The Iliad - Homer (ebook reader library .txt) đ
- Author: Homer
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Thus as he spoke, amid the tamarisk scrub Far off he threw the trophies; then with reeds, And twigs new broken from the tamarisk boughs, He set a mark, lest in the gloom of night Returning, they might haply miss the spot.
Then on they passâd throâ arms and blackenâd gore, And reachâd the confines of the Thracian camp.
There found they all by sleep subdued; their arms Beside them on the ground, in order due, In triple rows; and by the side of each, Harnessâd and yokâd, his horses ready stood.
Surrounded by his warriors, Rhesus slept; Beside him stood his coursers fleet, their reins Suspended to the chariotâs topmost rail: Ulysses markâd him as he lay, and said, âThis is the man, Tydides, these the steeds, To us by Dolon, whom we slew, describâd.
Now then, put forth thy might; beseems it not To stand thus idly with thine arms in hand: Loose thou the horses; or do thou the men Despatch, and to my care the horses leave.â
He said: and Pallas vigour new inspirâd, That right and left he smote; dire were the groans Of slaughterâd men; the earth was red with blood; And as a lion on thâ untended flock
Of sheep or goats with savage onslaught springs, Evân so Tydides on the Thracians sprang, Till twelve were slain; and as Tydidesâ sword Gave each to death, Ulysses by the feet Drew each aside; reflecting, that perchance The horses, startled, might refuse to pass The corpses; for as yet they knew them not.
But when Tydides saw the sleeping King, A thirteenth victim to his sword was givân, Painfully breathing; for by Pallasâ art, He saw that night, as in an evil dream, The son of OEneus standing oâer his head.
Meanwhile Ulysses sage the horses loosâd; He gatherâd up the reins, and with his bow (For whip was none at hand) he drove them forth; Then softly whistling to Tydides gave
A signal; he, the while, remainâd behind, Musing what bolder deed he yet might do; Whether the seat, whereon the arms were laid, To draw away, or, lifted high in air,
To bear it off in triumph on the car;
Or on the Thracians farther loss inflict; But while he musâd, beside him Pallas stood, And said, âBethink thee, Tydeusâ son, betimes Of thy return, lest, if some other God Should wake the Trojans, thou shouldst need to fly.â
She said; the heavânly voice he recognizâd, And mounted straight the car; Ulysses touchâd The horses with his bow; and, urgâd to speed, They towârd the ships their rapid course pursued.
Nor idle watch Apollo kept, who saw
Tydides oâer the plain by Pallas led;
With anger fillâd, the Trojan camp he sought; And Rhesusâ kinsman, good Hippocoon,
The Thracian councillor, from sleep arousâd; Awaking, when the vacant space he viewâd, Where late had stood the horses; and his friends Gasping in death, and weltâring in their blood, He groanâd as on his comradeâs name he callâd: Then loud the clamour rose, and wild uproar, Unspeakable, of Trojans thronging round; They marvellâd at the deeds; but marvellâd more How they who wrought them had escapâd unscathâd.
Meantime arrivâd where Hectorâs scout they slew, Ulysses, lovâd of Heavân, a moment checkâd His eager steeds; Tydides from the car Leapâd to the ground, and in Ulyssesâ hand The bloody trophies placâd; then mounted quick, And towârd the ships, their destinâd goal, urgâd on The fiery horses; nothing loth, they flew.
Nestor first heard the sound, and cried, âO friends, The leaders and the councillors of Greece, Am I deceivâd, or is it true? methinks The sound of horses, hurrying, strikes mine ear; Grant Heavân, Ulysses and brave Diomed May bring those horses from the Trojan camp; Yet much I fear our bravest may have met With some disaster âmid the crowd of foes.â
He scarce had ended, when themselves appearâd, And from the car descended: welcomâd back With cordial grasp of hands, and friendly words.
Gerenian Nestor first, enquiring, said: âTell me, renownâd Ulysses, pride of Greece, Whence come these horses? from the Trojan camp?
Or hath some God, that met you by the way, Bestowâd them, radiant as the beams of light?
Among the Trojans day by day I move;
âTis not my wont; old warrior though I be, To lag behind; but horses such as these I never saw; some God hath givân them, sure; For Jove, the Cloud-compeller, loves you both, And Pallas, child of aegis-bearing Jove.â
To whom again the sage Ulysses thus:
âO Nestor, son of Neleus, pride of Greece, Had they so willâd, the Gods, so great their powâr, Eâen better horses could have givân than these; But these, old man, are Thracians, newly come; Whose King the valiant Diomed hath slain, And with him twelve, the best of all his band.
A scout too have we slain, by Hector sent, And by the Trojan chiefs, to spy our camp.â
He said, and oâer the ditch the horses drove, Exulting in their prize; and with him went The other chiefs, rejoicing, through the camp.
Arrivâd at Diomedâs well-orderâd tent, First with strong halters to the rack, where stood, High-fed with corn, his own swift-footed steeds, The horses they securâd; Ulysses then
The bloody spoils of Dolon stowâd away In the shipâs stern, till fitting sacrifice To Pallas might be offerâd; to the sea Descending then, they washâd away the sweat, Which on their necks, and thighs, and knees had dried; The sweat washâd off, and in the ocean waves Themselves refreshâd, they sought the polishâd bath; Then, by the bath restorâd, and all their limbs Anointed freely with the lissom oil,
Sat down to breakfast; and from flowing bowls In Pallasâ honour pourâd the luscious wine.
ARGUMENT.
