The Iliad - Homer (ebook reader library .txt) đ
- Author: Homer
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By godlike Ajaxâ hand. At him, in turn, The son of Priam, Antiphus, encasâd
In radiant armour, from amid the crowd His javâlin threw; his mark, indeed, he missâd; But through the groin Ulyssesâ faithful friend, Leucus, he struck, in act to bear away The youthful dead; down on the corpse he fell, And, dying, of the dead relaxâd his grasp.
Fierce anger, at his comradeâs slaughter, filled Ulyssesâ breast; in burnished armour clad Forward he rushâd; and standing near, around He lookâd, and poisâd on high his glittâring lance: Beneath his aim the Trojans back recoilâd; Nor vainly flew the spear; Democoon,
A bastard son of Priam, met the blow:
He from Abydos came, his high-bred mares There left to pasture; him Ulysses, fillâd With fury at his lovâd companionâs death, Smote on the head; through either temple passâd The pointed spear, and darkness veilâd his eyes.
Thundâring he fell, and loud his armour rang.
At this the Trojan chiefs, and Hectorâs self, âGan to give ground: the Greeks with joyful shouts Seizâd on the dead, and forward urgâd their course.
From Iliumâs heights Apollo, filled with wrath, Lookâd down, and to the Trojans shouted loud: âUprouse ye, valiant Trojans! give not way Before the Greeks; their bodies are not stone, Nor iron, to defy your trenchant swords; And great Achilles, fair-hairâd Thetisâ son, Fights not, but oâer his anger broods apart.â
So from the city callâd the heavânly voice; The Greeks, meanwhile, all-glorious Pallas firâd, Movâd âmid the tumult, and the laggards rousâd.
Then fell Diores, Amarynceusâ son:
A rugged fragment of a rock had crushâd His ancle and right leg; from AEnon came The Thracian chief who hurlâd it, Peirous, son Of Imbrasus; the tendons both, and bones, The huge mass shatterâd; backward in the dust He fell, both hands extending to his friends, Gasping his life away; then quick up-ran He who the blow had dealt, and with his spear Thrust through him, by the navel; from the wound His bowels gushâd, and darkness veilâd his eyes.
But he, advancing, through the breast was struck Above the nipple, by thâ AEtolian chief.
Thoas; and through his lungs the spear was drivân.
Thoas approachâd, and from his breast withdrew The sturdy spear, and with his sharp-edgâd sword Across his waistband gave the mortal stroke: Yet could not touch his arms; for all around The Thracian warriors, with, their tufted crowns, Their long spears held before them, him, though stout, And strong, and valiant, kept at bay; perforce He yielded; and thus side by side were laid The two, the Thracian and thâ Epeian chief; And round them many a valiant soldier lay.
Well might the deeds achieved that day deserve His praise, who through that bloody field might pass By sword or spear unwounded, by the hand Of Pallas guarded from the weaponâs flight; For many a Trojan, many a Greek, that day Prone in the dust, and side by side, were laid.
ARGUMENT.
THE ACTS OF DIOMED.
Diomed, assisted by Pallas, performs wonders in this dayâs battle.
Pandarus wounds him with an arrow, but the goddess cures him, enables him to discern gods from mortals, and prohibits him from contending with any of the former, excepting Venus. AEneas joins Pandarus to oppose him, Pandarus is killed, and AEneas in great danger but for the assistance of Venus; who, as she is removing her son from the fight, is wounded on the hand by Diomed. Apollo seconds her in his rescue, and, at length, carries off AEneas to Troy, where he is healed in the temple of Pergamus. Mars rallies the Trojans, and assists Hector to make a stand. In the mean time AEneas is restored to the field, and they overthrow several of the Greeks; among the rest Tlepolemus is slain by Sarpedon. Juno and Minerva descend to resist Mars; the latter incites Diomed to go against that god; he wounds him, and sends him groaning to heaven.
The first battle continues through this book. The scene is the same as in the former.
BOOK V.
Such strength, and courage then to Diomed, The son of Tydeus, Pallas gave, as raisâd, âMid all the Greeks, the glory of his name.
Forth from his helm arid shield a fiery light There flashâd, like autumnâs star, that brightest shines When newly risen from his ocean bath.
So from the warriorâs head and shoulders flashâd That fiery light, as to the midst he urgâd His furious course, where densest masses fought.
There was one Dares âmid the Trojan host, The priest of Vulcan, rich, of blameless life; Two gallant sons he had, Idaeus namâd, And Phegeus, skillâd in all the points of war.
These, parted from the throng, the warrior met; They on their car, while he on foot advancâd.
When near they came, first Phegeus threw his spear; Oâer the left shoulder of Tydides passâd The erring weaponâs point, and missâd its mark.
His pondârous spear in turn Tydides threw, And not in vain; on Phegeusâ breast it struck, Full in the midst, and hurlâd him from the car.
Idaeus from the well-wrought chariot sprang, And fled, nor durst his brotherâs corpse defend.
Nor had he so escapâd the doom of death, But Vulcan bore him safely from the field, In darkness shrouded, that his aged sire Might not be wholly of his sons bereavâd.
The car Tydides to his comrades gave,
And bade them to the ships the horses drive.
Now when the Trojans Daresâ sons beheld, The one in flight, the other stretchâd in death, Their spirits within them quailâd; but Pallas took The hand of Mars, and thus addressâd the God: âMars, Mars, thou bane of mortals, blood-stainâd Lord, Razer of cities, wherefore leave we not The Greeks and Trojans to contend, and see To which the sire of all will victâry give; While we retire, and shun the wrath of Jove?â
Thus saying, from the battle Mars she led, And placâd him on Scamanderâs steepy banks.
