Iliad, Book 21: Achilles & Scamander

1ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ πόρον ἷξον ἐϋρρεῖος ποταμοῖο

Ξάνθου δινήεντος, ὃν ἀθάνατος τέκετο Ζεύς,

ἔνθα διατμήξας τοὺς μὲν πεδίον δὲ δίωκε

πρὸς πόλιν, ᾗ περ Ἀχαιοὶ ἀτυζόμενοι φοβέοντο

5ἤματι τῷ προτέρῳ, ὅτε μαίνετο φαίδιμος Ἕκτωρ·

τῇ ῥʼ οἵ γε προχέοντο πεφυζότες, ἠέρα δʼ Ἥρη

πίτνα πρόσθε βαθεῖαν ἐρυκέμεν· ἡμίσεες δὲ

ἐς ποταμὸν εἰλεῦντο βαθύρροον ἀργυροδίνην,

ἐν δʼ ἔπεσον μεγάλῳ πατάγῳ, βράχε δʼ αἰπὰ ῥέεθρα,

10ὄχθαι δʼ ἀμφὶ περὶ μεγάλʼ ἴαχον· οἳ δʼ ἀλαλητῷ

ἔννεον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα ἑλισσόμενοι περὶ δίνας.

ὡς δʼ ὅθʼ ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς πυρὸς ἀκρίδες ἠερέθονται

φευγέμεναι ποταμὸν δέ· τὸ δὲ φλέγει ἀκάματον πῦρ

ὄρμενον ἐξαίφνης, ταὶ δὲ πτώσσουσι καθʼ ὕδωρ·

15ὣς ὑπʼ Ἀχιλλῆος Ξάνθου βαθυδινήεντος

πλῆτο ῥόος κελάδων ἐπιμὶξ ἵππων τε καὶ ἀνδρῶν.

1But when they reached the ford of the fair-flowing river,

eddying Xanthus, whom immortal Zeus fathered,

there Achilles split them, and drove one part across the plain

toward the city, along the route where the Achaeans had fled in terror

5the day before, when glorious Hector raged.

That way they poured in flight, while Hera spread

a deep mist before them to hold them back. But half

were penned within the deep-flowing, silver-eddying river,

and fell in with a mighty crash. The sheer currents roared,

10and all around the banks rang loudly; with cries

they swam this way and that, whirled around the eddies.

As locusts, driven aloft by a blast of fire,

flee toward a river—the tireless fire blazes,

surging suddenly, and they cower down into the water—

15so, under Achilles, the resounding stream

of deep-eddying Xanthus filled pell-mell with horses and men.

17αὐτὰρ ὃ διογενὴς δόρυ μὲν λίπεν αὐτοῦ ἐπʼ ὄχθῃ

κεκλιμένον μυρίκῃσιν, ὃ δʼ ἔσθορε δαίμονι ἶσος

φάσγανον οἶον ἔχων, κακὰ δὲ φρεσὶ μήδετο ἔργα,

20τύπτε δʼ ἐπιστροφάδην· τῶν δὲ στόνος ὄρνυτʼ ἀεικὴς

ἄορι θεινομένων, ἐρυθαίνετο δʼ αἵματι ὕδωρ.

ὡς δʼ ὑπὸ δελφῖνος μεγακήτεος ἰχθύες ἄλλοι

φεύγοντες πιμπλᾶσι μυχοὺς λιμένος εὐόρμου

δειδιότες· μάλα γάρ τε κατεσθίει ὅν κε λάβῃσιν·

25ὣς Τρῶες ποταμοῖο κατὰ δεινοῖο ῥέεθρα

πτῶσσον ὑπὸ κρημνούς. ὃ δʼ ἐπεὶ κάμε χεῖρας ἐναίρων,

ζωοὺς ἐκ ποταμοῖο δυώδεκα λέξατο κούρους

ποινὴν Πατρόκλοιο Μενοιτιάδαο θανόντος·

τοὺς ἐξῆγε θύραζε τεθηπότας ἠΰτε νεβρούς,

30δῆσε δʼ ὀπίσσω χεῖρας ἐϋτμήτοισιν ἱμᾶσι,

τοὺς αὐτοὶ φορέεσκον ἐπὶ στρεπτοῖσι χιτῶσι,

δῶκε δʼ ἑταίροισιν κατάγειν κοίλας ἐπὶ νῆας.

