos

The hus the Trojans lamented throughout the city. And when
Achaeans came to the ships and the Hellespont, some
f them scattered to their own ships, but Achilles would not
llow the Myrmidons to scatter. He spoke to his war-loving
ompanions: “My Myrmidons, with your swift chariots,
5
my faithful companions—let us not unharness our single-hoofed
orses from the cars, but with horses and chariots let us draw
ear Patroklos and bewail him. For such rite is due the dead.
And when we’ve had our fill of unbridled lamentation,
hen let us unhitch all our cars and eat a meal, all of us.”
10

So he spoke, and all together they raised their sorrowful wail,

nd Achilles was their leader. Three times they drove their horses
with fine manes around the dead body, keening. Among them
hetis stirred the desire for weeping. The sands were moistened,
he armor of the men was wet with their tears. They grieved 15
or their mighty deviser of rout.

Among them the son

f Peleus began the sad lament, placing his man-destroying
 ands on the chest of his companion. “Greetings, Patroklos,
ven in the house of Hades. I am bringing to fulfillment
ll that I promised earlier—that I would bring Hector here and
20
ive him to the dogs to eat raw, and that I would cut the throats
f twelve glorious sons of the Trojans on your funeral pyre,
n my anger at your death.”

He spoke and thought about how

e could treat the valiant Hector in a cruel way, stretching him
ut on his face in front of the bier of the son of Menoitios.
25
As for the Myrmidons, all of them doffed their armor
f shining bronze and unhitched their horses. They sat down
eside the ship of Achilles the fast runner as he prepared
or them a fitting funeral feast. Many sleek bulls bellowed
round the iron knife as their throats were cut, and many sheep
30
nd bleating goats. And many swine with white tusks,
ripping with fat, were stretched over the flame of Hephaistos
o singe away the hair. There was so much blood streaming
round the corpse that you could easily dip in a cup!

But first the chiefs of the Achaeans took their chief, 35

he swift-footed son of Peleus, to the good Agamemnon.
hey had considerable trouble persuading him to go, so distraught
was Achilles on account of his companion. When they came up
o the tent of Agamemnon, they immediately sent out the clear-voiced
eralds to set a great tripod on the fire, in hopes that they
40
might persuade the son of Peleus to wash off the bloody gore.
 But he absolutely refused, and swore a great oath: “No,
y Zeus, who is the highest and best of the gods—it is not right
hat cleansing water be used on my head before I have placed
atroklos on the pyre and built a mound for him, and cut 45
my hair. Never again will such a pain come to my heart
or as long as I will live.

“But for now let us yield to

he hated banquet. In the morning, King Agamemnon,
ouse your men to gather wood to prepare everything required
or a dead man when he is about to go into the murky gloom.
50
et the untiring fire consume him quickly and remove him
om our sight. Then the people can return to their tasks.”

So he spoke, and they heard him and obeyed. Eagerly each

man prepared his meal and they ate, nor did anyone lack a thing
n the equal feast. When they had put the desire for drink and food
55
om themselves, each man went to his tent to lie down.
ut the son of Peleus lay on the shore of the much-resounding
ea in the midst of the many Myrmidons, groaning deeply
n an open space where the waves dashed against the shore.

When gentle sleep came upon him, pouring all around him 60
nd loosing all cares from his spirit—for his glorious limbs were tired
om harrying Hector as far as windy Ilion—then there came
o him the breath-soul of wretched Patroklos, exactly like him
n size and beautiful eyes and voice, and he wore his usual clothing.°

He stood over Achilles’ head and spoke thus to him: 65

You sleep! Have you forgotten about me, Achilles? You were never
houghtless of me in life, only in death. Bury me as soon as possible
o that I may pass inside the gates of Hades. The breath-souls
eep me far away, the phantoms of men whose labor is finished,
nd they will not let me join them beyond the river, but vainly 70
wander through the house of Hades with its wide gates.
“And give me your hand, I beg you, for no more shall I come
ack from the house of Hades when once you have given me
my fill of fire. No more, alive, will we talk things over,
itting apart from our companions, for a hateful fate
75
as opened its maw for me, the fate that was my lot from birth.
And it is your fate too, O Achilles, who are like the gods,
o be killed beneath the wall of the wealthy Trojans. And I
will tell you something else, and I urge you to listen well:
Do not bury my bones separate from yours, O Achilles, 80
ut let them be together, even as we were raised in your house.
Menoitios brought me, while still a little fellow, out of OPOEIS
o your country on account of a dreadful homicide,
n the day when I killed the son of Amphidamas.° I was foolish,
did not want to kill him but I became angry over a game of dice. 85
he horseman Peleus then took me into his house and reared me
ery kindly, and he made me your aide. Therefore, let a single
hest contain our bones, the one of gold with two handles that
our mother gave you.”
 Achilles the fast runner answered him:
Why, dear fellow, have you come here to give me orders 90
bout these matters? You know that I will accomplish these things.
will do as you ask. But come, stand near me … let us throw
ur arms about one another and for a little while take our fill
f sad lament.”

So speaking. Achilles reached out his hands,

ut he could not clasp Patroklos. The breath-soul went beneath 95
he earth like smoke, gibbering faintly. Startled, Achilles stood up
nd clapped his hands together, and he spoke a wailing word:
Look, even in the house of Hades the breath-soul and the
hantom are something, although there is no mind there.
For all night long the breath-soul of miserable Patroklos 100
ood over me, wailing and weeping, and he gave me orders
bout each thing, and was wondrously like himself.” So Achilles
poke, and in all his Myrmidon cohort he roused a feeling of sorrow.

Dawn with its fingers of rose appeared to them as they wept

round the wretched corpse. And then King Agamemnon 105
ent forth mules and men from all sides out of the huts
o gather wood. A noble man, Meriones, the aide of brave
domeneus, oversaw the proceedings. They took up wood-cutting
xes in their hands and well-woven ropes and went forth.

The mules went before them. They went upwards, downwards,

110
 deways, and at a slant, and when they came to the mountain
alley of Ida with its many springs, the men set out at once
o fell the tallest oaks with their long-edged bronze—
nd the trees fell with a great roar. Then they split the trunks
n half and bound the logs to the mules. The mules 115
ore up the earth with their feet as they dragged the logs
o the plain through the thick underbrush. All the wood-cutters
arried logs, for thus did Meriones command them, the aide
f brave Idomeneus. They cast them down on the shore
ne by one where Achilles planned to heap up a great mound 120
or Patroklos, and for himself. And when on all sides
hey had put down the huge amount of wood, they sat down
nd waited in a group.

Achilles at once ordered the war-loving

Myrmidons to arm themselves with their bronze and each
ne to yoke the horses to his car. They got up and put on
125
heir armor, and the fighting men and the charioteers
mounted their cars. The men in their chariots went in front,
nd behind followed a cloud of foot soldiers, countless in number.
His comrades carried Patroklos in their midst. They clothed
is entire body with snippets they cut from their hair.°
130
ehind them Achilles held Patroklos’ head in grief,
or he was sending his dear companion to the house of Hades.

When they came to the place that Achilles had designated,

hey set down the corpse and quickly heaped up the huge supply
f wood. Then good Achilles, the fast runner, had another idea. 135
He stood apart from the fire and cut a lock of his golden hair,
which he grew as a rich growth, a dedication to the Spercheios° river.

Groaning, he spoke, looking over the wine-dark sea:

Spercheios, it was in vain that my father Peleus promised you
hat when I returned to the land of my fathers I would cut 140
his lock of hair for you and make a sacrifice, and on the same spot
acrifice fifty uncastrated rams, there, at the springs
where your precinct and your fragrant altar are. So promised
he old man, but you did not fulfill that wish for Peleus.
Because I shall never return to the land of my fathers I want
145
o give this lock to the warrior Patroklos to carry with Peleus.”
o speaking, he placed the lock in the hands of his dear
ompanion, and this roused in all the Myrmidons a great
esire to weep.

And then the light of the sun would have gone

own as they wept, if Achilles had not gone up to Agamemnon
150
nd said: “O son of Atreus, it is correct that the people of Achaea
hould have their fill of lamenting. But because they have special
egard for your words, please now disperse them from the pyre
nd urge them to make their meal ready. We will take care of all that
s required to grieve for the dead. Only let the captains remain
here.” 155

When the king of men Agamemnon heard this, he at once

cattered the army through the well-balanced ships, but those
who were dearest to the dead man remained and heaped up
he wood. They made a pyre a hundred feet square. Hearts aching,
hey placed the dead man on the top of the pyre. They skinned 160
nd dressed-out many strong sheep in front of the pyre,
nd sleek cattle with a shuffling walk. Great-hearted Achilles
ollected the fat from all of them and covered the dead body
with the fat from head to foot. Then he flung the skinned
odies on top. He placed two-handled carrying jars filled 165
with honey and oil against the bier. Swiftly he threw
our horses with long necks upon the pyre, groaning deeply.
Achilles the chieftain had nine dogs that fed beneath
is table. He cut the throats of two of these and cast
hem on the pyre. He then killed twelve noble sons 170
f the great-hearted Trojans, slashing them with bronze,

FIGURE 23.1 Achilles kills the Trojan captives. On this large vase, of
which this illustration is a detail, various events from the funeral of
Patroklos are illustrated. Here Achilles prepares to cut the throat of a
beardless Trojan youth. Achilles stands in “heroic nudity,” but wears a
 cloak, in front of the pyre. A label across the bottom reads “tomb of
Patroklos.” Achilles grips the Trojan victim by the hair, the man’s hands
tied behind his back. Behind Achilles, to the far left, is the next Trojan in
line, wearing a Phrygian cap. On top of the pyre and in front of it is stacked
Patroklos’ armor that Achilles has taken from Hector, once his own armor:
two breastplates (for some reason), a helmet, a shield, and two shinguards.
To the right, a fully clothed Agamemnon, holding a scepter, pours out a
libation from a phialê, a kind of offering dish. A jug of wine or honey
stands beside the pyre at Agamemnon’s feet as in Homer’s description.
South Italian red-figure wine-mixing bowl, c. 340–320 BC, from Canosa.

or he was determined to do despicable things. He tossed

he iron might of fire on the pyre, giving it free range.

He groaned then, and called his companion by name:

Greetings, O Patroklos, even in the house of Hades. For I am
175
ringing to completion all the things that I promised earlier.
welve sons of the great-hearted Trojans—the fire will devour them
long with you! But I will not give up Hector the son of Priam
o be devoured by fire, rather by dogs!”

So he spoke, threatening,
ut the dogs did not molest the corpse of Hector. Aphrodite,
180
he daughter of Zeus, kept the dogs from Hector day
nd night, and she anointed his body with a rose-scented
il, ambrosial, so that when Achilles dragged him by his chariot
Hector’s skin would not be torn. And Phoibos Apollo
ast a dark cloud around the corpse, drawing it from the heaven
185
o the plain. And he covered the place where Hector’s body lay
o that the power of the sun might not too soon shrivel the flesh
 round Hector’s ligaments and limbs.

But the pyre of the dead

atroklos would not burn. Then Achilles swift of foot
ad another thought. He stood apart from the pyre and prayed 190
o the two winds, North Wind and West Wind, and he
romised beautiful sacrificial offerings. He prayed heartily,
ouring out liquor from a golden cup, that they come
o that the corpses might burn as fast as possible and the
wood might quickly be kindled. Iris swiftly heard his prayers 195
nd went off as a messenger to the winds.

The winds were feasting

t banquet all together in the house of the tempestuous West Wind.
is stopped running and stood on the stone threshold. As soon
s their eyes saw her, the winds leaped up, and each called
er to himself. But she would not sit down and she said:
200
I cannot sit. I must go back to the streams of Ocean, to the land
f the Ethiopians, where they are making great sacrifices
o the deathless ones, so that I too may partake of the sacred feast.
ut Achilles prays that North Wind and noisy West Wind
ome, and he promises beautiful sacrificial offerings
205
o that you might rouse the fire to burn where Patroklos lies,
whom all the Achaeans bemoan.”

So speaking, Iris went off,

nd the two winds arose with a wondrous ruckus, driving
he clouds in rout before them. Quickly they came to the sea,
nd they blew upon it, and a wave swelled-up beneath
210
heir strident blast. The two winds came to Troy with its rich soil,
nd they fell on the pyre, and the fire cried out a loud
nd wondrous cry. All night long the winds beat together
n the flames of the fire, blowing shrilly. And all night
ong swift Achilles, taking a two-handled cup, poured wine
215
om a golden bowl to the ground, and the ground grew wet
s he mourned for the breath-soul of wretched Patroklos.
As a father weeps over the bones of his newly wed son
s he burns them, the son who in death brought sore pain
o his parents, even so Achilles wept, scrambling around the pyre,
220
roaning deeply.

At the hour when the morning star goes forth

nnouncing new light over the earth, and after it Dawn comes
n her robe of saffron and spreads over the sea, the flames
f the pyre grew faint, and then ceased. The winds went
ack again, returning to their home over the Thracian sea, 225
which surged and roared with swollen flood.

Then the son

f Peleus withdrew from the pyre to one side and he lay down,
xhausted, and sweet sleep came over him. But those who
were with the son of Atreus gathered in a crowd and their noise
nd uproar as they came by woke him up.
230
Achilles sat up straight and spoke to them, saying:
Son of Atreus and you other captains of the Achaeans,
 rst extinguish all the fire with flaming wine, wherever
he fire is still strong. Then let us gather together the bones
f Patroklos, son of Menoitios. It will be easy to tell them from
others 235
ecause they lie in the middle of the pyre, whereas the other corpses
were burned at the edge, where you’ll find mixed bones of horse
nd man. Then let us place the bones in a golden dish
wrapped in double layers of fat until the time when I myself
will be bidden to the house of Hades. I do not ask you to labor
240
o build a large tumulus, only one that is appropriate.
You Achaeans can build it high and wide later, you who
will remain behind, after me, in the ships with many benches.”

So he spoke, and they obeyed the swift-footed son of Peleus.

First they extinguished the fire with flaming wine, as far as 245
he flame had reached, and the ash had settled deep. Weeping
or their gentle comrade, they gathered up the white bones
nto a golden dish and wrapped them in a double layer of fat.
hen they placed them in the hut, covering the bones with
linen cloth. Then they drew the circle of the mound and set up 250
base of stones around the circumference of the pyre. They piled
n a mound of earth. After piling up the grave, they went away.

But Achilles called his people together and had them sit down
where they were, in a broad assembly, and he brought prizes out
f his ships—cauldrons and tripods and horses and mules
255
nd many head of cattle, and women with slender waists,
nd gray iron. For the horse race he set up as a glorious prize
woman, blameless, good at craft, as well as an eared tripod
 f twenty-two measures, as first prize.° As second prize
e put up a mare six years old, not yet knowing the bit,
260
nd pregnant with a mule. For third prize he set up a brand-new
auldron, beautiful, that held four measures, still white°
ke the first pot. For the fourth prize he set up two talents
f gold,° and for the fifth prize he set up a two-handled dish,
ntouched by fire.° 265

He stood up tall and spoke a word

o the Argives: “Son of Atreus, and you other Achaeans
with fancy shinguards, these prizes are set out in the assembly,
waiting for the horse race. If we Achaeans were holding games
or any other person, then truly I would myself take first prize
nd carry it off to my hut. You know how my own horses
270
urpass all others in excellence—they are deathless. Poseidon
ave them to my father Peleus, and Peleus gave them to me.
ut I and my single-hoofed horses will stay out of it.
uch a valiant charioteer they have lost, and gentle too,
who often would pour oil on their manes after he had washed
them 275
n bright water. They stand and mourn for him. Their manes
est on the ground as the two horses stand there in grief.
ut you others get ready throughout the army, whoever
f the Achaeans trusts his horses and his jointed chariot.”

So spoke the son of Peleus. Then his fast drivers assembled.

280
Up sprang first of all Eumelos, a king of men, the dear son
f Admetos, a good horseman.° Next up came the powerful
Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, and he led beneath the yoke
he horses of Tros that he had taken from Aeneas, although Aeneas
imself Apollo snatched away. Next rose yellow-haired Menelaos, 285
he son of Atreus, Zeus-begotten, and he led his swift horses
eneath the yoke—Aithê, a mare of Agamemnon, and his own
orse Podargos. Anchises’ son Echepolos had given the mare
o Agamemnon as a gift so that he would not have to follow him
o windy Ilion but could stay home and take his pleasure there. 290
or Zeus had given him great wealth, and he dwelled in roomy
ICYON. Menelaos led her beneath the yoke, and she took
reat pleasure in the race.°

Fourth, Antilochos prepared his horses

with lovely manes—the brilliant son of Nestor, the king high
f heart, the son of Neleus.° Pylos-bred were the horses that 295
rew the car of Antilochos. His father Nestor came near him
nd spoke words to him for his advantage, a wise man speaking
o one who already knew: “Antilochos, Zeus and Poseidon
ove you, though you are young. And they taught you all
inds of horsemanship. So there is not much to teach. You know
300
ow to wheel round the turning-posts, but your horses are the
owest in the race, so I think you are going to have a lot of trouble
with that. The horses of the other racers are faster, but they do
ot know how to come up with more clever plans than you!
“So come, my dear son, lay up in your heart all kinds 305
f cunning so that the prizes do not escape you. A wood-cutter
greater because of his cunning than because of his strength.
A helmsman too, as he guides his ship straight over the wine-dark
ea, buffeted by winds. So by cunning a charioteer comes
ut ahead of the others. He who just trusts to his horse 310
 nd his car—well, the car goes all over the place and the
orses might wander up the track if he doesn’t keep control
f them. But he who cunningly drives lesser horses—
e always keeps an eye on the turning-post. He cuts it close,
nd he knows to keep a tight grip on his horses by using the 315
x-hide reins. He keeps them under control as he watches
he man in the lead.
“Now here’s a clear sign, and bear this in mind.
here stands a dried stump about three feet above the ground,
ither it’s oak or pine, but the rain doesn’t bother it. Two white stones
re fixed in the ground on either side of this stump at the point 320
where the two laps of the course meet, and there is smooth running
or the horses on either side.° Either it’s the monument for someone
who died long ago, or maybe it’s the turning-point made for
race in the days of the men of old. Anyway, the good Achilles,
he fast runner, has set it up as the turning-post. 325
“Press hard upon it!
Drive your horses and your car very near it. Then lean
o the left of the horses in your well-plaited chariot,° and give
he whip to the horse on the right and call him out by name,
nd let your hands give him rein. Let the left-hand horse come
ear to the turning-post so that the hub of the well-made wheel 330
lmost scratches its surface. But be careful to avoid the stones
o that you do not harm your horses and smash your car!
hat would bring joy to the others, but disgrace to you.
“So, my son, you must be smart and on your guard.
f at the turning-post you pass the others as you go, there is no one 335
who can catch you, nor pass you even with a burst of speed,
ot even if he drove Arion in pursuit, the swift horse of Adrastos
who was of a divine stock, or the horses of Laomedon, who
were raised here as a fine breed.”°
 So spoke Nestor, the son of Neleus,
hen sat back down in his place, now that he had touched on
340
rategies to consider. Meriones stood up as the fifth
ompetitor.° He prepared his horses with fine manes.

The contestants mounted their chariots. They cast in their lots.

Achilles shook the helmet and out leaped the lot of Antilochos,
he son of Nestor. After him came the lot of noble Eumelos. 345
hen came Menelaos, famous with the spear, the son
f Atreus. Then came the lot of Meriones. Last was the lot
f the son of Tydeus, Diomedes, the best of them all.°

They took their places in a row. Achilles showed

hem the far turning-post out on the smooth plain. 350
As umpire he set up godlike Phoinix, his father’s follower,
o that he could monitor the race and report the truth about it.
All as one the drivers raised their whips above their horses.
hey struck them with the thongs and called out urgent words.
The horses sped swiftly over the plain, far from the ships,
355
nd beneath their breasts the dust arose and hovered like a
loud, or a whirlwind, and their manes streamed on the blast
f the wind.

Now the chariots coursed over the bountiful earth,

ow they bounded up in the air. The drivers stood up straight
 n their cars, and the heart of each was throbbing as they strove 360
or victory. Each man called to his horses as they flew, covered
n dust, over the plain. And when the swift horses were
ompleting the last stretch of the race, back to the gray sea,
hen the worth of each became clear. After making the turn
he horses ran full out. Then quickly the fast mares of Eumelos,
365
he son of Admetos, the grandson of Pheres, shot out in front.
ight after came the stallions of Diomedes from the breed of Tros,
nd they were not far behind, but very close, as if about
o mount right up on Eumelos’ car. From their breath Eumelos’
ack and his broad shoulders grew hot, for they leaned 370
heir heads right over him as they flew along.

And now
he horses of Diomedes would have overtaken Eumelos,
r left the issue in doubt, had not Phoibos Apollo grown angry
with the son of Tydeus and knocked from his hands the shining whip.
Then tears of anger ran from Diomedes’ eyes, because he saw 375
umelos’ mares running still faster while his own horses held back
ecause they no longer felt the lash. But Athena was aware
f Apollo’s efforts to harm the son of Tydeus, and swiftly
he sped after the shepherd of the people, and she gave back
he whip to Diomedes and breathed power into his horses. 380
hen in anger she went after Eumelos, the son of Admetos,
nd she broke the yoke of his horses. The mares ran off
he track as the yoke-pole crashed to the earth. Eumelos
was thrown from the car beside a wheel and the skin
was stripped from his elbows, his mouth, and his nose.
385
His forehead above his eyebrows was black-and-blue.
oth eyes were filled with tears, and the flow of Eumelos’
oice was stopped.

Diomedes, the son of Tydeus veered his

ngle-hoofed horses to the side and went on, darting out
n front of all the rest, for Athena filled his horses with strength
390
nd shed glory upon him. Behind came light-haired Menelaos,
he son of Atreus.

Antilochos called to the horses of his father:

Let’s go, the two of you! Give it everything you’ve got!
don’t say go after the horses of the son of the fighter
Tydeus—Athena has given them speed and shed glory 395
n Diomedes!—but go speedily after the horses of the son
f Atreus. Don’t be left behind! It will be shameful for you
o be beaten by Aithê, a mare! You are the best, why be
utstripped? I say this, and it will surely come to pass: Nestor,
he shepherd of the people, will no longer take care of you!
400
n fact he will put an end to you at once with the sharp bronze
we take a worse prize because you won’t make an effort!
o get back in the race, go as fast as you can, for I have
plan—to slip past Menelaos where the track is narrowest—
nd I won’t miss it!” 405

So Antilochos spoke, and his horses were moved by

heir master’s plan and ran on stronger for a short while.
ut right away Antilochos, stalwart in the fight, saw a narrow
 pot in the hollow road. There was a gully in the earth
where water, swollen by the winter run-off, had broken away
he road and hollowed out the whole place. Menelaos 410
made for where two chariots could not run next to each other,
ut Antilochos turned his single-hoofed horses aside and drove on
utside the track, and pursued him, a little to the side.

The son of Atreus was afraid, and he shouted to Antilochos:

Antilochos, you’re driving like a nut case! Rein in your horses! 415
his is the narrowest part of the track. Soon it will be wide
nough to pass. You’re going to wreck us both if you hit my car!”

So he spoke, but Antilochos drove still harder, laying on

he lash as if he had heard nothing. As far as the range
f a discus that a young man throws hard from the shoulder, 420
esting his youth—even so far the two ran side by side.
hen the mares of the son of Atreus fell back. Menelaos
imself, of his own will, held back from urging them on,
earing that the single-hoofed horses would crash together
n the track and the well-plaited cars turn over, hurling 425
hem into the dust in his lust for victory.°

Upbraiding Antilochos,
ght-haired Menelaos said: “Antilochos, you are the most hurtful
man around! You know where you can go! We Achaeans
wrongly thought you were smart, but you will get no prize
without an oath!”°
 430

So Menelaos spoke, and he called out

o his horses and spoke to them: “Don’t hold back now!
Don’t dog it! Pick up the pace now! Their hooves and legs will tire
ooner than yours—they are not young!”

So he called,
nd his horses were roused to hear the clamor of their master
nd ran faster still. Quickly they came close to the car
435
f Antilochos.

The Argives were sitting in the gathering place

nd looking for the horses as they flew over the plain,
overed with dust. Idomeneus, the captain of the Cretans,
was first to see the horses, for he sat outside the assembly
rea, in a place of outlook, the highest of all.° He heard the 440
houting of a man urging on his horses, though he was
ar off. He recognized him as he got a clearer view and could
ee the front of a horse—the one that was all bay except
or a white mark on its forehead, round like the moon.

Idomeneus stood up and spoke to the Argives: “My friends, 445

eaders and rulers of the Argives! Do I alone see the horses
r do you too? It looks to me like there is a different car
n the front now, and I see a different charioteer in the lead.
looks like Eumelos’ mares took some damage out there
 n the plain, because they were first on the outbound leg.
450
m sure I saw Eumelos sweeping past the first turning post,
ut now I can’t see him anywhere, and my eyes have scanned
verywhere over the Trojan plain.° I wonder if Eumelos
ropped the reins, or didn’t make it round the turning-post?
Could he have failed to make the turn? He must have fallen out of 455
is car and smashed it up, and then his horses turned aside
when terror overcame them. But stand up—look! I can’t see
ery well, but the leader seems to be an Aetolian, ruler of the
Argives, the son of horse-taming Tydeus—mighty Diomedes!”°

Swift Ajax, the son of Oïleus, then said to Idomeneus, 460

ying to put him to shame: “Idomeneus, why have you always
ad such a big mouth?° Why, those high-stepping mares are far away,
acing over the open plain! You are not such a youngster among
he Argives. Your eyesight is no longer so keen, yet you
re always going on. You shouldn’t be such a loud mouth. 465
here are others here who are better than you. I tell you,
he mares are in the lead like they were before—Eumelos
there just like before, holding the reins!”

