Thus, then, did the Achaeans arm by their ships
round you, O son of Peleus, who were hungering for battle; while the Trojans
over against them armed upon the rise of the plain.
Meanwhile Zeus from the top of many-delled
Olympus, bade Themis gather the
gods in council, whereon she went about and called them to the house of Zeus.
There was not a river absent except Okeanos, nor a single one of the nymphs
that haunt fair groves, or springs of rivers and meadows of green grass. When
they reached the house of cloud-compelling Zeus, they took their seats in the
arcades of polished marble which Hephaistos with his consummate skill had made
for father Zeus.
In such wise, therefore, did they gather in the
house of Zeus. Poseidon also, lord of the earthquake, obeyed the call of the
goddess, and came up out of the sea to join them. There, sitting in the midst
of them, he asked what Zeus' purpose might be. "Why," said he, "wielder of the
lightning, have you called the gods in council? Are you considering some matter
that concerns the Trojans and Achaeans - for the blaze of battle is on the
point of being kindled between them?"
And Zeus answered, "You know my purpose, shaker
of earth, and wherefore I have called you hither. I take thought for them even
in their destruction. For my own part I shall stay here seated on Mount Olympus and look on in peace, but do you
others go about among Trojans and Achaeans, and help either side as you may be
severally disposed in your thinking [noos]. If
Achilles fights the Trojans without hindrance they will make no stand against
him; they have ever trembled at the sight of him, and now that he is roused to
such fury about his comrade, he will override fate itself and storm their
city."
Thus spoke Zeus and gave the word for war,
whereon the gods took their several sides and went into battle. Hera, Pallas
Athena, earth-encircling Poseidon, Hermes bringer of good luck and excellent in
all cunning - all these joined the host that came from the assembly [agôn] of ships; with them also came Hephaistos in all
his glory, limping, but yet with his thin legs plying lustily under him. Ares
of gleaming helmet joined the Trojans, and with him Apollo of locks unshorn,
and the archer goddess Artemis, Leto, Xanthos, and laughter-loving Aphrodite.
So long as the gods held themselves aloof from
mortal warriors the Achaeans were triumphant, for Achilles who had long refused
to fight was now with them. There was not a Trojan but his limbs failed him for
fear as he beheld the fleet son of Peleus all glorious in his armor, and
looking like Ares himself. When, however, the Olympians came to take their part
among men, forthwith uprose strong Strife, rouser of hosts, and Athena raised
her loud voice, now standing by the deep trench that ran outside the wall, and
now shouting with all her might upon the shore of the sounding sea. Ares also
bellowed out upon the other side, dark as some black thunder-cloud, and called
on the Trojans at the top of his voice, now from the acropolis, and now
speeding up the side of the river Simoeis till he came to the hill Kallikolone.
Thus did the gods spur on both hosts to fight,
and rouse fierce contention also among themselves. The sire of gods and men
thundered from heaven above, while from beneath Poseidon shook the vast earth,
and bade the high hills tremble. The spurs and crests of many-fountained Ida
quaked, as also the city of the Trojans and the ships of the Achaeans. Hades,
king of the realms below, was struck with fear; he sprang panic-stricken from
his throne and cried aloud in terror lest Poseidon, lord of the earthquake,
should crack the ground over his head, and lay bare his moldy mansions to the
sight of mortals and immortals - mansions so ghastly grim that even the gods
shudder to think of them. Such was the uproar as the gods came together in
battle. Apollo with his arrows took his stand to face King Poseidon, while
Athena took hers against the god of war; the archer-goddess Artemis with her
golden arrows, sister of far-darting Apollo, stood to face Hera; Hermes the
lusty bringer of good luck faced Leto, while the mighty eddying river whom men
can Skamandros, but gods Xanthos,
matched himself against Hephaistos.