17But the Zeus-born hero left his spear there on the bank,

leaning it against the tamarisks, and leapt in like a god,

holding only his sword and planning grim work in his mind.

20He struck in rapid succession, and a hideous groaning rose

as they were struck by the sword, and the water reddened with blood.

As other fish, fleeing a huge dolphin, fill

the recesses of a well-sheltered harbor

in fear—for it devours whatever it catches—

25so the Trojans cowered beneath the bluffs along the terrible river’s channels.

When his hands grew weary of killing,

he chose twelve young men alive from the river

as blood-price for dead Patroclus, Menoetius’ son.

He led them out, dazed as fawns,

30and bound their hands behind them with well-cut straps

that they themselves wore over their woven tunics,

then gave them to his companions to take down to the hollow ships.

33αὐτὰρ ὃ ἂψ ἐπόρουσε δαϊζέμεναι μενεαίνων.

ἔνθʼ υἷι Πριάμοιο συνήντετο Δαρδανίδαο

35ἐκ ποταμοῦ φεύγοντι Λυκάονι, τόν ῥά ποτʼ αὐτὸς

ἦγε λαβὼν ἐκ πατρὸς ἀλωῆς οὐκ ἐθέλοντα

ἐννύχιος προμολών· ὃ δʼ ἐρινεὸν ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ

τάμνε νέους ὄρπηκας, ἵνʼ ἅρματος ἄντυγες εἶεν·

τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἀνώϊστον κακὸν ἤλυθε δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

40καὶ τότε μέν μιν Λῆμνον ἐϋκτιμένην ἐπέρασσε

νηυσὶν ἄγων, ἀτὰρ υἱὸς Ἰήσονος ὦνον ἔδωκε·

κεῖθεν δὲ ξεῖνός μιν ἐλύσατο πολλὰ δʼ ἔδωκεν

Ἴμβριος Ἠετίων, πέμψεν δʼ ἐς δῖαν Ἀρίσβην·

ἔνθεν ὑπεκπροφυγὼν πατρώϊον ἵκετο δῶμα.

45ἕνδεκα δʼ ἤματα θυμὸν ἐτέρπετο οἷσι φίλοισιν

ἐλθὼν ἐκ Λήμνοιο· δυωδεκάτῃ δέ μιν αὖτις

χερσὶν Ἀχιλλῆος θεὸς ἔμβαλεν, ὅς μιν ἔμελλε

πέμψειν εἰς Ἀΐδαο καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα νέεσθαι.

33But he charged back again, eager to butcher more.

There he met a son of Priam, Dardanus’ descendant,

35Lycaon, fleeing from the river—the man Achilles himself

had once seized and led away, unwilling, from his father’s orchard,

coming upon him by night. Lycaon was cutting with sharp bronze

young fig shoots to make chariot rails;

and godlike Achilles came upon him as an evil unforeseen.

40That time he brought him by ship to well-built Lemnos and sold him,

and Jason’s son paid the price.

From there a guest-friend ransomed him and paid much,

Eetion of Imbros, and sent him on to sacred Arisbe;

escaping secretly from there, he reached his father’s house.

45For eleven days he delighted his heart among his own

after returning from Lemnos; on the twelfth, once more

a god cast him into Achilles’ hands—Achilles, who was destined

to send him to Hades, though he had no wish to go.

49τὸν δʼ ὡς οὖν ἐνόησε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

50γυμνὸν ἄτερ κόρυθός τε καὶ ἀσπίδος, οὐδʼ ἔχεν ἔγχος,

ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν ῥʼ ἀπὸ πάντα χαμαὶ βάλε· τεῖρε γὰρ ἱδρὼς

φεύγοντʼ ἐκ ποταμοῦ, κάματος δʼ ὑπὸ γούνατʼ ἐδάμνα·

ὀχθήσας δʼ ἄρα εἶπε πρὸς ὃν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν·

ὢ πόποι ἦ μέγα θαῦμα τόδʼ ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ὁρῶμαι·

55ἦ μάλα δὴ Τρῶες μεγαλήτορες οὕς περ ἔπεφνον

αὖτις ἀναστήσονται ὑπὸ ζόφου ἠερόεντος,

οἷον δὴ καὶ ὅδʼ ἦλθε φυγὼν ὕπο νηλεὲς ἦμαρ

Λῆμνον ἐς ἠγαθέην πεπερημένος· οὐδέ μιν ἔσχε

πόντος ἁλὸς πολιῆς, ὃ πολέας ἀέκοντας ἐρύκει.

60ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ καὶ δουρὸς ἀκωκῆς ἡμετέροιο

γεύσεται, ὄφρα ἴδωμαι ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἠδὲ δαείω

ἢ ἄρʼ ὁμῶς καὶ κεῖθεν ἐλεύσεται, ἦ μιν ἐρύξει

γῆ φυσίζοος, ἥ τε κατὰ κρατερόν περ ἐρύκει.

49When swift-footed, godlike Achilles saw him

50unarmed, without helmet or shield, and carrying no spear—

for he had thrown all these to the ground; sweat oppressed him

as he fled the river, and weariness overpowered his knees—

Troubled, he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:

“Ah, what a great wonder I see with my eyes!

55Surely the great-hearted Trojans whom I killed

will rise again from the misty gloom!

Here is one who has returned after escaping the pitiless day,

though he had been sold away to sacred Lemnos. Not even the sea

of gray salt water held him, though it keeps back many against their will.

60Come then: he shall taste the point of my spear as well,

so that I may see and learn within my mind

whether he will return from there too, or whether

the life-giving earth will hold him—the earth that restrains even the strong.”

64ὣς ὅρμαινε μένων· ὃ δέ οἱ σχεδὸν ἦλθε τεθηπὼς

65γούνων ἅψασθαι μεμαώς, περὶ δʼ ἤθελε θυμῷ

ἐκφυγέειν θάνατόν τε κακὸν καὶ κῆρα μέλαιναν.

ἤτοι ὃ μὲν δόρυ μακρὸν ἀνέσχετο δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

οὐτάμεναι μεμαώς, ὃ δʼ ὑπέδραμε καὶ λάβε γούνων

κύψας· ἐγχείη δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπὲρ νώτου ἐνὶ γαίῃ

70ἔστη ἱεμένη χροὸς ἄμεναι ἀνδρομέοιο.

αὐτὰρ ὃ τῇ ἑτέρῃ μὲν ἑλὼν ἐλλίσσετο γούνων,

τῇ δʼ ἑτέρῃ ἔχεν ἔγχος ἀκαχμένον οὐδὲ μεθίει·

καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

64So he waited, pondering. Lycaon came close, stunned,

65eager to clasp his knees, and longing with all his heart

to escape an evil death and black doom.

Godlike Achilles raised his long spear,

eager to stab, but Lycaon ducked beneath and seized his knees,

crouching. The spear flew over his back and stood in the ground,

70straining to glut itself with human flesh.

With one hand he clutched Achilles’ knees and pleaded,

and with the other held fast to the sharpened spear and would not let go,

and addressed him with winged words:

74γουνοῦμαι σʼ Ἀχιλεῦ· σὺ δέ μʼ αἴδεο καί μʼ ἐλέησον·

75ἀντί τοί εἰμʼ ἱκέταο διοτρεφὲς αἰδοίοιο·

πὰρ γὰρ σοὶ πρώτῳ πασάμην Δημήτερος ἀκτὴν

ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μʼ εἷλες ἐϋκτιμένῃ ἐν ἀλωῇ,

καί μʼ ἐπέρασσας ἄνευθεν ἄγων πατρός τε φίλων τε

Λῆμνον ἐς ἠγαθέην, ἑκατόμβοιον δέ τοι ἦλφον.