Then the captain

f the Cretans took offense and answered Little Ajax:
O Ajax, best in quarreling—a stupid counselor! Why, 470
ou are worse than all Argives, in everything. Mind in a bog!
ome, then, let us wager a tripod or a cauldron. Let’s put up
Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, as judge of which
orses come in first. You’ll learn and you’ll pay!”
 So Idomeneus spoke, but swift Oïlean Ajax rose up 475
n anger and spoke furious words, and the quarrel between
he two of them would have gone further if Achilles himself
ad not stood up and smoothed things out: “That’s enough
ngry words between you, Ajax and Idomeneus! There is
o need, though it is understandable that you should be angry 480
t each another for acting in this fashion. But sit down now in the
lace of assembly and watch these chariots race. They’ll soon
e here at the finish, one driving on to victory. Then we’ll all
now who is second and who is first.”

So he spoke,
nd just then Diomedes came in— nearer now as he
485
rove his horses on with the lash, bringing it down
om the shoulder. His horses leaped high in the air as swiftly
hey completed the course. Grains of dust constantly struck
he charioteer and his chariot inlaid with gold and tin
s the swift-footed horses ran on. And there was little sign 490
f wheel tracks behind the first car in the light dust.

The two horses sped on until Diomedes came to a halt

n the middle of the place of assembly. Great quantities of sweat
ushed to the ground from the necks and the chests of the horses.
Then Diomedes jumped from his gleaming car to the ground.
495
 FIGURE 23.2 The funeral games of Patroklos. Greeks perch on
bleachers to watch the chariot race. Some of the spectators are standing,
some sitting, some gesticulating as the four-horse chariot approaches. The
nearest horse is white, the next two bays with black faces, and the fourth is
black. Inscriptions in front of the horses say “Sophilos painted me” and
“The funeral games of Patroklos.” On the other side of the bleachers is
written Achilles. Fragment of an Athenian black-figure wine-mixing bowl,
c. 570 BC.

He leaned the lash against the yoke. The powerful Sthenelos°

id not hesitate, but he hurried to take the prize, and Sthenelos
ave the girl and the eared tripod to his comrades to take away.
hen Sthenelos himself unharnessed the horses.
 Next Antilochos, of the stock of Neleus, drove in 500
is horses, for by a trick, not by speed, had he come in
efore Menelaos. Then Menelaos drove in his swift horses
ery close, just behind. As far as a horse stands from the wheel
n a car that, straining, the horse draws over the plain—
he outermost hairs of the horse’s tail touch the tire 505
ecause the tire is running just behind it and there is not much
pace between the horse and the tire as he runs across
he wide plain—by so little space was Menelaos behind
he blameless Antilochos. At first he was as far behind
s you can throw a discus, but Menelaos was quickly overtaking 510
Antilochos. The great strength of Aithê, the beautiful-maned mare
f Agamemnon, became ever greater. Had the track been longer
or both, surely Menelaos would have passed Antilochos
nd left no doubt about it.

Meriones, the brave aide to Idomeneus,

ame in a spear’s throw behind Menelaos. His beautiful-maned
515
orses were the slowest, and he the least skilled to drive
chariot in a race. Last of all came Eumelos, the son
f Admetos, dragging his beautiful chariot° and driving
is horses before him.

When the good Achilles, the fast runner,

aw Eumelos, he took pity. Standing up among the Argives, he
spoke 520
words that went like arrows: “In last place comes the best man,
riving his single-hoofed horses. Come, let’s give him a prize
hat is suitable, a prize for the second place. But Diomedes, the son of
 ydeus, gets the first prize.”

So Achilles spoke, and everybody shouted

ssent to his proposal. And now Achilles would have given the
mare 525
o Eumelos, as the Achaeans agreed, except that Antilochos the son
f great-hearted Nestor stood up and replied to Achilles with an appeal
o justice: “O Achilles, I will be very angry with you if you do what
ou say! You are about to take away the prize thinking that his chariot
nd his swift horses came to harm, and the man himself, though
he was 530
good man. He should have prayed to the immortals! Then he would
ot have come in last in the race. If you pity him and he is dear
o your heart, well, there is plenty of gold in your tent, and bronze,
nd flocks. You have slave girls and single-hoofed horses. Take
omething from this store, something even better, and give it to
him 535
ater. Or give it now, so that the Achaeans will praise you. But I
will not give up the mare! Let any man who wants to do battle with me
n the hand-to-hand step up!”

So Antilochos spoke, and good Achilles,

he fast runner, smiled,° taking joy in Antilochos, because he was
is dear companion. And answering him he spoke words that went 540
ke arrows: “Antilochos, if you are asking me to give Eumelos some
ther prize from my store, this I will do too. I will give him the breastplate
hat I took from Asteropaios.° It is bronze with a circle of shining tin
nlaid within. It’s worth a lot.”

So he spoke, and he ordered his dear

 ompanion Automedon to bring the shield from the tent.
Automedon 545
went and got it and placed the shield in Eumelos’ hands, and Eumelos
was glad to receive it.

Then Menelaos stood up, grieving in his heart,

xtremely angry with Antilochos. The herald placed the scepter
n his hand and ordered that the Argives be silent. He spoke
o them, a man like a god: “Antilochos, in earlier times you were
550
decent fellow, but look what you have done now! You have made
mockery of my skill. You have harmed my horses, thrusting your own,
which were inferior, out in front. But come, you leaders and rulers
f the Argives, let us decide this impartially between the two of us,
with no favor to either side, so that someone of the Achaeans
555
who wear shirts of bronze might not at a later time say, ‘O Menelaos
eat Antilochos with his lies, and then went off with the mare, even
hough Menelaos’ horses were much worse, but he himself was stronger
n valor and in strength.’ I will myself give the judgment, and I don’t
hink there will be any complaint from the Danaäns. For it will be
a 560
raight judgment. Antilochos, nurtured of Zeus, come here, as is right,
nd stand in front of your horses and your car, and hold your slender
whip in your hand by which you were earlier driving your horses,
nd taking hold of your horses swear by the earth-holder, the shaker
f the earth,° that you did not willfully entangle my car by
trickery.” 565

Then the sensible Antilochos said to him: “Hold on now,

Menelaos! I’m a lot younger than you, King Menelaos. You are older
nd a better man. I think you know how young men sometimes go out
f bounds—their minds are hasty and their understanding slight.
 o let your heart be patient. I will myself give you the mare that 570
have won. If you want something else from my store, something
f more value—why, you may have it. I would rather give you
omething right now, Zeus-nurtured one, than be forever cast out
f your heart, and be guilty in the eyes of the gods.”°

He spoke and Antilochos,

he son of great-hearted Nestor, brought up the mare and placed
575
in the hands of Menelaos. His heart was warmed as the dew
round the wheat of the ripening crop when the fields are bristling—
n this way, O Menelaos, was the heart in your breast warmed.

And Menelaos spoke words that went like arrows:

Antilochos, I hereby give up all my anger, for in the past you 580
were no flighty fellow, nor witless, but just now your youth
as got the better of you. Next time don’t try to outtalk your betters!
No other of the Achaeans would have persuaded me so quickly,
ut you have suffered a lot and gone through a lot of pain
n my account, you and your good father and your brother.° So I
585
sten to your prayers, and I will give you the mare—though it is mine!—
o that these men, too, may know that my heart is neither haughty
or unfeeling.”

He spoke, and Menelaos gave the mare to Noëmon

companion of Antilochos, to take away. Then he took the shining
auldron, and Meriones took the two talents of gold as fourth 590
rize, his place in the race. The fifth prize went unclaimed,
he two-handled dish.° Achilles gave it to Nestor, carrying it
hrough the assembly of the Argives, and standing near him he said:
Take this now, old man, may it be a treasure for you,
memorial of this funeral. You won’t see Patroklos more
595
mong the Argives. I give you this prize, though you have not won it.
You will not contend in the boxing match, nor will you wrestle.
You will not enter the lists in the javelin throw, nor will you run
n the race, for wretched old age weighs you down.”

So speaking, he placed the dish in Nestor’s hands,

600
nd Nestor took it gladly. Nestor spoke to Achilles words
hat went like arrows: “All you have said is right, my child.
My limbs are no longer strong, dear friend, nor my feet.
And my arms do not dart out lightly from both shoulders.
wish I had the strength I had when I was young, as in the time 605
when the Epeians were burying Amarynkeus at Buprasion,
nd his children gave out prizes in the king’s honor.° Then
here was no man like me, whether he was an Epeian, or from
ylos, or of the great-hearted Aetolians. I beat Klytomedes,
he son of Enops, in the boxing match, and Ankaios from Pleuron,
610
who stood up as my opponent in the wrestling match. I beat Iphiklos
n the footrace, though he was a good man, and I outthrew Phyleus
nd Polydoros with the spear. Only in the chariot race did the twin
ons of Aktor outdo me, forging ahead through their superior number,°
hrowing their horses out front in their zeal for victory.
615
he best prizes were reserved for that contest. Twins they were.
he one drove the horses with a sure hand—drove with a sure hand!—
while the other worked the whip.° So I was great—once.
Now let the young face such trials. I must give way to old age,
 ut then I was the best of warriors. So you go ahead, 620
onor the burial of your friend with contests. As for this gift,
accept it with pleasure. My heart rejoices that you always
emember me as your friend and that you do not forget me or the
onor that I rightly receive among the Achaeans. May the gods pay
ou back richly for these things.”
625

So he spoke, and the son

f Peleus went his way through the thick throng of the Achaeans
fter he had heard this tale of praise from the son of Neleus.

Then he set out the prizes for the perilous boxing contest.
He brought out a hardy mule and tied it in the gathering place,
ix years old and unbroken, the age at which it is hardest
630
o break the animal. For the defeated he placed a two-handled cup.

He stood up and spoke to the Argives: “Son of Atreus, and

ou other Achaeans with fancy shinguards, we encourage two men
o compete for these prizes—two men who are the best, to put up
heir hands and to box. To whomever Apollo gives the strength
635
o endure, and all the Achaeans will know it,° let him take this hardy
mule with him to his hut. And he who is beaten, he may carry away
his cup with two handles.”

So he spoke, and at once Epeios,

he son of Panopeus,° stood up, a man big and strong, an experienced
 ugilist. He took hold of the hardy mule and said: “May he
640
who wants to carry off the two-handled cup come forth. I don’t
hink that another of the Achaeans will win the boxing match
nd take this mule —I say that I am the best! Is it not enough
hat I fall short in battle? Well, there is no way to be skilled
n all things. I’ll tell you something, and this will come to pass:
645
will utterly smash his skin and break his bones! I think that
my opponent’s relatives should wait here in a crowd—wait
o carry him out when he is overcome by my fists!”

So he spoke,
nd they all fell into silence. Euryalos alone stood up, a man
ike a god, the son of King Mekisteus, the son of Talaos,
650
who once came to Thebes for the burial of Oedipus, when he
ad fallen. There Mekisteus defeated all the sons of Kadmos.°

The son of Tydeus, Diomedes, famous for his work

with the spear, busied himself around Euryalos, encouraging
im with words and fervently wishing him victory. First he put 655
loincloth around him, and then he gave him the well-cut thongs
f a field ox.° The two men, Epeios and Euryalos, after they
ad put on their belts, stepped into the middle of the gathering
lace. They raised their powerful hands and fell upon one another,
he fists of both dishing out heavy blows. The grinding of their
660
eeth was terrible and the sweat flowed everywhere from
heir limbs. The good Epeios rushed on Euryalos as he looked
or an opening, and Epeios struck him with an uppercut to the jaw
hat put Euryalos down—his bright limbs sank beneath him.
As when a fish jumps up through the current driven in the 665
weed-choked shallows by the North Wind, and then the black
water covers him, even so Euryalos struggled up after he was
ecked. And then great-hearted Epeios took him in his arms
nd set him upright , and Euryalos’ dear companions gathered
round. They guided him, dragging his feet, through the place
670
f gathering, as he spit up clotted blood and let his battered head
oll to one side. They dragged him, dazed out of his mind,
nd made him sit down in their midst before some went to get
he two-handled cup.

Then the son of Peleus set forth other prizes

efore the Danaäns for the third contest, the brawling wrestling
675
match. For the winner he set up a large tripod to be set on the fire,
he tripod that the Achaeans valued among themselves as being
worth twelve oxen. For the loser he put out in their midst a woman,
xcellent in handicrafts, of the value of four oxen. Then he stood
nd spoke a word among the Argives: “Come up now, you two
680
who will give your all in this contest.”

So he spoke, and big

elamonian Ajax got up, and then up stood Odysseus of many
evices, a knower of tricks. They put belts around their waists
nd went into the middle of the gathering place. They grasped
ach other with their strong arms, as rafters that meet and cross
685
ach other that a famous carpenter has fitted to a high house to ward
ff the power of the winds. Their backs creaked with the force of their
old arms as they firmly gripped one another. Their sweat flowed
 own in streams, and many ridges red with blood sprang up along
heir ribs and shoulders. They strove ever for victory, to win 690
he well-wrought tripod.

But Odysseus was not able to trip Ajax

nd throw him to the ground, nor could Ajax trip him, for the strength
f mighty Odysseus held steady. But when they were about to tire
ut the Achaeans, who wear fancy shinguards, then big Telamonian
Ajax spoke to Odysseus: “Son of Laërtes, nurtured of Zeus, 695
esourceful Odysseus—throw me, or I will throw you!
he outcome is up to Zeus!”

So speaking, Ajax lifted him.

ut Odysseus did not forget his tricks. He hit the hollow
f Ajax’s knee from behind and loosed his limbs. Down
e fell backwards as Odysseus fell on his chest. The people 700
watched what was happening and were astonished.°

The good long-enduring Odysseus tried to raise Ajax—

e moved him a little from the ground, but he could not lift him.
He hooked his knee behind Ajax’s leg, and then both fell
n the ground, clinging to one another, and both were befouled
705
y the dust.

And for a third time they would have sprung

p again and wrestled, but Achilles himself stood up and held
hem back: “Do not go on struggling, and do not wear each
ther out more. A draw! Victory goes to you both! Take equal
rizes and go your way,° so that other Achaeans may compete
710
n the contests.”

So he spoke, and they heard him and obeyed.

Wiping off the dust, Odysseus and Ajax put on their shirts.
he son of Peleus quickly put out other prizes for the footrace—
silver wine-mixing bowl, very nicely made. In beauty
t was the finest on earth, and it held six measures. The Sidonians, 715
ighly skilled in handcrafts, had expertly made it, and the
hoenicians brought it over the misty sea and landed it in
arbor, and gave it as a gift to Thoas. Jason’s son Euneos
ave it to the warrior Patroklos as a ransom for Lykaon,
on of Priam.° This bowl Achilles set up as a prize
720
n honor of his comrade Patroklos, for the runner who was
astest afoot. As second prize he put up a large bull,
ch with fat. As last prize he put up a half-talent of gold.

Then Achilles stood and spoke a word to the Argives:

Up you go, you two who will have at it in this footrace.”
725
He spoke, and right away Oïlean Ajax got up, and resourceful
Odysseus got up too. Then Antilochos, the son of Nestor,
or he was faster afoot than all his young peers. They took
heir places in a row. Achilles showed them the goal.
A course was marked out from the turning-post. 730
 Oïlean Ajax quickly stormed ahead and behind
ame the good Odysseus, very close, as close as the shed
od is to the breast of a woman when she deftly draws it in
er hands, pulling the spool out past the warp as she holds
he rod near her breast°—even so close behind did Odysseus
735
un. He put his feet down in Ajax’s footprints before
he dust settled there, and his breath poured down
n the head of Oïlean Ajax, so close behind was he as they
harged swiftly ahead. And all the Achaeans shouted,
ollering to encourage him as Odysseus drove on for victory— 740
ust so they called out to him as he raced along. And as
hey neared the last part of the course, then right away
Odysseus prayed in his heart to Athena with the flashing
yes: “Hear me, goddess! Come be a good helper to my feet!”

So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athena heard him.

745
he made his limbs light, and his feet and hands too.
ust when he was about to dart home and win first prize,
Ajax slipped as he ran—Athena did it! He fell in excrement
om the loud-bellowing bulls that Achilles the fast runner had
illed in honor of Patroklos. His mouth and nostrils were filled
750
with the dung from the bulls while the much-enduring Odysseus
ook up the bowl. He came in first! And glorious Ajax
ot the ox.

Oïlean Ajax stood there holding the horn

f the ox of the field in his hands, spewing out filth, and he said
o the Argives: “Oh man, some goddess tripped my feet,
755
he one who always stands beside Odysseus—like a mother—
nd helps him out.”

So he spoke, and they all laughed merrily

t him. Then Antilochos came in and got the last prize.
miling, he spoke to the Argives: “I know I only tell you what
ou already understand, my friends, that still to this day 760
he deathless ones pay honor to men who are a little older
han we. Oïlean Ajax is a little older than I, and Odysseus
of an earlier generation still, of men from another time.
eople say he is of a green old age. Yet it is hard for any other
Achaean to go up against him in a footrace—except of course
765
Achilles!”

So he spoke, giving glory to the swift-footed

on of Peleus. And Achilles answered him: “Antilochos,
our praise will not go unrewarded. I will add to your prize
half talent of gold.”

So speaking, he placed the gold in his hands

nd Antilochos gladly received it. Then the son of Peleus set up
770
far-shadowing spear in the place of assembly, and to it he added
shield and helmet, the arms of Sarpedon that Patroklos had stripped.°
hen he stood up and he spoke thus to the Argives: “We invite
wo men—the best there are—to compete for these prizes.
They should clothe themselves in their armor and take up 775
he flesh-cutting bronze and make trial of one another
n front of the crowd. Whoever of the two will first reach
he tender flesh, and touch the inward parts through the armor
nd draw dark blood,° to him I shall give this handsome Thracian
word with silver rivets, which I took from Asteropaios.
780
May the two of them take away these arms to have them
n common,° and we will set up a good banquet in our huts.”

So he spoke, and then big Telamonian Ajax got up,

nd powerful Diomedes, the son of Tydeus rose too. They armed
hemselves on either side of the crowd, then the two came into
785
he middle, eager to fight, staring at one another with terrible glances.
Amazement held all the Achaeans. And then they came up close
o one another. Three times they glared at each other, and three times
hey clashed together. Then Ajax son of Telamon struck
he shield balanced on every side, but he did not penetrate 790
o Diomedes’ skin, for the breastplate behind prevented it.

Then Diomedes the son of Tydeus jabbed at Ajax’s neck

with the point of his shining spear. But the Achaeans, in fear
or big Ajax’s life, ordered them to stop the fight and divide
he prizes equally. Achilles, the great warrior, gave the great
795
word to Diomedes, son of Tydeus, along with its scabbard
nd its finely fashioned strap.

Now the son of Peleus

ut up a mass of rough-cast iron that the mighty Eëtion
sed to hurl. But the good Achilles, the fast runner, had
illed him, and he carried it here in his ships along with
800
ll the other loot.° Achilles stood up among the Argives
nd he said: “Stand up, you who want to compete in a contest
or this prize. Though his rich fields are very remote, the winner
f this iron will not use it up before five full years. Nor for lack
f iron will his shepherd or plowman need to go into the city,
805
ut this will supply him.”°

So he spoke, and then Polypoites

ose up, a bastion in the fight, and the mighty strength
f godlike Leonteus,° and Telamonian Ajax, and the good Epeios.
hey stood in a row, and the good Epeios picked up the iron
hot, then whirled and threw it. All the Achaeans laughed!
810
hen Leonteus, of the line of Ares, threw it. Third,
ig Telamonian Ajax hurled it from his powerful hand
nd it landed past the marks of all. But then Polypoites,
bastion in battle, picked up the iron, and put it as far as
cow herder throws his staff when he hurls it spinning
815
ver a herd of cows.° It went far outside the gathering.
veryone shouted. The companions of strong Polypoites
ood up and carried the prize to the swift ships of their captain.

Then for the archers Achilles set up dark iron as a prize—

en double axes and ten single axes. He set up the mast 820
f a ship with dark prows far out on the sand, and he tied
timorous dove from it, tying its foot with a thin cord,
nd he urged the archers to shoot at it. “Whoever shall hit
his fearful dove, he will take all the double axes to his house.
And if he misses the bird but hits the cord, that shot 825
will be worth less, and he will take home the single axes.”°

So Achilles spoke, and up rose powerful King Teucer,

nd Meriones° the brave aide to Idomeneus. They shook the lots
n a bronze helmet, and Teucer then drew first place. And at once
e fired an arrow with power—but he forgot to promise to King
830
Apollo the glorious sacrifice of new-born sheep, and so he
missed the bird. Apollo begrudged him the shot, but he hit
he cord beside the bird’s foot where the bird was tied to the pole.
he bitter arrow went straight through the cord, and the dove flew
o the heavens while the cord hung loose toward the ground.
835
All the Achaeans shouted aloud.

But Meriones speedily grabbed

he bow from Teucer’s hand—he had long held an arrow
while Teucer took his shot. At once he vowed to Apollo,
who works from a long way off, to offer a glorious sacrifice
rom his new-born lambs. He saw the timid dove high
840
eneath the clouds. There, as she circled around, he hit
er in the middle beneath the wing. The shaft went through,
hen fell to the earth in front of Meriones’ foot. But the bird
ettled on the mast from the ship with its dark prows
nd bent down its neck, and her thick plumage drooped.
845
wiftly the spirit flew from her limbs, and she fell far from
he mast. The people gazed on her and were astonished.
o Meriones took up all ten double axes, while Teucer carried
ff the single axes to the hollow ships.
 Then the son of Peleus
rought in a long-shadowed spear and a cauldron, brand-new, 850
mbossed with flowers, worth an ox, and he set the prizes down
n the place of gathering.

The javelin-throwers got up—the son

f Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, and Meriones, the aide
o Idomeneus. The good Achilles, the fast runner, spoke to them:
Son of Atreus, we all know how much you surpass everyone
855
oth in strength and in throwing the javelin. So why don’t you take
his cauldron to the hollow ships, and we will give the warrior
Meriones the spear, if you think that is right. I recommend it.”

So Achilles spoke, and the king of men Agamemnon did not disagree.
Agamemnon gave Meriones the bronze spear, and to Talthybios 860
he herald he handed the exorbitantly beautiful cauldron.