The gods, then, were thus ranged against one
another. But the heart of Achilles was set on meeting Hektor son of Priam, for
it was with his blood that he longed above all things else to glut the stubborn
lord of battle. Meanwhile Apollo set Aeneas on to attack the son of Peleus, and
put courage into his heart, speaking with the voice of Lykaon son of Priam. In
his likeness therefore, he said to Aeneas, "Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans,
where are now the brave words with which you vaunted over your wine before the
Trojan princes, saying that you would fight Achilles son of Peleus in single
combat?"
And Aeneas answered, "Why do you thus bid me
fight the proud son of Peleus, when I am in no mind to do so? Were I to face
him now, it would not be for the first time. His spear has already put me to
Right from Ida, when he attacked our cattle and sacked Lyrnessos and Pedasos;
Zeus indeed saved me in that he granted me strength to flee, else had the
fallen by the hands of Achilles and Athena, who went before him to protect him
and urged him to fall upon the Leleges and Trojans. No man may fight Achilles,
for one of the gods is always with him as his guardian, and even were it not
so, his weapon flies ever straight, and fails not to pierce the flesh of him
who is against him; if heaven would let me fight him to the finish [telos] on even terms, he should not soon overcome me,
though he boasts that he is made of bronze."
Then said King Apollo, son to Zeus, "Nay, hero,
pray to the ever-living gods, for men say that you were born of Zeus' daughter
Aphrodite, whereas Achilles is son to a goddess of inferior rank. Aphrodite is
child to Zeus, while Thetis is but daughter to the old man of the sea. Bring,
therefore, your spear to bear upon him, and let him not scare you with his
taunts and menaces."
As he spoke he put courage into the heart of
the shepherd of his people, and he strode in full armor among the ranks of the
foremost fighters. Nor did the son of Anchises escape the notice of white-armed
Hera, as he went forth into the throng to meet Achilles. She called the gods
about her, and said, "Look to it, you two, Poseidon and Athena, and consider
how this shall be; Phoebus Apollo has been sending Aeneas clad in full armor to
fight Achilles. Shall we turn him back at once, or shall one of us stand by
Achilles and endow him with strength so that his heart fail not, and he may
learn that the chiefs of the immortals are on his side, while the others who
have all along been defending the Trojans are but vain helpers? Let us all come
down from Olympus and join in the
fight, that this day he may take no hurt at the hands of the Trojans. Hereafter
let him suffer whatever fate may have spun out for him when he was begotten and
his mother bore him. If Achilles be not thus assured by the voice of a god, he
may come to fear presently when one of us meets him in battle, for the gods are
terrible if they are seen face to face."
Poseidon lord of the earthquake answered her
saying, "Hera, restrain your fury, which has made you veer in your thinking
[noos]; it is not well; I am not in favor of
forcing the other gods to fight us, for the advantage is too greatly on our own
side; let us take our places on some hill out of the beaten track, and let
mortals fight it out among themselves. If Ares or Phoebus Apollo begin
fighting, or keep Achilles in check so that he cannot fight, we too, will at
once raise the cry of battle, and in that case they will soon leave the field
and go back vanquished to Olympus
among the other gods."
With these words the dark-haired god led the
way to the high earth-barrow of Herakles, built round solid masonry, and made
by the Trojans and Pallas Athena for him flee to when the sea-monster was
chasing him from the shore on to the plain. Here Poseidon and those that were
with him took their seats, wrapped in a thick cloud of darkness; but the other
gods seated themselves on the brow of Kallikolone round you, O Phoebus, and
Ares the waster of cities.
Thus did the gods sit apart and form their
plans, but neither side was willing to begin battle with the other, and Zeus
from his seat on high was in command over them all. Meanwhile the whole plain
was alive with men and horses, and blazing with the gleam of armor. The earth
rang again under the tramp of their feet as they rushed towards each other, and
two champions, by far the foremost of them all, met between the hosts to fight
- to wit, Aeneas son of Anchises, and noble Achilles.