80νῦν δὲ λύμην τρὶς τόσσα πορών· ἠὼς δέ μοί ἐστιν

ἥδε δυωδεκάτη, ὅτʼ ἐς Ἴλιον εἰλήλουθα

πολλὰ παθών· νῦν αὖ με τεῇς ἐν χερσὶν ἔθηκε

μοῖρʼ ὀλοή· μέλλω που ἀπεχθέσθαι Διὶ πατρί,

ὅς με σοὶ αὖτις δῶκε· μινυνθάδιον δέ με μήτηρ

85γείνατο Λαοθόη θυγάτηρ Ἄλταο γέροντος

Ἄλτεω, ὃς Λελέγεσσι φιλοπτολέμοισιν ἀνάσσει

Πήδασον αἰπήεσσαν ἔχων ἐπὶ Σατνιόεντι.

τοῦ δʼ ἔχε θυγατέρα Πρίαμος, πολλὰς δὲ καὶ ἄλλας·

τῆς δὲ δύω γενόμεσθα, σὺ δʼ ἄμφω δειροτομήσεις,

90ἤτοι τὸν πρώτοισι μετὰ πρυλέεσσι δάμασσας

ἀντίθεον Πολύδωρον, ἐπεὶ βάλες ὀξέϊ δουρί·

νῦν δὲ δὴ ἐνθάδʼ ἐμοὶ κακὸν ἔσσεται· οὐ γὰρ ὀΐω

σὰς χεῖρας φεύξεσθαι, ἐπεί ῥʼ ἐπέλασσέ γε δαίμων.

ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω, σὺ δʼ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ βάλλεο σῇσι·

95μή με κτεῖνʼ, ἐπεὶ οὐχ ὁμογάστριος Ἕκτορός εἰμι,

ὅς τοι ἑταῖρον ἔπεφνεν ἐνηέα τε κρατερόν τε.

74“I clasp your knees, Achilles—respect me and have pity.

75I stand before you as a suppliant worthy of reverence, Zeus-nurtured Achilles.

For it was with you that I first tasted Demeter’s grain

on the day you seized me in the well-tended orchard

and sold me, carrying me far from my father and those I loved,

to sacred Lemnos; I brought you the price of a hundred oxen.

80Now I was freed after paying three times that much. This dawn

is the twelfth since I returned to Ilium

after suffering much. Now once again into your hands

deadly fate has set me. I must be hated by father Zeus,

who has given me to you again. My mother bore me for a short life,

85Laothoe, daughter of old Altes—

Altes, who rules the battle-loving Leleges

and holds steep Pedasus beside the Satnioeis.

Priam took Altes’ daughter as wife, among many others.

Two of us were born from her, and you will cut both our throats.

90The first you brought down among the front ranks,

godlike Polydorus, when you struck him with your sharp spear.

Now evil will come to me here. I do not think

I shall escape your hands, since a god drove me near you.

One thing more I will tell you; lay it well within your mind:

95do not kill me, for Hector and I were not born from the same womb—

Hector, who killed your kind and strong companion.”

97ὣς ἄρα μιν Πριάμοιο προσηύδα φαίδιμος υἱὸς

λισσόμενος ἐπέεσσιν, ἀμείλικτον δʼ ὄπʼ ἄκουσε·

νήπιε μή μοι ἄποινα πιφαύσκεο μηδʼ ἀγόρευε·

100πρὶν μὲν γὰρ Πάτροκλον ἐπισπεῖν αἴσιμον ἦμαρ

τόφρά τί μοι πεφιδέσθαι ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φίλτερον ἦεν

Τρώων, καὶ πολλοὺς ζωοὺς ἕλον ἠδʼ ἐπέρασσα·

νῦν δʼ οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅς τις θάνατον φύγῃ ὅν κε θεός γε

Ἰλίου προπάροιθεν ἐμῇς ἐν χερσὶ βάλῃσι

105καὶ πάντων Τρώων, περὶ δʼ αὖ Πριάμοιό γε παίδων.

ἀλλὰ φίλος θάνε καὶ σύ· τί ἦ ὀλοφύρεαι οὕτως;

κάτθανε καὶ Πάτροκλος, ὅ περ σέο πολλὸν ἀμείνων.

οὐχ ὁράᾳς οἷος καὶ ἐγὼ καλός τε μέγας τε;

πατρὸς δʼ εἴμʼ ἀγαθοῖο, θεὰ δέ με γείνατο μήτηρ·

110ἀλλʼ ἔπι τοι καὶ ἐμοὶ θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιή·

ἔσσεται ἢ ἠὼς ἢ δείλη ἢ μέσον ἦμαρ

ὁππότε τις καὶ ἐμεῖο Ἄρῃ ἐκ θυμὸν ἕληται

ἢ ὅ γε δουρὶ βαλὼν ἢ ἀπὸ νευρῆφιν ὀϊστῷ.