OceanofPDF.com
 clothing: This is the only time in Homer that the vision of a ghost is
described.
… Amphidamas: Opoeis was the principal town of Locris, a territory south
of Phthia. Hesiod sang at the funeral games of an Amphidamas, but there
seems to be no connection with this Amphidamas. Exile because of
homicide is common in the Homeric poems, occurring about seven times,
but it is odd that Patroklos killed someone when he was just “a little
fellow.”
from their hair: They seem to be cutting off snippets of their hair as they
walk along in the procession.
Spercheios: The main river in Phthia, Achilles’ homeland. In Book 16 the
Spercheios is said to be the father of Menestheus by a daughter of Peleus
named Polydorê. Menestheus was one of the five Myrmidon captains
Patroklos led in his assault on Troy.
as first prize: The measure is unknown, but this is a large vessel. The rest of
this book is taken up with the games at the funeral of Patroklos. Achilles
never gives an explanation of why these games honor his friend, and the
origin of funeral games is not clear. Some think that all athletic contests
come from such games, which in origin had a very different purpose from
just sport, perhaps a form of human sacrifice, here represented in the fifth
event, the fight in armor.
white: Because the metal vessel has never been placed on the fire.
of gold: In the Classical Period a talent (“scales,” “balance”) was a very
large sum of money, but it seems to be less in Homer, perhaps the value of
an ox. As a unit of value it is applied only to gold, but we are not sure that
there was any standardization in Homer’s day, the eighth century BC.
untouched by fire: The two-handled dish is a phialê (see Figure 23.1), used
in classical times for pouring drinkofferings to the gods but here used to
hold Patroklos’ bones until they can be mixed with Achilles’ and placed in a
proper box.
good horseman: Eumelos was a son of Admetos and Alkestis. According to
Book 2, Eumelos led eleven ships to Troy from Thessaly, and had the
fastest horses at Troy, reared by Apollo himself.
in the race: Diomedes’ capture of the horses of Tros is described in Book 5,
and they are mentioned again in Book 8. Menelaos’ horses are “fiery”
(Aithê) and “fleetfoot” (Podargos). Anchises, the father of Echepolos, is not
the same as the Trojan Anchises, father of Aeneas.
son of Neleus: Antilochos, the son of Nestor, is a descendant of Poseidon,
god of horses. He appeared in earlier episodes with Menelaos (Books 5, 15,
17), his rival here in the chariot race. In later tradition Memnon, a warrior
from the East, a son of Dawn, killed Antilochos after the action described in
the Iliad. Achilles then killed Memnon.
on either side: Presumably the point is that the “smooth running” makes it
easier to risk going close to the post when making the turn, but Homer’s
description is unclear. The “two laps” are evidently the outwardbound
course and the inward-bound course.
well-plaited chariot: The breastwork and floor of chariots were made of
woven ox hide.
fine breed: Arion is first mentioned here, the swift horse of Adrastos, king
of Argos in the story of the Seven Against Thebes, a war to which Homer
has often referred. Later tradition reported that Poseidon was Arion’s father,
usually taking on the form of a stallion to cover Demeter, who had taken on
the form of a mare. The horses of Laomedon were those given by Zeus to
Laomedon in compensation for having abducted the beautiful Ganymede to
be cupbearer to the gods (Book 5).
competitor: Meriones is the Cretan archer, companion to Idomeneus, as
Patroklos was to Achilles. He is first mentioned in the Catalog of Ships. He
gives Odysseus a bow, quiver, sword, and the boars’ tusk helmet in the
Doloneia (Book 10). He has a big scene with Idomeneus in Book 13.
them all: The lots determine the chariots’ position, from inside to outside.
for victory: How Antilochos overtakes Menelaos is not obvious. It appears
as if Antilochos is about to draw level with Menelaos at the point where the
road narrows. Here Menelaos drives along what is left of the road while
Antilochos veers off the road to ride on the far side of the gully. At some
point he needs to rejoin the track, but when he does so the track is still too
narrow for two chariots. Menelaos gives way to avoid a collision, a tactic
that Menelaos views as being unfair and against the rules.
an oath: He will have to swear that he has not won the victory in an
underhanded fashion.
of outlook: No doubt Idomeneus was eager to know how his companion and
aide Meriones was doing.
Trojan plain: Apparently Idomeneus could see the horses clearly until they
got to the post but not what happened after the turn.
mighty Diomedes: Diomedes’ father Tydeus was from Aetolia in southwest
mainland Greece, but Diomedes ruled in Argos in the northeast
Peloponnesus.
big mouth: The rude speech of Oïlean Ajax to the older Idomeneus is in
keeping with his coarse character.
Sthenelos: Diomedes’ close companion.
dragging his beautiful chariot: Because it had earlier crashed.
smiled: Perhaps Achilles smiled because Antilochos repeats the same threats
that Achilles himself made when Agamemnon took away his prize. This is
the only time in the poem that Achilles smiles, in keeping with the general
air of Achilles’ good cheer during the funeral games, especially in his
generosity in giving gifts to all participants.
Asteropaios: In Book 21 Achilles killed the ambidextrous Asteropaios,
grandson of the river Axios in MACEDONIA, and took his armor.
shaker of the earth: Poseidon is not only the god of horses, but Antilochos’
ancestor.
of the gods: If Antilochos swore that he did not gain an advantage through a
trick, he would perjure himself and be guilty in the eyes of the gods.
Cleverly, he avoids taking the oath while not admitting that he cheated.
your brother: Antilochos’ brother is Thrasymedes. Menelaos and Antilochos
are often together in the poem: In Book 5 Antilochos comes to the aid of
Menelaos against Aeneas; in Book 15 Menelaos and Antilochos fight side
by side; in Book 17 Menelaos asks Antilochos to carry news of Patroklos’
death to Achilles.
dish: The last prize is left over because Eumelos received an extra one from
Achilles’ tent.
king’s honor: Amarynkeus is the father of one Diores, mentioned in the
Catalog of Ships as a prominent Epeian fighter (Map 4); Diores is killed in
Book 4. Bouprasion is a town, or region, in Elis.
superior number: It is not clear what Homer means by this.
the whip: The importance of the funeral games of Amarynkeus is reflected
in the appearance of contestants from Aetolia, across the Corinthian Gulf
from Elis, and from Pylos, south of Elis. Klytomedes appears only here, but
there is an Enops in Books 14 and 16. Pleuron is in Aetolia, and later
authors say that Ankaios and Iphiklos took part in the Kalydonian Boar
Hunt (Kalydon is in Aetolia). In the Iliad Ankaios is the father of Agapenor,
an Arcadian (Book 2). Iphiklos has a namesake as the Thessalian father of
Podarkes (Book 2, Book 11); the Thessalian Iphiklos was a fast runner too.
Phyleus is a son of the famous Augeias, who (Book 2) migrated to
Doulichion after a quarrel with his father; Phyleus is the father of Meges,
who commands the Trojan contingent from Doulichion. Polydoros is
unknown (but the name of one of Priam’s sons). In a reminiscence in Book
11 Nestor describes the Aktorionê, the twin “sons of Aktor,” as being his
opponents in a battle. In Hesiod and later authors, the Aktorionê are
Siamese twins, but it is not clear that Homer thought of them in this way
(though that could explain why the two Aktorionê raced against the lone
Nestor). They are also called the Molionê after their mother Molionê and
were said really to be the sons of Poseidon, Aktor only being their mortal
father.
know it: Apollo is the patron of boxers. There were no rounds in ancient
boxing. The match went on until the spectators declared it over because one
man could not continue.
son of Panopeus: First mentioned here in the Iliad, Epeios is said in the
Odyssey to be the builder of the Trojan Horse. Panopeus is a grandson of
Aiakos, the father of Peleus, so Epeios is a distant cousin of Achilles.
sons of Kadmos: Euryalos is mentioned in the Catalog of Ships as the third
leader of the Argives, after Diomedes and Sthenelos. He is related to
Diomedes by blood and marriage. Mekisteus’ defeat of the Kadmeians is
like the victory of Diomedes’ father Tydeus over the Kadmeians in a series
of athletic contests (Book 4). Here Oedipus died at Thebes, where he
continued to rule after his wife’s suicide (unlike in the famous Athenian
tradition preserved in the Oedipus plays of Sophocles, where he died in
Athens as a blind old man).
field ox: Boxing at this time was not done in the nude, as in the Classical
Period. The thongs are wrapped around the hands to make a kind of glove.
astonished: Because they expected Ajax to win.
go your way: But it is not evident how they would divide the prizes!
son of Priam: The Sidonians were the Semitic seafaring inhabitants of
Sidon on the coast of modern Lebanon, but at sea, and as international
traders, Homer calls them Phoenicians. Phoenicians only appear here in the
Iliad, but the Sidonians were mentioned before in Book 6 as the makers of
the embroidered garments that Paris brought from Sidon on his journey
home to Troy after abducting Helen. Hekabê placed one of these robes on
the knees of Athena. Just such decorated silver and bronze bowls of
Phoenician manufacture from the ninth and eighth centuries BC have been
found in excavations. Thoas was king of Lemnos, father of Hypsipylê, who
married Jason and produced Euneos. Homer does not explain the purpose of
the Phoenicians’ gift of the bowl to Thoas (to allow trade?). In Book 21
Lykaon says he was sold for the “value of one hundred oxen”; because
Euneos is here said to have given a Phoenician bowl for him, the value of
the bowl is apparently one hundred oxen.
to her breast: The ancient loom was vertical and consisted of vertical
strands attached to a horizontal pole at the top and to loom weights at the
bottom, usually small pieces of pierced pottery, to weigh down the strings
and keep them straight. A woman would stand before the loom and draw a
rod toward her breasts (the shed rod), separating the alternate vertical
strands of the weaving (the warp) to make a kind of tunnel between the two
sets of threads. Through this opening she would pass a horizontal strand
(the weft) by means of a shuttle attached to a spool. As close as the rod is to
the woman’s breast, so close was Odysseus to Oïlean Ajax!
stripped: In Book 16.
dark blood: These troublesome lines seem to refer to real wounding and for
that reason have puzzled commentators. Perhaps Homer is using language
inherited from actual blood sport.
in common: How this is possible is not obvious.
other loot: Eëtion was the father of Andromachê; Achilles sacked his town
of Thebes on a local raid (Book 6). In Thebes he captured Chryseïs (Book
1), his lyre (Book 9), and his horse Pedasos (Book 16).
supply him: Homer is living in an age when it was logical to go to the city
for iron farm implements, yet they could be fashioned in a home, either by a
wandering smith or by a local artisan.
Leonteus: Polypoites and Leonteus are leaders of the Lapiths (in Thessaly,
Book 2) last seen fighting together at the gates of the Achaean wall (Book
12).
of cows: Perhaps used like a South American bola, a stone with a cord
attached used to catch cattle.
the axes: In these confused terms of the match—who gets first prize if the
cord is hit?—Achilles seems to foresee what actually happens.
Meriones: Meriones and Teucer, the half-brother of Telamonian Ajax, are
the only two men to actually fight with the bow in the Iliad, although in the
Odyssey (Book 8) Odysseus claims to have been the best bowman at Troy,
after Philoktetes.

OceanofPDF.com
 BOOK 24. The Ransom of
Hector

Toinghe togathering broke up, and the people scattered, each man
his own ship. While the others took thought
f the pleasure of a meal and sweet sleep, Achilles wept,
hinking constantly of his dear companion. Sleep,
who conquers all, did not come to him, but he tossed
5
o this side and that, longing for the manliness and great strength
f Patroklos. He thought of all they had done together,
he pains they had suffered, the wars of men and the fierce
waves of the sea. Remembering these things he poured
own hot tears, lying now on this side, now on his back,
10
ow face down. Then standing up straight he wandered
istraught along the shore of the salt sea. He always
aw the dawn, rising over the sea and the land.

Then he would yoke his swift horses beneath his chariot

nd bind Hector to drag him behind his car. Three times 15
e would drag him around the tomb of the dead son
f Menoitios, then he would rest in his hut. He let Hector lie
retched out there, his face in the dust. But Apollo kept all outrage
way from Hector’s flesh, taking pity on him even though
e was dead. Apollo held the golden goatskin fetish around
20
im° so that Achilles could not rip up Hector’s body as he
ragged him around. Thus in his fury Achilles abused
he magnificent Hector.

But the blessed gods took pity when

hey saw what was happening. They urged the far-seeing
Hermes, killer of Argos, to steal away the corpse.
25
he plan was pleasing to all the other gods, but not
o Hera, nor Poseidon, nor the flashing-eyed daughter Athena,
or they held on to their hatred for sacred Troy even as
t first, and for Priam and his people too, because of the blind
oolishness of Alexandros, who insulted them when they came
30
o his courtyard, giving preference to her who furthered his
orrid lust.°

But when the twelfth dawn had afterwards come,

hen Phoibos Apollo spoke to the deathless ones: “You gods are
ruel, workers of harm! Has Hector never burned for you the thighs
f bulls and goats without blemish?° Now you cannot bring
35
ourselves to save him (though he is a corpse), for his wife
o look upon and his mother and his child and his father Priam
nd the Trojan people, who would burn him with fire and
ffer the correct funeral rites. No, you gods want to help out
he baneful Achilles, whose mind is ever against 40
he ways of custom, and always the purpose in his breast
annot be bent, so he acts like a savage lion who trusting
n his great strength and his noble spirit preys upon
he sheep of men so that he can take a meal. Even so
Achilles has ruined all pity, and there is no respect in him,
 45
which can be very hurtful to men—or help them out!°
One may at some time lose someone even more dear
han this, a brother from the same womb, or even a son,
ut when the person is bewailed and lamentation is made,
hen he makes an end of it. For the Fates° have given an 50
nduring soul to men. But this man, now that he has taken
way the life from noble Hector—he binds him to his chariot
nd drags him around the mound of his dear companion!
He shall have neither honor nor profit from this. He should
eware that we do not become angry with him, though Achilles 55
a good man. But in his fury he outrages the dumb clay!”

White-armed Hera answered him in anger: “This may

ven be as you say, O lord of the silver bow, but are we really
oing to grant equal honor to Achilles and to Hector? Why,
Hector is mortal, he sucked at a woman’s breast! But Achilles
60
born of the goddess Thetis whom I myself nourished and reared
 FIGURE 24.1 The Judgment of Paris. On the right a youthful Paris sits
on a stone in a rural location. The sheep near his feet indicates that he is a
shepherd. He holds a lyre with a tortoise-shell sounding box because he is
accustomed to the beauty of song. In front of him stand from left to right:
Hera dressed in a demure robe; Athena, wearing the goatskin fetish as a
snake-fringed collar; and a buxom Aphrodite, holding a scepter and the
“apple of discord” that Paris has awarded to her. Athenian red-figure water
jar, c. 450 BC.

nd gave to a man to be his wife—to Peleus, dear to the heart

f the immortals. And all you gods attended the wedding!
You yourself dined there, holding your little lyre, a friend
f wicked men, ever untrustworthy!”° 65

Zeus the cloud-gatherer

aid in reply: “Hera, don’t be so utterly angry against the gods.
here will never be an equal honor given these two men,
ut Hector was dearest to the gods of the mortals who live in Ilion.
At least he was to me—he never failed of acceptable gifts.
Never did my altar lack in the equal feast, or in the drink-offering, 70
r in the smoke of sacrifice. We always got our prize of honor.
ut as for stealing the valiant Hector without Achilles knowing,
et’s forget about that. For his mother comes constantly to his side,
oth night and day. But would some one of the gods please call
Thetis to come to my side so that I can say to her something 75
mportant—? that she arrange for Achilles to take gifts from Priam,
nd let Hector go.”

So Zeus spoke, and Iris, swift as a storm,

ushed to give the message. Between SAMOTHRACE and wooded
MBROS she plunged into the dark sea, and the waters resounded.

he sank to the bottom like a lead weight, a weight attached 80

o the horn of an OX of the field that goes bringing death
o the ravenous fishes.° She found Thetis in a hollow cave.
Other goddesses of the sea sat around her, all in a group.
hetis was complaining in the midst of them about the fate
f her excellent son who to her sorrow was about to die 85
n fertile Troy, far from the land of his fathers.

Standing beside her, Iris swift of foot said: “Get up,

hetis! Zeus, knowing things that never perish, summons you!”

Then silver-footed Thetis said in reply: “What does that

reat god want of me? I am reluctant to socialize with the
deathless 90
nes, for I suffer anguish in my heart. But I will go. Whatever
 eus says will not be in vain.”

So speaking, the divine goddess

ut on a dark veil—there was no cloth more black.° And thus
he set off. At first swift Iris, whose feet were like the wind,
went ahead, and the waves of the sea parted before them. 95
When they had come out on the shore, they sped toward heaven.
hey came to the far-thundering son of Kronos. All the other
lessed gods who last forever were seated around him
n a knot. Thetis took her seat next to father Zeus—
Athena yielded her place, and Hera placed a beautiful 100
olden cup in her hands and cheered her with words.
hetis took a drink and handed back the cup.

The father
f men and gods was first to speak among them: “You have
ome to Olympos, goddess Thetis, though you are pained
t heart, having always in your breast an unforgettable sorrow.
105
know it myself. But I will tell you why I have summoned
ou here. For nine days there has been a quarrel among the
eathless ones about the corpse of Hector, and concerning Achilles
he sacker of cities. They are urging that Hermes, the far-seeing
layer of Argos, should steal the body. But right now I want to
accord 110
lory to Achilles,° and at the same time preserve your respect
nd friendship for the future. So go quickly to the camp
nd give this order to your son: Say that the gods grow angry,
nd that I above all the deathless ones am filled with wrath
ecause in the madness of his heart he holds Hector 115
 eside the hollow ships and will not give him up. Perhaps
om respect for me he will let Hector go! But I will send forth
is to great-hearted Priam to say that he should go to the ships
f the Achaeans to ransom his son, bearing gifts that will warm
he heart of Achilles.” 120

So he spoke, and the goddess Thetis

f the silver feet obeyed. She went rushing from the peaks
f Olympos, and she arrived at the hut of her son. There
he found him groaning ceaselessly. His beloved companions
urried all around him to prepare their morning meal.
Achilles had killed a large and shaggy ram for them in the hut.
125

Thetis sat down next to Achilles, his revered mother,

nd stroked him with her hand. She spoke, calling his name:
My child, for how long will you eat out your heart with sorrow
nd mourning, and have no thought for food or sleep?
Also, it would be good if you lay with a woman, for you shall not
130
ve long, as death and overwhelming fate stand near
ou now. So listen to me, for I am a messenger from Zeus.
He says that the gods grow angry, and he especially
f the deathless ones is filled with wrath, because in the
madness of your heart you hold Hector beside the beaked ships
135
nd will not let him go. But come, release him, taking
ansom for the corpse.”

Achilles the fast runner said in reply:

Let it be so. Whoever brings ransom may carry away
he corpse, if that is what the Olympian himself really wants.”

Thus in the gathering of the ships, mother and son

140
poke to one another many words that went like arrows.
And then the son of Kronos sent Iris to holy Ilion: “Go then,
wift Iris! Leave the seat of Olympos and announce to great-hearted
riam in Ilion that he should go to the ships of the Achaeans
o ransom his son, bearing gifts that will warm the heart
145
f Achilles. Let him go alone, none other of the Trojan men
may go with him. An elderly herald may go along, someone
who can drive the mules and the wagon with its excellent wheels,
o carry the corpse back to the city—that man whom gallant
Achilles killed. May death not be his concern, nor terror.
150
We will send Hermes the killer of Argos as guide to lead him
o Achilles. When he gets inside the hut of Achilles,
Achilles will not kill him and he will not allow any
ther to kill him. For Achilles is not mad, nor negligent,
or evil, but with every kindness he will respect a suppliant.”
155

So Zeus spoke, and storm-footed Iris hurried

o carry his message. She came to the house of Priam, and
ound therein all clamor and wailing. Priam’s sons were seated
round their father within the court, all of their clothes
wet with their tears. The old man sat in the middle of them,
160
lose-wrapped in his cloak. Priam had rubbed excrement in his
air and around his neck, rolling around in it and smearing it
round with his own hands.° His daughters and his sons’ wives
wailed throughout the house, remembering all those fine
nd noble men who now lay in Hades’ house, killed at the hands
165
f the Argives.

The messenger of Zeus stood next to Priam,

peaking softly while trembling took hold of his limbs:
Take courage in your heart, O Priam, son of Dardanos,
nd have no fear. I come here not to foretell any evil, but only
with kind intent. I am a messenger from Zeus, who though
170
e is far away from you has compassion and takes pity.
Olympian Zeus has ordered that you go to the ships of the Achaeans
nd ransom your son, bearing gifts that will warm the heart of Achilles.
You must go alone, no other of the Trojan men can go with you.
Only an elderly herald may go along—one who can drive
175
he mules and the wagon with its excellent wheels and then carry
he corpse back to the city—that man whom gallant Achilles killed.
Neither death nor terror should concern you, for he will send
Hermes the killer of Argos as a guide to lead you to Achilles.
When Hermes gets you inside the hut of Achilles,
180
Achilles will not kill you and he will not allow any other
o kill you. For Achilles is not mad, nor negligent, nor evil,
ut with every kindness he will respect a suppliant.”

So speaking Iris swift of foot went off, and Priam

rdered his sons to prepare a mule cart with excellent wheels, 185
nd to attach a wicker box to it.° He himself went down
nto his fragrant treasure-chamber, vaulted, made of cedar,
hat contained many precious things.
 Then he called to his wife
Hekabê and he said to her: “My darling, a messenger
as come from Zeus on Olympos. She said that I should go
190
o the ships of the Achaeans to ransom our son, bearing gifts
hat will warm the heart of Achilles. But come, I want to
now—what do you think? For the desire in my heart urges
me to do this now—to go to the ships inside the broad
amp of the Achaeans.”
195

So he spoke, but Hekabê uttered a shrill

ry and answered: “Woe to me! Where has the wisdom gone
or which in earlier days you were famous in foreign lands
nd among those over whom you rule? How can you consider
oing alone to the ships of the Achaeans—to meet the eyes
f the man who killed so many of your noble sons? 200
Your heart is iron! That bloodthirsty and faithless man
will disrespect you—if he sees you with his own eyes
nd gets you in his grip, he will have no pity on you!
No, let us make our lament far away from him, sitting
ere in our chamber. Such a destiny did mighty Fate spin 205
or Hector at his birth, when I bore my child—to glut
he swift-footed dogs, far from his parents, in the house
f a violent man. If only I could fasten my teeth into the middle
f his liver and eat it! Payback for my son, whom he killed
ot while he was acting the coward, but while Hector 210
ood forth on behalf of all Trojans and the deep-bosomed
rojan women. He did not think of flight or escape° then!”
 Old man Priam, like a god, answered her: “Don’t hold me
ack, woman, when I want to go! Do not be a bird of ill-omen
n my own halls. You will not persuade me. If some other of the
men 215
pon the earth ordered me to do this, one of the prophets who foretell
hings by looking at the smoke of offerings, or one of the holy men—
hen we would say that it was a false thing and would stay at home
ll the more. But as it is, I have myself heard it from the goddess.
saw her face to face. I will go and that is all there is to it.
220
it is my fate to die at the ships of the Achaeans who
wear shirts of bronze, I am willing. Let Achilles kill me
ght away, once I have held my son close and have put
om me the desire for lament.”

He spoke and opened

he beautiful lids of the chests. From them he took twelve 225
ery beautiful robes and twelve woolen cloaks of a single fold
nd as many coverlets, and as many white cloths
f linen, and as many shirts on top of these. He took up
nd weighed out ten talents of gold, and two shining tripods,
our wash-basins, and a very beautiful cup that the Thracians 230
ave to him when he went there on embassy—a great treasure.
he old man did not spare even this in his halls, because
n his heart he desired only to ransom his dear son.

Then he drove all the Trojans out of the portico, reviling them
s they went: “Get out you of here, you wretches, you bringers
235
 f shame! Don’t you have wailing enough in your own homes?
Why should you have to come here and attend my grief? Do you
make light of the fact that Zeus, the son of Kronos, has given me
his agony—that my best son is killed? But you yourselves will learn
oon enough. You will be easier for the Achaeans to kill now 240
hat he is dead. As for me, may I go down into the house of Hades
efore these eyes behold the city laid waste and sacked.”

So he spoke and with his staff he cleared the room of them.

hey scurried forth from the old man as he drove them along.
Then he called aloud to his sons, upbraiding them—Helenos
245
nd Paris and noble Agathon and Pammon and Antiphonos
nd Polites good at the war cry and Deïphobos and Hippothoös
nd the noble Agauos.° To these nine the old man shouted orders:
Get out of here, you wicked children! Disasters all! I wish
hat you all had died beside the swift ships instead of Hector!
250
Wretched me—I never had any luck. I begot many fine sons
n broad Troy, but I don’t think that a single one is still alive—
ot godlike Mestor nor Troilos, who delighted in horses,
or Hector, who was like a god among men. He did not
eem to be the child of a mortal man, but of a god. Ares killed
255
hem all. Yet shameless things are left— liars and acrobats!
Great at beating out the dance! Thieves of your own
eople’s sheep and kids!° Would you please prepare
wagon for me as soon as possible, and put all these goods
n it, so that we may get on the road?”
260

So Priam spoke, and in fear

 f their father’s rebuke the sons brought out the mule wagon
with excellent wheels—lovely, recently made—and they bound
he wicker box on top. They took the mule yoke down from a peg,
made of an evergreen wood with a knob on it, fitted with guides
or the reins. Then they brought out the yoke-binding, fourteen
feet 265
n length, and the yoke. They fitted the yoke properly onto the front
nd of the polished pole. Then they put the ring over the peg and
ed the yoke-binding three times on each side of the knob.
hey bound the yoke-binding fast to the knob in a succession
f turns, then tucked the end under the hook.° 270

Then they
rought forth the boundless ransom for Hector’s head from
he treasure chamber and heaped it on the highly polished wagon.
hey yoked the mules with powerful single hooves that
work in harness, which once the Mysians had given
o Priam as a splendid gift. They led horses beneath the yoke
275
hat the old man had himself nourished in the polished stall.
hus were wagon and chariot yoked for both Priam
nd his herald in the high-roofed palace, despite the deep
oreboding in their hearts.

Hekabê came up to Priam

nd his herald, stricken in heart. She had honeyed wine 280
n a golden cup in her right hand, so that she could pour
ut a drink-offering before they went. She stood in front
f the horses and spoke: “Take this. Pour out a drink-offering
o father Zeus, and pray that you may come again from
hese evil men, because your heart bids you to go to the ships.
 285
ut I am against it. So pray to the lord of the dark cloud,
he son of Kronos who has a shrine on Ida, who sees
whatever happens in Troy, and ask him to send his bird,
is swift messenger that is the dearest of birds to him,
whose strength is greatest, to appear on your right hand.° 290
o seeing the omen with your own eyes, you can trust that
is safe to go to the ships of the Danaäns with their fast horses.
far-seeing Zeus will not give you this sign, then I would not
rge you on, or bid you to go the ships of the Argives,
ven though you want very badly to do so.”
295

Then godlike Priam

nswered her: “O woman, I won’t deny you your request.
is a good thing to raise up your hands to Zeus, in hopes
hat he take pity.”

Thus he spoke and then the old man told

female slave in attendance to pour out pure water
ver his hands. The slave came near, carrying in her hands
300
basin for hand washing, and a vase. When he had washed
is hands, he took the cup from his wife. Then he prayed,
anding near the middle of the court. He poured out the wine
while looking up to heaven, and he said these words:
Father Zeus who rules from Ida, most glorious and 305
reatest—grant that I come as a friend to Achilles,
nd that he take pity on me. Send me your bird, your swift
messenger that is dearest to you of all birds and whose
rength is the greatest—on my right hand so that seeing
with my own eyes I may trust the sign and safely go 310
o the ships of the Danaäns with their swift horses.”

So he spoke in prayer, and Zeus the counselor heard him.

At once he sent an eagle, the best omen among birds, a swamp eagle,
hunter that men also call the dappled eagle. As wide as is
he door of a high roofed treasure-chamber of a man of wealth,
315
door well fitted and keyed, even so far did his wings
each on either side. He appeared to them on the right hand,
wooping over the city. Everyone who saw it rejoiced,
nd the heart in every man was cheered.

Quickly the old man

mounted his chariot and drove outside the gate and the echoing 320
ortico. In front the mules drew the wagon with four wheels,
nd wise Idaios° was the driver. Behind followed the old man,
who with his whip drove the horses swiftly through the city.
riam’s kin followed, loudly as if he were going to his death.
But when they had gone down from the city and arrived 325
n the plain, the kinsfolk went back then to Ilion, his sons
nd his daughters’ husbands.

Far-seeing Zeus saw them

s they came out onto the plain, and seeing the old man
e took pity. At once he spoke to Hermes, his dear son:
Hermes, because you enjoy accompanying men, and you
330
 sten to whomever you want°—go now and lead Priam
o the hollow ships of the Achaeans in such a way that no one
f the other Danaäns sees him or is aware of his presence,
ntil you get to the hut of the son of Peleus.”