Aeneas was first to stride forward in attack,
his doughty helmet tossing defiance as he came on. He held his strong shield
before his breast, and brandished his bronze spear. The son of Peleus from the
other side sprang forth to meet him, like some fierce lion that the whole
population [dêmos] has met to hunt and kill - at
first he bodes no ill, but when some daring youth has struck him with a spear,
he crouches openmouthed, his jaws foam, he roars with fury, he lashes his tail
from side to side about his ribs and loins, and glares as he springs straight
before him, to find out whether he is to slay, or be slain among the foremost
of his foes - even with such fury did Achilles burn to spring upon Aeneas.
When they were now close up with one another
Achilles was first to speak. "Aeneas," said he, "why do you stand thus out
before the host to fight me? Is it that you hope to reign over the Trojans,
partaking of the honor [timê] of Priam? Nay, though
you kill me Priam will not hand his kingdom over to you. He is a man of sound
judgment, and he has sons of his own. Or have the Trojans been allotting you a
demesne of passing richness, fair with orchard lawns and wheat lands, if you
should slay me? This you shall hardly do. I have discomfited you once already.
Have you forgotten how when you were alone I chased you from your herds
helter-skelter down the slopes of Ida? You did not turn round to look behind
you; you took refuge in Lyrnessos, but I attacked the city, and with the help
of Athena and father Zeus I sacked it and carried its women into captivity,
though Zeus and the other gods rescued you. You think they will protect you
now, but they will not do so; therefore I say go back into the host, and do not
face me, or you will rue it. Even a fool may be wise after the event."
Then Aeneas answered, "Son of Peleus, think not
that your words can scare me as though I were a child. I too, if I will, can
brag and talk unseemly. We know one another's race and parentage as matters of
common fame, though neither have you ever seen my parents nor I yours. Men say
that you are son to noble Peleus, and that your mother is Thetis, fair-haired
daughter of the sea. I have noble Anchises for my father, and Aphrodite for my
mother; the parents of one or other of us shall this day mourn a son, for it
will be more than silly talk that shall part us when the fight is over. Learn,
then, my lineage if you will - and it is known to many.
"In the beginning Dardanos was the son of Zeus, and founded
Dardania, for Ilion was not yet
established on the plain for men to dwell in, and her people still abode on the
spurs of many-fountained Ida. Dardanos had a son, king Erichthonios, who was
wealthiest of all men living; he had three thousand mares that fed by the
water-meadows, they and their foals with them. Boreas was enamored of them as
they were feeding, and covered them in the semblance of a dark-maned stallion.
Twelve filly foals did they conceive and bear him, and these, as they sped over
the fertile plain, would go bounding on over the ripe ears of wheat and not
break them; or again when they would disport themselves on the broad back of
Ocean they could gallop on the crest of a breaker. Erichthonios begat Tros,
king of the Trojans, and Tros had three noble sons, Ilos, Assarakos, and
Ganymede who was comeliest of mortal men; wherefore the gods carried him off to
be Zeus' cupbearer, for his beauty's sake, that he might dwell among the
immortals. Ilos begat Laomedon, and Laomedon begat Tithonos, Priam, Lampos,
Klytios, and Hiketaon of the stock of Ares. But Assarakos was father to Kapys,
and Kapys to Anchises, who was my father, while Hektor is son to Priam.
"Such do I declare my blood and lineage, but as
for valor [aretê], Zeus gives it or takes it as he
will, for he is lord of all. And now let there be no more of this prating in
mid-battle as though we were children. We could fling taunts without end at one
another; a hundred-oared galley would not hold them. The tongue can run in
every which direction and talk all wise; it can go here and there, and as a man
says, so shall he be gainsaid. What is the use of our bandying hard like women
who when they fall foul of one another go out and wrangle in the streets, one
half true and the other lies, as rage inspires them? No words of yours shall
turn me now that I am fain to fight- therefore let us make trial of one another
with our spears."
