 Book Seven of the Iliad. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hector and H.X. Fight. Hector is getting worsted when night comes on and parts them. They exchange presents, the burial of the dead, and the building of the wall round their ships by the Achaeans. The Achaeans buy their wine of Agamemnon in Menelaus. With these words Hector pass through the gates, and his brother Alexandros with him, both eager for the fray. As one heaven sends a breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain, and have labored at their oars till they are faint with toil, even so welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the Trojans. Thereon Alexandros killed Menustheus, the son of Aerithos. He lived in Arne, and was the son of Aerithos, the mace-man, and of Phylo Medusa. Hector threw a spear at Oynius, and struck him dead with a wound in the neck under the bronze room of his helmet. Glaucus, moreover, son of Hippolocus, captain of the Lyseans, in hard hand-to-hand fight smote Efinnos, son of Dexius, on the shoulder, as he was springing onto his chariot behind his fleet-mares. So he fell to the earth from the car, and there was no life left in him. When, therefore, Minerva saw these men making havoc of the Argus, she darted down to Ilius from the summits of Olympus, and Apollo, who was looking on from Pergamus, went out to meet her, for he wanted the Trojans to be victorious. The pair met by the oak tree, and King Apollo, son of Jove, was first to speak. What would you have, he said, daughter of great Jove, that your proud spirit has sent you hither from Olympus, having no pity upon the Trojans, and would you incline the scales of victory in favor of the Danans? Let me persuade you, for it will be better thus. Stay the combat for today, but let them renew the fight hereafter till they compass the doom of Ilius, since you goddess have made up your mind to destroy the city. When Minerva answered, so be it, far darter, it was in this mind that I came down from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans. Tell me, then, how do you propose to end this present fighting? Apollo, son of Jove, replied, let us incite great Hector to challenge one of the Danans in single combat. On this the Achaeans will be shamed into finding a man who will fight him. Minerva assented, and Hellenus, son of Prim, to find the Council of the Gods. He therefore went up to Hector and said, Hector, son of Prim, peer of gods in Council, I am your brother, let me then persuade you. Bid the other Trojans and Achaeans all of them take their seats, and challenged the best man among the Achaeans to meet you in single combat. I have heard the voice of the ever-living gods, and the hour of your doom has not yet come. Hector was glad when he heard this saying, and went in among the Trojans, grasping his spear in the middle to hold them back, and they all sat down. Agamemnon, also bad the Achaeans be seated, but Minerva and Apollo, in the likeness of vultures, perched on Father Jove's high oak tree, proud of their man, and the ranks sat close-range together, bristling with shield and helmet and spear. As when the rising west wind furs the face of the sea, and the waters grow dark beneath it, so sat the companies of the Trojans and Achaeans upon the plane. And Hector spoke thus, Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans, that I may speak even as I am minded. Jove, on his high throne, has brought our oaths and covenants to nothing, and foreshadows ill for both of us, till you either take the towers of Troy, or are yourselves vanquished at your ships. The princes of the Achaeans are here present in the midst of you. Let him them that will fight me stand forward as your champion against Hector. Thus I say, and may Jove be witness between us. If your champion slay me, let him strip me of my armor and take it to your ships, but let him send my body home, that the Trojans and their wives may give me my dues of fire when I am dead. In like manner, if Apollo verged save me glory, and I slay your champion, I will strip him of his armor and I will take it to the city of Ilias, where I will hang it in the temple of Apollo. But I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury him at their ships, and build him amound by the wide waters of the Hellespont. Then will one say hereafter as he sails his ship over the sea. This is the monument of one who died long since, a champion who was slayed by mighty Hector. Thus will one say, and my fame shall not be lost. Thus did he speak, but they all held their peace, a shame to decline the challenge, yet fearing to accept it, till at last Menelaus rose and rebuked them, for he was angry. Alas, he cried, Vane Braggarts, woman forsooth, not man. Double-dyed indeed will be the stain upon us, if no man of the Danons will now face Hector. May you be turned every man of you into earth and water, as you sit, spiritless and inglorious in your places. I will myself go out against this man. But the upshot of the fight will be from on high in the hands of the immortal gods. If these words he put on his armor, and then, O Menelaus, your life would have come to an end at the hands of Hector, for he was a far better man, had not the princes of the Achaean sprung upon you and checked you. King Agamemnon caught him by the right hand, and said, Menelaus, you are mad. A truce to this is folly. Be patient in spite of passion. Do not think of fighting a man so much stronger than yourself as Hector, son of Prime, who is feared by many another as well as you. And Achilles, who is far more doubty than you are, shrank for meeting him in battle. Sit down, your own people, and the Achaeans will send some other champion to fight Hector. Fearless and fond of battle, though he be, I wean his when ease will bend gladly under him if he comes out alive from the hurly-burly of this fight. With these words of reasonable counsel he persuaded his brother, whereon his squires gladly stripped the armor from off his shoulders. Then Nestor rose and spoke. Of a truth, he said, the Achaean land is fallen upon evil times. The old knight Palaeus, counselor in order to earn among the Mirmidans, loved when I was in his house to question me concerning the race and lineage of all the Argyves. How would it not grieve him could he hear of them now as quailing before Hector? Many a time would he lift his hands in prayer that his soul might leave his body and go down within the house of Hades. Would my father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo that I was still young and strong as when the Pyleans and Arcadians were gathered in fight by the rapid river Caledon under the walls of Phaea and around about the waters of the river Yardaness? The godlike hero Eryu Thaleon stood forward as their champion with the armor of King Aerithos upon his shoulders. Aerithos, who men and women surnamed the Mace-man because he fought neither with bow nor spear, but broke the battalions of the foe with his iron mace. Lycurgus killed him, not in fair fight, but by entraping him in a narrow way where his mace served him in no stead. For Lycurgus was too quick for him and speared him through the middle, so he fell to earth on his back. Lycurgus then spoiled him of the armor which Mars had given him, and bore it in battle thence forward. But when he grew old and stayed at home he gave it to his faithful squire Eryu Thaleon, who in the same armor challenged the foremost man among us. But my high spirit bade me fight him though none other would venture. I was the youngest man of them all, but when I fought him Minerva Vouch saved me victory. He was the biggest and strongest man I ever killed, and conquered much ground as he laid sprawled upon the earth. Would that I were still young and strong as I was then? For the son of Priam would then soon find one who would face him. Foremost among the whole host though you be, have none of you any stomach for fighting Hector. Thus did the old man rebuke them, and forthwith nine men started to their feet. Foremost of all uproads king Agamemnon, and after him brave Diomed, the son of Tideus. Next were the two Ajaxes, man clothed in valor as with a garment, and then Idomenius, and Myriones his brother in arms. After these Eurypilus, son of Oymon, Thoas son of Andrayamon, and Ulysses also rose. Then Nestor, knight of Jarenae, again spoke, saying, Cast lots among you to see who will be chosen. If he comes alive out of this fight he will have done good service alike to his own soul and to the Achaeans. Thus he spoke, and when each of them had marked his lot, and had thrown it into the helmet of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, the people lifted their hands in prayer, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of heaven. Then either Jove grant that the lot fall on Ajax, or on the son of Tideus, or upon the king of Rich Mycenae himself. As they were speaking, Nestor, knight of Jarenae, shook the helmet, and from it there fell the very lot which they wanted, the lot of Ajax. The herald bore it about, and showed it to all the chieftains of the Achaeans, going from left to right, but they none of them owned it. When, however, in due course he reached the man who had written upon it, and had put it into the helmet, the brave Ajax held out his hand, and the herald gave him the lot. When Ajax saw his mark, he knew it, and was glad. He threw it to the ground, and said, My friends, the lot is mine, and I rejoice, for I shall vanquish Hector. I will put on my armor, meanwhile, pray to King Jove in silence among yourselves, that the Trojans may not hear you, or loud if you will, for we fear no man. None shall overcome me, neither by force nor cunning. For I was born and bred in Salamis, and can hold my own in all things. With this they fell praying to King Jove, the son of Saturn, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of heaven. Father Jove, that rulest from Ida, most glorious in power, vouch safe victory to Ajax, and let him win great glory. But if you wish well to Hector also, and would protect him, grant to each of them equal fame and prowess. Thus they prayed, and Ajax armed himself in his suit of gleaming bronze. When he was in full array, he sprang forward as monstrous Mars, when he takes part among men whom Jove has set fighting with one another. Even so did huge Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans, spring forward with a grim smile on his face as he brandished his long spear, and strode onward. The argives were elated as they beheld him, but the Trojans trembled in every limb, and the heart even of Hector beat quickly. But he could not now retreat and withdraw into the ranks behind him, for he had been the challenger. Ajax came up bearing his shield in front of him like a wall, a shield of bronze with seven folds of oxide, the work of Tycheus, who lived in