So he spoke
nd the messenger, the killer of Argos, did not disobey. 335
e bound his beautiful sandals beneath his feet—immortal,
olden—that bore him over the watery deep and the endless
ry land like the blast of the wind. He took up his wand
y which he charms the eyes of men, of those whom he chooses,
nd then he rouses others from their sleep. Holding this wand 340
n his hand, the powerful killer of Argos flew off.
Quickly he came to the land of Troy and the Hellespont.
He went in the likeness of a young prince just beginning
o grow a beard, a man in whom youth is at its most charming.
When they had driven beyond the great tomb of Ilos,° 345
hey stopped the mules and the horses so that they could drink
om the river. Already darkness settled on the earth.°

Then the herald saw Hermes close at hand, he saw him

nd he spoke to Priam: “Think about this, O son of Dardanos—
we had better be careful! I see a man, I think he will quickly 350
ut us to pieces! Let us get out of here, in the chariot, or take hold
f his knees and beg for our lives, in hopes that he takes pity!”

So he spoke, and the old man’s mind was distracted,

 nd he was terribly afraid. The hair on his bent limbs stood on end
nd he stood in a daze. But Hermes the helper came near him 355
nd took hold of old man Priam’s hand, and Hermes questioned
im: “Where, father, do you drive your horses and mules
hrough the immortal night when other men are asleep? Do you
ot fear the Achaeans, who breathe fury, who are hostile and
ggressive and very nearby? If one of them should see you
bearing 360
o many treasures through the swift dark night, what would
ou do then? You are not young yourself, and your companion is
n old man, too old to defend you against somebody who would attack
ou for no good reason. But I will do you no harm, and I will defend
ou against anyone else. You are like my own father.”
365

The old man Priam, like a god, then answered Hermes:

All these things, my dear son, are just as you say. Surely,
ome god has stretched forth his hand over me, who has sent
wayfarer such as you to meet me. You are a bringer of good
ortune, one wonderful in form and beauty. And you are wise 370
n your heart. You come from blessed parents.”

The messenger,
he killer of Argos, then answered him: “You have spoken all
hese things in accord with what is right. But come now, tell me
his and tell me truly—are you sending these many rich treasures
o some foreign people so that they may remain safe for you, 375
r are you all abandoning holy Ilion in fear? For so great a warrior
as perished—your son, the best, who never held back from
warring against the Achaeans.”
 Then old man Priam, like a god,
nswered him: “Who are you, most excellent man, and who
re your parents? For you have said fitting things about 380
he fate of my luckless son.”

The messenger, the killer of Argos,

hen said: “You make trial of me, old man, asking about the brave
Hector! For I often saw him with my own eyes in the battle
where men win glory. After driving the Argives to the ships,
e would kill many, raging with his sharp bronze.
385
We stood there marveling. For Achilles, angry at the son
f Atreus, would not let us fight. I am Achilles’ aide.
We came in the same well-made ship. I am one of the
Myrmidons. My father is Polyktor. He is rich, but an old
man now, like you. He had six sons, and I was the seventh. 390
We cast the lot and it fell to me to come here. Now I have
ome to the plain from the ships, for at dawn the bright-eyed
Achaeans will launch their battle around the city. They do not
ke sitting around, and the chieftains of the Achaeans are not able
o hold them back in their longing to go to war.”
395

Then the old man Priam, like a god, answered him:

If you are aide to Achilles son of Peleus, come, tell me
he whole truth. Is my son still beside the ships? or has Achilles
lready cut him to pieces, limb from limb, and fed him
o his dogs?” 400
 Then the messenger, the killer of Argos,
aid to him: “Old man, the gods and the birds have not yet
aten him, but he still lies beside the ship of Achilles, amid
he huts, as he was at first. He has lain there for twelve days,
ut his flesh has not rotted, nor have the worms eaten him, 405
which devour men killed in battle. Achilles ruthlessly drags
im around the tomb of his beloved friend when daylight appears,
ut he does not mutilate the body. You yourself would marvel
you were to come and see how he lies there as fresh as dew.
The blood is washed from him, and there is no stain anywhere.
410
All the wounds are closed, wherever he was hit, for many
rove their bronze into his flesh. Thus do the blessed gods
are for your son, although he is dead, for he was dear
o their hearts.”

So he spoke, and the old man rejoiced,

nd he answered him in this way: “O my child, in truth 415
is a good thing to give the gods the gifts that are their due,
or not ever did my son—if he even existed!°—forget in his halls
he gods who live in Olympos. So they have remembered him,
lthough he is caught in the fate of death. But come, take this
eautiful goblet from me, and guard me. Guide me with the
420
lessings of the gods until I come to the hut of the son of Peleus.”

The messenger, the killer of Argos, then said: “You would

y me, old man—I who am younger than you. But you shall
ot persuade me. You ask that I take gifts from you behind
Achilles’ back, but I fear him and I respect him in my heart.
425
he should think that I defrauded him, in the future something
ad could happen to me. But as your guide I would go even
o famous Argos,° attending you kindly either in a swift ship
r on foot. Nor would any man scorn me as a guide and attack us.”

Thus Hermes the helper spoke. Then he leaped upon the chariot 430
nd swiftly he took hold of the whip and took the reins in
is hands. He breathed great strength into the horses and the mules.
ut when they came to the wall surrounding the ships, and the ditch
where the guards were just now busy with their meal,
he messenger, the killer of Argos, poured out sleep on them all,
435
nd quickly he opened the gates and shoved back the bolts.
hen he drove in Priam and his glorious gifts in the wagon.

They came to the high hut of the son of Peleus, which

he Myrmidons had made for their king, hewing logs of fir,
nd they roofed it over with a shaggy thatch gathered from 440
he meadow. And around the hut they built a great court
f heavy beams for their king. The door had a single bolt made
f fir, which three Achaeans would slam shut, and three men
would draw it back— but Achilles slammed it shut all by himself.
Hermes the helper opened the door for the old man and brought 445
n the glorious gifts for the son of Peleus, the fast runner.

Hermes stepped off the car onto the ground and said:
 Old man, I who have come to you am an immortal god:
Hermes. My father sent me to be your guide. But now I will
o back. I will not come into Achilles’ sight. It would be
450
ffensive for mortals to entertain an immortal god in this way,
ace to face. But you go in and seize the knees of the son
f Peleus, and beseech him by his father, and his mother with
he lovely hair, and his child, so that you might stir his spirit.”

So speaking, Hermes went off toward high Olympos. 455

riam leaped from the chariot to the ground. He left Idaios
here to hold the horses and the mules. Then the old man
went straight toward the house where Achilles dear to Zeus
was accustomed to sit. He found him there, and his companions,
who sat apart. Only two, the warriors Automedon and Alkimos° 460
f the breed of Ares, busily waited on him. Achilles
ad just finished his meal, eating and drinking. The table
ill stood by his side. The aides did not notice great Priam
s he came in. Standing nearby, he took Achilles’ knees
n his hands, and Priam kissed the terrible man-killing 465
ands that had taken so many of his sons. As when a painful
madness takes hold of a man and he kills someone
n his homeland, then comes to another people, to the house
f a rich man, and wonder takes hold of those who see him,—
ven so Achilles was amazed when he saw godlike Priam.
470
And the others were amazed too and glanced at one another.
 FIGURE 24.2 Achilles and Priam. The old man, leaning on his staff,
approaches from the left. Behind him slaves carry the ransom. Achilles lies
on his inlaid couch, holding a knife with which he has been cutting up the
meat served on the table in front of the dining couch; strips of meat hang
down over the side of the table, and he holds a strip in his left hand. He has
not yet noticed Priam’s presence, and he turns over his shoulder to call out
to a slave boy to pour wine from a jug he holds. His shield (with Gorgon’s
head), helmet, shinguards, and sword hang from the wall. Beneath the
couch lies Hector, his body pierced by many wounds. This is the most
commonly represented scene from the Iliad in all of Greek art. Athenian
red-figure drinking cup. c. 480 BC.

Making supplication, Priam spoke to Achilles:

Remember your own father, O Achilles like to the gods!
He is old as I am, on the wretched threshold of old age.
 robably those who live around him are wearing him down, 475
nd there is no one to ward off ruin and disaster.
ut at least he rejoices in his heart when he hears that you
re alive, and he hopes every day that he will see his dear
on returning from Troy. But I have received an evil fate,
ecause I fathered many sons who were the best in broad 480
roy, but of them I do not think that any remain.
had fifty sons when the sons of the Achaeans came, nineteen
om one woman, the others from women in the palace.°
hough they were many, the fury of Ares has driven
most of them to their knees. And he who was left 485
o me, who by himself protected the city and those within it—
ou have just killed him as he struggled to defend his homeland—
Hector! On his account I have come to the ships of the Achaeans
o ransom him from you. I bring boundless ransom.
o respect the gods, Achilles, and take pity on me, 490
emembering your own father. For I am far more to be pitied
han he—I who did what no man on earth has ever dared
o do—to stretch the hands of my son’s killer to my mouth.”

So Priam spoke, and he stirred in Achilles a great urge

o weep for his own father. Taking Priam by the hand 495
e gently pushed the old man away. And so the two men
hought of those who had died. Priam wept copiously for Hector
he killer of men, as he groveled before the feet of Achilles.
And Achilles cried for his own father and now, again, for Patroklos.
Their wailing filled the hut. 500
 But when valiant Achilles
ad his fill of wailing, and the desire for it had departed
om his heart and limbs, immediately he rose from his seat.
He raised up the old man with his hand, taking pity on his white
ead and his white beard, and he spoke words that went like arrows:
Yes, you wretched man, truly you have suffered many evils 505
n your heart. How did you dare to come alone to the ships
f the Achaeans beneath the eyes of the man who killed your many
ne sons? Your heart must be iron! But come, sit on a chair.
We will let our sufferings lie quiet in our hearts, though burdened
y them. There is nothing to be gained from cold lament.
510
“For so have the gods spun the thread for wretched
mortals— to live in pain, while they are without care.
wo jars of gifts that he gives are set into the floor of Zeus,
ne of evils, the other of good things. To whomever
Zeus who delights in the thunder gives a mixed portion, 515
hat man receives now evil, now good. But to the man
o whom he gives only pain, he has made him to be roughly
eated, and ravening hunger drives him over the shining
arth. He walks dishonored by gods and by men.
“So the gods gave to Peleus wonderful gifts 520
om birth. He exceeded all men in wealth and riches,
nd he ruled over the Myrmidons, and the gods gave him
goddess for a wife, although he is mortal. But to him
he god also gave evil, because in his halls there is no
ffspring who will one day rule. He fathered a single child, 525
oomed to an early death. And I will not tend him
when he grows old, for I sit here in Troy very far
om my homeland, bringing misery to you and your children.
“And yet, old man, we hear that in earlier times
ou were rich—all the territory between LESBOS out to sea,
 530
he seat of Makar,° and inland to PHRYGIA, and to the boundless
HELLESPONT. They say that you, old man, surpassed in wealth
nd in the number of your sons all those that lived in these lands.
ut from the time that the dwellers in heaven brought you
his curse, there is always fighting around your city, and the
535
illing of men. Bear up! Don’t be complaining forever in your heart.
’s no use to bemoan your son, for he will never live again,
o matter what you do.”

Then the old man godlike

riam answered him: “Please don’t ask me to sit on a chair,
O Achilles, fostered by Zeus, so long as Hector lies among 540
he ships without the proper care due to the dead. But release
im quickly so that I may see him with my own eyes. Take
he abundant ransom that I have brought you. May you enjoy
hese things, and may you come to the land of your fathers,
or from the first you have let me remain alive and behold
545
he light of the sun.”

Then looking angrily from beneath his brows

Achilles the fast runner spoke: “Don’t rile me, old man!
fully intend to let you have Hector. My mother came to me
s a messenger from Zeus, she who bore me, the daughter
f the Old Man of the Sea. And I know full well in my heart, 550
O Priam, nor does it escape me, that some god has led
ou to the swift ships of the Achaeans. For no mortal would
are come to the camp, no, not even one very young. And he
would not escape the notice of the guards, nor would he easily
 pen the bolts of our gates. Therefore, do not stir more of wrath 555
n me, or perhaps I will not spare you within the huts, old man—
ven though you are a suppliant—and so transgress the commands
f Zeus.”

Thus Achilles spoke, and the old man

was afraid, and did what he said. Then the son of Peleus sprang
orth from the house like a lion, and he was not alone, for with
him 560
ollowed two of his aides, the warriors Automedon and Alkimos,
whom he honored above all his companions after the dead
atroklos. They unharnessed the horses and the mules
om the yoke, and they led in the herald, the crier of the old man,
nd they set him on a chair. They took down from the well-
polished 565
ar the boundless ransom for Hector’s head. They left two cloaks
nd a finely woven shirt so that Achilles could wrap the corpse
nd free him to be taken home. Then Achilles summoned
wo slave girls to wash the body and anoint it, moving the corpse
o the side so that Priam could not see his son and in his grief 570
e unable to restrain his anger if he saw him, and Achilles’
wn heart be then roused to anger so that he killed Priam
gainst the strict command of Zeus.

When the slave girls

ad washed the body and anointed it with olive oil, they put
beautiful cloak and a shirt around him. Achilles himself 575
aised Hector up and placed him on a bier. Together with
is aides, Achilles then lifted him into the polished wagon.
 And then Achilles groaned and called out to his companion
y name: “Don’t be angry, Patroklos, if you learn, though you are
n the house of Hades, that I have given up the valiant Hector
580
o his dear father. He brought a proper ransom, and I will
ive you as many as is fitting of the things he brought.”

So he spoke, and then glorious Achilles went back into his hut.
He sat on the inlaid chair on the opposite wall from which
e had arisen, and he spoke to Priam: “Your son is given back, 585
ld man, just as you requested. He lies on a bier. At dawn
ou will see him when you take him from here. Now let us
hink of food.
“For even Niobê with the lovely hair
hought of food. Twelve were her children who perished
n her halls, six daughters and six lusty sons. Apollo killed
590
he boys with his silver bow, for he was angry at Niobê,
nd Artemis, who rejoices in arrows, killed the girls.
or Niobê had matched herself with their mother, Leto
with the lovely cheeks. Niobê said that Leto had borne
wo children, but she herself had given birth to many. And so 595
Apollo and Artemis, though they were only two, killed all
f Niobê’s children. For nine days they lay in their gore, and
here was no one to bury them, because the son of Kronos had turned
he people into stones. But on the tenth day the heavenly gods
uried them, and Niobê bethought herself of food, for she was
600
wasting away with her weeping.
 “Now somewhere amid
he rocks, in the lonely mountains, on Sipylos, where they say
he beds of goddesses are, the divine nymphs who dance
round the Acheloös river—there, although she is a stone,
he broods over her agonies sent by the gods.°
605
“So come,
ood old man, let us also think of food. Then you can bewail
our dear son, when you have carried him to Ilion. He will
ost you many tears.”

So Achilles spoke. Then he

prang up and slaughtered a white sheep. His companions
layed it and prepared it in accordance with custom.
610
hey cut it up and skillfully threaded the pieces on spits.
hey roasted them carefully, then drew them all off.
Automedon took up bread and set it around the table
n beautiful baskets, while Achilles shared out the meat.
Then they put out their hands to take the good things set out 615
efore them.

When they had put aside the desire for drink

nd food, then Priam the son of Dardanos wondered at Achilles—
ow tall he was and of what bearing. For he was like the gods
o look on. And Achilles wondered at Priam, the son of
Dardanos, beholding his fine face and hearing his words. 620

When they had had their fill looking at each other,

hen the old man Priam, like a god, spoke first. “Let me now
o bed as soon as possible, O Zeus-nourished one, so that
we might lie down and be renewed in sweet sleep. For sleep
as not yet fallen upon my eyes beneath their lids from
625
he time that my son lost his life at your hands. Always,
have been crying and nursing my ten thousand pains,
olling through excrement in the closed spaces of the court.
ut now I have tasted food and let flaming wine pass down
my throat. Before, I ate nothing.”
630

He spoke, and Achilles ordered

is companions and his slave girls to set up a bed in the portico
nd to spread out beautiful purple blankets, and on top to place
overlets, and to place on top of all woolen cloaks for clothing.
he girls went outside the hut holding torches in their hands,
nd in haste they quickly spread two beds.
635

Achilles, the fast runner,

ow spoke mockingly° to Priam: “You sleep outside, dear
ld man, in case some counselor of the Achaeans comes in.
hey are always sitting down and taking counsel, as is only right.
ut if someone should see you through the swift black night,
e might at once tell Agamemnon shepherd of the people
640
nd then there would be delay in ransoming the corpse.
“But come now, and tell me truly, how many days
will you need to bury valiant Hector properly? For so long
will myself hold back from the fight and I will restrain the others.”
The old man Priam, like a god, then answered him: “If you really
645
want me to accomplish the burial of valiant Hector, then you
hould do this, and it would please me greatly, O Achilles.
You know how we are pent-up in the city. It is far to bring wood
om the mountains, and the Trojans are very afraid. But we
would mourn his body for nine days in the halls, and on the tenth
650
we would bury him and the people would feast. On the eleventh day
we will make a tumulus for him. On the twelfth day we will fight
gain, if we must.”

Then brave Achilles, the fast runner,

aid to him: “It will be as you say, old man Priam. I will suspend
he war for as long as you say.”
655

So speaking he took hold

f the old man’s right hand by the wrist,° so that he would not be
fraid. Then they lay down to sleep in the forecourt of the house,
he herald and Priam, with hearts of wisdom in their breasts.
ut Achilles slept in the innermost part of his well-built hut,
nd beside him lay Briseïs of the beautiful cheeks.
660

The other gods and men, the masters of chariots,

ept all the night long, overcome by gentle sleep. But sleep
id not come over Hermes the helper as he pondered in his mind
ow he would guide King Priam forth from the ships unseen
y the holy keepers of the gates.° Hermes stood over
665
riam’s head and spoke: “O old man, you must have
o thought of anything evil, if you still sleep in the midst
 f the enemy simply because Achilles has spared you.
o you have ransomed your son, and you gave a high price.
But your remaining sons would pay three times as much 670
o have you back alive if Agamemnon, the son of Atreus,
hould know that you are here, and all the Achaeans knew it too.”

So he spoke and then the old man was seized by fear.

He roused his herald. Hermes yoked the horses and the mules
or them, and swiftly Hermes drove them through the camp—
675
o one recognized them! But when they came to the ford
f the fair-flowing river, of the whirling Xanthos that deathless
eus had fathered, Hermes went off to high Olympos.
affron-robed dawn was spreading out over all the earth as they
rove the horses to the city, and the mules carried the corpse.
680
Nor did any other man or fine-belted woman recognize them,
xcept Kassandra, like golden Aphrodite, who had gone up to
ergamos and saw her dear father standing in the car, and
he herald, the city-crier.°

Seeing Hector lying in the bier drawn by

mules, she cried out shrilly and called throughout the entire city:
685
Trojan men and women, come and see Hector, if you ever rejoiced
when he returned alive from the battle, a great joy to the city
nd to all the people!”

So she spoke, and no man or woman

ayed in the city. An unbearable sorrow came over all, and they
 athered around Priam at the gates as he brought in the corpse.
690
irst of all Hector’s dear wife and his revered mother threw
hemselves on the light-running wagon and tore their hair,
olding Hector’s head, while the throng stood around and wept.
And they would have spent all day until the sun went down
weeping and wailing for Hector in front of the gate, if the old 695
man had not stood up in the car and spoken to the people:
Make a way for the mules to pass through! Later you can have
our fill of lament, when I have brought him to the house.”
o he spoke, and they stood aside and allowed the wagon
o come through. When they came to his famous house, they
placed 700
Hector on a corded bed, and beside them they set singers, leaders
f the lament, who began the song of mourning. They chanted it,
nd the women made lament.

Among them white-armed Andromachê

ed the dirge for Hector, the killer of men, holding his head
n her hands: “O my husband, you have perished at a young age, 705
nd left me a widow in our halls. Our child is still an infant,
whom we bore, you and I, doomed to a wretched fate. But I don’t think
e will arrive at manhood—before that this city shall be utterly
estroyed. For you who watched over the city have perished—
ou, who guarded it and kept safe its noble wives and little
710
hildren. Soon they will be carried away in the hollow ships,
nd I among them. You, my child, will follow along with me
o a place where you will perform degrading tasks, working
or some ungentle master—or one of the Achaeans in his anger
will take you by the arm and throw you from the walls
715
o a savage death—someone whose brother Hector killed,
r his father, or his son.° For full many of the Achaeans have bitten
he vast earth with their teeth at the hands of Hector. Your father
was not gentle in the bitter war. And so the people wail for him
hroughout the city, and you have made grief and unspeakable
720
orrow for your parents, Hector. Savage pain is left for me
bove all. You did not reach out your hands as you lay dying
n a bed, nor did you say to me some words full of meaning
hat I might remember while weeping for you day and night.”

So she spoke, wailing, and the other women wailed too.

725
Among them Hekabê began her sobbing complaint: “Hector,
much the dearest to my heart of all my children … while
ou were alive you were dear to the gods. And they still
are for you, although you are snared in the fate of death.
Achilles, the fast runner, sold others of my sons whom
730
e captured beyond the untiring sea, to Samothrace and Imbros
nd misty Lemnos. When he took your breath-soul with
is long-edged bronze, he used often to drag you around the tomb
f his companion Patroklos, whom you killed. But he could not
aise him up. Now you are as fresh as new-morning dew and lie 735
ut in my halls like one freshly killed—like one whom Apollo
f the silver bow has come upon and killed with his gentle arrows.”

So she spoke, weeping, and she roused endless wailing.

hen Helen, third among the women, began her lament:
Hector, much the dearest to my heart of all my brothers-in-law,
740
or my husband is godlike Alexandros who brought me to Troy—
would that I had perished before! It is already the twentieth
ear since I went forth from there and abandoned the land
f my fathers. But I never heard an evil or unkind word
rom you. And if some other of my brothers-in-law, or sisters-in-
law, 745
r brother’s wives with elegant dresses would reprove me
n my halls, or your mother—but your father was always
s gentle as if he had been my own father—you would restrain
hem with your speech, and hold them back through your good
ature and your gentle words. And so I lament you, and I lament
750
my luckless self, with grief in my heart. For no longer
there anyone in Troy so gentle to me and such a friend.
veryone abhors me!”

So she spoke, weeping, and the huge

hrong moaned. And now old man Priam spoke to the people:
Bring wood to the city, my Trojans. Have no fear of a cunning
755
mbush. When Achilles sent me off from the black ships,
e promised he would do us no harm until the twelfth day
as come.”

So he spoke, and they yoked oxen and mules

o wagons, and quickly they gathered in front of the city.
For nine days they gathered a boundless supply of wood.
760
ut when the tenth Dawn, who sends light for mortals, arose,
hey carried out the brave Hector, pouring down tears.
hey placed him on top of the pyre, and they cast in fire.
As soon as Dawn with her fingers of rose appeared, the people
athered around the pyre of glorious Hector. When they
765
were gathered and assembled in a group, they first extinguished
he fire with flaming wine—all of it, as deep as the vast strength
f the fire had penetrated. Thereafter his brothers and companions
athered the white bones in sorrow. Hot tears ran down their
heeks. They took the bones and placed them in a golden chest,
770
overing them with delicate purple cloths. Then they placed
he chest in a hollow grave, and over the grave stacked great
hick stones. Quickly they built up a barrow, and all around it
hey placed watchmen, in case the Achaeans with their fancy
hinguards should set on them before the end of the truce.
775
After they heaped up the barrow, they went back to the city.
Gathered together, they dined on a splendid meal
n the house of Zeus-nourished Priam, the king. In this way
hey held the funeral for Hector tamer of horses.