97So Priam’s glorious son addressed him,

begging with words, but heard a merciless reply:

“Fool, do not speak to me of ransom or propose it.

100Before Patroclus met his day of fate,

it was dearer to my heart to spare

the Trojans, and I took many alive and sold them.

But now not one will escape death whom a god

casts into my hands before Ilium,

105none of all the Trojans—and least of all Priam’s sons.

So, my friend, die too. Why lament this way?

Patroclus died, and he was far better than you.

Do you not see what I am—how handsome and tall?

My father is noble, and the mother who bore me is a goddess.

110Yet death and mighty fate stand over me as well.

There will come a dawn, an evening, or a midday

when someone will take the life from me in battle,

striking with a spear or an arrow from the bowstring.”

114ὣς φάτο, τοῦ δʼ αὐτοῦ λύτο γούνατα καὶ φίλον ἦτορ·

115ἔγχος μέν ῥʼ ἀφέηκεν, ὃ δʼ ἕζετο χεῖρε πετάσσας

ἀμφοτέρας· Ἀχιλεὺς δὲ ἐρυσσάμενος ξίφος ὀξὺ

τύψε κατὰ κληῗδα παρʼ αὐχένα, πᾶν δέ οἱ εἴσω

δῦ ξίφος ἄμφηκες· ὃ δʼ ἄρα πρηνὴς ἐπὶ γαίῃ

κεῖτο ταθείς, ἐκ δʼ αἷμα μέλαν ῥέε, δεῦε δὲ γαῖαν.

120τὸν δʼ Ἀχιλεὺς ποταμὸν δὲ λαβὼν ποδὸς ἧκε φέρεσθαι,

καί οἱ ἐπευχόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευεν·

114So he spoke, and Lycaon’s knees and dear heart gave way there.

115He let go of the spear and sat, spreading

both hands. Achilles drew his sharp sword

and struck at the collarbone beside the neck; the whole

double-edged blade plunged inside. Lycaon lay

stretched face-down on the earth; black blood flowed out and soaked the ground.

120Achilles took him by the foot and flung him into the river to be carried away,

and vaunted over him in winged words:

122ἐνταυθοῖ νῦν κεῖσο μετʼ ἰχθύσιν, οἵ σʼ ὠτειλὴν

αἷμʼ ἀπολιχμήσονται ἀκηδέες· οὐδέ σε μήτηρ

ἐνθεμένη λεχέεσσι γοήσεται, ἀλλὰ Σκάμανδρος

125οἴσει δινήεις εἴσω ἁλὸς εὐρέα κόλπον·

θρῴσκων τις κατὰ κῦμα μέλαιναν φρῖχʼ ὑπαΐξει

ἰχθύς, ὅς κε φάγῃσι Λυκάονος ἀργέτα δημόν.

φθείρεσθʼ εἰς ὅ κεν ἄστυ κιχείομεν Ἰλίου ἱρῆς

ὑμεῖς μὲν φεύγοντες, ἐγὼ δʼ ὄπιθεν κεραΐζων.

130οὐδʼ ὑμῖν ποταμός περ ἐΰρροος ἀργυροδίνης

ἀρκέσει, ᾧ δὴ δηθὰ πολέας ἱερεύετε ταύρους,

ζωοὺς δʼ ἐν δίνῃσι καθίετε μώνυχας ἵππους.

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧς ὀλέεσθε κακὸν μόρον, εἰς ὅ κε πάντες

τίσετε Πατρόκλοιο φόνον καὶ λοιγὸν Ἀχαιῶν,

135οὓς ἐπὶ νηυσὶ θοῇσιν ἐπέφνετε νόσφιν ἐμεῖο.

122“Lie there now among the fish, who will lick

the blood from your wound without concern. Your mother

will not lay you on a bier and mourn you; eddying Scamander

125will carry you into the broad gulf of the sea.

Some fish, leaping through the wave beneath the black ripple,

will dart up to eat the white fat of Lycaon.