As he spoke he drove his spear at the great and
terrible shield of Achilles, which rang out as the point struck it. The son of
Peleus held the shield before him with his strong hand, and he was afraid, for
he deemed that Aeneas' spear would go through it quite easily, not reflecting
that the god's glorious gifts were little likely to yield before the blows of
mortal men; and indeed Aeneas' spear did not pierce the shield, for the layer
of gold, gift of the god, stayed the point. It went through two layers, but the
god had made the shield in five, two of bronze, the two innermost ones of tin,
and one of gold; it was in this that the spear was stayed.
Achilles in his turn threw, and struck the
round shield of Aeneas at the very edge, where the bronze was thinnest; the
spear of Pelian ash went clean through, and the shield rang under the blow;
Aeneas was afraid, and crouched backwards, holding the shield away from him;
the spear, however, flew over his back, and stuck quivering in the ground,
after having gone through both circles of the sheltering shield. Aeneas though
he had avoided the spear, stood still, blinded with fear and grief [akhos] because the weapon had gone so near him; then
Achilles sprang furiously upon him, with a cry as of death and with his keen
blade drawn, and Aeneas seized a great stone, so huge that two men, as men now
are, would be unable to lift it, but Aeneas wielded it quite easily.
Aeneas would then have struck Achilles as he
was springing towards him, either on the helmet, or on the shield that covered
him, and Achilles would have closed with him and dispatched him with his sword,
had not Poseidon lord of the earthquake been quick to mark, and said forthwith
to the immortals, "Alas, I feel grief [akhos] for
great Aeneas, who will now go down to the house of Hades, vanquished by the son
of Peleus. Fool that he was to give ear to the counsel of Apollo. Apollo will
never save him from destruction. Why should this man suffer grief [akhos] when he is guiltless, to no purpose, and in
another's quarrel? Has he not at all times offered acceptable sacrifice to the
gods that dwell in heaven? Let us then snatch him from death's jaws, lest the
son of Kronos be angry should Achilles slay him. It is fated, moreover, that he
should escape, and that the race of Dardanos, whom Zeus loved above all the
sons born to him of mortal women, shall not perish utterly without seed or
sign. For now indeed has Zeus hated the blood of Priam, while Aeneas shall
reign over the Trojans, he and his children's children that shall be born
hereafter."
Then answered Hera, "Earth-shaker, look to this
matter yourself, and consider concerning Aeneas, whether you will save him, or
suffer him, brave though he be, to fall by the hand of Achilles son of Peleus.
For of a truth we two, I and Pallas Athena, have sworn full many a time before
all the immortals, that never would we shield Trojans from destruction, not
even when all Troy is burning in the
flames that the Achaeans shall kindle."
When earth-encircling Poseidon heard this he
went into the battle amid the clash of spears, and came to the place where
Achilles and Aeneas were. Forthwith he shed a darkness before the eyes of the
son of Peleus, drew the bronze-headed ashen spear from the shield of Aeneas,
and laid it at the feet of Achilles. Then he lifted Aeneas on high from off the
earth and hurried him away. Over the heads of many a band of warriors both
horse and foot did he soar as the god's hand sped him, till he came to the very
fringe of the battle where the Cauconians were arming themselves for fight.
Poseidon, shaker of the earth, then came near to him and said, Aeneas, what god
has egged you on to this folly in fighting the son of Peleus, who is both a
mightier man of valor and more beloved of heaven than you are? Give way before
him whensoever you meet him, lest you go down to the house of Hades even though
fate would have it otherwise. When Achilles is dead you may then fight among
the foremost undaunted, for none other of the Achaeans shall slay you."
The god left him when he had given him these
instructions, and at once removed the darkness from before the eyes of
Achilles, who opened them wide indeed and said in great anger, "Alas! what
marvel am I now beholding? Here is my spear upon the ground, but I see not him
whom I meant to kill when I hurled it. Of a truth Aeneas also must be under
heaven's protection, although I had thought his boasting was idle. Let him go
hang; he will be in no mood to fight me further, seeing how narrowly he has
missed being killed. I will now give my orders to the Danaans and attack some
other of the Trojans."