OceanofPDF.com
 goatskin fetish: The goatskin fetish (aegis) is variously the property of
Zeus, Apollo, and Athena. It is an object that inspires terror but also is
protective, as here.
horrid lust: Oddly, this is the only time that the Judgment of Paris is
referred to in the Iliad—if in fact it is referred to. According to the later
story, the goddess Eris (Strife) tossed in an apple at the wedding of Peleus
and Thetis, saying it was for the most beautiful goddess: Athena, Hera, or
Aphrodite. Paris served as judge and chose Aphrodite, for which Helen was
the prize. What this has to do with Poseidon is not clear; his enmity toward
Troy was explained in Book 21 as coming from Laomedon’s failure to pay
him and Apollo for building the walls of Troy.
without blemish: An animal that was in any way disfigured was not an
acceptable sacrifice.
help them out: How having respect for others can be hurtful to men is not
apparent.
Fates: The Fates appear only here as a group in the Iliad.
ever untrustworthy: The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was celebrated in
later Greek storytelling as the most glorious wedding ever. Hera’s kind
words about Thetis here disagree, however, with Hera’s bitter suspicions in
Book 1. According to the story popular later, Zeus took an interest in Thetis
but then learned of a prophecy that Thetis’ child would be greater than the
father. Zeus therefore quelled his interest, and Hera condemned Thetis to
unite with a mortal man. Of course Achilles was greater than Peleus.
ravenous fishes: The lead weight has been explained as being wrapped
around the line above a hook made of horn (or it is an artificial lure?) to
protect it from the fish’s bite; or, the lead weight may simply be a sinker.
more black: In mourning for the impending death of Achilles; the only time
in Homer that black is used as the color of mourning.
to Achilles: Apparently in the form of the treasure that will be offered for
Hector’s corpse.
his own hands: As a sign of mourning, but nothing is said later about
Priam’s defiled condition.
wicker box to it: Apparently a device made of wicker for holding cargo, tied
to the top of the wagon, but the word appears only here.
flight or escape: He did, however, run three times around the walls of Troy!
 … noble Agauos: In addition to well-known names (Helenos, Paris, Polites,
Deïphobos) are other sons only mentioned here and probably invented for
the occasion (Agathon, Pammon, Antiphonos, Agauos). A doublet of
Hippothoös is mentioned as a leader of the Pelasgians (Book 2), later killed
(Book 17).
sheep and kids: As delicacies in the party feast, to which Priam says his
sons are given. It was no disgrace to steal flocks from abroad, but it was
immoral to steal from your own people.
under the hook: A good example of Homer’s ability to do with language
what he wants: In the space of a few lines he uses six words that never
appear again in Greek literature and one word that is used just once 600
years later! The meaning of these terms for the wagon assembly is by no
means clear, and it is hard to understand Homer’s description, but it may
work like this: The wagon has four wheels and a detachable body. It has a
single shaft to which a yoke for two mules is bound by means of an
unexpectedly long cord (the “yoke-binding”). The yoke has the approximate
shape of an “M.” The yoke has a central “knob” on it, and there are hooks
on top on either side to guide the reins back from the animal’s head, over
the yoke, to the driver. A peg goes through the pole into the yoke to hold the
yoke and pole together, and a “ring” attached to the yoke is slipped over (or
through?) the peg to hold it. Then for greater strength the yokebinder is
wrapped around the pole and yoke. First it is wrapped around the pole on
either side of the “knob” on the yoke, then around the “knob” on the yoke
by a succession of turns. Then the end of the yoke-binding is tucked under a
“hook” (?) fastened to the pole. But all this is very obscure.
right hand: And thus a good omen.
Idaios: The Trojan herald has appeared earlier in Books 3 and 7.
you want: A polite way of saying that Hermes should be open to Zeus’s
suggestion that he accompany Priam.
tomb of Ilos: Mentioned as a landmark in Books 10 and 11.
on the earth: It is the evening of the thirty-eighth day of the poem.
even existed: A formulaic phrase expressing regret at how drastically things
have changed.
Argos: He means “Pelasgian Argos,” in Thessaly, not the Argos in the
Peloponnesus.
Automedon and Alkimos: These two aides, who have replaced Patroklos in
the role of server, also appeared together in Book 19.
palace: Of Priam’s fifty sons, twenty-two are mentioned by name in the
Iliad. Two died before the poem begins, eleven die during the course of the
poem, and the remaining nine are named earlier in this book.
Makar: A legendary colonist of Lesbos, also called Makaria after him.
of the gods: The origins of the story must come from a rock image carved
on Mount Sipylos, in LYDIA, northeast of SMYRNA, the water on its face
likened to the tears of Niobê (a daughter of Tantalos). Such an image has
been discovered: It is a Hittite carving of a mother goddess, probably
Cybele, c. 1300 BC. The famous river Acheloös is in AETOLIA in southeast
mainland Greece, but evidently there was another river of this name in
Lydia.
mockingly: Perhaps because Achilles suspects that Priam will use sleeping
outside under the portico as an opportunity to return to Troy, as in fact he
does.
by the wrist: A gesture of reassurance.
holy keepers of the gate: “holy” because of the seriousness of their role.
… the city-crier: Pergamos is the highest point of the city. Kassandra is
mentioned only once before, in Book 13, where one Othryoneus is said to
want to marry her, the most beautiful of Priam’s daughters. Homer says
nothing specific about Kassandra’s prophetic powers, an important part of
the later tradition, although her role as the crier of sad news may imply such
powers.
… his son: According to later tradition, Andromachê becomes the captive
and concubine of Neoptolemos, the son of Achilles. Astyanax, the son of
Hector and Andromachê, is thrown from the towers.

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 Bibliography

EDITIONS (TEXTS IN HOMERIC GREEK)

Demetrius Chalcondyles, editio princeps, Florence, 1488
W. Leaf, Iliad (London, 1886–1888; 2d ed. 1900–1902)
D. B. Monro and T. W. Allen, Homeri Opera (5 volumes, 2d ed., Oxford,
1912)
H. van Thiel, Homeri Ilias (Hildesheim, 1996)
M. L. West, Homeri Ilias, 2 volumes (Munich/Leipzig, 1998–2000)

SELECTED ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

ang, W. Leaf, E. Myers, The Iliad (London, 1883)
. Butler, The Iliad (London, 1898)
A. T. Murray, Homer: Iliad, 2 volumes (London, 1924); revised by William F.
Wyatt (Cambridge, MA, 1999)
. Lattimore, The Iliad (Chicago, 1951)
. Fitzgerald, The Iliad (New York, 1974)
. Fagles, The Iliad (New York, 1990)
. Lombardo, Iliad (Indianapolis, 1997)

GENERAL WORKS ON HOMER

A. Wolf, Prolegomena ad Homerum (Halle, 1795; English translation,
Princeton, NJ, 1985)
A. J. B. Wace and F. H. Stubbings, A Companion to Homer (London, 1962)
G. S. Kirk, The Songs of Homer (Cambridge, UK, 1962)
A. Heubeck, Die homerische Frage (Darmstadt, 1974)
Morris and B. B. Powell, A New Companion to Homer (Leiden, 1997)
 Latacz, Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery (Oxford,
2004)
. Fowler (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge, UK,
2004).
. B. Powell, Homer (2d ed., Malden/Oxford, 2007)
M. Finkelberg, The Homer Encyclopedia (Malden/Oxford, 2011)

INFLUENTIAL READINGS AND

INTERPRETATIONS
U. von Wilamowitz-Möllendorff, Die Ilias und Homer (Berlin, 1916)
. Auerbach, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature
(Princeton, NJ, 1953; orig. publ. in German, Bern, 1946), Chapter 1
T. Kakridis, Homeric Researches (London, 1949)
Griffin, Homer on Life and Death (Oxford, 1980)
. Schein, The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer’s Iliad (Berkeley,
1984)
M. W. Edwards, Homer, Poet of the Iliad (Baltimore, 1987)

COMMENTARIES
G. S. Kirk (gen. ed.), The Iliad: A Commentary (6 vols., Cambridge, 1985–
1993)
Latacz (gen. ed.), Homers Ilias. Gesamtkommentar. Auf der Grundlage der
Ausgabe von Ameis-Hentze- Cauer (1868–1913) (6 volumes published so
far of an estimated 15, Munich/Leipzig, 2002–)

TEXT AND TRANSMISSION

. W. Allen, Homer: The Origins and Transmission (Oxford, 1924)
A. Davison, “The Transmission of the Text,” in A. J. B. Wace and F. H.
Stubbings, A Companion to Homer (London, 1962), pp.215–233
M. L. West, Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad (Munich, 2001)
 HOMER AND ORAL TRADITION
A. B. Lord, The Singer of Tales (1960; 2d edition, Cambridge, MA, 2000)
M. Parry (intro. by A. Parry), The Making of Homeric Verse (Oxford, 1971)
G. S. Kirk, Homer and the Oral Tradition (Cambridge, UK, 1976)
. Bakker, Poetry in Speech: Orality and Homeric Discourse (Ithaca, NY,
1997)
M. Foley, Homer’s Traditional Art (University Park, PA, 1999)
. B. Powell, Writing and the Origins of Greek Literature (Cambridge, UK,
2003)

DATING THE HOMERIC POEMS

. Janko, Homer, Hesiod and the Hymns (Cambridge, UK, 1982)
. B. Powell, Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet (Cambridge, UK,
1991)

HOMER AND THE NEAR EAST

M. L. West, The East Face of Helicon (Oxford, 1997)
. Louden, The Iliad: Structure, Myth, and Meaning (Baltimore, 2006)

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 Credits
3 Ancient Art and Architecture Collection Ltd.
4 Photograph courtesy of Barry B. Powell
5 Photograph courtesy of Barry B. Powell
.1 Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy; from Pompeii, House of
Apollo; Scala / Art Resource, NY
.2 Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy; from Pompeii, House of
the Tragic Poet; Samuel Magal © Sites & Photos / Alamy
.1 Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
.2 National Maritime Museum, Haifa, Israel; Erich Lessing / Art Resource,
NY
.3 British Museum; Zev Radovan © www.BibleLandPictures.com/Alamy
.1 Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Tarquinia, Italy; Scala / Art Resource,
NY
.2 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France; Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art
Resource, NY
.1 National Archaeological Museum, Athens; Vanni / Art Resource, NY
.2 British Museum, London; Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
.1 Museo Archeologico, Naples, Italy; Scala / Art Resource, NY
.2 Museo Archeologico, Florence; Scala / Art Resource, NY
.3 Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples; Scala / Art Resource, NY
.1 National Archaeological Museum, Athens 2179
.2 Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Palazzo Jatta in Ruvo di Puglia (Bari)
.1 Musée du Louvre, Paris; © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
.1 Musée du Louvre, Paris; Bridgeman Art Library, London / SuperStock
.2 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria; Erich Lessing / Art
Resource, NY
.1 Staatliche Antikensammlungen , Munidh 8770
.2 Musée du Louvre; © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
0.1 Archaeological Museum, Nauplia, Greece; Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art
Archive at Art Resource, NY
0.2 © The Trustees of the British Museum
0.3 Museo Nazionale Archaeologico, Naples
1.1 © The Trustees of the British Museum
1.2 The Art Gallery Collection / Alamy
1.3 Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy; Scala / Art Resource,
NY
2.1 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria; Erich Lessing / Art
Resource, NY
2.2 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria; Erich Lessing / Art
Resource, NY
3.1 Bardo Museum, Tunis; World History Archive / Alamy
3.2 Norbert Schimmel Collection, New York
4.1 Museo Archeologico, Palermo, Sicily; Scala / Art Resource, NY
4.2 Vatican Museums 125, Rome
5.1 Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich 2307
5.2 Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich 3171
6.1 Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen, Berlin F2278
6.2 Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome; Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le
Attività culturali / Art Resource, NY
6.3 © The Trustees of the British Museum
7.1 © The Trustees of the British Museum
7.2 National Archaeological Museum, Athens; Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art
Archive at Art Resource, NY
8.1 Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels, Belgium; SEF / Art
Resource, NY Image
8.2 Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; France
8.3 © Sites & Photos / Alamy
9.1 René-Gabriel Ojéda; Musée du Louvre, Paris; Réunion des Musées
Nationaux
9.2 © The Trustees of the British Museum
9.3 National Archaeological Museum Athens; Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art
Archive at Art Resource, NY
0.1 Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Vatican Museums, Vatican 16571; Scala /
Art Resource, NY
0.2 Museo Archeologico, Ferrara, Italy; Scala / Art Resource, NY
1.1 NGS Image Collection / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY
1.2 Musée du Louvre, Paris; Giraudon
2.1 © The Trustees of the British Museum/ Art Resource, NY
2.2 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 63 473; William Francis Warden Fund
3.1 Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy © Universal Images
Group / SuperStock 1899-42103-N-X999
3.2 National Archaeological Museum Athens; Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art
Archive at Art Resource, NY
4.1 © The Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource, NY
4.2 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria; Erich Lessing / Art
Resource, NY

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 Pronunciation Glossary/Index
have included names that appear in the text together with a pronunciation
uide, except for names where the pronunciation is obvious. I give the
meaning of the names, where this is clear; many of the names in Homer are
speaking names,” that is, they reveal the role of the character in the narrative
nd, in many cases, appear to be made up for the occasion. The meaning of
many other names is opaque or unknown. I give the number of the Book in
which the name appears, together with the page numbers, or passim for
ommon names such as “Achilles” or “Agamemnon.”

A
Abantes (a-ban-tēz), Homer’s name for the Euboeans (Il. 2, 4) 77, 78, 123
Abioi (a-bi-oi), “devoid of violence,” a nomadic Scythian tribe (Il. 13) 302
Achaeans (a-kē-ans), a division of the Greek people, Homer’s word for the
Greeks at Troy (Il. 1–24) passim
Acheloös (ak-e-lō-us), a river in Sipylos south of Troy (Il. 21, 24) 483, 563
Achilles, the greatest warrior at Troy (Il. 1–24) passim
Admetos (ad-mē-tos), “invincible,” king of Pherai in Thessaly, son of Pheres,
husband of Alkestis, father of Eumelos, who led the contingent from Pherai
(Il. 2, 24) 84, 524, 527, 532
Adrasteia (a-dras-tē-a), the easternmost city of the Troad, which overlooked
the southwestern shore of the Propontis (Il. 2) 89
Adrastos, (1) leader of the Seven Against Thebes, father-in-law of Tydeus,
ruler of Sikyon (Il. 2) 78, 333; (2) a Trojan killed by Diomedes (Il. 2, 11)
89, 268; (3) a Trojan defeated by Menelaos, killed by Agamemnon, (Il. 6)
159; (4) a Trojan killed by Patroklos (Il. 16) 392
Aegina (e-jī-na), island in the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea, belonging to
the domain of Diomedes (Il. 2) 78, 89
Aeneas (ē-nē-as), son of Aphrodite and Anchises, greatest Trojan fighter after
Hector, descended from Tros, ancestor of the Roman people (Il. 1, 2 ,5, 6, 8,
9, 11–15, 17, 18, 21, 24) passim
Aeneid (ē-nē-id), poem by Vergil on founding of Rome, late first century BC,
20, 137, 318, 471
Aeschylus (ē-ski-lus, es-ki-lus) (525–456 BC), Athenian playwright, 21, 39
Aethiopians, “burnt-faced,” a people who dwell in a never-never land in the
extreme south, where Poseidon and Zeus sometimes visit (Il. 1) 55
Aetolia (e-tō-li-a), district north of the Corinthian Gulf, where were the cites
of Pleuron and Kalydon (Il. 2, 4, 5, 9, 20, 24, 25) 76, 82, 121, 126, 150,
155, 228, 230, 231, 453, 529, 535, 563
Aetolians, from southwest mainland Greece, came in forty ships under Thoas
(Il. 2, 5, 9, 23) 82, 155, 228, 230, 231, 535
Agamedê (a-ga-mē-dē), “very intelligent,” oldest daughter of Augeias, wife of
one Moulios killed by the young Nestor in the war between the Epeians and
the Pylians (Il. 11) 281
Agamemnon (a-ga-mem-non), son of Atreus, brother of Menelaos, leader of
Greek forces at Troy (Il. 1–14, 17–20, 24) passim
Agapenor (a-ga-pē-nor), “loving manliness,” leader of the Arcadians (Il. 2,
24) 80, 535
Agelaos (a-ge-lā-os), (1) Trojan killed by Diomedes (Il. 8) 202; (2) Achaean
killed by Hector (Il. 11) 267
Agenor (a-jē-nor), Trojan leader, son of Theano and Antenor, he makes first
kill on the Trojan side (Il. 4, 11, 12, 13) 123, 211, 259, 288
Agrios (ag-ri-os), brother Melos and Oineus, hence uncle of Tydeus and
Meleager, great uncle of Diomedes (Il. 14) 333
Aiakos (ē-a-kos), son of Zeus, father of Peleus, king of Aegina, judge in the
underworld (Il. 21) 483
Aigai (ē-jē), where Poseidon had his palace, probably in Achaea in the
northwestern Peloponnesus (Il. 1, 8, 13) 54, 199, 302
Aegeus (ē-jūs), father of Theseus, a king of Athens (Il. 1) 49
Aigialos (ē-jē-a-los), “seashore,” (1) the northern coast of the Peloponnesus
between Sicyon and Elis, part of Agamemnon’s realm, the same as the later
Achaea (Il. 2) 79; (2) a city of the Paphlagonians on the Black Sea (Il. 2) 80
Aisepos (ē-se-pos), (1) a Trojan, bastard son of Priam, killed with his twin
brother Pedasos (Il. 6) 158; (2) a river in the Troad (Il. 2, 4, 12) 89, 110, 286
Aisyetes (ēs-ye-tēz), (1) Trojan hero whose tomb was a landmark on the
Trojan plain (Il. 2) 88; (2) Trojan, father of Alkathoös (Il. 13) 317
Aithikes (ē-thi-kes), a Thessalian tribe (Il. 2) 85
Aithon (ē-thon), one of Hector’s horses (Il. 8) 198
Aithra (ē–thra), daughter of Pittheus, king of Troezen, handmaiden to Helen,
mother of Theseus, who had sex with Poseidon and her husband on the
same night; she became Helen’s slave when Helen was abducted from
Athens by the Dioskouroi (Il. 3) 96
Ajax, (1) son of Telamon, “Big Ajax,” half-brother to Teucer, ruler of Salamis;
(2) son of Oïleus, “Little Ajax,” ruler of the Locrians (Il. 1–18, 20, 23)
passim
Akamas (a-ka-mas), (1) Trojan, son of Agenor, leader of the Dardanians with
Aeneas (Il. 2, 11, 12, 14, 16) 89, 259, 288, 346, 382; (2) leader of the
Thracian allies from across the Hellespont (Il. 2, 5, 6) 90, 142, 158
Akrisios (a-kris-i-us), father of Danaë, killed accidentally by Perseus (Il. 14)
380
Aktorionê (ak-tor-i-ō-nē), (1) a dual form, the “twin sons of Aktor,” also
called the Molionê, really the sons of Poseidon (Il. 11, 23) 280, 536; (2)
their sons, leaders of the Epeians (Il. 2) 80
Alalkomenian, an obscure epithet of Athena, perhaps meaning “defender” (Il.
4, 6) 108, 157
Alastor, (1) a Trojan, father of Tros (Il. 20) 476; (2) a Lycian killed by
Odysseus (Il. 5) 149; (3) a Pylian, one of Nestor’s men (Il. 4, 8,13) 117,
204, 317
Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) 1, 6, 21, 38
Alexandria, city in Egypt founded by Alexander the Great 6–8, 18,10, 18
Alexandrian scholars, 8
Alexandros, “fighter-off of men,” another name for Paris (which see); the son
of Priam who brought Helen to Troy, named 44 times as Alexandros, 11
times as Paris (Il. 3–8, 11, 13, 22, 24) passim
Alkathoös, a prominent Trojan, son of Aisyetes, killed by Idomeneus 39; (Il.
12, 13) 288, 317, 318
Alkestis (al-kes-tis), “most beautiful of the daughters of Pelias,” wife of
Admetos, mother of Eumelos (a leader of the Thessalian contingent) (Il. 2)
84
Alkmaon (alk-mā-on), an Achaean, son of Thestor, killed by Sarpedon (Il. 12)
297, 299
Alkmenê (alk-mēn-ē), daughter of Elektryon, wife of Amphitryon, mother of
Herakles (Il. 14, 19) 340–341, 449–450
Alpheios, the largest river in the Peloponnesus and the god of this river (Il. 11)
281
Altes (al-tēz), king of the Leleges, lived in Pedasos near Mount Ida (Il. 21, 22)
480, 499
Althaia (al-thē-a), daughter of Thestios, wife of king Oineus of Kalydon,
mother of Meleager (Il. 9) 230
Alybê (al-i-bē), a place that is the origin of the Halizones (Il. 2) 90
Amazons, a race of warrior women, descendants of Ares (Il. 3, 6, 20) 99, 164,
466
Amphidamas (am-fi-dā-mas), (1) from Cythera, one of the previous owners of
the boar’s tusk helmet loaned to Odysseus for his night raid (Il. 10) 243; (2)
father of the playmate killed by Patroklos (Il. 23) 517
Amphimachos (am-fim-a-kos), (1) one of the four leaders of the Epeians (Il.
2, 11, 13) 90, 280, 309, 310, 325; (2) a leader of Trojan allies, the Carians
(Il. 2) 91
Amphion (am-fī-on), a leader of the Epeians (Il. 13) 325
Amphitryon (am-fit-ri-on), descendant of Perseus, husband of Alkmenê (Il. 5)
140
Amyklai (a-mē-klē), a town south of Sparta, included within the realm of
Menelaos (Il. 2) 79
Analysis, an approach to Homer that wishes to divide his texts into constituent
parts that once had an independent existence, 3, 9
Analyst, a scholar who wishes to identify the small parts of which Homer’s
poems are made, a follower of F. A. Wolf, 9, 10, 13
Anatolia, “sunrise,” the westernmost protrusion of Asia, modern Turkey,
synonymous with Asia Minor, 20 (Il. 5, 6, 13) 143, 165, 302, 316
Anchialos, “close-to-the-sea,” an Achaean killed by Hector (Il. 5) 146
Anchises (an-kī-sēz), (1) prince of Troy, lover of Aphrodite, father of Aeneas,
34; (Il. 2, 5, 12, 13, 17, 20, 23) 89, 134–136, 142, 288, 317, 318, 410, 415,
424, 465–468, 524; (2) an Achaean from Sicyon, father of Echepolos (Il.
23) 524
Andromachê (an-drom-a-kē), wife of Hector, mother of Astyanax, taken
captive by Neoptolemos at end of the Trojan War (Il. 6, 8, 17, 21–24) 27,
32, 158, 171–175, 198, 407, 418, 479, 511–513, 541, 566, 567
Ankaios (an-kē-os) (1) an Arcadian hero in the generation before the Trojan
War, father of Agapenor (Il. 2) 80; (2) an Aetolian from Pleuron beaten by
Nestor in the funeral games of Amarynkeus (Il. 23) 535
Anteia (an-tē-a), daughter of king of Lycia, wife of Proitos, fell in love with
Bellerophon (Il. 6) 163–164
Antenor (an-tē-nor), a Trojan elder (Il. 2–7, 11–12, 14–16, 19–21) passim
Anthedon (an-thē-don), a harbor town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Antilochos (an-til-o-kos), son of Nestor of Pylos (Il. 4, 13, 16, 18, 23) 117,
122, 145, 146, 159, 214, 305, 316–319, 321, 324, 365, 366, 381, 412, 417,
421, 425, 426, 453, 524, 526, 527–529, 532, 533, 524, 539, 540
Antron, a coastal town in Thessaly, in the kingdom of Protesilaos (Il. 2) 83
Anu (a-nū), Mesopotamian sky god, 139
oidos (a-oi-dos, pl. aoidoi), Greek word for such oral poets as Homer and
Hesiod (contrast with “rhapsode”) 11, 33, 36, 218, 493
Apaisos, a town in the Troad overlooking the Hellespont (Il. 2) 89
Aphareus (a-far-ūs), an Achaean, one of the seven men appointed by Nestor to
the night watch (Il. 9, 13) 214, 319, 321
Aphrodite, Greek goddess of sexual attraction, related to Inanna/Astartê/Ishtar,
equated with Roman Venus (Il. 2–6, 9, 11, 13–14, 16, 18–24) passim
Apisaon (a-pi-sā-on), a Trojan killed by Eurypylos (Il. 11, 17) 276, 411
Apollo, the second god to appear in the Iliad after Zeus, defender of Troy, son
of Zeus and Leto, brother of Artemis, an archer god whose arrows are those
of disease, protector and punisher of archers, connected with prophecy and
perhaps healing (Il. 1–2, 4–24) passim
Apsu, Mesopotamian god of the primordial waters, 37, 336
Arcadia (ar-kād-i-a), mountainous region in the central Peloponnesus (Il. 2, 5,
7, 15, 23) 79, 80, 145, 181, 364, 535
Archelochos, a Trojan, leader of the Dardanian contingent, killed by Big Ajax
(Il. 2, 12, 14) 89, 288, 346
Areïthoös (ar-e-ith-o-os), “swift in battle,” the “mace-man,” a warrior of
Nestor’s youth (Il. 7, 11) 177, 181, 476
Ares (ār-ēz), Greek god of war, 34; (Il. 1–24) passim
Argeïphontes (ar-jē-i-fon-tēz), “Argos-killer,” epithet of Hermes (Il. 2) 65
Argissa, a town in northeastern Thessaly, part of the Lapith contingent (Il. 2)
85
Argives, one of Homer’s names for the Greeks used indifferently with
Achaeans and Danaäns, passim
Argos, city in the Argive plain in the northeastern Peloponnesus (Il. 1–4, 6–9,
12–17, 19, 21, 23–24) passim
Ariadnê (ar-i-ad-nē), “very holy one,” Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and
Pasiphaë who helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur (Il. 6, 18) 162, 445
Arisbê, a town on the Hellespont on the bands of the Selleïs River (Il. 2, 6, 12,
21) 90, 158, 288, 479
risteia, “moment of greatness,” when a warrior kills many in splendid
display, 34, 263, 266, 267, 291, 310, 311, 335, 343, 417, 453
Aristophanes of Byzantium (c. 257–180 BC), Homeric scholar in Alexandria, 6
Aristotle (384–322 BC), Greek philosopher, 7, 21, 31
Arkesilaos, one of the five commanders of the Boeotians, killed by Hector at
the battle of the ships (Il. 2, 15) 76, 357, 358
Arnê, a town in Boeotia (Il. 2, 5, 7) 76, 128, 177
Artemis, virgin daughter of Zeus and Leto, sister of Apollo, goddess of
hunting and dancing, 33, 35; (Il. 3, 5–6, 9, 14, 16, 18–21, 24) 104, 128, 142,
166, 174, 228, 341, 377, 440, 448, 463, 464, 492–494, 563
Asinê (a-sē-nē), a town on the Argive plain controlled by Diomedes (Il. 2) 78
Asios, (1) a Trojan, brother of Hekabê, from Phrygia (Il. 16) 394; (2) a Trojan,
leader of allies from Arisbê on the Hellespont (Il. 12, 13) 288–290, 316–
319, 321, 324, 327, 328
Askalaphos (as-kal-ā-fos), “owl,” a son of Ares and one of the leaders of the
Orchomenos contingent, killed by Deïphobos (Il. 2, 9, 13, 15, 16) 77, 214,
319, 320, 350, 385
Askania, a region in northwest Asia Minor fielding a contingent of Phrygians
(Il. 2, 13) 91, 328
Asklepios, father of the physicians Machaon and Podaleirios, in Homer not a
god (Il. 2, 4, 11, 13, 14) 85, 115, 273, 274, 277, 313, 330
Asopos (ā-sō-pos), the largest river in Boeotia (Il. 4, 10) 120, 243
Aspledon (as-plē-don), a town in northeastern Boeotia, under the control of
Orchomenos (Il. 2) 77
Asteropaios, the ambidextrous leader of the Paeonians, killed by Achilles (Il.
12, 17, 21, 23) 288, 407, 411, 482, 483, 533, 541
Astyanax (as-tī-a-naks), “king of the city, “son of Hector and Andromachê,
known as Skamandrios to his parents (Il. 6, 22, 24) 172, 173, 513, 514, 567
Astyochê (as-tī-o-kē), “city-holder,” daughter of the king of Orchomenos,
mother by Ares to Askalaphos and Ialmenos, leaders of the Orchomenos
contingent (Il. 2, 15) 39, 77
Astyocheia (as-tī-o-kē-a), mother by Herakles of Tlepolemos (Il. 2) 82
tê (a-tā), “madness, delusion, blindness,” which clouds the minds of gods
and men 200, 212, 215, 227, 449
Atreus (ā-trūs), king of Mycenae, son of Pelops, brother of Thyestes, father of
Agamemnon and Menelaus (Il. 1–11, 13–14, 16–17, 19, 22–24) passim
Atymnios, a Trojan ally killed by Antilochos (Il. 5, 16) 145, 381
Augeiai (ow-jē-ē), two different towns, one in Locris, one in Lacedaemon (Il.
2) 79
Augeias (ow-jē-as), king of the Epeians in the days of Nestor’s father Neleus
(Homer does not mention the famous episode where Herakles cleaned his
stables) (Il. 11, 23) 280, 281, 535
Aulis (ow-lis), port in Boeotia from which the Trojan expedition set sail 4, 24;
(Il. 2, 9) 70, 76–77, 216
Autolykos (ow-tol-i-kos), “true wolf,” rogue and thief, son of Hermes, father
of Antikleia, grandfather of Odysseus (Il. 10) 243
Automedon (ow-tom-i-don), “self-ruler,” the charioteer of Patroklos and
Achilles (Il. 9, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24) 218–219, 376, 378, 380, 386, 392, 399,
413–417, 458, 459, 533, 558, 562, 564
Axios, a river in Paeonia and the god of that river (Il. 2, 16, 21, 23) 90, 380,
482, 533

