Iliad

But when the Trojans in their flight had passed over the palisade and the trench, and many had been vanquished beneath the hands of the Danaans, then beside their chariots they stayed, and were halted, pale with fear, terror-stricken; and Zeus awokeon the peaks of Ida beside Hera of the golden throne. Then he sprang up, and stood, and saw Trojans alike and Achaeans, these in rout, and the Argives driving them on from the rear, and amid them the lord Poseidon. And Hector he saw lying on the plain, while about him sat his comrades,and he was gasping with painful breath, distraught in mind, and vomiting blood; for not the weakest of the Achaeans was it that had smitten him. At sight of him the father of men and gods had pity, and with a dread glance from beneath his brows he spake to Hera, saying:

Hera, that art hard to deal with, it is the craft of thine evil wilesthat hath stayed goodly Hector from the fight, and hath driven the host in rout. Verily I know not but thou shalt yet be the first to reap the fruits of thy wretched ill-contriving, and I shall scourge thee with stripes. Dost thou not remember when thou wast hung from on high, and from thy feet I suspended two anvils, and about thy wrists casta band of gold that might not be broken? And in the air amid the clouds thou didst hang, and the gods had indignation throughout high Olympus; howbeit they availed not to draw nigh and loose thee. Nay, whomsoever I caught, I would seize and hurl from the threshold until he reached the earth, his strength all spent. Yet not even so was my hearteased of its ceaseless pain for godlike Heracles, whom thou when thou hadst leagued thee with the North Wind and suborned his blasts, didst send over the unresting sea, by thine evil devising, and thereafter didst bear him away unto well-peopled Cos. Him did I save from thence, and brought againto horse-pasturing Argos, albeit after he had laboured sore. Of these things will I mind thee yet again, that thou mayest cease from thy beguilings, to the end that thou mayest see whether they anywise avail thee, the dalliance and the couch, wherein thou didst lie with me when thou hadst come forth from among the gods, and didst beguile me.

So spake he, and the ox-eyed, queenly Hera shuddered;and she spake and addressed him with winged words:

Hereto now be Earth my witness and the broad Heaven above, and the down-flowing water of Styx, which is the greatest and most dread oath for the blessed gods, and thine own sacred head, and the couch of us twain, couch of our wedded love,whereby I verily would never forswear myself —not by my will doth Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, work harm to the Trojans and Hector, and give succour to their foes. Nay, I ween, it is his own soul that urgeth and biddeth him on, and he hath seen the Achaeans sore-bested by their ships and taken pity upon them.But I tell thee, I would counsel even him to walk in that way, wherein thou, O lord of the dark cloud, mayest lead him.

If in good sooth, O ox-eyed, queenly Hera,thy thought hereafter were to be one with my thought as thou sittest among the immortals, then would Poseidon, how contrary soever his wish might be, forthwith bend his mind to follow thy heart and mine. But if verily thou speakest in frankness and in truth, go thou now among the tribes of gods and callIris to come hither, and Apollo, famed for his bow, that she may go amid the host of the brazen-coated Achaeans, and bid the lord Poseidon that he cease from war, and get him to his own house; but let Phoebus Apollo rouse Hector to the fight,and breathe strength into him again, and make him forget the pains that now distress his heart; and let him drive the Achaeans back once more, when he has roused in them craven panic; so shall they flee and fall among the many-benched ships of Achilles, son of Peleus, and he shall send forth his comradePatroclus, howbeit him shall glorious Hector slay with the spear before the face of Ilios, after himself hath slain many other youths, and among them withal my son, goodly Sarpedon. And in wrath for Patroclus shall goodly Achilles slay Hector. Then from that time forth shall I cause a driving back of the Trojans from the shipsevermore continually, until the Achaeans shall take steep Ilios through the counsels of Athene. But until that hour neither do I refrain my wrath, nor will I suffer any other of the immortals to bear aid to the Danaans here, until the desire of the son of Peleus be fulfilled,even as I promised at the first and bowed my head thereto, on the day when the goddess Thetis clasped my knees, beseeching me to do honour to Achilles, sacker of cities.

So spake he, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, failed not to hearken, but went her way from the mountains of Ida unto high Olympus.And even as swiftly darteth the mind of a man who hath travelled over far lands and thinketh in the wisdom of his heart,

Would I were here, or there,

Hera, wherefore art thou come? Thou art as one distraught. In good sooth the son of Cronos hath affrighted thee, he thine own husband.