Keep dying until we reach the city of sacred Ilium—

you in flight, and I behind you, ravaging.

130Not even the fair-flowing, silver-eddying river

will save you, to whom for so long you sacrifice many bulls

and cast living single-hoofed horses into the eddies.

Even so, you will die an evil death, until you all

pay for Patroclus’ killing and the destruction of the Achaeans

135whom you killed beside the swift ships while I was away.”

136ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη, ποταμὸς δὲ χολώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,

ὅρμηνεν δʼ ἀνὰ θυμὸν ὅπως παύσειε πόνοιο

δῖον Ἀχιλλῆα, Τρώεσσι δὲ λοιγὸν ἀλάλκοι.

τόφρα δὲ Πηλέος υἱὸς ἔχων δολιχόσκιον ἔγχος

140Ἀστεροπαίῳ ἐπᾶλτο κατακτάμεναι μενεαίνων

υἱέϊ Πηλεγόνος· τὸν δʼ Ἀξιὸς εὐρυρέεθρος

γείνατο καὶ Περίβοια Ἀκεσσαμενοῖο θυγατρῶν

πρεσβυτάτη· τῇ γάρ ῥα μίγη ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης.

τῷ ῥʼ Ἀχιλεὺς ἐπόρουσεν, ὃ δʼ ἀντίος ἐκ ποταμοῖο

145ἔστη ἔχων δύο δοῦρε· μένος δέ οἱ ἐν φρεσὶ θῆκε

Ξάνθος, ἐπεὶ κεχόλωτο δαϊκταμένων αἰζηῶν,

τοὺς Ἀχιλεὺς ἐδάϊζε κατὰ ῥόον οὐδʼ ἐλέαιρεν.

οἳ δʼ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦσαν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοισιν ἰόντες,

136So he spoke, and the river grew still more angry in his heart.

He pondered within his spirit how he might

halt godlike Achilles from his labor and ward ruin from the Trojans.

Meanwhile Peleus’ son, holding his long-shadowed spear,

140sprang at Asteropaeus, intent on killing him,

the son of Pelegon. Broad-flowing Axius

fathered Pelegon with Periboea, eldest

of Acessamenus’ daughters, for the deep-eddying river lay with her.

Achilles charged him, but Asteropaeus stood against him,

145coming out of the river with two spears in hand. Xanthus put force

within his heart, enraged because of the young men slain

whom Achilles was butchering down his stream without pity.

When at last they drew near, advancing against each other,

149τὸν πρότερος προσέειπε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·

150τίς πόθεν εἰς ἀνδρῶν ὅ μευ ἔτλης ἀντίος ἐλθεῖν;

δυστήνων δέ τε παῖδες ἐμῷ μένει ἀντιόωσι.

τὸν δʼ αὖ Πηλεγόνος προσεφώνεε φαίδιμος υἱός·

Πηλεΐδη μεγάθυμε τί ἦ γενεὴν ἐρεείνεις;

εἴμʼ ἐκ Παιονίης ἐριβώλου τηλόθʼ ἐούσης

155Παίονας ἄνδρας ἄγων δολιχεγχέας· ἥδε δέ μοι νῦν

ἠὼς ἑνδεκάτη ὅτε Ἴλιον εἰλήλουθα.

αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ γενεὴ ἐξ Ἀξιοῦ εὐρὺ ῥέοντος

Ἀξιοῦ, ὃς κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἵησιν,

ὃς τέκε Πηλεγόνα κλυτὸν ἔγχεϊ· τὸν δʼ ἐμέ φασι

160γείνασθαι· νῦν αὖτε μαχώμεθα φαίδιμʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ.

149swift-footed, godlike Achilles spoke first:

150“Who are you, and where among men are you from, to dare stand against me?

The sons of wretched men face my force.”

Then the glorious son of Pelegon answered him:

“Great-hearted son of Peleus, why ask my lineage?

I come from rich-soiled Paeonia far away,

155leading long-speared Paeonian men. This dawn

is the eleventh since I came to Ilium.

My line comes from broad-flowing Axius—

Axius, who sends the loveliest water over the earth.