aal (bā-al), “lord,” a Levantine storm god, 14

ellerophon (bel-ler-o-fon), Corinthian hero, grandson of Sisyphos, tamed
Pegasos and killed the Chimaira 8; (Il. 6, 7, 13, 16) 163–166, 182, 313, 381
ias (bi-as), (1) one of the five commanders from Pylos (Il. 4) 117; (2) an
Athenian warrior (Il. 13) 325, 326
oagrios (bo-ag-ri-os), a stream in Locris (Il. 2) 77
oeotia (bē-ō-sha), “cow-land,” region north of Attica where Thebes was
situated (Il. 2, 5, 7, 9, 12–19) passim
oibê (bē-bē), a city in Thessaly (Il. 2) 84
oros, (1) a Maeonian, father of Phaistos, whom Idomeneus kills (Il. 5) 128;
(2) a Myrmidon, who gave a lot of money to Peleus to marry his daughter
Polydora (Il. 16) 377
oudeion, a city over which Epeigeus, Patroklos’ friend, ruled (Il. 16) 389
ouprasion, a city in Elis where Amarynkeus was buried (Il. 2) 80
riareos (bri-ar-e-os), one of the Hecatonchires, the “Hundredhanders,” who
came to Zeus’s aid when other gods wished to bind him (Il. 1) 54
riseïs (brī-sē-is), Achilles’ war-captive, taken by Agamemnon, 27, 29; (Il. 1,
2, 19) 45, 46, 51, 52, 54, 67, 83, 173, 215, 457, 458, 459
ronze Age, c. 3000–1200 BC, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 77, 140, 169, 224, 257, 442
yzantium, Greek colony at the entrance to the Bosporus (= later
Constantinople), 6, 17

aduceus (ka-dū-se-us), a wand with two intertwined snakes, carried by

Hermes (Il. 16) 393
arians, Trojan allies from south of the Troad (Il. 2, 10) 91, 250
entaurs (sen-towrs), half-human, half-horse creatures (Il. 1, 2, 4, 11, 14, 16,
19) 49, 85, 86, 115, 164, 285, 289, 313, 341
halcis, “bronze,” “copper,” 4 (1) the principal settlement (with Eretria) on
the island of Euboea (Il. 2) 77; (2) a coastal settlement in Aetolia (Il. 2) 77
haris, “charm,” personification of that quality, the wife of Hephaistos (Il. 5,
18) 138, 436
harites (kar-i-tes), the Graces, imparters of feminine charm (Il. 5, 14) 138,
338
harops, (1) a Trojan killed by Odysseus (Il. 11) 271; (2) an Achaean, leader
of the troops from Symê (Il. 2) 83
heiron (kī-ron), “hand,” the wise Centaur, “the most just of the Centaurs” (Il.
4, 9, 11, 16, 19) 115, 226, 284, 285, 376, 458
himaira (ki-mēr-a), “she-goat,” offspring of Typhoeus and Echidna, with a
lion’s body, snake’s tail, and goat’s head protruding from the back, killed by
Bellerophon (Il. 6, 16) 164, 165, 381
hios (kē-os), Greek island near Asia Minor, often claimed as Homer’s
birthplace, 3 (Il. 2, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16) 83, 183, 184, 204, 310, 317, 325, 357,
358, 384
hryseïs (krī-sē-is), daughter of Chryses, given as booty to Agamemnon (Il. 1,
6, 9, 16, 23) 27, 45, 46, 50, 53–55, 173, 218, 376, 541
hryses (krī-sēz), father of Chryseïs, a priest of Apollo whom Agamemnon
insulted, 27, 28, 33; (Il. 1) 41–42, 44–45, 53, 55
hrysothemis (kri-so-the-mis), a daughter of Agamemnon and Klytaimnestra
(Il. 9) 216, 222
ilicia (si-lish-a), region in southeastern Asia Minor (Il. 6) 173
ilicians, the people of Eëtion, the father of Andromachê, who ruled in
Thebes under Plakos in the Troad (Il. 6) 173
orinth (kor-inth), city on isthmus between central Greece and the
Peloponnesus (Il. 2, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 23) 76, 78, 163, 225, 313, 324, 341,
344, 364, 535
 rete, largest island in the Aegean 4, 9, 19–21, 37; (Il. 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16,
17) 76, 82, 100, 101, 212, 243, 318, 325, 341, 390, 419
umae (kū-mē), site of earliest Greek colony in Italy, north of the bay of
Naples, 4
yclades (sik-la-dēz), “circle islands,” around Delos in the Aegean Sea (Il. 2)
66, 76, 83
yprus, large island in eastern Mediterranean, home of Aphrodite (Il. 5, 11)
138, 256
ythera (sith-e-ra), island south of the Peloponnesus, sometimes said to be the
birthplace of Aphrodite (Il. 10, 14, 15) 243, 341, 360
D
actylic hexameter, the meter of Homer, six feet per line 2, 15, 38, 278
Daidalos (dēd-a-los), Athenian craftsman who built a dancing place for
Ariadnê (Il. 18) 443, 445
Danaäns (dān-a-anz), descendants of Danaös, one of Homer’s name for the
Greeks along with Argives and Achaeans (Il. 1–24) passim
Danaë (dān-a-ē), daughter of Akrisios, mother of Perseus, whom Zeus
possessed (Il. 14) 340
Dardanelles (= Hellespont), straits between the Aegean Sea and the Propontis
(= Sea of Marmora) , 4 (Il. 6, 11) 158, 264
Dardanians, the inhabitants of Dardania, near Troy (Il. 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15,
17, 18) 89, 107, 188–190, 197, 198, 210, 266, 308, 360, 363, 406, 429
Dardanos (dar-da-nos), (1) early king of Troy, son of Zeus, father of
Erichthonios, grandfather of Tros, after whom the Trojans were called
Dardanians (Il. 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13, 20, 24) 89, 102, 132, 249, 262, 269, 315,
468, 471, 550, 555, 564; (2) a Trojan killed by Achilles (Il. 20), 476
Dares the Phrygian (ad fifth century?), alleged author of a book about the
Trojan War 127, 128, 132
Dark Ages of Greece, c. 1150–800 BC, 21
Deïopites (de-i-o-pi-tēz), a Trojan killed by Odysseus at the Battle over the
Wall (Il. 11) 271
Deïphobos (dē-if-o-bos), brother of Hector and Paris (who took up with Helen
after Paris’ death) (Il. 12, 13, 22, 24) 26, 288, 308, 312, 316–320, 322, 327,
328, 504, 506, 552
Deïpyros (de-ip-i-ros), an Achaean, a leader of the night watch, killed by
Helenos (Il. 9, 13) 214, 305, 319, 322
Delos (dē-los), “clear,” tiny island in the center of the Cyclades, where Apollo
and Artemis were born (Il. 14) 4, 341
Delphi (del-fī), sanctuary of Apollo at foot of Mount Parnassus (Il. 2, 6, 9, 17)
77, 174, 225, 410
Demeter (de-mēt-er), daughter of Kronos and Rhea, mother of Persephonê (Il.
2, 5, 13, 14, 21, 23) 77, 83, 143, 314, 340, 341, 480, 526
Deukalion (dū-kāl-i-on), (1) son of Minos, father of Idomeneus, king of Crete
(Il. 13) 313, 318; (2) an obscure Trojan killed by Achilles (Il. 20) 476
Diokles (dī-o-klēz), rich king of Messenian Pherai, whose sons Orsilochos
and Krethos were killed by Aeneas (Il. 5) 144, 145
Diomedê (dī-o-mē-dē), a daughter of the king of Lesbos, a war-captive and
concubine of Achilles (Il. 9) 233
Diomedes (dī-ō-mēd-ēz), son of Tydeus (who fought in the Seven Against
Thebes), a principal Greek warrior at Troy (Il. 2–23) passim
Dionê (dī-ō-nē), feminine form of “Zeus,” a consort of Zeus, mother of
Aphrodite (Il. 5) 139, 141
Dionysos, son of Zeus and Semelê, god of ritual ecstasy (never wine in the
Iliad) (Il. 6, 14) 162, 340, 341
Diores, (1) a leader of the Epeians (Il. 2) 80; (2) father of Automedon (Il. 17)
413, 415
Dioscuri (dī-os-kūr-ē), “sons of Zeus” and Leda, Kastor and Polydeukes (=
Roman Pollux), brothers of Helen (Il. 3) 96, 100
Dodona (do-dōn-a), site of oracular shrine of Zeus in northwestern Greece (Il.
2, 5, 16) 85, 139, 378, 379
Dolon (dō-lon), Trojan spy captured by Odysseus and Diomedes (Il. 10) 245–
251, 255
Dolops, (1) a tribe in Thessaly (Il. 9) 227; (2) a Trojan, cousin of Hector,
killed by Menelaos (Il. 15) 364, 365; (3) an Achaean killed by Hector (Il.
11) 267
Doulichion, one of the Ionian Islands (Il. 2, 5, 10, 11, 13, 15, 19, 23) 80, 129,
238, 280, 325, 364, 453, 535, 536

chepolos (e-ke-po-los), (1) a Trojan, the first casualty of the Iliad (Il. 4) 122,
123; (2) an Achaean, a rich resident of Sikyon who gave Agamemnon a
mare instead of going to the war (Il. 23) 524
ëtion (ē-et-i-on), (1) father of Andromachê 27, 39; (Il. 1, 9, 16, 23) 53, 218,
376, 541; (2) of Imbros, guest-friend of Priam, ransomed Lykaon (Il. 21)
 479, 480; (3) a Trojan (Il. 17) 418
ileithyia (ē-lē-thī-ya), “she who comes,” goddess of childbirth (Il. 11, 16, 19)
266, 377, 450
latos (el-a-tos), a Trojan killed by Agamemnon (Il. 6) 159
leon (el-e-on), one of the communities providing the Boeotian contingent in
the Catalog of Ships (Il. 10) 243
lephenor (el-ef-ē-nor), a leader of the Abantes from Euboea, killed by
Agenor in the first battle of the Iliad (Il. 2, 4) 77, 123
lis, a territory in the northwest Peloponnesus (Il. 2, 4, 5, 11, 13, 15, 17, 22,
23) 80, 126, 145, 277, 279, 280, 282, 309, 325, 364, 404, 423, 512, 535
lonê (el-ō-nē), a town in northeastern Thessaly, led by Lapiths (Il. 2) 85
mathia (e-math-i-a), “sandy,” the same as Macedonia (Il. 14) 336, 337
neti (en-e-tī), a Paphlagonian tribe, allies of Troy (Il. 2) 90
nkidu (en-ki-dū), Gilgamesh’s rival and companion, 25
nlil (en-lēl), “lord of wind,” Sumerian storm-god, 35
nnomos (en-no-mos), (1) an augur and leader of the Mysians (Il. 2) 90; (2) a
Trojan killed by Odysseus in the Battle at the Wall (Il. 11) 271
nopê (en-o-pē), one of the seven towns that Agamemnon offers Achilles if he
will return to the fight (Il. 9) 216, 222
nyalios (en-yal-i-os), a name for Ares (Il. 2, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 20, 22) 82,
138, 182, 202, 320, 407, 408, 434, 464, 501
nyo, a minor goddess of war (Il. 5) 138
peians, population of Elis, on the one hand (also called Eleians), and of
Doulichion and the Echinades Islands, on the other (Il. 10, 11, 13, 15, 23)
238, 279–281, 309, 325, 364, 535
peigeus (e-pē-jūs), a Myrmidon killed by Hector (Il. 16) 389
peios (e-pē-os), a boxer, builder of the Trojan Horse (Il. 23) 536, 537, 542
phialtes (ef-i-al-tēz), a giant who with his brother Otos imprisoned Ares in a
jar (Il. 5) 139, 140
phyra (e-fir-a), (1) another name for Corinth (Il. 6) 163, 166; (2) a city on the
Selleïs River in Thresprotia (Il. 2, 15) 82, 364
pic, a long poem on a heroic topic, 7, 9, 11, 12, 19, 21, 24
pidaurus (e-pi-dow-rus), city in the northeast Peloponnesus (Il. 2) 78
pigoni (e-pig-o-nē), “descendants,” sons of the Seven Against Thebes, led by
Alcmeon, whose attack was successful (Il. 4, 6) 121, 158
pistrophos (e-pis-tro-fos), “turning back,” (1) a son of Iphitos, leader of the
Phocians (Il. 2) 77; (2) among the Trojan forces, a leader of the Halizones
 (Il. 2) 90; (3) a Trojan, son of Euenos, killed by Achilles in the sack of
Lyrnessos (Il. 2) 83
rechtheus (e-rek-thūs), an early king of Athens (Il. 2) 78
reuthalion, an Arcadian killed by Nestor when Nestor was young (Il. 4, 7)
118, 181
richthonios (er-ik-thōn-i-os), “he of the earth,” ancient king of Troy, son of
Dardanos, father of Tros (Il. 2, 20) 89, 468
rinys (er-i-nis), or plural, Erinyes (er-in-yes), the underworld punisher(s) of
broken oaths; the fulfillers of a curse; also called the Furies (Il. 9, 19, 21)
230, 449, 490
riopis (er-i-ō-pis), wife of Oïleus, mother of Little Ajax (Il. 13, 15) 325, 357
ris, “strife,” sister and companion to Ares, who rouses men to battle (Il. 1, 3–
6, 8–24) passim
rythinoi (er-i-thēn-oi), one of the five towns of the Paphlagonians, probably
on the southern shore of the Black Sea (Il. 2) 90
rythrai (er-ith-rē), a town in southern Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
teokles (e-tē-o-klēz), son of Oedipus, killed brother Polyneikes in attack of
Seven Against Thebes (Il. 4) 120
teonos (e-te-ō-nos), city in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
uboea (yū-bē-a), long island east of Attica, site of vigorous Iron Age
community where the alphabet may have been invented; 3–5, 12, 14, 16,
24–25, (Il. 2, 4, 8, 9, 14) 76, 77, 123, 196, 233, 338
uchenor (yū-kēn-or), “praying man,” an Achaean, son of Polyidos (“much-
knowing”), killed by an arrow from Paris (Il. 13) 324
udoros (yū-dō-ros), one of the five captains of the Myrmidons led into battle
by Patroklos, a son of Hermes (Il. 16) 377, 385
uenos (yū-ē-nos), (1) king of Lyrnessos whose two sons Achilles killed (Il.
2) 83; an Aetolian, father of Marpessa, wooed by Apollo and Idas (Il. 9) 230
umelos (yū-mē-los), son of Admetos and Alkestis, led a contingent of
Thessalians (Il. 2, 23) 84, 87, 524, 526, 527, 529, 530, 532, 533, 535
uneos (yū-nē-os), “good with ships,” a king of Lemnos, son of Jason and
Hypsipylê (Il. 7) 191
uphorbos (yu-forb-os), a Trojan, first man to wound Patroklos (Il. 16, 17)
397, 398, 400–404
uripides (yū-rip-i-dēz) (480–406 BC), Athenian playwright 21; (Il. 6, 10)
162, 163, 235, 253
 uryalos (yū-rī-a-los), one of the commanders of the contingent from Argos,
with Diomedes and Sthenelos (Il. 2, 6, 23) 78, 158, 537
urybates (yū-rib-a-tēz), Odysseus’ herald (Il. 1, 2, 9) 51, 67, 217
urydamas (yū-rī-dā-mas), Trojan dream-interpreter killed by Diomedes (Il.
5) 131
urymedon (yū-rim-e-don), “wide ruling,” (1) Agamemnon’s charioteer (Il. 4)
116; (2) Nestor’s charioteer (Il. 8, 11) 196, 277
urynomê, daughter of Ocean, mother-in-law of Hephaistos who cared for
him when he was thrown from heaven (Il. 18) 437
urypylos (yū-rip-i-los), (1) a Thessalian leader, whom Patroklos attended to
when wounded (Il. 2, 5, 6, 7, 11, 15) 129, 159, 182, 202, 275, 276, 279,
283–286, 359, 371, 375; (2) legendary king of Kos (Il. 2) 83, 85
urystheus (yu-ris-thūs), cousin and tormentor of Herakles, great-grandson of
Zeus (Il. 8, 15, 19) 206, 367, 368, 450
urytos (yū-ri-tos), (1) a king of Oichalia, father of Iphitos, famous bowman
(Il. 2) 79, 84; (2) a leader of the Epeians (Il. 2) 80
utresis (yu-trā-sis), a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
vans, Sir Arthur (1851–1941), British archaeologist, 20