Ask me not at large concerning this, O goddess Themis; of thyself thou knowest what manner of mood is his, how over-haughty and unbending.Nay, do thou begin for the gods the equal feast in the halls, and this shalt thou hear amid all the immortals, even what manner of evil deeds Zeus declareth. In no wise, methinks, will it delight in like manner the hearts of all, whether mortals or gods, if so be any even now still feasteth with a joyful mind.

Fools, that in our witlessness are wroth against Zeus!In sooth we are even yet fain to draw nigh unto him and thwart him of his will by word or by constraint, but he sitteth apart and recketh not, neither giveth heed thereto; for he deemeth that among the immortal gods he is manifestly supreme in might and strength. Wherefore content ye yourselves with whatsoever evil thing he sendeth upon each.Even now I deem that sorrow hath been wrought for Ares, seeing that his son, dearest of men to him, hath perished in battle, even Ascalaphus, whom mighty Ares declareth to be his own.

So spake she, but Ares smote his sturdy thighs with the flat of his hands, and with wailing spake, and said:

Count it not blame for me now, O ye that have dwellings on Olympus, if I go to the ships of the Achaeans and avenge the slaying of my son, even though it be my fate to be smitten with the bolt of Zeus, and to lie low in blood and dust amid the dead.

Thou madman, distraught of wit, thou art beside thyself! Verily it is for naught that thou hast ears for hearing, and thine understanding and sense of right are gone from thee.Hearest thou not what the goddess, white-armed Hera, saith, she that is but now come from Olympian Zeus? Wouldest thou thyself fulfill the measure of manifold woes, and so return to Olympus despite thy grief, perforce, and for all the rest sow the seeds of grievous woe?For he will forthwith leave the Trojans, high of heart, and the Achaeans, and will hie him to Olympus to set us all in tumult, and will lay hands upon each in turn, the guilty alike and him in whom is no guilt. Wherefore now I bid thee put away thy wrath for thine own son. For ere now many a one more excellent than he in might and strength of hand hath been slain,or will yet be slain; and a hard thing it is to preserve the lineage and offspring of men.

Zeus biddeth you twain go to Ida with all the speed ye may; and when ye have come, and looked upon the face of Zeus, then do ye whatsoever he may order and command.

When she had thus spoken queenly Hera returned againand sate her down upon her throne; and the twain sprang up and sped forth upon their way. To many-fountained Ida they came, mother of wild beasts, and found Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, seated on topmost Gargarus; and about him a fragrant cloud was wreathed. The twain then came before the face of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer,and at sight of them his heart waxed nowise wroth, for that they had speedily obeyed the words of his dear wife. And to Iris first he spake winged words:

Up, go, swift Iris; unto the lord Poseidon bear thou all these tidings, and see thou tell him true.Bid him cease from war and battle, and go to join the tribes of gods, or into the bright sea. And if so be he will not obey my words, but shall set them at naught, let him bethink him then in mind and heart, lest, how strong soever he be, he have no hardihood to abide my on-coming;for I avow me to be better far than he in might, and the elder born. Yet his heart counteth it but a little thing to declare himself the peer of me of whom even the other gods are adread.

A message for thee, O Earth-Enfolder, thou dark-haired god,have I come hither to bring from Zeus, that beareth the aegis. He biddeth thee cease from war and battle, and go to join the tribes of gods, or into the bright sea. And if so be thou wilt not obey his words, but shalt set them at naught, he threateneth that he will himself come hither to set his might against thine in battle;and he biddeth thee avoid thee out of his hands; for he avoweth him to be better far than thou in might, and the elder born. Yet thy heart counteth it but a little thing to declare thyself the peer of him, of whom even the other gods are adread.

Then, stirred to hot anger, the glorious Shaker of Earth spake unto her:

Out upon it, verily strong though he be he hath spoken overweeningly, if in sooth by force and in mine own despite he will restrain me that am of like honour with himself. For three brethren are we, begotten of Cronos, and born of Rhea,—Zeus, and myself, and the third is Hades, that is lord of the dead below. And in three-fold wise are all things divided, and unto each hath been apportioned his own domain.I verily, when the lots were shaken, won for my portion the grey sea to be my habitation for ever, and Hades won the murky darkness, while Zeus won the broad heaven amid the air and the clouds; but the earth and high Olympus remain yet common to us all. Wherefore will I not in any wise walk after the will of Zeus; nay in quietlet him abide in his third portion, how strong soever he be.And with might of hand let him not seek to affright me, as though I were some coward. His daughters and his sons were it better for him to threaten with blustering words, even them that himself begat, who perforce will hearken to whatsoever he may bid.