Hyle and was by far the best worker in leather. He had made it with the hides of seven full-fed bulls, and over these he had set an eighth layer of bronze. Holding his shield before him, Ajax's son of Telemon came close up to Hector, and menaced him, saying, Hector, you shall now learn, man to man, what kind of champions the Danons have among them, even besides the lion-hearted Achilles, cleaver of the ranks of men. He now abides at the ships in anger with Agamemnon, shepherd of his people, but there are many of us who are well able to face you. Therefore begin the fight. And Hector answered, Noble Ajax, son of Telemon, captain of the host, treat me not as though I were some puny boy or woman that cannot fight, I have long been used to the blood and butcheries of battle. I am quick to turn my leathered shield either to the right or left, for this I deem the main thing in battle. I can charge among the chariots and horsemen, and in hand to hand fighting can delight the heart of Mars. Howbeit I would not take such a man as you off his guard, but I will smite you openly if I can. He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it from him. It struck the seven-fold shield in its outermost layer, the eighth which was of bronze, and went through six of the layers, but in the seventh hide it stayed. Then Ajax threw his in turn and struck the round shield of the son of Priam. The terrible spear went through his gleaming shield, and pressed onward through his queer ass of cunning workmanship. It pierced the shirt against his side, but he swerved and thus saved his life. They then each of them drew out the spear from his shield, and fell on one another like savage lions or wild boars of great strength and endurance. The son of Priam struck the middle of Ajax's shield, but the bronze did not break, and the point of his dart was turned. Ajax then sprang forward and pierced the shield of Hector. The spear went through it and staggered him as he sprang forward to attack. It gashed his neck, and the blood came pouring out from the wound, but even so Hector did not cease fighting. He gave ground, and with his brawny hand seized his stone, rugged and huge that was lying upon the plane. With this he struck the shield of Ajax on the boss that was in the middle so that the bronze rang again. But Ajax in his turn caught up a far larger stone, swung it aloft and hurled it with prodigious force. This millstone of a rock broke Hector's shield inwards and threw him down on his back, the shield crushing him under it. But Apollo raised him at once. Thereon they would have hacked at one another in close combat with their sword, had not the heralds, messengers of the gods and men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the other from the Achaeans. Talthybius and Aidaeus, both of the honorable men, these parted them with their staffs, and the good herald Aidaeus said, My sons, fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and both are dear to Jove. We know this, but night is falling, and the behest of night may not be well gained, said. Ajax, son of Telemon, answered. Aidaeus bid Hector say so, for it was he that challenged our princes. Let him speak first, and I will accept his saying. Then Hector said, Ajax, heaven has vouched safety, you stature and strengthen judgment, and in wielding the spear you excel all others of the Achaeans. Let us for this day cease fighting. Hereafter we will fight anew till heaven decide between us, and give victory to one or the other. Night is now falling, and the behest of night may not be well gained, said. Gladden, then, the hearts of the Achaeans at your ships, and more especially those of your own followers and clansmen, while I in the great city of King Priam bring comfort to the Trojans and their women, who vie with one another in their prayers on my behalf. Let us, moreover, exchange presence that it may be said among the Achaeans and the Trojans. They fought with Might and Main, but were reconciled and parted in friendship. On this he gave Ajax a silver-studded sword with its sheath and leather balderic, and in return Ajax gave him a girdle dyed with purple. Thus they parted, and one going to the host of the Achaeans, and the other to that of the Trojans, who rejoiced when they saw their hero come to them safe and unharmed from the strong hands of the mighty Ajax. They led him, therefore, to the city as one who had been saved beyond their hopes. On the other side the Achaeans brought Ajax elated with victory to Agamemnon. When they reached the quarters of the son of Atreus, Agamemnon sacrificed for them a five-year-old bull in honor of Jove, the son of Saturn. They flayed his carcass, made it ready, and divided it into joints. Thus they cut carefully into smaller pieces, putting them on the spits, roasting them sufficiently, and then drawing them off. When they had done all this and had prepared the feast, they ate it, and every man had his full and equal share, so that they were satisfied, and King Agamemnon gave Ajax some slices cut lengthways down the loin as a mark of special honor. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Old Nester, whose counsel was ever truest, began to speak, with all sincerity and good will, therefore he addressed them thus. Zenovatrius and other chieftains, in as much as many of the Achaeans are now dead, whose blood Mars has shed by the banks of the Scamander, and their souls have gone down to the House of Hades. It will be well when morning comes that we should cease fighting. We will then wheel our dead together with oxen and mules, and burn them not far from the ships, that when we sail hence, we may take the bones of our comrades home to their children. Led by the funeral pier, we will build a barrow that shall be raised from the plain for all in common. Near this, let us set about building a high wall, to shelter ourselves and our ships, and let it have well-made gates, that there may be a way through them for our chariots. Close outside, we will dig a deep trench all around it to keep off both horse and foot, that the Trojan chieftains may not bear hard upon us. Thus he spoke, and the princes shouted in a pause. Meanwhile, the Trojans held a counsel, angry and full of discord, on the acropolis by the gates of King Priam's palace. And why, Zantanor spoke? Hear me, he said, Trojans and Dardanians and allies, that I may speak even as I am minded. Let us give up or give Helen and her wealth to the sons of Atreus, for we are now fighting in violation of our solemn covenants, and shall not prosper till we have done, as I say. He then sat down, and Alexanderus, husband of the lovely Helen, rose to speak. Zantanor, he said, your words are not to my liking. You can find better saying than this, if you will. If, however, you have spoken in good earnest, then indeed has heaven robbed you of your reason. I will speak plainly, and hereby notify to the Trojans that I will not give up the woman. But the wealth that I brought home with her from Argos I will restore, and I will add yet further of my own. On this, when Paris had spoken and taken his seat, Priam of the race of Dardanis, peer of the gods and council, rose and with all sincerity and good will addressed them thus. Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that I may speak even as I am minded. Get your suppers now, as hitherto throughout the city, but keep your watches and be wakeful. At daybreak, let Ideas go to the ships, and tell Agamemnon and Manilaus, sons of Atreus, the saying of Alexanderus through whom this quill has come about. And let him also be instant with them that they now cease fighting till we burn our dead. Hereafter we will fight anew, till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or the other. Thus did he speak, and they did even what he said. They took their supper in their companies, and at daybreak Ideas went his way to the ships. He found the Deneans, servants of Mars, in council at the stern of Agamemnon's ship, and took his place in the midst of them. Sons of Atreus, he said, and princes of the Achaean host. Priam and the other Trojans have sent me to tell you of the sayings of Alexanderus through whom this quill has come about. If so be that you may find it acceptable. All the treasure he took with him in his ships to Troy would be he had sooner perished, he will restore, and will add yet further of his own. But he will not give up the wedded wife of Manilaus, though the Trojans would have him do so. Priam bed me in choir further, if you will cease fighting till we burn our dead. Hereafter we will fight anew, till heaven decide between us, and give victory to one or to the other. They all held their peace but presently, Diomed of the lad Warcry, saying, Let there be no taking, neither treasure nor yet hellen, for even a child may see that the doom of the Trojans is at hand. The sons of the Achaeans shouted their applause at the words that Diomed had spoken, and thereon Agamemnon said to Aidaeus, Aidaeus, you have heard the answer the Achaeans make you, and I with them. But as concerning the dead, I give you leave to bury them. For when men are once dead, there should be no grudging them the rites of fire. Let Jehovah the mighty husband of Juno be witness to this covenant. As he spoke he upheld his scepter in the side of the gods, and Aidaeus went back to his strong city of Ilias. The Trojans and Dardanians were gathering in council, waiting his return. When he came, he stood in their midst and delivered his message. As soon as they heard it, they set about their two-fold labor. Some gathering corpses, others bringing wood. The Argybs on their part also hastened from their ships. Some to gather corpses, and others to bring in wood. The sun was beginning to beat upon the field, fresh risen into the vault of heaven from the slow still currents of deep oceanus when the two armies met. They could hardly recognize their dead, but they washed the clotted gore from off them, shed tears over them, and lifted them upon their wagons. Priam had forbidden the Trojans to well aloud, so they heaped their dead sadly and silently upon the pyre, and having burned them went back to the city of Ilias. The Achaeans in like manner heaped their dead sadly and silently on the pyre, and having burned them went back to their ships. Now in the twilight when it was not yet dawn, chosen bands of the Achaeans were gathering round the pyre and built one barrow that was raised in common for all. And hard by this they built a high wall to shelter themselves in their ships. They gave it strong gates that there might be a way through them for their chariots, and close outside it they dug a trench deep and wide, and they planted it within with stakes. Thus did the Achaeans toil, and the gods, seated by the sight of Job the Lord of Lightning, marveled at their great work. But Neptune, Lord