THE THIRD BATTLE, AND THE ACTS OF AGAMEMNON.
Agamemnon, having armed himself, leads the Grecians to battle; Hector prepares the Trojans to receive them; while Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, give the signals of war. Agamemnon bears all before him; and Hector is commanded by Jupiter (who sends Iris for that purpose) to decline the engagement, till the king should be wounded, and retire from the field.
He then makes a great slaughter of the enemy; Ulysses and Diomed put a stop to him for a time; but the latter, being wounded by Paris, is obliged to desert his companion, who is encompassed by the Trojans, wounded, and in the utmost danger, till Menelaus and Ajax rescue him.
Hector comes against Ajax, but that hero alone opposes multitudes and rallies the Greeks. In the meantime Machaon, in the other wing of the army, is pierced with an arrow by Paris, and carried from the fight in Nestorâs chariot. Achilles (who overlooked the action from his ship) sends Patroclus to inquire which of the Greeks was wounded in that manner. Nestor entertains him in his tent with an account of the accidents of the day, and a long recital of some former wars which he had remembered, tending to put Patroclus upon persuading Achilles to fight for his countrymen, or at least to permit him to do it clad in Achillesâ armour. Patroclus in his return meets Eurypylus also wounded, and assists in that distress.
This book opens with the eight-and-twentieth day of the poem; and the same day, with its various actions and adventures, is extended through the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and part of the eighteenth books. The scene lies in the field near the monument of Ilus.
BOOK XI.
Now rose Aurora from Tithonusâ bed,
To mortals and Immortals bringing light; When to the ships of Greece came Discord down, Despatchâd from Jove, with dire portents of war.
Upon Ulyssesâ lofty ship she stood,
The midmost, thence to shout to either side, Or to the tents of Ajax Telamon,
Or of Achilles, who at each extreme,
Confiding in their strength, had moorâd their ships.
There stood the Goddess, and in accents loud And dread she callâd, and fixâd in evâry breast The fierce resolve to wage unwearied war; And dearer to their hearts than thoughts of home Or wishâd return, became the battle-field.
Atrides, loudly shouting, callâd the Greeks To arms: himself his flashing armour donnâd.
First on his legs the well-wrought greaves he fixâd, Fastenâd with silver clasps; his ample chest A breastplate guarded, givân by Cinyras In pledge of friendship; for in Cyprusâ isle He heard the rumour of the glorious fleet About to sail for Troy; and sought with gifts To win the favour of the mighty King.
Ten bands were there inwrought of dusky bronze, Twelve of pure gold, twice ten of shining tin: Of bronze six dragons upwards towârds the neck Their length extended, three on either side: In colour like the bow, which Saturnâs son Placâd in the clouds, a sign to mortal men: Then oâer his shoulder threw his sword; bright flashâd The golden studs; the silver scabbard shone, With golden baldrick fitted; next his shield He took, full-sizâd, well-wrought, well-provâd in fight; Around it ran ten circling rims of brass; With twenty bosses round of burnishâd tin, And, in the centre, one of dusky bronze.
A Gorgonâs head, with aspect terrible, Was wrought, with Fear and Flight encircled round: Depending from a silver belt it hung;
And on the belt a dragon, wrought in bronze, Twinâd his lithe folds, and turnâd on evâry side, Sprung from a single neck, his triple head.
Then on his brow his lofty helm he placâd, Four-crested, double-peakâd, with horsehair plumes, That nodded,-fearful, from the warriorâs head.
Then took two weighty lances, tippâd with brass, Which fiercely flashâd against the face of Heavân: Pallas and Juno thundâring from on high In honour of Mycenaeâs wealthy lord.
Forthwith they orderâd, each his charioteer, To stay his car beside the ditch; themselves, On foot, in arms accoutred, sallied forth, And loud, ere early dawn, the clamour rose.
Advancâd before the cars, they linâd the ditch; Followâd the cars, a little space between: But Jove with dire confusion fillâd their ranks, Who sent from Heavân a showâr of blood-stainâd rain.
In sign of many a warriorâs coming doom, Soon to the viewless shades untimely sent.
Meanwhile upon the slope, beneath the plain, The Trojan chiefs were gatherâd; Hectorâs self, Polydamas, AEneas, as a God
In revârence held; Antenorâs three brave sons, Agenorâs godlike presence, Polybus,
And, heavânly fair, the youthful Acamas.
In front was seen the broad circumference Of Hectorâs shield; and as amid the clouds Shines forth the fiery dog-star, bright and clear, Anon beneath the cloudy veil concealâd; So now in front was Hector seen, and now Passâd to the rear, exhorting; all in brass, His burnishâd arms like Joveâs own lightning flashâd.
As in the corn-land of some wealthy Lord The rival bands of reapers mow the swathe, Barley or wheat; and fast the trusses fall; So Greeks and Trojans mowâd thâ opposing ranks; Nor these admitted thought of faint retreat, But still made even head; while those, like wolves, Rushâd to the onset; Discord, Goddess dire, Beheld, rejoicing; of the heavânly powârs She only mingled with the combatants;
The others all were absent; they, serene, Reposâd in gorgeous palaces, for each
Amid Olympusâ deep recesses built.
Yet all the cloud-girt son of Saturn blamâd, Who willâd the victâry to the arms of Troy.
He heeded not their anger; but withdrawn Apart from all, in pride of conscious strength, Surveyâd the walls of Troy, the ships of Greece, The flash of arms, the slayers and the slain.
While yet âtwas morn, and waxâd
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