ates, see Moerae

ormula, a building block in the formation of oral verse 10–13, 24, 36, 85,
215, 262, 278, 557
G
Gaia (jē-a), the goddess Earth, consort of Ouranos, Sky (Il. 2, 20) 91, 473, 474
Ganymede (gan-i-mēd), son of Tros, beloved of Zeus, cupbearer of the gods
(Il. 2, 5, 20, 23) 89, 133, 135, 466, 468, 469, 526
Gargaros, the highest peak of Mt. Ida (Il. 8, 14, 15) 194, 340, 341, 351
eras (ger-as), “prize,” the outward and visible representation of a hero’s
honor (timê ), 26, 27, 30, 44
Gerenian (jer-ē-ni-an), obscure epithet applied to Nestor (Il. 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
14, 15) 118, 182, 195–197, 217, 238–241, 254, 274, 279, 285, 332, 368
Gilgamesh, Mesopotamian hero, 25
Glaukos (glow-kos), a co-leader of the Lycians, with Sarpedon (Il. 2, 5–8, 11–
17) passim
Glisas (gli-sas), a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Gorgon, terrifying head of Medusa (Il. 5, 6, 8, 11, 20, 24) 151, 165, 206, 258,
462, 559
Gorgythion, a son of Priam by a secondary wife, killed by Teucer (Il. 8) 203
Gortyn, city in south-central Crete (Il. 2) 82
Gouneus (gou-nūs), leader of peoples from around Dodona in northwest
Greece (Il. 2) 85
Graces, attendants of Aphrodite, imparters of feminine charm; see Charites (Il.
5, 14, 17, 18) 138, 338, 401, 426, 436, 437
Graia (grē-a), “old lady,” town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Gyrtonê (gir-tō-nē), a town in Thessaly led by the Lapiths (Il. 2) 85
H
Hades (hā-dēz), “unseen,” lord of the underworld, son of Kronos and Rhea (Il.
1, 3, 5–9, 11–16, 20–24) passim
Haimon (hē-mon), “skilled, eager,” (1) a Pylian of high rank, comrade of
Nestor (Il. 4) 117; (2) father of the only Theban to survive the ambush on
Tydeus in war of the Seven Against Thebes (Il. 4) 220; (3) a Myrmidon (Il.
17) 414
Haliartos, a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Halios, “of the sea,” a Lycian killed by Odysseus (Il. 5) 149
Halizones, a people of central Anatolia, allies of Troy (Il. 2, 5, 10) 76, 90, 128,
250
Harma, “chariot,” a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Harpalion, son of Pylaimenes, king of the Paphlagonians, killed by Meriones
and transported to Troy accompanied by his father Pylaimenes, who was
killed in an earlier book (Il. 13) 323, 324
Harpies, “snatchers,” wind-spirits; a harpy sired Achilles’ horses on West
Wind (Il. 16) 376
Hebê (hēb-ē), “youth,” married to Herakles on Olympos (Il. 4, 5) 108, 151,
157
Hector, greatest of the Trojan warriors, married to Andromachê, killed by
Achilles (Il. 1–24) passim
Hekabê (hek-a-bē), wife of Priam, queen of Troy, mother of Hector (Il. 6, 15,
16, 22, 23, 24) 169, 174, 355, 394, 500, 504, 510, 550, 553, 567
Hekamedê (hek-a-mē-dē), Nestor’s maid-servant (Il. 11, 14) 277, 330
Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, husband of Menelaos, lover of Paris (Il. 1–
9, 11–15, 19, 22–24) passim
Helenos (hel-e-nos), (1) Trojan prophet, brother of Hector (Il. 6, 7, 12, 24)
160, 174, 198, 288, 552; (2) an Achaean cut down by Hector (Il. 5) 150
Helikê (hel-i-kē), a town in the northeast Peloponnesus in the territory of
Agamemnon (Il. 2, 8, 20) 79, 199, 474
Helios, sun god (Il. 8, 14, 16, 19) 194, 209, 341, 395, 452, 455
Hellas, “land of the Hellenes,” at first a territory in southern Thessaly near
Phthia, later all of Greece (Il. 2, 9, 16) 77, 83, 224, 226, 227, 379, 389, 390
Hellenes (hel-ēnz), at first the inhabitants of Hellas, later all the Greeks, 26 (Il.
2, 16) 77, 83, 379
Hellenistic, referring to Greek culture between Alexander’s death in 323 BC
and the ascendancy of Rome in 30 BC, 21
Hellespont, straits between the Aegean Sea and the Propontis (Sea of
Marmora) (Il. 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24) 4, 90, 125, 179, 223,
268, 286, 288, 354, 365, 413, 430, 479, 515, 555, 561
Helos (hē-los), “marsh-meadow,” (1) a town in Lacedaemon on the sea (Il. 2)
79; (2) a town in Messenia (Il. 2) 79
Hephaistos (he-fēs-tos), Greek god of smiths, son of Zeus and Hera or Hera
alone (Il. 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 14–23) passim
Hera, “mistress(?),” daughter of Kronos and Rhea, wife and sister of Zeus (Il.
1–5, 7–21, 23, 24) passim
Herakles, son of Zeus and Alkmenê, the strongest man who ever lived (Il. 2, 4,
5, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20) passim
Hermes, “he of the stone heap,” son of Zeus and Maia, a trickster god who
presides over boundaries, a guide who leads Priam to Achilles’ tent at night
(Il. 2, 5, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 24) passim
Hermionê (her-mī-o-nē), a town on the Argive plain in the realm of Big Ajax
(Il. 2) 78
Hermos River, in Lydia, rises in Phrygia, flows into the sea near Smyrna (Il.
20) 474
Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), Greek historian 5, 21, 302, 324
Hesiod (hēs-i-od), Greek poet, eighth century BC, composer of Works and
Days and Theogony 15–17, 21, 54, 139, 157, 336, 338, 426, 436, 437, 517,
536
ieros gamos, “holy marriage,” ritual sexual union to enhance fertility, 341
Hiketaon (hik-e-tā-on), Trojan elder, brother of Priam (Il. 3, 15, 20) 96, 365,
366, 468
Hippodameia (hip-po-da-mē-a), “horse-tamer,” (1) wife of Peirithoös and
mother of Polypoites, who led a contingent of Thessalians (Il. 2) 85; (2)
daughter of Anchises, half-sister of Aeneas (Il. 13) 317, 319
Hippolochos (hip-pol-o-kos), (1) a Lycian son of Bellerophon, father of
Glaukos (Il. 6) 162, 163, 166, 177; (2) a Trojan killed by Agamemnon (Il.
11) 261, 262
Hippothoös (hip-o-tho-os), (1) a leader of the Pelasgians, killed by Big Ajax
(Il. 2, 17) 90, 407, 409, 410; (2) a son of Priam (Il. 24) 552
Hippotion (hip-pot-i-on), a Trojan warrior from Askania, killed by Meriones
(Il. 13, 14) 328, 347
Hirê (hir-ē), a town in Messenia promised to Achilles if he will return to the
fight (Il. 9) 216, 222
Histiaia (his-ti-ē-a), a city of the Abantes in northern Euboea (Il. 2) 77
Hittites (hit-ītz), Indo-European Bronze Age warrior people in central
Anatolia; their capital was Hattusas near modern Ankara, 23, 34
Homeric Hymns, c. seventh to fifth centuries BC, oral dictated texts
celebrating the gods, 3
Homeric Question, really “Homeric Investigation,” into the origin of Homer’s
texts, 5, 10
oplites (hop-lītz), “shield-bearers,” heavy-armed Greek warriors of Classical
Period 104, 124, 205, 298, 403
Hyades (hī-a-dēz), “rainers,” a star cluster (Il. 18) 440
Hyampolis, a town in Phocis (Il. 2) 77
Hydê (hī-dē), a prosperous Maeonian town at the foot of Mt. Tmolos (perhaps
Sardis) (Il. 20) 473, 474
Hylê (hī-lē), a town of uncertain location, perhaps in Boeotia (Il. 2, 5, 7) 76,
150, 184
Hyllos (hī-los), a river in Lydia, a tributary of the Hermos (Il. 20) 473, 474
Hypereia (hi-per-ē-a), “upper spring,” a spring in Thessaly and perhaps a
spring of the same name in the Peloponnesus (Il. 2, 6) 85, 174
Hyperenor (hi-per-ē-nor), a Trojan, son of Panthoös, killed by Menelaos (Il.
14, 17) 347, 400
Hyperion (hi-per-ion), “moving on high,” a Titan, father or epithet of Helios
(Il. 8, 19) 209, 458
Hypsenor (hip-sē-nor), “lofty man,” (1) Trojan priest of the Skamandros
River, killed by Eurypylos (Il. 5) 129; (2) an Achaean killed by Deïphobos;
though dead he “groaned” when carried away (Il. 13) 316, 318, 319
Hypsipylê (hip-sip-i-lē), queen of Lemnos, mother of Euneos by Jason (Il. 7)
191
Hyrminê (hir-mī-nē), an unidentified place in Elis (Il. 2) 80
almenos (i-al-me-nos), a son of Ares, co-leader of the contingent from
Orchomenos (Il. 2, 9, 16) 77, 214, 385
alysos (i-al-i-sos), city on Rhodes that sends troops under Tlepolemos, a son
of Herakles (Il. 2) 82
apetos (i-ap-e-tos), a Titan, father of Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Atlas (Il.
8) 209
asos (i-a-sos), a captain of the Athenians, killed by Aeneas (Il. 15) 357, 358
chor (i-kor), “undying,” the fluid in the veins of the gods (Il. 5) 138, 141
da (ī-da), Mount, a mountain near Troy (Il. 1–24) passim
daios (i-dē-os), (1) Priam’s herald (Il. 3, 7, 24) 100, 185, 554, 558; (2) son of
a priest of Hephaistos, who rescues him from Diomedes (Il. 5) 127
das (ī-das), brother of Lynceus, an Argonaut who competed with Apollo for
Marpessa (Il. 9) 230
domeneus (ī-dom-i-nūs), grandson of Minos, leader of the Cretan contingent
at Troy (Il. 1–23) passim
ioneus (il-ī-o-nūs), a Trojan killed at the Battle of the Ships (Il. 14) 346, 347
ion, another name for Troy (Il. 1–24) passim
os (ī-los), early king of Troy, son of Tros, grandfather of Priam; his tomb was
a landmark on the plain (Il. 2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24) 14, 28, 89,
135, 191, 249, 262, 269, 403, 468, 495, 531, 552, 555
mbrios, a Trojan killed at the Battle of the Ships by Teucer, then beheaded (Il.
13) 309, 310
mbros, island in the northeast Aegean (Il. 6, 13, 14, 17, 21, 24) 4, 162, 302,
303, 309, 338, 418, 479, 547, 567
nanna (in-an-a), Sumerian fertility goddess, related to Aphrodite, 34
olkos (ī-olk-us), city in southeastern Thessaly, home of Jason, at the head of
the Gulf of Pagasae (= modern Volo) (Il. 2) 84, 85
onia, the west coast of Asia Minor, 3–4, 14, 76, 91, 118, 325
onians, a division of the Greek people, 91, 325
phianassa (if-i-a-nas-a), “powerful queen,” one of Agamemnon’s three
daughters, offered in marriage to Achilles (Il. 9) 216, 222
phidamas (if-i-dā-mas), “mighty subduer,” a Trojan, reared in Thrace, killed
by Agamemnon (Il. 11) 264, 265
phiklos (if-i-klos), Thessalian father of Protesilaos, a fast runner (Il. 2, 13, 23)
84, 326, 535
phis (i-fis), Patroklos’ concubine captured by Achilles on Skyros (Il. 9) 233
 is (ī-ris), “rainbow,” messenger of Zeus (Il. 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 22,
23, 24) passim
shtar, Akkadian fertility goddess (= Sumerian Inanna), 34
haca, off the northwest coast of Greece, home of Odysseus, one of the Ionian
Islands 4; (Il. 2, 3, 4, 5, 13) 67, 76, 80, 99, 118, 120, 129, 325
homê (ith-ō-mē), city in northwestern Thessaly at the foot of the Pindus
range, its contingent led by Machaon and Podaleirios (Il. 2) 84
on (ī-ton), a city in Thessaly, its contingent led by Protesilaos (Il. 2, 4) 83,
125
xion (ik-sī-on), a Lapith king, father of the Centaurs, tried to rape Hera,
married to the woman (Dia) on whom Zeus fathered Peirithoös (Il. 13, 14)
313, 340, 341
K
Kadmos (kad-mos), “man of the East,” founder of Thebes, eponym of the
Kadmeians, the inhabitants of Thebes (Il. 23) 537
Kaineus (kē-nūs), a Lapith, one of the powerful warriors who destroyed the
Centaurs (Il. 2) 85
Kalchas (kal-kas), prophet of the Greek forces at Troy (Il. 1, 2, 11, 13) 28, 31,
43, 44, 70, 71, 303, 305, 306
Kallikolonê (kal-i-ko-lō-nē), “pleasant hill,” a landmark on the Trojan plain
(Il. 20) 463
Kalydon (kal-i-don), main city in Aetolia in southwestern mainland Greece,
home of Meleager, site of the Kalydonian Boar Hunt (Il. 2, 9, 13, 14) 82,
228–231, 310, 333
Kameiros (ka-mē-ros), one of the three cities on Rhodes that sent a contingent
under Tlepolemos (Il. 2, 11) 82, 258
Kapaneus (kap-a-nūs), one of the Seven Against Thebes, struck down by Zeus
as he climbed its walls, father of Sthenelos (Il. 2, 4, 5) 78, 120, 130, 134,
136
Kardamylê (kar-dam-i-lē), one of the seven cities promised to Achilles by
Agamemnon (Il. 9) 216, 222
Karpathos (kar-pā-thos), an island in the southeastern Aegean, its contingent
led by sons of Thessalos (Il. 2) 83
Karystos (kar-is-tos), a city of the Abantes on the southwestern coast of
Euboea (Il. 2) 77
Kasos (kā-sos), an island between Crete and Karpathos in the southwestern
Aegean Sea, part of the contingent of Kos (Il. 2) 83
Kassandra, beautiful daughter of Priam and Hekabê, a priestess of Apollo (Il.
24) 566
Kastor, see Dioscuri
Kaukones (kau-kō-nēz), two obscure groups fighting on the Trojan side (Il.
10, 20) 250, 472
Kaystrios (ka-is-tri-os), a river in Asia Minor, 4; (Il. 2) 75
Kebriones (keb-ri-ō-nēz), half-brother of Hector, one of his charioteers (Il. 8,
11, 12, 16) 204, 274, 288, 396
Keladon, “murmuring,” a river in Elis or Arcadia (Il. 7) 181
Kephallenians (kef-al-ēn-i-ans), the contingent of Odysseus, from the Ionian
Islands (Il. 2, 4) 80, 118
Kephisos, a river in Boeotia that flowed into Lake Copaïs (Il. 2) 77
Kerinthos, city of Abantes on the eastern shore of Euboea (Il. 2) 77
Killa, a town on the western coast of the Troad (Il. 1) 42, 55
Kinyras (kin-i-ras), “lyre-man(?),” a ruler on Cyprus who gave a corselet to
Agamemnon as a guest-gift when he heard that the Greeks were planning to
sail to Troy (Il. 11) 256
Kleitos (klē-tos), “famous,” a Trojan, charioteer of Poulydamas (Il. 15) 362
Kleonai (kle-ō-nē), a town between Corinth and Argos, in the realm of
Agamemnon (Il. 2) 78
Kleopatra, wife of Meleager, daughter of Idas and Marpessa (Il. 9) 220–231
leos, “fame,” what a warrior hopes to win through martial achievement, 26;
(Il. 11) 265
Klonios, one of the five captains of the Boeotians, killed by Agenor (Il. 2, 15)
76, 357
Klymenê (klī-me-nē), “famous,” (1) one of Helen’s maidservants (Il. 3) 96;
(2) one of the thirty-three Nereids who lament Patroklos (Il. 18) 426
Klytaimnestra, “famed for her suitors,” or “famed for her cunning,” daughter
of Tyndareos and Leda, sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon (Il. 1) 44
Knossos (knos-sos), principal Bronze Age settlement in Crete, where
labyrinthine ruins have been found, associated with Minos and Daidalos (Il.
2, 18) 82, 433
Koiranos, “ruler,” (1) a Lycian killed by Odysseus (Il. 5) 149; (2) a Cretan,
charioteer of Meriones, killed by Hector (Il. 17) 419
Koön, Trojan son of Antenor, killed by Agamemnon (Il. 11, 19) 265, 448
Kopreus (kop-rūs), “dungman,” herald of Eurystheus (Il. 15) 367
Koroneia (kor-o-nē-a), a city in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Kos (kōs), Greek island near Asia Minor, whose contingent was led by
grandsons of Herakles (Il. 14, 15) 337, 348
Kreon (krē-on), “ruler,” a king of Thebes, brother of Oedipus’ wife Epikastê,
father of Lykomedes (Il. 9, 19) 214, 453
Krisa (krē-sa), a city near Delphi (Il. 2) 77
Krokyleia (krok-i-lē-a), a location on or near Ithaca (Il. 2) 80
Kromna (krōm-na), one of the five cities of the Paphlagonians (Il. 2) 90
Kronos, child of Ouranos and Gaia, husband of Rhea, overthrown by his son
Zeus, who imprisoned him in Tartaros (Il. 15) 353
Kteatos (ktē-a-tos), an Epeian, one of the Aktorionê (or Molionê), sons of
Aktor (really Poseidon), later said with his brother Eurytos to be a Siamese
twin (Il. 2, 13) 80, 309
Kuretes (kur-ē-tēz), “young men,” an Aetolian tribe inhabiting Pleuron ten
miles west of Kalydon (Il. 9) 228, 230, 231
Kyllenê (ki-lēn-ē), mountain in Arcadia, where Hermes was born (Il. 15) 364
Kynos (kī-nos), apparently a seaport in Locris (Il. 2) 77
Kyparissos, a town of uncertain location, perhaps in Phocis (Il. 2) 77
Kypris, “the lady of Cyprus,” a name for Aphrodite (Il. 5) 138, 141, 142, 152,
156
Kytoros (ki-tō-ros), a city of the Paphlagonians on the southern shore of the
Black Sea (Il. 2) 90

acedaemon (las-e-dēm-on), the Eurotas furrow in the southern

Peloponnesus, bounded by Mt. Taygetos in the west and Mt. Parnes in the
east (Il. 2, 3) 79, 100, 105, 107
ampos, “shiner,” (1) Trojan elder (Il. 3) 96; (2) one of Hector’s horses (Il. 8)
198
aodameia (lā-o-da-mē-a), daughter of Bellerophon, mother of Sarpedon by
Zeus (Il. 6) 166
aodikê (lā-o-di-kē), (1) daughter of Priam and Hekabê, sister of Hector and
Paris (Il. 3, 6) 95, 167; (2) one of the daughters of Agamemnon offered to
Achilles in marriage (Il. 9) 216, 222
aodokos (lā-o-do-kos), (1) a Trojan son of Antenor (Il. 4) 110; (2) an
Achaean, charioteer to Antilochos (Il. 17) 421
aomedon (lā-om-e-don), early king of Troy, father of Priam; 34, 35 (Il. 2, 3,
5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 21, 23, 24) 89, 100, 135, 148, 149, 159, 191, 202, 210,
249, 256, 360, 364, 491, 526, 545
aothoê (lā-oth-o-ē), a secondary wife of Priam, mother of Polydoros and
Lykaon (Il. 21, 22) 480, 499
apiths (lap-iths), Thessalian tribe, led by Peirithoös, that defeated the
Centaurs (Il. 2, 3, 12, 23) 85, 86, 96, 289–291, 542
arisa, a place of uncertain location associated with the Trojan allies the
Pelasgians (Il. 2, 17) 90, 409
eïtos (lē-i-tos), one of the five captains of the Boeotians (Il. 2, 6, 13, 17) 76,
159, 305, 419
ekton, a promontory of Mt. Ida near the sea, where there was a temple to
Apollo Smintheus (Il. 14) 338
eleges (le-le-jēz), allies of the Trojans who lived in Lyrnessos and Pedasos
(Il. 10, 20, 21) 250, 464, 480
emnos, island in the northern Aegean, associated with Hephaistos, where
Philoktetes was abandoned (Il. 1, 2, 7, 8, 13, 14, 21, 23, 24) 59, 60, 84, 191,
200, 325, 337, 338, 479, 480, 539, 567
eonteus (le-on-tūs), with Polypoites leader of the Lapiths (Il. 2, 12, 23) 85,
289, 291, 542
esbos, island in the Aegean, near Troy (Il. 9, 13, 18, 24) 4, 216, 221, 233,
302, 437, 561
eto (lē-tō), mother of Apollo and Artemis, supporter of Troy (Il. 1, 2, 5, 13,
14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24) 21, 33, 35, 41, 42, 82,91, 142,
ikymnios, Herakles’ uncle, killed by Tlepolemos (Il. 2) 82
ilaia (li-lē-a), a Phocian city north of Mt. Parnassos (Il. 2) 77
indos, one of the three cities on Rhodes whose contingent was led by
Tlepolemos (Il. 2) 82
inos (lī-nus), a mythical musician (Il. 18) 443
ord, Albert B. (1912–1991), student and assistant to Milman Parry, author of
The Singer of Tales (1960), 11, 12
ycia (lish-a), region in southwest Anatolia, home to the Trojan hero Glaukos
(Il. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) passim
ydia, a region in western Anatolia centered on Sardis, 4; (Il. 2, 21, 24) 75,
483, 563
ykaon (li-kā-on), (1) a son of Priam killed by Achilles in the river (Il. 21)
479–481; (2) the father of the Trojan Pandaros (Il. 2, 5) 89, 130, 132, 135
ykomedes (li-ko-mē-dēz), a Boeotian warrior, one of the seven captains who
went to guard the Achaean wall (Il. 9, 12, 17) 214, 297, 411
 ykourgos (lī-kur-gos), “who keeps wolves at bay,” (1) Thracian king,
opposed Dionysos, eaten by horses (Il. 6) 162; (2) an Arcadian who killed
Areïthoös the mace-man in a narrow passage and took his armor according
to the reminiscences of Nestor (Il. 7) 181
yktos, city in central Crete, home of Meriones (Il. 2) 82
yrnessos, a city in the Troad sacked by Achilles (Il. 2, 19) 83, 448
M
Machaon (ma-kā-on), leader from Thessaly, son of Asklepios physician at
Troy, wounded by Paris (Il. 2, 4, 5, 11, 14, 16) 85, 115, 137, 273, 274, 276,
277, 279, 285, 330, 371
Maeonians, inhabited the territory around Mt. Tmolos (the Lydians of classical
times) (Il. 10) 250
Magnesia (mag-nēz-i-a), a territory in northern Greece around the Gulf of
Pagasae, whose capital was Iolcus (Il. 2) 85
Maion (mē-on), a Theban, son of Haimon (only survivor of the ambush on
Tydeus) (Il. 4) 120, 121
Maira (mē-ra), a Nereid (Il. 18) 426
Makar, the legendary colonizer of Lesbos (Il. 24) 561
Mantinea, city in southeast Arcadia (Il. 2) 80
Marpessa (mar-pes-a), beloved of Apollo and Idas, she chose Idas (Il. 9) 230
Mases (ma-sēz), a town on the Argive plain in the realm of Diomedes (Il. 2)
78
Medeon, a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Medesikastê (med-es-i-kas-tē), a daughter of Priam born to a concubine (Il.
13) 309
Medon (me-dōn), (1) half-brother of Little Ajax who replaced Philoktetes,
killed by Aeneas (Il. 13, 15) 302, 325, 357; (2) a Trojan (Il. 17) 407
Meges (me-jēz), leader of the contingent from Doulichion and a leader of the
mainland Epeians (Il. 2, 5, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 23) 80, 129, 238, 280,
325, 364, 365, 381, 453, 535
Mejedovich, Avdo (1875–1953), M. Parry’s best guslar, dictated a song as
long as the Odyssey, 37
Mekisteus (me-kis-tūs), (1) brother of Adrastos, competed at the funeral
games of Oedipus (Il. 2, 23) 78, 537; (2) an Achaean, carried out wounded
Teucer, killed by Poulydamas (Il. 8, 13, 15) 204, 317, 357, 358
Melas, an Aetolian, ancestor of Diomedes (Il. 14) 333
Meleager (mel-ē-ā-jer), “he who cares for the hunt,” Aetolian hero, brother of
Deianeira, killed Kalydonian Boar (Il. 2, 9) 82, 228, 230, 231
Meliboia (mel-i-bē-a), “caring for cows,” a town in Thessaly, part of the
contingent of Philoktetes (Il. 2) 84
Menelaos (men-e-lā-os), “supporter of the people,” king of Sparta, son of
Atreus, husband of Helen, brother of Agamemnon (Il. 1–23) passim
Menestheus (men-es-thūs), leader of Athenians at Troy (Il. 2, 12, 13, 15) 78,
296, 297, 300, 310, 325, 357, 358
Menesthios, a Boeotian killed by Paris (Il. 7) 177
Menoitios (men-ē-ti-os), son of Aktor, father of Patroklos (Il. 1, 9, 11, 12, 16–
24) passim
Mentes (men-tēz), a leader of the Ciconians in whose guise Apollo speaks to
Hector (Il. 17) 402
Mentor, “advisor,” a Trojan killed by Teucer (Il. 13) 309
Meriones (mer-i-ō-nēz), an archer, aide to Idomeneus, second in command of
the Cretan contingent (Il. 2, 4, 7–10, 13–23) passim
Merops, a Trojan seer from Perkotê who predicted death for his sons, who
were killed by Diomedes (Il. 2, 11) 89, 268
Mesopotamia, “land between the rivers,” the Euphrates and the Tigris; modern
Iraq 16, 20, 21, 25, 31, 33–36, 336
Messê (mes-sē), a city in Lacedaemon (Il. 2) 79
Mesthles (mes-thlēz), leader of the Maeonians (Il. 2, 17) 91, 407
Mestor (mēs-tor), a dead son of Priam (Il. 24) 552
Methonê (mē-thō-nē), a city on the west side of the Magnesian peninsula
subject to Philoktetes (Il. 2) 84
Mideia (mi-dē-a), a city in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Miletos, a cultural center in Ionia, inhabited by Carians (Il. 2) 82, 91
Minoans, Bronze Age inhabitants of Crete, 20, 21
Minos (mī-nos), Cretan king of Knossos, son of Zeus and Europa, husband of
Pasiphaë, judge in the underworld, 20; (Il. 13, 14) 313, 318, 340, 341
Minotaur (mīn-o-tar), “bull of Minos,” half-man, half-bull offspring of
Pasiphaë and a bull (Il. 18) 445
Minyans, inhabitants of Orchomenus (Il. 2) 77
Minyeïos (min-ye-i-os), an unknown river mentioned in Nestor’s
reminiscences (Il. 11) 281
Morys, a Trojan ally killed by Meriones (Il. 13) 328
Moulios, (1) an Epeian leader killed by the young Nestor (Il. 11) 281; (2) a
Trojan killed by Achilles (Il. 20) 476
Mouseion, “temple of the Muses,” in Alexandria, Egypt, 6
Muses, the inspirers of oral song, a personification of the oral tradition 6, 426,
443 (Il. 1, 2, 11, 14, 16, 18) 60, 75, 79, 264, 347, 374
Mycenae (mī-sē-nē), largest Bronze Age settlement in the Argive plain, home
of the house of Atreus (Il. 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18) passim
Mycenaean Age, between c. 1600 and 1150 BC, 21
Mydon (mī-dōn), (1) a Paphlagonian killed by Antilochos (Il. 5) 145, 146; (2)
a Paeonian killed by Achilles (Il. 21) 484
Mygdon, a Phrygian king who fought the Amazons (Il. 3) 97
Mykalê (mik-a-lē), a mountain ridge on the western coast of Asia Minor
opposite Samos (Il. 2) 76, 91
Mykalessos (mi-kal-es-sos), a town in northern Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Mynes (mi-nēz), king of Lyrnessos, killed by Achilles (Il. 2, 19) 83, 455
Myrmidons (mir-mi-dons), “ants,” followers of Achilles (Il. 1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 13,
16–24) passim
Myrsinos (mir-si-nos), the furthermost point of the territory of the Epeians (Il.
2) 80
Mysians, people from the territory to south and east of the Troad (Il. 2, 10, 13,
14, 24) 90, 250, 302, 347, 553
N
Naples, “new city,” a Greek colony in southern Italy 4, 278
Neleus (nē-lūs), son of Poseidon and Tyro, father of Nestor, founder of royal
house of Pylos (Il. 11) 274, 276, 280, 281
Neoptolemos (nē-op-tol-e-mos), “new-fighter,” son of Achilles (Il. 19) 456
Nereids (nē-re-idz), “daughters of Nereus,” nymphs of the sea (Il. 18) 426–
428, 430
Nestor, king of Pylos, garrulous septuagenarian Greek at Troy, who owned a
famous elaborate cup (Il. 1–19, 23) passim
Niobê (nī-o-bē), daughter of Tantalos, wife of Amphion, whose sons and
daughters were killed by Artemis and Apollo (Il. 24) 563
Nireus (nī-rūs), the most handsome man at Troy, from the small island of
Symê near Kos (Il. 2) 83
Nisa (nī-sa), city in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Nisyros (ni-si-ros), a small island near Kos (Il. 2) 83
Noëmon (no-ē-mon), “thoughtful,” (1) a Lycian killed by Odysseus (Il. 5)
149; (2) an Achaean comrade of Antilochos (Il. 23) 534
ymphs, “young women,” spirits of nature (Il. 6, 14, 24) 173, 345, 563
Nysa (nī-sa), mythical land that received the infant Dionysos (Il. 6) 162
O
Oedipus (ē-di-pus, or e-di-pus), “swellfoot,” son of Laios and Jocasta, buried
at Thebes (Il. 23) 537
Oichalia (ē-kāl-i-a), a city in northwest Thessaly, home of the bowman
Eurytos (Il. 2) 79, 84
Oïleus (o-ī-lūs) (1) father of Little Ajax, king of Locris (Il. 2, 13) 77, 84, 260;
(2) a Trojan killed by Agamemnon (Il. 11) 202
Oineus (ē-nūs), “wine-man,” king of Kalydon in southwest mainland Greece
two generations before the Trojan War, father of Meleager, Tydeus, and
Deianeira, grandfather of Diomedes (Il. 6, 9, 14) 166, 228, 321
Oinomaos (ē-nō-mā-os), (1) an Aetolian, killed by Hector (Il. 5) 150; (2) a
Trojan killed by Idomeneus (Il. 12, 13) 289, 319
Oitylos (ē-ti-los), a town in Lacedaemon (Il. 2) 79
Okalea (ō-kal-e-a), a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
Ocean, a Titan, husband of Tethys, the river that encircles the earth (Il. 5, 16,
18) 127, 376, 440
Olenos (ō-le-nos), a town in Aetolia near Pleuron (Il. 2) 82
Olizon (ol-i-zon), town in Magnesia in the realm of Philoktetes (Il. 2) 84
Olympos, the highest mountain in Greece, in northern Thessaly, home of the
gods (Il. 1–24) passim
Onchestos, town in Boeotia with a shrine to Poseidon (Il. 2) 76
Onetor (o-nē-tor), “beneficial,” Trojan priest of Idaean Zeus (Il. 16) 390
Ophelestes (of-el-es-tēz), (1) Trojan killed by Teucer (Il. 8) 202; (2) a
Paeonian killed by Achilles (Il. 21) 484
Opheltios, (1) Trojan killed by Euryalos (Il. 6) 158; (2) an Achaean killed by
Hector (Il. 11) 267
Opoeis (op-o-ēs), principal city in Locris, birthplace of Patroklos (Il. 18) 435
Orchomenos (or-kom-en-os), major Bronze Age site in northern Boeotia (Il.
2) 77, 79
Orestes (or-es-tēz), son of Agamemnon and Klytaimnestra (Il. 9) 216
Orion (ō-rī-on), a hunter, lover of Dawn, turned into a constellation (Il. 18)
440
Orsilochos (or-sil-o-kos), “well-skilled in all ways of battle,” (1) a Messenian
killed by Aeneas (Il. 5) 144, 145; (2) a Trojan killed by Teucer (Il. 8) 202
Ortilochos (or-til-o-kos), chieftain of Pherai in Messenia (Il. 5) 145
Othryoneus (oth-rī-o-nūs), Trojan ally killed by Idomeneus (Il. 13) 315, 328
Otos (ō-tos), (1) with his brother Ephialtes imprisoned Ares in a jar (Il. 5) 139;
(2) an Epeian leader killed by Poulydamas (Il. 15) 364
Oukalegon (ou-ka-le-gon), “not-caring,” one of the Trojan elders (Il. 3) 96
Ouranos (ou-ra-nos), “sky,” consort of Gaia/Earth,” castrated by his son
Kronos (Il. 5) 139, 157