He sprang forward along the line and cheered
his men on as he did so. "Let not the Trojans," he cried, "keep you at arm's
length, Achaeans, but go for them and fight them man for man. However valiant I
may be, I cannot give chase to so many and fight all of them. Even Ares, who is
an immortal, or Athena, would shrink from flinging himself into the jaws of
such a fight and laying about him; nevertheless, so far as in me lies I will
show no slackness of hand or foot nor want of endurance, not even for a moment;
I will utterly break their ranks, and woe to the Trojan who shall venture
within reach of my spear."
Thus did he exhort them. Meanwhile Hektor
called upon the Trojans and declared that he would fight Achilles. "Be not
afraid, proud Trojans," said he, "to face the son of Peleus; I could fight gods
myself if the battle were one of words only, but they would be more than a
match for me, if we had to use our spears. Even so the deed of Achilles will
fall somewhat short of the outcome [telos] of his
word; he will do in part, and the other part he will clip short. I will go up
against him though his hands be as fire - though his hands be fire and his
strength iron."
Thus urged the Trojans lifted up their spears
against the Achaeans, and raised the cry of battle as they flung themselves
into the midst of their ranks. But Phoebus Apollo came up to Hektor and said,
"Hektor, on no account must you challenge Achilles to single combat; keep a
lookout for him while you are under cover of the others and away from the thick
of the fight, otherwise he will either hit you with a spear or cut you down at
close quarters."
Thus he spoke, and Hektor drew back within the
crowd, for he was afraid when he heard what the god had said to him. Achilles
then sprang upon the Trojans with a terrible cry, clothed in valor as with a
garment. First he killed Iphition son of Otrynteus, a leader of many people
whom a naiad nymph had borne to Otrynteus waster of cities, in the district
[dêmos] of Hyde under the snowy heights of Mount Tmolos. Achilles struck
him full on the head as he was coming on towards him, and split it clean in
two; whereon he fell heavily to the ground and Achilles vaunted over him
saying, "You be low, son of Otrynteus, mighty hero; your death is here, but
your lineage is on the Gygaean lake where your father's estate lies, by Hyllos,
rich in fish, and the eddying waters of Hermos."
Thus did he vaunt, but darkness closed the eyes
of the other. The chariots of the Achaeans cut him up as their wheels passed
over him in the front of the battle, and after him Achilles killed Demoleon, a
valiant man of war and son to Antenor. He struck him on the temple through his
bronze-cheeked helmet. The helmet did not stay the spear, but it went right on,
crushing the bone so that the brain inside was shed in all directions, and his
lust of fighting was ended. Then he struck Hippodamas in the midriff as he was
springing down from his chariot in front of him, and trying to escape. He
breathed his last, bellowing like a bull bellows when young men are dragging
him to offer him in sacrifice to the King of Helike, and the heart of the earth-shaker is glad; even so did
he bellow as he lay dying. Achilles then went in pursuit of Polydoros son of
Priam, whom his father had always forbidden to fight because he was the
youngest of his sons, the one he loved best, and the fastest runner. He, in his
folly and showing off the excellence [aretê] of his
speed, was rushing about among front ranks until he lost his life, for Achilles
struck him in the middle of the back as he was darting past him: he struck him
just at the golden fastenings of his belt and where the two pieces of the
double breastplate overlapped. The point of the spear pierced him through and
came out by the navel, whereon he fell groaning on to his knees and a cloud of
darkness overshadowed him as he sank holding his entrails in his hands.
When Hektor saw his brother Polydoros with his
entrails in his hands and sinking down upon the ground, a mist came over his
eyes, and he could not bear to keep longer at a distance; he therefore poised
his spear and darted towards Achilles like a flame of fire. When Achilles saw
him he bounded forward and vaunted saying, "This is he that has wounded my
heart most deeply and has slain my beloved comrade. Not for long shall we two
quail before one another on the highways of war."