of the earthquake, spoke, saying, Father Job, what mortal in the whole world will again take the gods into his council? See you not how the Achaeans have built a wall about their ships and driven a trench around it without offering hectotomes for the gods? The fame of this wall will reach as far as dawn itself, and men will no longer think anything of the one, which Phoebus Apollo and myself built with so much labor for Le'amon. Job was displeased, and answered, What, oh shaker of the earth, are you talking about? A god less powerful than yourself might be alarmed at what they are doing. But your fame reaches as far as dawn itself, surely when the Achaeans have gone home with their ships. You can shatter their wall and fling it into the sea. You can cover the beach with sand again, and the great wall of the Achaeans will then be utterly effaced. Thus did they converse, and by sunset the work of the Achaeans was complete. They had slaughtered oxen in their tents and got their supper. Many ships had come with wine from Lemnos, sent by Oynus, the son of Jason, born to him by Hipsapile. The son of Jason freighted them with 10,000 measures of wine, which they sent especially to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. From this supply the Achaeans bought their wine, some with bronze, some with iron, some with hides, some with whole heifers, and some again with captives. They spread a goodly banquet and feasted the whole night through, as also did the Trojans and their allies in the city. But all the time Jove bowed a dill and roared with his portentous thunder. Pale fear got hold upon them, and they spilled the wine from their cups onto the ground, nor did any dare to drink till he had made offerings to the most mighty son of Saturn. Then they laid themselves down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep. CHAPTER VIII. THE VICTORY OF THE TROJANS Now in morning, clad in a robe of saffron, had begun to suffuse light over the earth. Jove called the gods and council on the topmost crest of serrated Olympus. Then he smoke, and all the other gods gave ear. Hear me, said he, gods and goddesses, that I may speak even as I am minded. Let none of you, neither goddess nor god, try to cross me, but obey me every one of you that I may bring this matter to an end. If I see any one acting apart, and helping either Trojans or Deneans, he shall be beaten inordinately ere he come back again to Olympus. Or I will hurl him down into the dark tartarous far into the deepest pit under the earth, where the gates are iron and the floor bronze, as far beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, that you may learn how much the mightiest I am among you. Try me and find out for yourselves. Tug as me a golden chain from heaven, and lay hold of it all of you, gods and goddesses together, tug as you will, you will not drag Jove the supreme counselor from heaven to earth. But were I to pull at it myself, I should draw you up with earth and sea into the bargain. Then would I bind the chain about some pinnacle of Olympus, and leave you all dangling in the mid-affirmament. So far am I above all others, either of gods or men. They were frightened, and all of them held their peace, for he had spoken masterfully. But at last Minerva answered, Father, son of Saturn, king of kings, we all know that your might is not to be gained, said, but we are also sorry for the Denean warriors, who are perishing and coming to a bad end. We will, however, since you so bid us, refrain from actual fighting, but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives that they may not all of them perish in your displeasure. Jove smiled at her, and answered, Take heart, my child, Tritoborn, I am not really an earnest, and I wish to be kind to you. With this he yoked his fleet-horses, with hoofs of bronze and mains of glittering gold. He girded himself also with gold about the body, seized his gold whip, and took his seat in his chariot. Thereon he lashed his horses, and they flued forward, nothing loth bid way-twixed earth and starry heaven. After a while he reached many fountain-dita, mother of wild beasts, and gargurice, where are his grove and fragrant altar. There the father of gods and men stayed his horses, took them from the chariot, and hid them in a thick cloud. Then he took his seat all glorious upon the topmost crests, looking down upon the city of Troy and the ships of the Achaeans. The Achaeans took their morning-meal hastily at the ships, and afterwards put on their armor. The Trojans, on the other hand, likewise armed themselves throughout the city, fewer in numbers, but nevertheless eager perforce to do battle for their wives and children. All the gates were flung wide open, and horse and foot sallied forth with a tramp as of a great multitude. When they were got together in one place, shield clashed with shield, and spear with spear, in the conflict of male-clad men. Mighty was the din as the bossed shields pressed hard on one another. Death, cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with blood. Now so long as the day waxed, and it was still morning their weapons beat against one another, and the people fell. But when the sun had reached mid-heaven, the sire of all balanced his golden scales, and put two fates of death within them, one for the Trojans, and the other for the Achaeans. He took the balance by the middle, and when he lifted it up, the day of the Achaeans sank. The death-fraught scale of the Achaeans settled down upon the ground, while that of the Trojans rose heavenwards. Then he thundered aloud from Ida, and sent the glare of his lightening upon the Achaeans. When they saw this, pale fear fell upon them, and they were sore afraid. Idomanias dared not stay, nor yet Agamennan. Nor did the two Ajaxes, servants of Mars, hold their ground. Nester Night of Jereen alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans. Not of his own will, but one of his horses was disabled. Alexandrus, husband of lovely Helen, had hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head, where the mane begins to grow away from the skull, a very deadly place. The horse bounded in his anguish as the arrow pierced his brain, and his struggles threw others into confusion. The old man immediately began cutting the traces with his sword, but Hector's fleet-horses bore down upon him through the route with their bold charioteer, even Hector himself, and the old man would have perished there and then, had not Diomed been quick to mark, and with a loud cry, called Ulysses to help him. Ulysses, he cried, noble son of Leartes, where are you flying to, with your back turned like a coward? See that you are not struck with a spear between the shoulders. Stay here and help me to defend Nester from this man's furious onset. Ulysses would not give ear, but sped onward to the ships of the Achaeans, and the son of Titius, flinging himself alone into the thick of the fight, took his stand before the horses of the son of Nelius. Sir, said he, these young warriors are pressing you hard, your forces spent, and age is heavy upon you, your squire is not, and your horses are slow to move. Mount my chariot, and see what the horses of Troess can do, how cleverly they can scud hither and thither over the plain, either in flight or in pursuit. I took them from the hero Aeneas. Let our squires attend to your own steeds, but let us drive mine straight at the Trojans, that Hector may learn how furiously I, too, can wield my spear. Nester, knight of Jereen, hearkened to his words. Thereon the dowdy squires, stenilis and kind-hearted Eurimidon, saw to Nester's horses, while the two both mounted Diomed's chariot. Nester took the reins in his hands, and lashed the horses on. They were soon close up with Hector, and the son of Tidius aimed to spirit him as he was charging full speed towards them. He missed him, but struck his charioteer and squire Aeneopias, son of Noble Thibias, in the breast by the nipple, while the reins were in his hands, so that he died there and then, and the horses swerved as he fell headlong from the chariot. Nester was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer, but let him lie for all his sorrow, while he went in quest of another driver. Nor did his steeds have to go long without one, for he presently found brave Architalamus, the son of Iphidus, and made him get up behind the horses, giving the reins into his hand. All had then been lost, and no help for it, for they would have been penned up in Ilias-like sheep, had not the sire of gods and men been quick to mark, and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolt which fell just in front of Diomed's horses with a flare of burning brimstone. The horses were frightened, and tried to back beneath the car, while the reins dropped from Nester's hands. Then he was afraid and said to Diomed, Son of Tidius, turn your horses in flight! See you not that the hand of Jove is against you? Today he vouchsafes victory to Hector. Tomorrow, if it so pleas him, he will again grant it to ourselves. No man, however brave, may thwart the purpose of Jove, for he is far stronger than any. Diomed answered, All that you have said is true. There is a grief, however, which pierces me to the very heart, for Hector will talk among the Trojans and say, The son of Tidius fled before me to the ships. This is the vaunt he will make, and may earth then swallow me. Son of Tidius, replied Nester, what mean you? Though Hector say that you were a coward, the Trojans and Ardanians will not believe him, nor yet the wives of the mighty warriors whom you have laid low. So saying, he turned the horses back through the thick of the battle, and with a cry that rent the air, the Trojans and Hector reigned their darts after them. Hector shouted to him, and said, Son of Tidius, the Deneans have done you honour hitherto as regards your place at table, the meals they give you, and the filling of your cup with wine. Henceforth they will despise you, for you have become no better than a woman. Be off, girl, and coward that you are. You shall not scale our walls through any flinching upon my part. Nor shall you carry off our wives and your ships, for I shall kill you with my own hand. The Son of Tidius was in two minds, whether or no, to turn his horses round again and fight him. Thrice did he doubt, and Thrice did Joe thunder from the heights of Ida, entoken to the Trojans that he would turn the battle in their favour. Hector then shouted to them, and said, Trojans, Lycians, and Sardanians, lovers of close fighting, be men, my friends, and fight with might and with main. I see that Joe was minded to vouchsave victory and great glory to myself, while he will deal destruction upon the Deneans, fools for having thought of building this weak and worthless wall. It shall not stay my fury. My horses will spring