aiëon (pē-ē-on), Greek god of healing, not yet equated with Apollo (Il. 5)
140, 157
aeonians, a northern Aegean tribe, allies of the Trojans (Il. 2, 10, 12, 16, 21)
90, 250, 288, 380, 482, 483
alamedes (pal-a-mēd-ēz), son of Nauplius, clever enemy of Odysseus in
postHomeric tradition, perhaps the name of the inventor of the Greek
alphabet, 14–16
allas (pal-as), an epithet for Athena (Il. 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 15, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23)
passim
ammon, a son of Priam (Il. 24) 552
anathenaic (pan-ath-en-ē-ik) Festival, annual festival to Athena at Athens
where the Iliad and the Odyssey were performed, 9
anopeus, (1) a town in Phocis (Il. 2, 17) 77, 410; (2) an Achaean, father of
Epeios (the builder of the Trojan Horse) (Il. 23) 536
anthoös, “all-swift,” a Trojan elder, father of Poulydamas (Il. 3, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18) 96, 327, 345, 362, 364, 388, 397, 400–402, 433
aphlagonians, a people of northern Asia Minor, allies of the Trojans (Il. 2, 10,
13) 90, 250, 324
aphos (pāf-os), city in Cyprus, sacred to Aphrodite (Il. 5) 138
aris, son of Priam and Hekabê, lover of Helen; see also Alexandros (Il. 1–24)
passim
arrhasia (par-ras-i-a), district of Arcadia (Il. 2) 80
arry, Milman (1902–1935), American classicist, creator of the oral-formulaic
theory of Homeric composition, 10–14, 37–38
arthenios, a river in Paphlagonia (Il. 2) 90
atroklos (pa-trok-los), son of Menoitios, Achilles’ best friend, killed by
Hector (Il. 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15–24) passim
edasos (pē-da-sos), (1) a Trojan killed by Diomedes (Il. 6) 158, 173; (2) a
horse that Achilles stole from Thebes, killed in battle (Il. 16) 376, 386; (3) a
town near Mt. Ida (Il. 6, 20, 21) 159, 464, 480; (4) one of the towns that
Agamemnon offers to Achilles (Il. 9) 216, 222
eiraios (pē-rē-os), Achaean grandfather of Agamemnon’s charioteer
Eurymedon (Il. 4) 116
eirithoös (pē-rith-o-os), son of Zeus by Ixion’s wife, king of the Lapiths, foe
of the Centaurs, friend of Theseus (Il. 1, 14) 49, 340, 341
eiroös (pē-ro-os), a Thracian killed by Achilles (Il. 2, 4) 90, 125, 126
eisenor (pē-sē-nor), a Trojan killed by Teucer (Il. 15) 362
elagon (pe-la-gon), (1) a Pylian, one of the commanders of Nestor’s forces
(Il. 4) 117; (2) a Lycian friend of Sarpedon (Il. 5) 150
elasgians, “peoples of the sea,” allies of the Trojans (Il. 2) 90
elegon (pē-le-gon), Paeonian father of the ambidextrous Asteropaios (Il. 21)
482
eleus (pē-lūs), grandson of Zeus, son of Aiakos, husband of Thetis, father of
Achilles (Il. 1, 2, 4, 7–11, 13, 15–24) passim
elias (pel-i-as), son of Poseidon and Tyro, twin of Neleus, father of Alkestis
(Il. 2) 84
elion, coastal mountain on the Magnesian peninsula in southeastern Thessaly
near Iolcus, abode of the Centaurs (Il. 2, 5, 16, 19) 85, 140, 376, 458
eloponnesus (pel-o-po-nē-sus), “island of Pelops,” the southern portion of
mainland Greece linked to the north by the narrow Isthmus of Corinth (Il. 1,
2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24) passim
elops (pē-lops), son of Tantalos, father of Atreus and Thyestes, grandfather
of Agamemnon and Menelaos, eponymous hero of the Peloponessus (Il. 2)
65
eneios (pe-nē-os), a river in Thessaly that rises in the Pindos and enters the
Aegean between Ossa and Olympos (Il. 2) 85
eneleos (pē-nel-e-os), an Achaean leader of the Boeotians (Il. 13, 14, 16, 17,
18) 305, 346, 347, 382, 418, 419, 433
ergamos, “tower,” the highest point of the citadel of Troy where there was a
temple to Apollo (Il. 4, 5, 6, 7, 24) 125, 142, 176, 177, 566
eriboia (per-i-bē-a), Thracian grandmother of the ambidextrous Asteropaios
(Il. 21) 482
erimedes (per-i-mē-dēz), father of a leader of the Phocians (Il. 15) 364
eriphas (per-i-fas), (1) an Aetolian killed by Ares (Il. 5) 155; (2) a Trojan
whose form Apollo took to urge Aeneas to fight (Il. 17) 410
eriphetes (per-i-fē-tēz), (1) probably a Mysian, killed by Teucer (Il. 14) 347;
(2) Mycenaean son of Kopreus, killed by Hector (Il. 15) 367, 368
erkotê (per-kō-tē), a city on the Hellespont (Il. 2, 11, 15) 89, 90, 264, 268,
365
ersephonê (per-sef-o-nē), daughter of Demeter, wife of Hades (Il. 9) 226
erseus (per-sūs), “destroyer(?),” son of Zeus and Danaë, founded Mycenae
(Il. 14, 19) 340, 450
eteos (pet-e-ōs), father of the Athenian leader Menestheus (Il. 2, 4, 12, 13)
78, 118, 119, 296, 325
hainops (fī-nops), (1) Trojan father of two sons killed by Diomedes (Il. 5)
131; (2) Trojan whose form Apollo takes to exhort Hector (Il. 17) 418; (3)
Phrygian victim of Big Ajax (Il. 17) 410
haistos (fes-tos), city in south central Crete (Il. 2) 82
halkes (fal-kēz), a Phrygian killed by Antilochos (Il. 13, 14) 328, 347
herai (fer-ē), (1) in Messenia, one of the towns that Agamemnon offers to
Achilles (Il. 9) 216; (2) in Thessaly, a city whose contingent was led by
Eumelos, son of Admetos and Alkestis (Il. 2) 84
hereklos (fer-e-klos), a Trojan, killed by Meriones, who built the ship that
carried Helen from Sparta (Il. 5) 129
hiloktetes (fi-lok-tēt-ēz), inherited the bow of Herakles, bit by a serpent and
abandoned on Lemnos, killer of Paris according to later tradition (Il. 2) 84
hlegyes (fleg-yēz), a mysterious warlike tribe mentioned in a simile (Il. 13)
313
hocis (fō-sis), region in central Greece where Delphi is located (Il. 2) 76
hoenicians, “red-men,” from the dye that stained their hands, a Semitic
seafaring people living on the coast of the northern Levant, 14; (Il. 23) 539
hoinix (fē-niks), (1) tutor to Achilles (Il. 9, 16, 17, 19) 217, 219, 225, 226,
231, 234, 377, 417, 456; (2) king of Tyre, father to Europa (Il. 14) 340, 341
horbas, “fodder,” (1) a king in Lesbos, father of Achilles’ concubine
Diomedê (Il. 9) 233; (2) a Trojan killed by Peneleos (Il. 14) 346
horkys (for-kis), a Phrygian killed by Big Ajax (Il. 2, 17) 91, 407, 409, 410
hrontis, Trojan wife of Panthoös (Il. 17) 401
hrygia (frij-a), region in Asia Minor east of the Troad (Il. 3, 10, 16, 18, 24)
97, 105, 106, 250,394, 434, 561
hrygians, Anatolian allies of the Trojans (Il. 2, 3, 10) 91, 97, 250
hthia (thī-a), region in southern Thessaly, home of Achilles (Il. 1, 2, 7, 9, 11,
13, 15, 16, 19, 23) passim
hthires (thir-ēz), a mountain near Miletos (Il. 2) 91
hylakê (fil-a-kē), a city in Thessaly, homeland of Protesilaos (Il. 2, 13, 15)
83, 84, 325, 326, 357
hylakos (fil-a-kos), (1) Thessalian father of Iphiklos, grandfather of
Protesilaos (Il. 13) 326; (2) a Trojan killed by Leïtos (Il. 6) 159
hyleus (fil-ūs), father of Meges the leader of the Epeians (Il. 2, 10, 11, 13,
15, 16, 19, 23) 80, 238, 240, 280, 325, 364, 381, 453, 535
ieria (pi-er-i-a), “fat,” region in Thessaly near Mt. Olympos, home of the
Muses, where the gods land when coming down from Olympos (Il. 2, 14)
87, 336, 337
eisistratos (pi-sis-tra-tus) (sixth century BC–527 BC), tyrant of Athens, 9
ittheus (pit-thūs), king of Troezen, host to Aegeus, father of Aithra (Il. 3) 96
ityeia (pit-yē-a), a town in the Troad (Il. 2) 89
lakos (plā-kos), a mountain in the Troad (Il. 6) 173, 174
lataia (pla-tē-a), a town in southern Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
lato (428–348 BC), Greek philosopher, 7, 17, 21
leuron (plu-rōn), a town in Aetolia, part of the contingent of Thoas (Il. 2, 9,
13, 14, 23) 82, 228, 310, 333, 535
odaleirios (pod-a-lēr-i-os), son of Asklepios, brother of the physician
Machaon (Il. 2, 11) 84, 273, 285
odargos (pod-arg-os), “whitefoot,” or “fleetfoot,” (1) one of Hector’s horses
(Il. 8) 198; (2) one of the horses of Menelaos in the chariot race (Il. 23) 524
odarkes (pod-ark-ēz), “swift-foot,” Thessalian brother of Protesilaos (Il. 2,
13, 20, 23) 84, 325, 326, 466, 535
odes (pōd-ēz), Trojan killed by Menelaos (Il. 17) 418
olites (pol-ī-tēz), a son of Priam, carried Deïphobos from battle (Il. 2, 13, 15,
24) 88, 320, 357, 552
olydora, “of many gifts,” daughter of Peleus, mother of Menesthios (a leader
of the Myrmidons) (Il. 16) 377
olydoros, (1) an Epeian defeated by Nestor in the funeral games of
Amarynkeus (Il. 23) 535, 536; (2) the youngest son of Priam, killed by
Achilles (Il. 20) 474
olyktor, “much-possessing,” alleged father of the Myrmidon impersonated
by Hermes when he appears to Priam (Il. 24) 556
olypoites (pol-i-pē-tēz), a Lapith, son of Peirithoös, leader of the Thessalians
(Il. 2, 12, 23) 85, 289, 291, 542
olyxeinos (pol-ik-sēn-os), grandson of Augeias, one of the four leaders of the
Epeians (Il. 2) 80
orson, Richard (1759–1808), British classical scholar, 17, 18
ortheus (por-thūs), “sacker,” ancient Aetolian king of Kalydon, grandfather
of Tydeus, greatgrandfather of Diomedes (Il. 14) 333
oseidon (po-sīd-on), son of Kronos and Rhea, god of the sea (Il. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8,
11–15, 17, 19–21, 23, 24) passim
oulydamas (po-li-dā-mas), prominent Trojan fighter who repeatedly warns
Hector against rash action (Il. 11–18, 22) passim
raktios, a river near Abydos in the Hellespont (Il. 2) 90
riam (prī-am), king of Troy, son of Laomedon, husband of Hekabê, father of
Hector and Paris (Il. 1–24) passim
roitos (prē-tos), king of Tiryns, whose wife Anteia attempted to seduce
Bellerophon (Il. 6) 163, 164
romachos (prom-a-kos), “fighting in front,” a Boeotian, killed by Akamas at
the Battle at the Ships (Il. 14) 346, 347
ropontis (prō-pon-tis), sea between the Aegean and the Black Sea (= Sea of
Marmara) (Il. 13) 302
rotesilaos (pro-tes-i-lā-os), son of Iphiklos, ruler of Phylakê in Thessaly, first
man to die at Troy (Il. 2, 13, 15, 16) 83, 84, 325, 326, 369, 380
rothoös (pro-tho-os), “running forward,” an Achaean, leader of the
Magnesians (Il. 2) 83, 84
tolemies, Macedonian/Greek dynasty who ruled Egypt from 334 to 30 BC, 6
ylaimenes (pi-lē-me-nēz), “standing fast at the gate,” leader of the
Paphlagonians , killed by Menelaos (Il. 2, 5) 90, 145, then alive to
accompany his dead son Harpalion into Troy (Il. 13) 323, 324
ylartes (pi-lar-tēz), “gate-fastener,” (1) a Trojan killed by Ajax (Il. 11) 273
(2) a Trojan killed by Patroklos (Il. 16) 392
ylos (pī-los), Bronze Age settlement in the southwest Peloponnesus,
kingdom of Nestor where important archaeological remains have been
found (Il. 1, 2, 4–13, 15–17, 21, 23, 24) passim
yraichmes (pir-ēk-mēz), “fire-spear,” leader of Paeonians, killed by
Patroklos (Il. 2, 16) 90, 380
yrasos (pir-ā-sos), a city in Thessaly in the contingent of Protesilaos (Il. 2,
11) 83, 273
 ytho, Homer’s name for Delphi (Il. 2, 9) 77, 225
R
hadamanthys (rad-a-man-this), brother of Minos, judge in the underworld
(Il. 14) 340, 341
hapsode, “staff-singer,” performer who memorized written poetry, especially
Homer (contrast with aoidoi), 9
hea (rē-a), a Titaness, wife of Kronos (Il. 6, 12, 14, 15) 173, 287, 336, 352
hesos, (1) a Thracian ally of Troy (Il. 10) 250–254; (2) a river in the Troad
(Il. 12) 286
hipê (rip-ē), a town in Arcadia (Il. 2) 80
hodes (rōdz), Aegean island near southwestern tip of Asia Minor, whose
contingent was led by Tlepolemos, son of Herakles, killed by Sarpedon (Il.
2) 82, 83
hytion (rit-i-on), a city in south central Crete (Il. 2) 82

alamis (sal-a-mis), island near the port of Athens (Il. 2, 7) 78, 183
amothrace, island in the north Aegean, 4, 6, 8; (Il. 12, 24) 302, 547, 567
angarius, river in northeast Asia Minor, flowing through Phrygia to the Black
Sea (Il. 3) 97
arpedon (sar-pēd-on), son of Zeus, Lycian prince, ally of Troy, killed by
Patroklos, 32; (Il. 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23) passim
atnioeis (sat-ni-o-ēs), a river in the Troad (Il. 6, 14, 21) 159, 345, 480
caean (skē-an) Gates, “left” or “western” gates, the principal gate at Troy (Il.
3, 6, 9, 11, 16, 18, 22) 96, 100, 167, 169, 173, 174, 223, 262, 394, 397, 438,
498, 503, 509
chedios, (1) son of Iphitos, leader of the Phocians, killed by Hector (Il. 2, 17)
77, 410; (2) son of Perimedes, another leader of the Phocians, killed by
Hector (Il. 15) 364
chliemann, Heinrich (1822–1890), German archaeologist, 21–23
choinos (skē-nos), a town in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
cholia, “little lesson,” marginal notations in literary texts that explicate points
of interest, 8
elloi, interpreters of the oracle of Zeus at Dodona (Il. 16) 378, 379
êmata lugra, “ruinous signs,” inscribed on a tablet given to Bellerophon, the
only reference to writing in Homer, 8
emelê (sem-e-lē), daughter of Kadmos and Harmonia, beloved by Zeus,
mother to Dionysos, destroyed by lightning (Il. 14) 340
emites, “descendants of Shem,” a son of Noah, peoples of the Near East
speaking a language with triconsonantal roots, including Assyrians,
Babylonians, Hebrews, Phoenicians 14, 169
estos, a city opposite Abydos on the Hellespont (Il. 2) 90
hame culture, where social sanctions are external, 30
idon (sī-don), Phoenician city in the Levant, 4, 14; (Il. 6, 23) 168, 169, 539
idonians, a Homeric word for the Phoenicians (Il. 6, 23) 169, 539
mile, when one thing is said to be like another, 4, 17, 25, 37, 94, 143, 212,
252, 259, 261, 267, 275, 290, 356
imoeis (sim-o-ēs), a river in the Troad (Il. 4, 5, 6) 123, 152, 158
intians, early inhabitants of the island of Lemnos who took care of
Hephaistos when he was thrown from heaven (Il. 1, 18) 60, 437
ipylos (sip-i-los), mountain in Asia Minor, where Niobê was turned to stone
(Il. 24) 563
isyphos (sis-i-fos), son of Aiolos, punished in the underworld (Il. 6) 163
kamandrios, (1) an alternate name for Astyanax (Il. 6) 173; (2) a Trojan
killed by Menelaos (Il. 5) 128
kamandros, the main river in the Troad, called Xanthos by the gods (Il. 2–22)
passim
kolos (skō-los), a village in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
kyros (skir-os), island west of Euboea where Neoptolemos was raised (Il. 9,
19) 233, 456
mintheus, “mouse-god(?)” an epithet of Apollo, 33; (Il. 1) 42
okos, a Trojan killed by Odysseus, whom Sokos wounded (Il. 11) 271, 272
olymi (sol-i-mē), a tribe of warriors in Lycia defeated by Bellerophon (Il. 6)
164, 166
ophocles (496–406 BC), Greek playwright, 21, 84, 162, 537
parta, city in Lacedaemon in the southern Peloponnesus (Il. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9) 79,
96, 109, 201, 216, 229
percheios (sper-kē-os), a river in Thessaly (Il. 1, 16, 23) 45, 377, 519
tentor, a man whose voice was as loud as fifty men (Il. 5) 154
thenelos, (1) one of the commanders of the Argos contingent (Il. 2, 5, 8, 23)
78, 130, 134–136, 155, 196, 532, 537; (2) son of Perseus and Andromeda,
father of Eurystheus (Il. 19) 450
tichios, a leader of the Athenians, killed by Hector (Il. 13, 15) 310, 325, 357,
358
tymphalos (stim-fa-los), a city in Arcadia beside the Stymphalian lake where
Heracles killed the Stymphalian birds (Il. 2) 80
tyra, a city on the west coast of Euboea (Il. 2) 77
tyx (stiks), “hate,” a river in the underworld (Il. 2, 8, 14, 15) 85, 206, 338,
349
ymê (sim-ē), an island near Rhodes ruled by Nireus (Il. 2) 83

alaimenes (tal-ī-men-ēz), a ruler of the Maeonians (Il. 2) 91

alaos (ta-lā-os), ancient king of Argos, father of Adrastos, grandfather of
Euryalos (one of the leaders of the Argos contingent) (Il. 2, 23) 78, 537
althybios (tal-thib-i-os), the herald of Agamemnon (Il. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 19, 23)
51, 52, 67, 95, 115, 185, 217, 452, 453, 455, 543
arnê, a city in Maeonia, perhaps Sardis (Il. 5) 128
artaros, place for punishment in the underworld (Il. 5, 8, 14) 157, 193, 209,
338
egea (tej-e-a), a city in Arcadia (Il. 2) 80
elamon (tel-a-mon), son of Aiakos, half-brother or friend of Peleus, father of
Big Ajax and Teucer (Il. 2–18, 20, 23) passim
elemachos (tel-em-a-kos), “far-fighter,” son of Odysseus and Penelopê (Il. 2,
4) 69, 119
enedos (ten-e-dos), an Aegean island near Troy (Il. 1, 11, 13) 42, 55, 277,
303
ereia (ter-ē-a), a mountain in the Troad (Il. 2) 89
ethys (tē-this), a deformation of Tiamat, a Titan, wife of Ocean, mother of
the Oceanids (Il. 14) 336, 340
eucer (tū-ser), half-brother to Big Ajax, a great bowman (Il. 6, 8, 12, 13, 14,
15, 16, 17, 20, 23) passim
euthras, (1) an Achaean killed by Hector (Il. 5) 150; (2) a Trojan killed by
Diomedes (Il. 6) 158
halpios, one of the leaders of the Epeians (Il. 2) 80
hamyris (tha-mi-ris), a legendary singer from Thrace (Il. 2) 79
heano (the-an-o), wife of Antenor and priestess of Athena (Il. 5, 6, 11) 129,
169, 264
hebes (thēbz), (1) principal city in Boeotia, unsuccessfully attacked by seven
heroes, destroyed by their sons (Il. 4, 19) 120, 449; (2) city in the Troad
destroyed by Achilles (Il. 2, 6, 23) 76, 78, 83, 166, 526, 537; (3) capital of
New Kingdom Egypt (Il. 9) 218
hemis (them-is), “what is laid down,” “law,” a Titan, early consort of Zeus
(Il. 9, 15, 20) 216, 222, 350, 461
hersilochos, a Paeonian ally of Troy, killed by Achilles (Il. 20, 21) 407, 484
hersites (ther-sīt-ēz), the ugliest man who went to Troy, opposes
Agamemnon, 36; (Il. 2) 68, 69
heseus (thē-sūs), son of Poseidon and Aithra (Il. 1, 3) 49, 96
hespeia, a community in Boeotia, probably same as classical Thespiae (Il. 2)
76
hessalos, a son of Herakles, whose sons led the contingent from Kos (Il. 2)
83
hessaly, region in Greece south of Mt. Olympos, 4, 24 (Il. 1, 2) 45, 76
hestor, (1) father of Kalchas (Il. 1) 43; an Achaean killed by Sarpedon (Il.
12) 297
hetis (thē-tis), a daughter of Nereus, wife of Peleus, mother of Achilles (Il. 1,
16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24) 54, 372, 378, 389, 399, 426–430, 435–439, 446–448,
456, 467, 515, 545, 547–549
hisbê, a city in Boeotia (Il. 2) 76
hoas, (1) a leader of the Aetolians (Il. 2, 4, 7, 13, 15, 19) 82, 126, 182, 305,
310, 311, 356, 453; (2) a Trojan killed by Menelaos (Il. 16) 381; (3) an
early king of Lemnos (Il. 14) 337
hoön, (1) a Trojan killed by Diomedes (Il. 5) 131; (2) a Trojan, killed by
Antilochos (Il. 12, 13) 289, 321
hrace, region northeast of Greece, 4, 6, 8; (Il. 2, 6, 9, 13, 14, 20, 24) 79, 162,
212, 302, 337, 476, 547, 567
hrasymedes (thras-i-mē-dēz), a son of Nestor (Il. 9, 10, 14, 16, 17) 214, 240,
242, 330, 381, 412, 421
hucydides (c. 460–395 BC), Athenian historian, 5, 18, 21, 26, 27
hyestes (thī-es-tēz), son of Pelops, father of Aigisthos, brother of Atreus,
uncle of Agamemnon and Menelaos (Il. 2) 65
hymbrê (thim-brē), a town in the Troad (Il. 10) 250
iamat (tē-a-mat), a Babylonian monster of chaos (Il. 1) 54
mê (tē-mā), “value, worth,” the honor for which a hero strives 26–29, 44
iryns (tir-inz), Bronze Age city in Argive plain, part of the kingdom of
Diomedes, associated with Herakles (Il. 2, 10) 78, 82, 244
itanos (tit-a-nos), “white earth,” a mountain in Thessaly in the domain of
Eurypylos (Il. 2) 85
 itans (tī-tans), offspring of Ouranos and Gaia, the generation of the gods
before the Olympians (Il. 14) 338
ithonos (ti-thōn-os), brother of Priam, beloved of Dawn, given eternal life
without eternal youth (Il. 20) 468
lepolemos (tlē-pol-e-mos), a son of Herakles, leader of the Rhodian
contingent (Il. 2) 82
rachis (trā-kis), “rough,” a city in Thessaly near Thermopylae, scene of
Herakles’ death, under Achilles’ command (Il. 2) 83
ritogeneia (trit-o-ghen-ē-a), an obscure epithet of Athena (Il. 4, 8, 22) 125,
194, 503
road, the area around Troy at the entrance to the Dardanelles, 4, 27, 33; (Il. 9,
21) 223, 487
roezen (trē-zen), city in the Argolid in the realm of Diomedes (Il. 2, 3) 78,
90, 96
ros (trōs), (1) eponymous founder of the Trojan race, son of Erichthonios,
king of Troy, father of Ilos and Ganymede (Il 20) 468; (2) a Trojan killed by
Achilles (Il. 20) 476
roy, Bronze Age city in northwestern Asia Minor (Il. 1–24) passim
urkey, 3, 22, 27, 205, 292, 298
ychios (tik-i-os), “maker,” the man who made Ajax’s body shield (Il. 7) 183,
184
ydeus (tī-dūs), son of Oineus, father of Diomedes, fought at Thebes (Il. 4, 5,
14) 119–121, 127, 129–136, 138, 139, 141, 142, 154, 155, 156, 333, 342
yphoeus (tī-fō-ūs), or Typhon, monstrous offspring of Gaea overcome by
Zeus (Il. 2) 87
U
Ugarit, Bronze Age emporium in the northern Levant, destroyed c. 1200 BC,
14
V
Venetus A, the oldest complete manuscript of the Iliad, c. AD 1000, 8, 10
Vergil (70–19 BC), Roman poet, 8, 20, 137, 318, 471
ulgate, “common,” designates the medieval text of Homer based on the
Alexandrian text, our modern text of Homer, 6–7, 10, 20
W
Wolf, Friedrich August (1759–1824), German classicist who formulated the
modern Homeric Question, 8, 9, 15
X
enia (ksen-ē-a), “guest friendship,” the conventions that govern relationships
between host and guest (Il. 2, 4, 5) 89, 111, 133

akynthos, the most southerly of the Ionian Islands (Il. 2) 80

eleia (zel-ē-a), a city in the Troad, homeland of Pandaros (Il. 2, 4) 89, 111
enodotus (zen-od-o-tus) (third century BC), Alexandrian commentator on
Homer, 6
eus, Greek storm-god, father of gods and men, son of Kronos and Rhea,
husband of Hera (i–24) passim

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