He looked fiercely on Hektor and said, "Draw
near, that you may meet your doom the sooner." Hektor feared him not and
answered, "Son of Peleus, think not that your words can scare me as though I
were a child; I too if I will can brag and talk unseemly; I know that you are a
mighty warrior, mightier by far than I, nevertheless the issue lies in the lap
of heaven whether I, worse man though I be, may not slay you with my spear, for
this too has been found keen ere now."
He hurled his spear as he spoke, but Athena
breathed upon it, and though she breathed but very lightly she turned it back
from going towards Achilles, so that it returned to Hektor and lay at his feet
in front of him. Achilles then sprang furiously on him with a loud cry, bent on
killing him, but Apollo caught him up easily as a god can, and hid him in a
thick darkness. Thrice did Achilles spring towards him spear in hand, and
thrice did he waste his blow upon the air. When he rushed forward for the
fourth time as though he were a daimôn he shouted
aloud saying, "Hound, this time too you have escaped death - but of a truth it
came exceedingly near you. Phoebus Apollo, to whom it seems you pray before you
go into battle, has again saved you; but if I too have any friend among the
gods I will surely make an end of you when I come across you at some other
time. Now, however, I will pursue and overtake other Trojans."
On this he struck Dryops with his spear, about
the middle of his neck, and he fell headlong at his feet. There he let him lie
and stayed Demoukhos son of Philetor, a man both brave and of great stature, by
hitting him on the knee with a spear; then he smote him with his sword and
killed him. After this he sprang on Laogonos and Dardanos, sons of Bias, and threw them
from their chariot, the one with a blow from a thrown spear, while the other he
cut down in hand-to-hand fight. There was also Tros the son of Alastor - he
came up to Achilles and clasped his knees in the hope that he would spare him
and not kill him but let him go, because they were both of the same age. Fool,
he might have known that he should not prevail with him, for the man was in no
mood for pity or forbearance but was in grim earnest. Therefore when Tros laid
hold of his knees and sought a hearing for his prayers, Achilles drove his
sword into his liver, and the liver came rolling out, while his bosom was all
covered with the black blood that welled from the wound. Thus did death close
his eyes as he lay lifeless.
Achilles then went up to Moulios and struck him
on the ear with a spear, and the bronze spear-head came right out at the other
ear. He also struck Echeklos son of Agenor on the head with his sword, which
became warm with the blood, while death and stern fate closed the eyes of
Echeklos. Next in order the bronze point of his spear wounded Deukalion in the
fore-arm where the sinews of the elbow are united, whereon he waited Achilles'
onset with his arm hanging down and death staring him in the face. Achilles cut
his head off with a blow from his sword and flung it helmet and all away from
him, and the marrow came oozing out of his backbone as he lay. He then went in
pursuit of Rhigmos, noble son of Peires, who had come from fertile Thrace, and struck him through the middle with
a spear which fixed itself in his belly, so that he fell headlong from his
chariot. He also speared Areithoos squire [therapôn] to Rhigmos in the back as he was turning his horses in
flight, and thrust him from his chariot, while the horses were struck with
panic.
As a fire raging in some mountain glen after
long drought - and the dense forest is in a blaze, while the wind carries great
tongues of fire in every direction - even so furiously did Achilles rage,
wielding his spear as though he were a daimôn, and
giving chase to those whom he would slay, till the dark earth ran with blood.
Or as one who yokes broad-browed oxen that they may tread barley in a
threshing-floor - and it is soon bruised small under the feet of the lowing
cattle - even so did the horses of Achilles trample on the shields and bodies
of the slain. The axle underneath and the railing that ran round the car were
bespattered with clots of blood thrown up by the horses' hoofs, and from the
tires of the wheels; but the son of Peleus pressed on to win still further
glory, and his hands were bedrabbled with gore.