The Greeks drove back the Trojan host; the chiefs Slew each his victim; Agamemnon first, The mighty monarch, from his chariot hurlâd Hodius, the sturdy Halizonian chief,
Him, as he turnâd, between the shoulder-blades The javâlin struck, and through his chest was drivân; Thundâring he fell, and loud his armour rang.
On Phaestus, Borusâ son, Maeonian chief, Who from the fertile plains of Tarna came, Then sprang Idomeneus; and as he sought To mount upon his car, the Cretan King Through his right shoulder drove the pointed spear; He fell; the shades of death his eyes oâerspread, And of his arms the followers strippâd his corpse.
The son of Atreus, Menelaus, slew
Scamandrius, son of Strophius, sportsman keen, In woodcraft skilful; for his practisâd hand Had by Dianaâs self been taught to slay Each beast of chase the mountain forest holds.
But nought availâd him then the Archer-Queen Dianaâs counsels, nor his boasted art
Of distant aim; for as he fled, the lance Of Menelaus, Atreusâ warlike son,
Behind his neck, between the shoulder-blades, His flight arresting, through his chest was drivân.
Headlong he fell, and loud his armour rang.
Phereclus by Meriones was slain,
Son of Harmonides, whose practisâd hand Knew well to fashion many a work of art; By Pallas highly favourâd; he the ships For Paris built, first origin of ill,
Freighted with evil to the men of Troy, And to himself, who knew not Heavânâs decrees.
Him, in his headlong flight, in hot pursuit Meriones oâertook, and thrust his lance Through his right flank; beneath the bone was drivân The spear, and piercâd him through: prone on his knees, Groaning, he fell, and death his eyelids closâd.
Meges Pedaeus slew, Antenorâs son,
A bastard born, but by Theano rearâd
With tender care, and nurturâd as her son, With her own children, for her husbandâs sake.
Him, Phyleusâ warrior son, approaching near, Thrust through the junction of the head and neck; Crashâd through his teeth the spear beneath the tongue; Prone in the dust he gnashâd the brazen point.
Eurypylus, Euaemonâs noble son,
Hypsenor slew, the worthy progeny
Of Dolopion brave; Scamanderâs priest, And by the people as a God reverâd:
Him, as he fled before him, from behind Eurypylus, Euaemonâs noble son,
Smote with the sword; and from the shoulder-point The brawny arm he severâd; to the ground Down fell the gory hand; the darkling shades Of death, and rigârous doom, his eyelids closâd.
Thus labourâd they amid the stubborn fight; But of Tydides none might say to whom
His arm belongâd, or whether with the hosts Of Troy or Greece he mingled in the fight: Hither and thither oâer the plain he rushâd, Like to a wintry stream, that brimming oâer Breaks down its barriers in its rapid course; Nor well-built bridge can stem the flood, nor fence guards the fertile fields, as down it pours Its sudden torrent, swollân with rain from Heavân, And many a goodly work of man destroys: So back were borne before Tydidesâ might The serried ranks of Troy, nor darâd await, Despite their numbers, his impetuous charge.
Him when Lycaonâs noble son beheld
Careering oâer the plain, the serried ranks Driving before him, quick at Tydeusâ son He bent his bow; and onward as he rushâd, On the right shoulder, near the breastplateâs joint, The stinging arrow struck; right through it passâd, And held its way, that blood the breastplate stainâd.
Then shouted loud Lycaonâs noble son:
âArouse ye, valiant Trojans, ye who goad Your flying steeds; the bravest of the Greeks Is wounded, nor, I deem, can long withstand My weapon, if indeed from Lyciaâs shore By Phoebusâ counsel sent I joinâd the war.â
Thus he, vain-glorious; but not so was quellâd The godlike chief; back he withdrew, and stood Beside his car, and thus to Sthenelus, The son of Capaneus, his speech addressâd: âUp, gentle son of Capaneus, descend
From off the car, and from my shoulder draw This stinging arrow forth.â He said, and down Leapâd from the chariot Sthenelus, and stood Beside him; and as forth he drew the shaft, Gushâd out the blood, and dyed the twisted mail.
Then thus the valiant son of Tydeus prayâd: âHear me, thou child of aegis-bearing Jove, Unconquerâd! if amid the deadly fight
Thy friendly aid my father eâer sustainâd, Let me in turn thy favour find; and grant Within my reach and compass of my spear That man may find himself, who unawares Hath wounded me, and vainly boasting deems I shall not long behold the light of day.â
Thus prayâd the chief, and Pallas heard his prayâr; To all his limbs, to feet and hands alike, She gave fresh vigour; and with winged words, Beside him as she stood, addressâd him thus: âGo fearless onward, Diomed, to meet
The Trojan hosts; for I within thy breast Thy fatherâs dauntless courage have infusâd, Such as of old in Tydeusâ bosom dwelt, Bold horseman, buckler-clad; and from thine eyes The film that dimmâd them I have purgâd away, That thou mayst well âtwixt Gods and men discern.
If then some God make trial of thy force, With other of thâ Immortals fight thou not; But should Joveâs daughter Venus dare the fray Thou needst not shun at her to cast thy spear.â
This said, the blue-eyâd Goddess disappearâd.
Forthwith again amid the foremost ranks Tydides mingled; keenly as before
His spirit against the Trojans burnâd to fight, With threefold fury now he sought the fray.
As when a hungry lion has oâerleapâd
The sheepfold;
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