He fathered Pelegon, famed with the spear, and they say Pelegon

160fathered me. Now let us fight, glorious Achilles.”

161ὣς φάτʼ ἀπειλήσας, ὃ δʼ ἀνέσχετο δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

Πηλιάδα μελίην· ὃ δʼ ἁμαρτῇ δούρασιν ἀμφὶς

ἥρως Ἀστεροπαῖος, ἐπεὶ περιδέξιος ἦεν.

καί ῥʼ ἑτέρῳ μὲν δουρὶ σάκος βάλεν, οὐδὲ διὰ πρὸ

165ῥῆξε σάκος· χρυσὸς γὰρ ἐρύκακε δῶρα θεοῖο·

τῷ δʼ ἑτέρῳ μιν πῆχυν ἐπιγράβδην βάλε χειρὸς

δεξιτερῆς, σύτο δʼ αἷμα κελαινεφές· ἣ δʼ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ

γαίῃ ἐνεστήρικτο λιλαιομένη χροὸς ἆσαι.

δεύτερος αὖτʼ Ἀχιλεὺς μελίην ἰθυπτίωνα

170Ἀστεροπαίῳ ἐφῆκε κατακτάμεναι μενεαίνων.

καὶ τοῦ μέν ῥʼ ἀφάμαρτεν, ὃ δʼ ὑψηλὴν βάλεν ὄχθην,

μεσσοπαγὲς δʼ ἄρʼ ἔθηκε κατʼ ὄχθης μείλινον ἔγχος.

Πηλεΐδης δʼ ἄορ ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ

ἆλτʼ ἐπί οἱ μεμαώς· ὃ δʼ ἄρα μελίην Ἀχιλῆος

175οὐ δύνατʼ ἐκ κρημνοῖο ἐρύσσαι χειρὶ παχείῃ.

τρὶς μέν μιν πελέμιξεν ἐρύσσασθαι μενεαίνων,

τρὶς δὲ μεθῆκε βίης· τὸ δὲ τέτρατον ἤθελε θυμῷ

ἆξαι ἐπιγνάμψας δόρυ μείλινον Αἰακίδαο,

ἀλλὰ πρὶν Ἀχιλεὺς σχεδὸν ἄορι θυμὸν ἀπηύρα.

180γαστέρα γάρ μιν τύψε παρʼ ὀμφαλόν, ἐκ δʼ ἄρα πᾶσαι

χύντο χαμαὶ χολάδες· τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψεν

ἀσθμαίνοντʼ· Ἀχιλεὺς δʼ ἄρʼ ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ὀρούσας

τεύχεά τʼ ἐξενάριξε καὶ εὐχόμενος ἔπος ηὔδα·

161So he spoke in challenge. Godlike Achilles raised

the Pelian ash. But Asteropaeus cast both spears at once,

for the hero was ambidextrous.

With one spear he struck the shield, but it did not break

165through; the gold, a god’s gift, checked it.

With the other he grazed Achilles’ right forearm,

and dark blood spurted. The spear flew beyond him

and planted itself in the ground, longing to glut itself with flesh.

Achilles in turn cast second, his straight-flying ash spear,

170at Asteropaeus, intent on killing him.

It missed the man entirely and struck the high bank,

and drove the ashwood spear halfway into the bank.

Peleus’ son drew his sharp sword from beside his thigh

and sprang upon him eagerly. Asteropaeus could not

175pull Achilles’ ash spear from the bluff with his strong hand.

Three times he shook it, eager to pull it free;

three times he let up from the strain. The fourth time his heart desired

to bend and snap the Aeacid’s ashwood spear,

but before he could, Achilles came close and took his life with the sword.

180He struck him in the belly beside the navel, and all

his entrails poured onto the ground. Darkness covered his eyes

as he gasped. Achilles sprang onto his chest,

stripped off his armor, and spoke this boast:

184κεῖσʼ οὕτως· χαλεπόν τοι ἐρισθενέος Κρονίωνος

185παισὶν ἐριζέμεναι ποταμοῖό περ ἐκγεγαῶτι.

φῆσθα σὺ μὲν ποταμοῦ γένος ἔμμεναι εὐρὺ ῥέοντος,

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ γενεὴν μεγάλου Διὸς εὔχομαι εἶναι.