Is it thus in good sooth, O Earth-Enfolder, thou dark-haired god, that I am to bear to Zeus this message, unyielding and harsh, or wilt thou anywise turn thee; for the hearts of the good may be turned? Thou knowest how the Erinyes ever follow to aid the elder-born.

Goddess Iris, this word of thine is right fitly spoken; and a good thing verily is this, when a messenger hath an understanding heart. But herein dread grief cometh upon my heart and soul, whenso any is minded to upbraid with angry wordsone of like portion with himself, to whom fate hath decreed an equal share. Howbeit for this present will I yield, despite mine indignation; yet another thing will I tell thee, and make this threat in my wrath: if in despite of me, and of Athene, driver of the spoil,and of Hera, and Hermes, and lord Hephaestus, he shall spare steep Ilios, and shall be minded not to lay it waste, neither to give great might to the Argives, let him know this, that between us twain shall be wrath that naught can appease.

Then unto Apollo spake Zeus, the cloud-gatherer:

Go now, dear Phoebus, unto Hector, harnessed in bronze, for now is the Enfolder and Shaker of Earth gone into the bright sea, avoiding our utter wrath; else verily had others too heard of our strife,even the gods that are in the world below with Cronos. But this was better for both, for me and for his own self, that ere then he yielded to my hands despite his wrath, for not without sweat would the issue have been wrought. But do thou take in thine hands the tasselled aegis,and shake it fiercely over the Achaean warriors to affright them withal. And for thine own self, thou god that smitest afar, let glorious Hector be thy care, and for this time's space rouse in him great might, even until the Achaeans shall come in flight unto their ships and the Hellespont. From that moment will I myself contrive word and deed,to the end that yet again the Achaeans may have respite from their toil.

Hector, son of Priam, why is it that thou apart from the restabidest here fainting? Is it haply that some trouble is come upon thee?

Who of the gods art thou, mightiest one, that dost make question of me face to face? Knowest thou not that at the sterns of the Achaeans' ships as I made havoc of his comrades, Aias, good at the war-cry, smote meon the breast with a stone, and made me cease from my furious might? Aye, and I deemed that on this day I should behold the dead and the house of Hades, when I had gasped forth my life.

Then spake to him again the lord Apollo, that worketh afar:

Be now of good cheer, so mighty a helper hath the son of Cronossent forth from Ida to stand by thy side and succour thee, even me, Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, that of old ever protect thee, thyself and the steep citadel withal. But come now, bid thy many charioteers drive against the hollow ships their swift horses,and I will go before and make smooth all the way for the chariots, and will turn in flight the Achaean warriors.

Then among them spake Thoas, son of Andraemon, far the best of the Aetolians, well-skilled in throwing the javelin, but a good man too in close fight, and in the place of assembly could but few of the Achaeans surpass him, when the young men were striving in debate.He with good intent addressed their gathering, and spake among them:

Now look you, verily a great marvel is this that mine eyes behold, how that now he is risen again and hath avoided the fates, even Hector. In sooth the heart of each man of us hoped that he had died beneath the hands of Aias, son of Telamon.But lo, some one of the gods hath again delivered and saved Hector, who verily hath loosed the knees of many Danaans, as, I deem, will befall even now, since not without the will of loud-thundering Zeus doth he stand forth thus eagerly as a champion. Nay come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey.The multitude let us bid return to the ships, but ourselves, all we that declare us to be the the best in the host, let us take our stand, if so be we first may face him, and thrust him back with our outstretched spears; methinks, for all his eagerness he will fear at heart to enter into the throng of the Danaans.