lightly over their trench, and when I am at their ships, forget not to bring me fire that I may burn them, while I slaughter the Argives, who will be all dazed and bewildered by the smoke. Then he cried to his horses, Santhus and Podargus, and you, Aethan, and Goodly Lempus, pay me for your keep now, and for all the honey-sweet corn with which Andromache, daughter of great Etion, has fed you, and for which she has mixed wine and water for you to drink whenever you would, before doing so even for me, who am her own husband, haste in pursuit, that we may take the shield of Nestor, the fame of which ascends to heaven, for it is of solid gold, arm-rods and all, and that we may strip from the shoulders of Diomed the queer-ass which Vulcan made him. Could we take these two things, the Achaeans would set sail in their ships this self-same night? Then said she to the mighty God of Neptune, What now, wide-ruling Lord of the earthquake, can you find no compassion in your heart for the dying Deneans, who bring you many a welcome offering to Helis and to AJ? Wish them well, then, if all of us who are with the Deneans were to drive the Trojans back and keep Joe from helping them, he would have to sit there sulking alone on Ida. King Neptune was greatly troubled, and answered, Juno, rash of tongue, what are you talking about? We other gods must not set ourselves against Joe, for he is far stronger than we are. Thus did they converse, but the whole space enclosed by the ditch, on the ships, even to the wall, was filled with horses and warriors, who were pent up there by Hector, son of Priam, now that the hand of Jove was with him. He could even have set fire to the ships and burned them, had not Queen Juno put it into the mind of Ancomendon, to besture himself and to encourage the Achaeans. To this end he went round the ships in tents, carrying a great purple cloak, and took his stand by the huge black hull of Ulysses' ship, which was middlemost of all. It was from this place that his voice would carry farthest, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax, son of Telemann, and on the other towards those of Achilles, for these two heroes, well assured of their own strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line. From this spot, then, with a voice that could be heard afar, he shouted to the Deneans, saying, Our Guives, shame on you cowardly creatures, brave in semblance only, where are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious, the vaunts we made so vain gloriously in Lemnos, when we ate the flesh of horned cattle and filled our mixing bowls to the brim. You vowed that you would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men, and now you prove no match, even for one, or Hector, who will be air-long setting our ships in a blaze. Father Jove, did you ever so ruin a great king and rob him so utterly of his greatness? Yet when to my sorrow I was coming hither, I never let my ship pass your altars without offering the fat and thigh bones of heifers upon every one of them, so eager was I to sack the city of Troy. Vouchsafe me, then, this prayer, Suffer us to escape at any rate with our lives, and let not the Achaeans be so utterly vanquished by the Trojans. Thus did he pray, and Father Jove, pitying his tears, vouchsafe him that his people should live, not die. Forthwith he sent them an eagle, most unfailingly portentous of all birds, with a young fawn in its talons. The eagle dropped the fawn by the altar on which the Achaeans sacrificed to Jove the Lord of Omans. When therefore the people saw that the bird had come from Jove, they sprang more fiercely upon the Trojans and fought more boldly. There was no man of all the many Deneans who could then boast that he had driven his horses over the trench and gone forth to fight sooner than the son of Titius. Long before anyone else could do so, he slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Agilis the son of Fradman. He had turned his horses in flight, but the spear struck him in the back, midway between his shoulders, and went right through his chest, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell forward from his chariot. After him came Agamemnon and Minolus, sons of Atreus, the two Ajax's clothed in valor as with a garment. Edomenius and his companion-in-arms Marionis, peer of murderous Mars, and Euripolus the brave son of Eueamon. Ninth came toyser with his bow, and took his place under cover of the shield of Ajax, son of Telemon. When Ajax lifted his shield, two sirs would peer round, and when he had hit any one in the throng, the man would fall dead. Then two sir would hide back to Ajax as a child to its mother, and again duck down under his shield. Which of the Trojans did brave two sir first kill? Orcilacus, and then Orminus, and Ophelestes, Dator, Chromius, and Godlike Lecomphatis, Amopean son of Polyamon, and Melonipus. These in turn did he lay low upon the earth, and King Agamendam was glad when he saw him making havoc of the Trojans with his mighty bow. He went up to him and said, To sir, man after my own heart, son of Telemon, captain among the host, shoot on, and be at once the saving of the Deneans and the glory of your father Telemon, who brought you up and took care of you in his own house when you were a child, bastard though you were. Cover him with glory, although he is far off. I will promise and I will assuredly perform. If a aegis bearing Jove and Minerva grant me to sack the city of Ilius, you shall have the next best mead of honor after my own, a tripod, or two horses with their chariot, or a woman who shall go up into your bed. And To sir answered, Most noble son of Atreus, you need not urge me. From the moment we began to drive them back to Ilius, I have never ceased so far as in me lies to look out for men whom I can shoot and kill. I have shot eight barbed shafts, and all of them have been buried in the flesh of warlike youths, but this mad dog I cannot hit. As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at Hector, for he was bent on hitting him. Nevertheless he missed him, and the arrow hit Prime's brave son, Gorgithion, in the breast. His mother, fair Castiniera, lovely as a goddess, had been married from a Simey, and now he bowed his head as a garden poppy and full bloom, when it is weighed down by showers and spring, even thus heavy bowed his head beneath the weight of his helmet. Again he aimed at Hector, for he was longing to hit him, and again his arrow missed, for Apollo turned it aside. But he hit Hector's brave charioteer Architolamus in the breast, by the nipple, as he was driving furiously into the fight. The horses were of decide as he fell headlong from the chariot, and there was no life left in him. Hector was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer, but for all his sorrow he let him lie where he fell, and bade his brother Cebrianus, who was hard by, take the reins. Cebrianus did as he had said. Hector thereon with a loud cry sprang from his chariot to the ground, and seizing a great stone made straight for Toyser with intent to kill him. Toyser had just taken an arrow from his quiver, and had laid it upon the bow-string, but Hector struck him with the jagged stone as he was taking aim, and drawing the string to his shoulder. He hid him just where the collarbone divides the neck from the chest, a very deadly place, and broke the sinew of his arms so that his wrist was less, and the bow dropped from his hand as he fell forward on his knees. Ajax saw that his brother had fallen, and running towards him bestowed him and sheltered him with a shield. Meanwhile his two trusty squires, Mesistius, son of Echius, and Alastor, came up and bore him to the ships groaning in his great pain. Jove now again put heart into the Trojans, and they drove the Achaeans to their deep trench with Hector in all his glory at their head, as a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or buttock when he gives him chase, and watches rarely for his wheeling, even so did Hector follow close upon the Achaeans, ever killing the hindmost as they rushed panic-stricken onwards. When they had fled through the set stakes and trench, and many Achaeans had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans, they halted at their ships, calling upon one another and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods. But Hector wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like those of Gorgo or murderous Mars. You know when she saw them, had pity upon them, and it once said to Minerva, Alas, child of Aegis bearing Jove, shall you and I take no more thought for the dying Denaeans, though it be the last time we ever do so? See how they perish, and come to a bad end before the onset of but a single man. Hector the son of Priam rages with intolerable fury, and has already done great mischief. Minerva answered. And indeed this fellow might die in his own land, and fall by the hands of the Achaeans. But my father Jove is mad with spleen, ever foiling me, ever headstrong and unjust. He forgets how often I saved his son. When he was worn out by the laborer's Eurystheus had laid on him. He would weep till his cry came up to heaven, and then Jove would send me down to help him. If I had had the sense to foresee all this when Eurystheus sent him to the house of Hades to fetch the hellhound from Erebus, he would never have come back alive out of the deep waters of the river Styx. And now Jove hates me, while he lets Thetis have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of his beard when she was begging him to do honour to Achilles. I shall know what to do next time he begins calling me his grey-eyed darling. Get her horses ready. While I go within the house of a eages-bearing Jove and put on my armour, we shall then find out whether Priam's son Hector will be glad to meet us in the highways of battle, or whether the Trojans will glut hounds and vultures with the fat of their flesh as they be dead by the ships of the Achaeans. Just did she speak, and white-armed Juno, daughter of great Saturn, obeyed her words. She set about harnessing her gold-bedisoned steeds, while Minerva, daughter of aeages-bearing Jove, flung her richly vesture, made with her own hands, on to the threshold of her father, and donned the shirt of Jove, arming herself for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot, and grasped the spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes who would have displeased her. Juno lashed her horses, and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord, gates over which the hours preside, in whose hands are heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds. Good father Jove, when he saw them from Ida, was very angry, and sent Wing-Dyrus with a message to them. Go, said he, fleet Iris, turn them back, and see that they do not come near me, for if we