And the Argives in close throng abode their coming, and the war-cry rose shrill from either side, and the arrows leapt from the bow-string, and many spears, hurled by bold hands,were some of them lodged in the flesh of youths swift in battle, and many of them, or ever they reached the white flesh, stood fixed midway in the earth, fain to glut themselves with flesh. Now so long as Phoebus Apollo held the aegis moveless in his hands, even so long the missiles of either side reached their mark and the folk kept falling;but when he looked full in the faces of the Danaans of swift horses, and shook the aegis, and himself shouted mightily withal, then made he their hearts to faint within their breasts, and they forgat their furious might. And as when two wild beasts drive in confusion a herd of kine or a great flock of sheep in the darkness of black night,when they have come upon them suddenly, and a herdsman is not by, even so were the Achaeans driven in rout with no might in them; for upon them Apollo had sent panic, and unto the Trojans and Hector was he giving glory. Then man slew man as the fight was scattered. Hector laid low Stichius and Arcesilaus,the one a leader of the brazen-coated Boeotians, and the other a trusty comrade of great-souled Menestheus; and Aeneas slew Medon and Iasus. The one verily, Medon, was a bastard son of godlike Oïleus, and brother of Aias,but he dwelt in Phylace far from his native land, for that he had slain a man of the kin of his stepmother, Eriopis that Oïleus had to wife; and Iasus was a captain of the Athenians, and was called the son of Sphelus, son of Bucolus. And Mecisteus did Polydamas slay, and Polites slew Echiusin the forefront of the fight, and Clonius was slain of goodly Agenor. And Deïochus did Paris smite from behind, as he fled amid the foremost fighters, upon the base of the shoulder, and drave the bronze clean through.

While they were stripping the armour from these, meanwhile the Achaeans were flinging themselves into the digged trench and against the palisade,fleeing this way and that, and were getting them within their wall perforce. And Hector shouted aloud, and called to the Trojans:

Speed ye against the ships, and let be the blood-stained spoils. Whomsoever I shall mark holding aloof from the ships on the further side, on the very spot shall I devise his death, nor shall hiskinsmen and kinswomen give him his due meed of fire in death, but the dogs shall rend him in front of our city.

O father Zeus, if ever any man of us in wheat-bearing Argos burned to thee fat thigh-pieces of bull or of ram with the prayer that he might return, and thou didst promise and nod thy head thereto,be thou now mindful of these things, and ward from us, O Olympian god, the pitiless day of doom, nor suffer the Achaeans thus to be vanquished by the Trojans.

But the Trojans, when they heard the thunder of Zeus that beareth the aegis,leapt yet the more upon the Argives and bethought them of battle. And as when a great billow of the broad-wayed sea sweepeth down over the bulwarks of a ship, whenso it is driven on by the might of the wind, which above all maketh the waves to swell; even so did the Trojans with a great cry rush down over the wall, —they in their cars, but the Achaeans high up on the decks of their black ships to which they had climbed, fought therefrom with long pikes that lay at hand for them upon the ships for sea-fighting,— jointed pikes, shod at the tip with bronze. And Patroclus, so long as the Achaeans and Trojans were fighting about the wall aloof from the swift ships, even so long sat in the hut of kindly Eurypylus, and was making him glad with talk, and on his grievous wound was spreading simples to assuage his dark pangs.But when he saw the Trojans rushing upon the wall, while the Danaans with loud cries turned in flight, then he uttered a groan, and smote his two thighs with the flat of his hands, and with wailing spake, saying:

Eurypylus, in no wise may I abide longer with thee here,albeit thy need is sore; for lo, a mighty struggle hath arisen. Nay, as for thee, let thy squire bring thee comfort, but I will hasten to Achilles, that I may urge him on to do battle. Who knows but that, heaven helping, I may rouse his spirit with my persuading? A good thing is the persuasion of a comrade.

When he had thus spoken his feet bare him on; but the Achaeans firmly abode the oncoming of the Trojans, yet availed not to thrust them back from the ships, albeit they were fewer, nor ever could the Trojans break the battalions of the Danaans and make way into the midst of the huts and the ships.But as the carpenter's line maketh straight a ship's timber in the hands of a cunning workman, that is well skilled in all manner of craft by the promptings of Athene, so evenly was strained their war and battle. So fought they on, divers of them about divers ships,but Hector made straight for glorious Aias. They twain were labouring in the toil of war about the same ship, nor might the one drive back the other and burn the ship with fire, nor the other thrust him in back, now that a god had brought him nigh. Then did glorious Aias cast his spear and smite upon the breast Caletor, son of Clytius,as he was bearing fire against the ship; and he fell with a thud, and the torch dropped from out his hand. But Hector, when his eyes beheld his cousin fallen in the dust in front of the black ship, called to the Trojans and Lycians with a loud shout:

Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians that fight in close combat, in no wise give ye ground from battle in this strait: nay, save ye the son of Clytius, lest so be the Achaeans strip him of his armour, now that he is fallen amid the gathering of the ships.

Good Teucer, verily a true comrade of us twain hath been laid low, even the son of Mastor, whom while he abode with us, being come from Cythera, we honoured in our halls even as our own parents.Him hath great-souled Hector slain. Where now are thy arrows that bring swift death, and the bow that Phoebus Apollos gave thee?

So spake he, and the other hearkened, and ran, and took his stand close beside him, bearing in his hand his bent-back bow and the quiver that held his arrows; and full swiftly did he let fly his shafts upon the Trojans.And he smote Cleitus, the glorious son of Peisenor, comrade of Polydamas, the lordly son of Panthous, even as he was holding the reins in his hand, and was busied with his horses; for thither was he driving them, where the most battalions were being driven in rout, thus doing pleasure unto Hector and the Trojans. But full swiftlyupon himself came evil that not one of them could ward off, how fain soever they were. For upon the back of his neck lighted the arrow fraught with groanings, and he fell from the chariot, and thereat the horses swerved aside, rattling the empty car. And the prince Polydamas swiftly marked it, and was first to stride toward the horses.These he gave to Astynous, son of Protiaon, and straitly enjoined him to hold them near at hand, watching him the while; and he himself went back and mingled with the foremost fighters. Then Teucer drew forth another arrow for Hector, harnessed in bronze, and would have made him cease from battle by the ships of the Achaeans,had he but smitten him while he was showing his prowess and taken away his life. But he was not unmarked of the wise mind of Zeus, who guarded Hector, and took the glory from Teucer, son of Telamon. For Zeus brake the well-twisted string upon the goodly bow, even as he was drawing it against Hector, and his arrowheavy with bronze was turned aside, and the bow fell from his hand. Then Teucer shuddered, and spake to his brother:

Now look you, in good sooth a god is utterly bringing to naught the counsels of our battle, in that he hath cast the bow from my hand, and hath broken the newly-twisted string that I bound fastthis morning that it might avail to bear the arrows that should leap thick and fast therefrom.

Aye, friend, but leave thou thy bow and thy many arrows to lie where they are, seeing that a god has confounded them, in malice toward the Danaans; but take thou in thy hand a long spear and a shield upon thy shoulder,and do battle with the Trojans, and urge on the rest of the folk. Verily not without a struggle, for all they have overpowered us, shall they take our well-benched ships; nay, let us bethink us of battle.

So spake he, and Teucer laid the bow again within the hut, but about his shoulders put a fourfold shield,and upon his mighty head set a well-wrought helmet with horse-hair crest; and terribly did the plume nod from above; and he took a valorous spear, tipped with sharp bronze, and went his way, and swiftly ran and took his stand by the side of Aias. But when Hector saw that Teucer's shafts had been brought to naught,to Trojans and Lycians he called with a loud shout,

Ye Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians that fight in close combat, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour amid the hollow ships; for verily mine eyes have seen how Zeus hath brought to naught the shafts of a man that is a chieftain.Full easy to discern is the aid Zeus giveth to men, both to whomso he vouchsafeth the glory of victory, and whomso again he minisheth, and hath no mind to aid, even as now he minisheth the might of the Argives, and beareth aid to us. Nay, fight ye at the ships in close throngs, and if so be any of you,smitten by dart or thrust, shall meet death and fate, let him lie in death. No unseemly thing is it for him to die while fighting for his country. Nay, but his wife is safe and his children after him, and his house and his portion of land are unharmed, if but the Achaeans be gone with their ships to their dear native land.

Shame on you, Argives, now is it sure that we must either perish utterly or find deliverance by thrusting back the peril from the ships. Think ye haply that if Hector of the flashing helm take the ships,ye shall come afoot each man of you to his own native land? Hear ye not Hector urging on all his host in his fury to burn the ships? Verily it is not to the dance that he biddeth them come, but to battle. And for us there is no counsel or device better than this,that in close combat we bring our hands and our might against theirs. Better is it once for all either to die or live, than long to be straitened in dread conflict thus bootlessly beside the ships at the hands of men that be meaner.