come to fighting there will be mischief. This is what I say, and this is what I mean to do. I will lame their horses for them, I will hurl them from their chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my lightning shall inflict upon them. My grey-eyed daughter will then learn what quarreling with her father means. I am less surprised and angry with Juno, for whatever I say she always contradicts me. With this Iris went her way, fleet as the wind, from the heights of Ida to the lofty summits of Olympus. She met the goddesses at the outer gates of its many valleys, and gave them her message. What, said she, are you about? Are you mad? The son of Saturn forbids going. This is what he says, and this is what he means to do. He will lame your horses for you, he will hurl you from your chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take you all ten years to heal the wounds his lightning will inflict upon you. That you may learn, grey-eyed goddess, what quarreling with your father means. He is less hurt and angry with Juno, for whatever he says she always contradicts him. But you, bold hussy, will you really dare to raise your huge spear in defiance of Jove? With this she left them, and Juno said to Minerva, Of a truth, child of a age aspiring Jove, I am not for fighting men's battles further in defiance of Jove. Let them live or die as luck will have it. Let Jove meet out his judgments upon the Trojans and Denaeans according to his own pleasure. She turned her steeds, the hours presently unyoke them, made them fast to their ambrosial majors, and leaned the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard. The two goddesses then sat down upon their golden thrones, amid the company of the other gods, but they were very angry. They father Jove drove his chariot to Olympus, and entered the assembly of gods. The mighty lord of the earthquake unyoked his horses for him, set the car upon its stand, and threw a cloth over it. Jove then sat down upon his golden throne, and Olympus reeled beneath him. Minerva and Juno sat alone, apart from Jove, and neither spoke nor asked him questions. But Jove knew what they meant, and said, Minerva and Juno, why are you so angry? Are you fatigued with killing so many of your dear friends, the Trojans? Be this as it may, such as the might of my hands that all the gods in Olympus cannot term me. You were both of you, trembling all over, wherever you saw the fight in its terrible doings. I tell you, therefore, and it would have surely been. I should have struck you with lightning, and your chariots would never have brought you back again to Olympus. Minerva and Juno groaned in spirit as they sat side by side, and brooded mischief for the Trojans. Minerva sat silent without a word, for she was in a furious passion, ambitrally incensed against her father. But Juno could not contain herself, and said, What dread son of Saturn are you talking about? We know how great your power is. Nevertheless we have compassion upon the Denean warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad end. We will, however, since you so bit us, refrain from actual fighting, but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives that they may not all of them perish in your displeasure. And Jove answered, Tomorrow morning, Juno, if you choose to do so, you will see the son of Saturn destroying large numbers of the Argives. For fierce Hector shall not cease fighting till he has roused the son of Pellius, when they are fighting in dire straits at their ship's sterns about the body of Patroclus. Like it or no, this is how it is decreed. For ought high care you may go to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea, where Eapodus and Saturn dwell in lone Tartarus with neither ray of light nor breath of wind to cheer them. You may go on and on till you get there, and I shall not care one wit for your displeasure. You are the greatest vixen living." Juno made him no answer. The son's glorious orb now sank into Oceanus and drew down night over the land. Sorry, indeed, were the Trojans when light failed them, but welcome and thrice prayed for did darkness fall upon the Achaeans. Then Hector led the Trojans back from the ships and held a council on the open space near the river, where there was a spot clear of corpses. They left their chariots and sat down on the ground to hear the speech he made them. He grasped a spear eleven cubits long, the bronze point of which gleamed in front of it, while the ring round its spearhead was of gold. Here in hand he spoke. "'Hear me,' said he. Trojans, Dardanians, and allies. I deemed but now that I should destroy the ships and all the Achaeans with them ere I went back to Ilius. But darkness came on too soon. It was this alone that saved them and their ships upon the seashore. Now therefore let us obey the behests of night and prepare our suppers. Take your horses out of their chariots, and give them their feeds of corn. Then make speed to bring sheep and cattle from the city. Bring wine also, and corn for your horses, and gather much wood, that from dark till dawn we may burn watchfires whose flair may reach to heaven. For the Achaeans may try to fly beyond the sea by night, and they must not embark scatheous and unmolested. Many a man among them must take a dart with him to nurse at home, hit with spear or arrow as he is leaping on board his ship, that others may fear to bring war and weeping upon the Trojans. Moreover let the heralds tell it about the city that the growing youths and gray-bearded men are to camp upon its heaven-built walls. Let the women each of them light a great fire in her house, and let watch be safely kept lest the town be entered by surprise while the host is outside. See to it, brave Trojans, as I have said, and let the suffice for the moment. At daybreak I will instruct you further. I pray and hope to Jove and to the gods that we may then drive those fates-bed hounds from our land, for tis the fates that have borne them and their ships hither. This night, therefore, let us keep watch, but with early morning let us put on our armor and rouse fierce war at the ships of the Achaeans. I shall then know whether brave Diomed the son of Titius will drive me back from the ships to the wall, or whether I shall myself slay him and carry off his blood-stained spoils. Tomorrow let him show his metal, abide my spear, if he dare. I wean that at break of day he shall be among the first to fall, and many another of his comrades round him. Would that I were as sure of being immortal and never growing old, and of being worshipped like Minerva and Apollo, as I am that this day will bring evil to the Argyves. Thus spoke Hector, and the Trojans shouted applause. They took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, and made them fast each by his own chariot. They made haste to bring sheep and cattle from the city. They brought wine also, and corn from their houses, and gathered much wood. They then offered unblemished hecatombs to the immortals, and the wind carried the sweet savor of sacrifice to heaven. But the blessed gods per took not thereof, for they bitterly hated Ilius with Priam and Priam's people. Thus high in hope they sat through the live-long night by the highways of war, and many a watch-fire did they kindle. As when the stars shine clear, and the moon is bright, there is not a breath of air, not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland, but it stands out in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of heaven. The stars can all of them be told, and the heart of the shepherd is glad. Then thus shone the watch-fires of the Trojans before Ilius, midway between the ships and the river Xanthus. A thousand campfires gleamed upon the plain, and in the glow of each there sat fifty men, while the horses, champing oats and corn beside their chariots, waited till dawn should come. Book 9 of the Iliid This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Iliid by Homer. Translated by Samuel Butler. Book 9. Recording by Michael Hellian. The Embassy to Achilles. Thus did the Trojans watch, but panic, comrade of bloodstained rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans, and their princes were all of them in despair. As when the two winds that blow from Thrace, the north and the northwest, spring up of a sudden and rouse the fury of the Maine, in a moment the dark waves uprear their heads and scatter their sea-rack in all directions. Even thus troubled were the hearts of the Achaeans. The son of Achilles in dismay bade the heralds call the people to a council, man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud. He made haste also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in their assembly. Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract on the side of some sheer cliff, and thus, with many a heavy sigh, he spoke to the Achaeans. My friends, said he, princes and counsellors of the Argyves, the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. Cruel Jove gave me his solemn promise that I should sack the city of Troy before returning, but he has played me false, and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of much people. Such is the will of Jove, who has laid many a proud city in the dust as he will yet lay others, for his power is above all. Now therefore let us all do as I say, and sail back to our own country, for we shall not take Troy. Thus he spoke, and the sons of the Achaeans for a long while sat sorrowful there, but they all held their peace. Till at last diamied of the loud battle cry made answer saying, Son of Atreus, I will chide your folly as is my right in council. He not then aggrieved that I should do so. In the first place you attacked me before all the Danans, and said I was a coward and no soldier. The Argyves young and old know that you did so. But the son of scheming Saturn endowed you by haves only. He gave you honour as the chief ruler over us, but Valar, which is the highest both right and might, he did not give you. Sir, think you that the sons of the Achaeans are indeed as unwor-like and cowardly as you say they are? If your own mind is set upon going home, go. The way is open to you. The many ships that followed you from Mycenae stand ranged upon the seashore, but the rest of us stay here till we have sacked Troy. Nay, though these two should turn homeward with their ships, Stenolus and myself will still fight on till we reach the goal of Ilius, for heaven was with us when we came. The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause at the words of Diamed, and presently Nestor rose to speak. Son of Tidius, said he, in war your prowess is beyond question, and in council you excel all who are of your own years. No one of the Achaeans can make light of what you say nor gaince it. But you have not yet come to the end of the whole matter. You are still young. You might be the youngest of my own children. Still you have spoken wisely and have counseled the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion. Nevertheless I am older than you, and I will tell you everything. Therefore let no man, not even King Agamemnon, disregard my saying, for he that foment civil discord is a clanless, heartless outlaw. Now, however, let us obey the behests of night and get our suppers, but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench that is without the wall. I am giving these instructions to the young men. When they have been intended to, do you, son of Atreus, give your orders, for you are the most royal among us all. Prepare a feast for your counsellors. It is right and reasonable that you should do so. There is abundance of wine in your tents, which the ships of the Achaeans bring from Thrace daily. You have everything at your disposal wherewith to entertain guests, and you have many subjects. When many are got together you can be guided by him whose council is wisest, and sorely do we need shrewd and prudent council for the foe has lit his watchfires hard by our ships, who can be other than dismayed. This night will either be the ruin of our host, or save it. Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. The sentinels went out in their armor under command of Nestor's son Thrasimides, a captain of the host, and the bold warriors Escalafus and Yalamanus. There were also Marionis, Aferius, and Dupyrus, and the son of Crayon, noble Lycomides. There were seven captains of the sentinels, and with each they went a hundred youths armed with long spears. They took their places midway between the trench and the wall, and when they had done so they lit their fires, and got every man his supper. The son of Atreus then bade many counsellors of the Achaeans to his quarters prepared in a great feast in their honour. They laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, old Nestor, whose council was ever truest, was the first to lay his mind before them. He, therefore, with all sincerity and good will addressed them thus. With yourself, most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, will I both begin my speech and end it. For you are king over much people. Jove, moreover, has vouchsafed you to wield the scepter and to uphold righteousness, that you may take thought for your people under you. Therefore it behooves you, above all others, both to speak and to give ear, and to out the council of another who shall have been minded to speak wisely. All turns on you, and on your commands. Therefore I will say what I think will be best. No man will be of a truer mind than that which has been mine from the hour when you, sir, angered Achilles by taking the girl Briseus from his tent against my judgment. I urged you not to do so, but you yielded to your own pride, and dishonored a hero whom heaven itself had honored, for you still hold the prize that had been awarded to him. Now, however, let us think how we may appease him, both with presence and fair speeches that may conciliate him. And King Agamemnon answered, Sir, you have reproved my folly justly. I was wrong. I own it. One whom heaven befriends is in himself a host, and Jove has shown that he befriends this man by destroying much people of the Achaeans. I was blinded with passion, and yielded to my worser mind. Therefore I will make amends, and will give him great gifts by way of atonement. I will tell them in the presence of you all. I will give him seven tripods that have never yet been on the fire, and ten talons of gold. I will give him twenty iron cauldrons, and twelve strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. Rich indeed, both in land and gold, is he that has as many prizes as my horses have won me. I will give him seven excellent workwomen, lesbians, who might chose for myself when he took lesbos, all of surpassing beauty. I will give him these, and with them her whom I airwild took from him, the daughter of Brisius, and I swear a great oath that I never went up into her couch, nor have been with her after the manner of men and women. All these things will I give him now, and if hereafter the gods vouchsafed me to sack the city of Priam, let him come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load his ship with gold and bronze to his liking. Furthermore, let him take twenty Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall be my son-in-law, and I will show him like honor with my own dear son Arestes, who is being nurtured in all abundance. I have three daughters, Chrysothemus, Laodicea, and Iphianassa. Let him take the one of his choice, freely and without gifts of wooing to the house of Palaeus. I will add such dour to boot as no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give him seven well-established cities, Cardameli, Anope, and Hiri, where there is grass, Holy Fairy and the rich meadows of Anthea, Ipia also, and the vine-clad slopes of Pettisus, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy Pelos. The men that dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep. They will honor him with gifts as though he were a god, and be obedient to his comfortable ordinances. All this will I do if he will now forgo his anger. Let him then yield. It is only Hades who is utterly ruthless and unyielding, and hence he is of all gods the one most hateful to mankind. Moreover I am older and more royal than himself. Therefore let him now obey me. Then Nestor answered, Most noble son of Aetius, king of men, Agamemnon, the gifts you offer are no small ones. Let us then send chosen messengers who will make go to the tent of Achilles, son of Palaeus, without delay. Let those go whom I shall name. Let Phoenix, dear to Jove, lead the way. Let Ajax and Ulysses follow, and let the heralds odious and Uribides go with them. Now bring water for our hands, and bid all keep silence while we pray to Jove, the son of Saturn, if so be that he may have mercy upon us. Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well. Men servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving every man his drink offering. Then when they had made their offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded, the envoys set out from the tent of Agamemnon, son of Aetreus, and Nestor, looking first to one, and then to another, but most especially at Ulysses, was instant with them that they should prevail with the noble son of Palaeus. They went their way by the shore of the sounding sea, and prayed earnestly to earth-encircling Neptune that the high spirit of the son of Iacus might incline favorably towards them. When they reached the ships' intents of the Mermidens, they found Achilles playing on a lyre, fair of cunning workmanship, and its cross-bar was of silver. It was part of the spoils which he had taken when he had sacked the city of Iascian, and he was now diverting himself with it, and singing the feats of heroes. He was alone with Patroclus, who sat opposite to him and said nothing, waiting till he should cease singing. Ulysses and Ajax now came in, Ulysses leading the way, and stood before him. Achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still in hand, and Patroclus, when he saw the strangers, rose also. Achilles then greeted them, saying, All hail and welcome! You must come upon some great matter, you who for all my anger are still dearest to me of the Achaeans. With this he led them forward, and bade them sit on seats covered with purple rugs. Then he said to Patroclus, who was close by him, Son of Menetius, set a larger bowl upon the table, mix less water with the wine, and give every man his cup, for these are very dear friends who are now under my roof. Patroclus did as his comrade bade him. He set the chopping-block in front of the fire, and on it he laid the loin of a sheep, the loin also of a goat, and the chine of a fat hog. Auto-meaton held the meat while Achilles chopped it. He then sliced the pieces and put them on spits, while the son of Menetius made the fire burn high. When the flame had died down, he spread the embers, laid the spits on top of them, lifting them up and setting them upon the spit-racks, and he sprinkled them with salt. When the meat was roasted, he set it on platters, and handed bread round the table in fair baskets, while Achilles dealt them their portions. Then Achilles took his seat facing Ulysses against the opposite wall, and bade his comrade Patroclus offer sacrifice to the gods, so he cast the offerings into the fire, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Ajax made a sign to Phoenix, and when he saw this, Ulysses filled his cup with wine and pledged Achilles. Hail, said he. Achilles, we have had no scant of good cheer, neither in the tent of Agamemnon, nor yet here. There has been plenty to eat and drink, but our thoughts turn upon no such matter. Sir, we are in the face of great disaster, and without your help know not whether we shall save our fleet or lose it. The Trojans and their allies have camped hard by our ships and by the wall. They have lit watchfires throughout their host and deemed that nothing can now prevent them from falling on our fleet. Jove, moreover, has sent his lightning on their right. Hector in all his glory rages like a maniac. Confident that Jove is with him, he fears neither God nor man, but is gone raving mad, and prays for the approach of day. He vows that he will hew the high sterns of our ships and pieces, set fire to their hulls, and make havoc of the Achaeans while they are dazed and smothered in smoke. I much fear that heaven will make good his boasting, and it will prove our lot to perish at Troy far from our home in Argos. Up then, and late though it be, save the sons of the Achaeans who faint before the fury of the Trojans. You will repent bitterly hereafter if you do not, for when the harm is done there will be no curing it. Consider erot be too late and save the Danayans from destruction. My good friend, when your father Palaeus sent you from Phithia to Agamemnon, did he not charge you saying, Son, Minerva and Juno will make you strong if they choose, but check your temper for the better part is in good will. A shoovane quarreling, and the Achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing so. These were his words, but you have forgotten them. Even now, however, be appeased and put away your anger from you. Agamemnon will make you great amends if you will forgive him. Listen, and I will tell you what he has said in his tent that he will give you. He will give you seven tripods that have never yet been on the fire, and ten talents of gold, twenty iron cauldrons, and twelve strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. Rich indeed, both in land and gold, as he who has had as many prizes as these horses have won after Agamemnon. Moreover, he will give you seven excellent work women, lesbians, whom he chose for himself when you took lesbios, all of surpassing beauty. He will give you these, and with them her whom he airwild took from you, the daughter of Bresius, and he will swear a great oath he has never gone up into her couch nor been with her after the manner of men and women. All these things will he give you now down, and if hereafter the gods vouchsafe him to sack the city of Priam, you can come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load your ship with gold and bronze to your liking. You can take twenty Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his son-in-law, and he will show you like honour with his own dear son Arestes, who is being nurtured in all abundance. Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemus, Laodice, and Ifianassa. You may take the one of your choice, freely and without gifts of wooing, to the house of Palaeus. He will add such dour to boot as no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give you seven well-established cities—Cardimeli, Anopee, and Heri, where there is grass—Holy Phyreus, and the rich meadows of Anthea. Epia, also, and the vine-clad slopes of Pettisus, all near the sea and on the borders of sandy Pelos. The men that dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep. They will honour you with gifts as though you were a god, and be obedient to your comfortable ordinances. All this will he do if you will now forgo your anger. Moreover, though you hate both him and his gifts with all your heart, yet pity the rest of the Achaeans who are being harassed in all their host. They will honour you as a god, and you will earn great glory at their hands. You might even kill Hector. He will come within your reach, for he is infatuated, and declares that not a Danayan whom the ships have brought can hold his own against him. Achilles answered, Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, I should give you formal notice plainly, in an all-fixity of purpose, that there be no more of this cajoling, from whatsoever quarter it may come. Him do I hate even as the gates of hell who says one thing while he hides another in his heart, therefore I will say what I mean. I will be appeased neither by Agamemnon, son of Atreus, nor by any of the other Danayans, for I see that I have no thanks for all my fighting. He that fights fares no better than he that does not. Bird and hero are held in equal honor, and death deals like measure to him who works and to him who is idle. I have taken nothing by all my hardships, with my life ever in my hand, as a bird when she has found a morsel takes it to her nestlings and herself fares hardly. Even so many a long night have I been wakeful, and many a bloody battle have I waged by day against those who are fighting for their women. With my ships I have taken twelve cities, and eleven roundabout Troy have I stormed with my men by land. I took great store of wealth from every one of them, but I gave all up to Agamemnon, son of Atreus. He stayed where he was by his ships, yet of what came to him he gave little and kept much himself. Nevertheless he did distribute some meads of honor among the chieftains and kings, and these have them still. For me alone of the Achaeans did he take the woman in whom I delighted. Let him keep her and sleep with her. Why, pray, must the Argives' needs fight the Trojans? What made the son of Atreus gather the host to bring them? Was it not for the sake of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only men in the world who love their wives? Any man of common right feeling will love and cherish her who is his own, as I this woman, with my whole heart, though she was but a fruitling of my spear. Agamemnon has taken her from me. He has played me false. I know him. Let him tempt me no further, for he shall not move me. Let him look to you, Ulysses, and the other princes to save his ships from burning. He has done much without me already. He has built a wall. He has dug a trench deep and wide all rounded, and he has planted it with stakes. But even so he stays not the murderous might of Hector. So long as I fought the Achaeans Hector suffered not the battle range far from the city walls. He would come to the ski and gates and the oak tree, but no further. Once he stayed to meet me and hardly did he escape my onset. Now, however, since I am in no mood to fight him, I will tomorrow offer sacrifice to Jove and to all the gods. I will draw my ships into the water, and then victual them duly. Tomorrow morning, if you care to look, you will see my ships on the helispond, and my men rowing out to sea with might and mane. If great Neptune vouchsafes me a fair passage, in three days I shall be in Phithia. I have much there that I left behind me when I came here to my sorrow, and I shall bring back still further store of gold, of red copper, of fair women, and of iron, my share of the spoils that we have taken. But one prize he who gave has insolently taken away. Tell him all as I now bid you, and tell him in public that the Achaeans may hate him and beware of him, should he think that he can yet dupe others, for his effrontery never fails him. As for me, hound that he is, he dares not look me in the face. I will take no counsel with him, and I will undertake nothing in common with him. He has wronged me, and deceived me enough. He shall not cousin me further. Let him go his own way, for Jove has robbed him of his reason. I loathe his presence, and for himself care not one straw. He may offer me ten or even twenty times what he has now done. Nay, not though it be all that he has in the world, both now or ever shall have. He may promise me the wealth of Orcuminus, or of Egyptian thieves, which is the richest city in the whole world, for it has a hundred gates through each of which two hundred men may drive at once with their chariots and horses. He may offer me gifts as the sands of the sea, or of the dust of the plain and multitude, but even so he shall not move me till I have been revenged in full for the bitter wrong he has done me. I will not marry his daughter. She may be fair as Venus, and skillful as Minerva, but I will have none of her. Let another take her, who may be a good match for her, and who rules a larger kingdom. If the gods spare me to return home, Pellius will find me a wife. There are a key in women in Hellas and Phithia, daughters of kings that have cities under them. Of these I can take whom I will and marry her. Many a time I was minded when at home in Phithia to woo and wed a woman who would make me a suitable wife, and to enjoy the riches of my old father Pellius. My life is more to me than all the wealth of Elius, while it was yet at peace before the Achaeans went there, or than all the treasure that lies on the stone floor of Apollo's temple beneath the cliffs of Pitho. Cattle and sheep are to be had for harrying, and a man may buy both tripods and horses if he wants them, but when his life is once left him it can either be bought nor harried back again. My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive, but my name will live forever. Whereas if I go home, my name will die, but it will be long ere death shall take me. To the rest of you I say, Go home, for you will not take Elius. Jov has held his hand over her to protect her, and her people have taken heart. Go, therefore, as in duty bound, and tell the princes of the Achaeans the message that I have sent them. Tell them to find some other plan for the saving of their ships and people, for so long as my displeasure lasts the one that they have now hit upon may not be. As for Phoenix, let him sleep here that he may sail with me in the morning if he so will, but I will not take him by force. They all held their peace, dismayed at the sternness with which he had denied them, till presently the old knight Phoenix and his great fear of the ships of the Achaeans burst into tears and said, Noble Achilles, if you are now minded to return, and in the fierceness of your anger will do nothing to save the ships from burning, how, my son, can I remain here without you? Your father Palaeus bade me to go with you when he sent you here as a mere lad from Phithia to Agamemnon. You knew nothing neither of war nor of the arts whereby men make their mark in counsel, and he sent me with you to train you in all excellence of speech and action. Therefore, my son, I will not stay here without you. No, not though heaven itself vouchsafe to strip my years from off me, and make me young as I was when I first left Hellas, the land of fair women. I was then flying the anger of Father Amateur, son of Ormenus, who was furious with me in the matter of his concubine, of whom he was enamored to the wronging of his wife, my mother. My mother, therefore, prayed me without ceasing to lie with the woman myself. But so she hate my father, and in the course of time I yielded. But my father soon came to know, and cursed me bitterly, calling the dread Irinias to witness. He prayed that no son of mine might ever sit upon knees, and the gods, jove of the world below an awful prasparini, fulfilled his curse. I took counsel to kill him, but some god stayed my rashness and bade me think on men's evil tongues and how I should be branded as the murderer of my father. Nevertheless I could not bear to stay in my father's house with him so bitter against me. My cousins and my clansmen came about me, and pressed me sorely to remain. Many a sheep and many an ox did they slaughter, and many a fat hog did they set down to roast before the fire. Many a jar, too, did they broach of my father's wine. Nine whole nights did they set a guard over me taking it in turns to watch, and they kept a fire always burning, both in the cloister of the outer court and in the inner court at the doors of the room where I lay. But when the darkness of the tenth night came, I broke through the closed doors of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer court after passing quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the women servants. I then fled through Hellas till I came to Fertilfithia, mother of sheep, and to King Palaus, who made me welcome and treated me as a father treats an only son who will be heir to all his wealth. He made me rich and set me over much people, establishing me on the borders of Fertilfithia where I was chief ruler over the Dilopians. It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you. I loved you with all my heart, for you would eat neither at home nor when you had gone out elsewhere till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up a dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine cup to your lips. Many a time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness over my shirt. I had infinite trouble with you. But I knew that heaven had vouchsafed me no offspring of my own, and I made a son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might protect me. Now, therefore, I say battle with your pride and beat it. Cherish not your anger for ever. The might and majesty of heaven are more than ours, but even heaven may be appeased, and if a man has sinned he prays the gods and reconciles them to himself by his piteous cries and by frankincense, with drink offerings and the savor of burnt sacrifice. For prayers are as daughters to great Jove. Halt, wrinkled with eyes as scans, they follow in the footsteps of sin, who being fierce and fleet of foot leaves them far behind, and ever baneful to mankind outstrips them even to the ends of the world. But nevertheless the prayers come hobbling and healing after. If a man has pity upon these daughters of Jove when they drown near him, they will bless him and hear him too when he is praying. But if he deny them, and will not listen to them, they go to Jove, the son of Saturn, and pray that he may presently fall into sin, to his rewing bitterly hereafter. Therefore, Achilles, give these daughters of Jove due reverence, and bow before them as all good men will bow. We're not the son of Atreus offering you gifts and promising others later, if he were still furious and implacable. I am not he that would bid you throw off your anger and help the Achaeans, no matter how great their need. But he is giving much now, and more hereafter. He has sent his captains to urge his suit, and he has chosen those who of all the Argives are most acceptable to you. Make not them their words and their coming to be of none effect. Your anger has been righteous so far. We have heard in song how heroes of old time quarreled when they were aroused to fury, but they could still be won by gifts, and fair words could soothe them. I have an old story in my mind, a very old one, but you are all friends and I will tell us. The Curities and the Aetolians were fighting and killing one another round Caledon. The Aetolians defending the city and the Curities trying to destroy it. For Diana of the Golden Throne was angry and did them hurt, because Onius had not offered her his harvest first fruits. The other gods had all been feasted with hecatomes, but to the daughter of great Jovalone he had made no sacrifice. He had forgotten her, or somehow or other it had escaped him, and this was a grievous sin. Thereon the Archer Goddess, in her displeasure sent a prodigious creature against him, a savage wild boar with great white tusks that did much harm to his orchard lands, uprooting apple trees in full bloom and throwing them to the ground. But Meliagar, son of Onius, got huntsmen and hounds from many cities and killed it, for it was so monstrous that not a few were needed, and many a man did it stretch upon his funeral pyre. On this the goddess set the Curities and the Aetolians fighting furiously about the head and skin of the boar. So long as Meliagar was in the field things went badly for the Curities, and for all their numbers they could not hold their ground under those city walls. But in the course of time Meliagar was angered as even a wise man will sometimes be. He was incensed with his mother Althea, and therefore stayed at home with his wedded wife, Fair Cleopatra, who was daughter of Marpesa, daughter of Unius, and of Ides, the man then living. He it was who took his bow and faced King Apollo himself for fair Marpesa's sake. Her father and mother then named her Alsione, because her mother had mourned with the plaintive strains of the Alsione bird when Phoebus Apollo had carried her off. Meliagar then stayed at home with Cleopatra, nursing the anger which he felt by reason of his mother's curses. His mother, grieving for the death of her brother, prayed the gods and beat the earth with her hands, calling upon Hades and an awful prosperity. She went down upon her knees, and her bosom was wet with tears as she prayed that they would kill her son. In Ernie's that walks the darkness and knows no Ruth heard her from Erebus. Then there was the din of battle about the gates of Caledon, and the dull thump of the battering against their walls. Thereon the elders of the Etolians besought Meliagar. They sent the chiefest of their priests, and begged him to come out and help them, promising him a great reward. They bade him choose fifty plough gates, the most fertile in the plain of Caledon. The one half vineyard, the other open plough land. The old warrior Onius implored him, standing at the threshold of his room, and beating the doors in supplication. His sisters and his mother herself besought him sore, but he the more refused them. Those of his comrades who were nearest and dearest to him also prayed him, but they could not move him till the foe was battering at the very doors of his chamber, and the curities had scaled the walls and were setting fire to the city. Then at last his sorrowing wife detailed the horrors that befall those whose city is taken. She reminded him how the men are slain, and the city is given over to the flames, while the women and children are carried into captivity. When he heard all this, his heart was touched, and he donned his armor to go forth. Thus of his own inward motion he saved the city of the Etolians, but they now gave him nothing of those rich rewards that they had offered earlier, and though he saved the city he took nothing by it. Be not then, my son, thus minded. Let not heaven lure you into any such course. When the ships are burning it will be a harder matter to save them. Take the gifts and go, for the Achaeans will then honor you as a god, whereas if you fight without taking them you may beat the battle back, but you will not be held in like honor. And Achilles answered, Phoenix, old friend and father, I have no need of such honor. I have honor from Jove himself, which will abide with me at my ships while I have breath in my body, and my limbs are strong. I say further, and lay my saying to your heart, vex me no more with this weeping and lamentation, all in the cause of the Son of Atreus. Love him so well, and you may lose the love I bear you. You ought to help me rather in troubling those that trouble me. Be king as much as I am, and share like honor with myself. The others shall take my answer. Stay here yourself and sleep comfortably in your bed. At daybreak we will consider whether to remain or go. On this he nodded quietly to Patroclus as a sign that he was to prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take their leave. Ajax, son of Telemon, then said, Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, let us be gone, for I see that our journey is vain. We must now take our answer, unwelcome though it be, to the Danaians who are waiting to receive it. Achilles is savage and remorseless. He is cruel, and cares nothing for the love his comrades lavished upon him more than on all the others. He is implacable. And yet if a man's brother or son has been slain, he will accept a fine by way of a man's from him that had killed him, and the wrongdoer having paid in full remains in peace among his own people. But as for you Achilles, the gods have put a wicked unforgiving spirit in your heart, and this, all about one single girl, whereas we now offer you the seven best we have, and much else into the bargain. Be then of a more gracious mind, respect the hospitality of your own roof. We are with you as messengers from the host of the Danaians, and would feign be held nearest and dearest to yourself of all the Achaeans. Ajax, replied Achilles, noble son of Telemon, you have spoken much to my liking, but my blood boils when I think it all over, and remember how the son of Atreus treated me with contumely as though I were some vile tramp, and that too in the presence of the Argives. Go, then, and deliver your message. Say that I will have no concern with fighting till Hector, son of noble Priam, reaches the tents of the Mermidans in his murderous course, and flings fire upon their ships. For all his lust of battle I take it he will be held in check when he is at my own tent and ship. On this they took every man his double cup, made their drink offerings, and went back to the ships, Ulysses leading the way. But Patrickless told his men and the maid servants to make ready a comfortable bed for Phoenix. They therefore did so with sheepskins, a rug, and a sheet of fine linen. The old man then laid himself down and waited till morning came. But Achilles slept in an inner room, and beside him the daughter of Forbus, lovely Diomede, whom he had carried off from Lesbos. Patrickless lay on the other side of the room, and with him fair Ifes, whom Achilles had given him when he took Skyros the city of Ineus. When the envoys reached the tents of the son of Atreus, the Keyens rose, pledged them in cups of gold, and began to question them. King Agamemnon was the first to do so. Tell me, Ulysses, said he, will he save the ships from burning, or did he refuse, and is he still furious? Ulysses answered, most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely angry than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts. He bids you take counsel with the Achaeans to save the ships and host as you best may. As for himself, he said that at daybreak he should dry his ships into the water. He said further that he should advise every one of them to sail home likewise, for that you will not reach the goal of Ilius. Jove, he said, has laid his hand over the city to protect it, and the people have taken heart. This is what he said, and the others who were with me can tell you the same story, Ajax and the two heralds, men, both of them, who may be trusted. The old man Phoenix stayed where he was to sleep, for so Achilles would have it, that he might go home with him in the morning, if he so would, but he will not take him by force. They all held their peace, sitting for a long time silent and dejected, by reason of the sternness with which Achilles had refused them, till presently Diomed said, Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, you ought not to have sued the son of Paleus, nor offered him gifts. He is proud enough as it is, and you encouraged him in his pride still further. Let him stay or go as he will. He will fight later when he is in the humor, and heaven puts it in his mind to do so. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say. We have eaten and drunk our fill. Let us then take our rest, for in rest there is both strength and stay. But when fair Rosy-fingered Morn appears, forthwith bring out your host and your horsemen in front of the ships, urging them on, and yourself fighting among the foremost. Thus he spoke, and the other chieftains approved his words. They then made their drink offerings, and went every man to his own tent, where they laid down to rest, and enjoyed the boon of sleep.