τίκτέ μʼ ἀνὴρ πολλοῖσιν ἀνάσσων Μυρμιδόνεσσι

Πηλεὺς Αἰακίδης· ὃ δʼ ἄρʼ Αἰακὸς ἐκ Διὸς ἦεν.

190τὼ κρείσσων μὲν Ζεὺς ποταμῶν ἁλιμυρηέντων,

κρείσσων αὖτε Διὸς γενεὴ ποταμοῖο τέτυκται.

καὶ γὰρ σοὶ ποταμός γε πάρα μέγας, εἰ δύναταί τι

χραισμεῖν· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστι Διὶ Κρονίωνι μάχεσθαι,

τῷ οὐδὲ κρείων Ἀχελώϊος ἰσοφαρίζει,

195οὐδὲ βαθυρρείταο μέγα σθένος Ὠκεανοῖο,

ἐξ οὗ περ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσα

καὶ πᾶσαι κρῆναι καὶ φρείατα μακρὰ νάουσιν·

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὃς δείδοικε Διὸς μεγάλοιο κεραυνὸν

δεινήν τε βροντήν, ὅτʼ ἀπʼ οὐρανόθεν σμαραγήσῃ.

200ἦ ῥα, καὶ ἐκ κρημνοῖο ἐρύσσατο χάλκεον ἔγχος,

τὸν δὲ κατʼ αὐτόθι λεῖπεν, ἐπεὶ φίλον ἦτορ ἀπηύρα,

κείμενον ἐν ψαμάθοισι, δίαινε δέ μιν μέλαν ὕδωρ.

τὸν μὲν ἄρʼ ἐγχέλυές τε καὶ ἰχθύες ἀμφεπένοντο

δημὸν ἐρεπτόμενοι ἐπινεφρίδιον κείροντες·

184“Lie there. It is hard for you, though born from a river,

185to contend with the children of Cronus’ mighty son.

You claimed your line was from a broad-flowing river,

but I claim my line is from mighty Zeus.

The man who fathered me rules over many Myrmidons,

Peleus, Aeacus’ son; and Aeacus was born from Zeus.

190As Zeus is stronger than rivers that flow to the sea,

so the line of Zeus is stronger than a river’s line.

You have a mighty river at your side too, if it can

give any help. But no one can fight Zeus, son of Cronus.

Not even lord Achelous rivals him,

195nor the great strength of deep-flowing Ocean,

from whom all rivers and the whole sea

and every spring and deep well flow.

Yet even Ocean fears mighty Zeus’ thunderbolt

and terrible thunder, when it crashes from heaven.”

200He spoke, and pulled his bronze spear from the bluff,

but left Asteropaeus there, since he had taken his life,

lying in the sands while dark water soaked him.

Eels and fish busied themselves around him,

nibbling the fat about his kidneys.

205αὐτὰρ ὃ βῆ ῥʼ ἰέναι μετὰ Παίονας ἱπποκορυστάς,

οἵ ῥʼ ἔτι πὰρ ποταμὸν πεφοβήατο δινήεντα,

ὡς εἶδον τὸν ἄριστον ἐνὶ κρατερῇ ὑσμίνῃ

χέρσʼ ὕπο Πηλεΐδαο καὶ ἄορι ἶφι δαμέντα.

ἔνθʼ ἕλε Θερσίλοχόν τε Μύδωνά τε Ἀστύπυλόν τε

210Μνῆσόν τε Θρασίον τε καὶ Αἴνιον ἠδʼ Ὀφελέστην·

καί νύ κʼ ἔτι πλέονας κτάνε Παίονας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς,

εἰ μὴ χωσάμενος προσέφη ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης

ἀνέρι εἰσάμενος, βαθέης δʼ ἐκ φθέγξατο δίνης·

205Achilles went on after the chariot-fighting Paeonians,

who still fled beside the eddying river

when they saw their best man in the fierce battle

subdued beneath Peleus’ son’s hands and powerful sword.

There he killed Thersilochus, Mydon, and Astypylus,

210Mnesus, Thrasius, Aenius, and Ophelestes.

Swift Achilles would now have killed still more Paeonians

if the deep-eddying river had not addressed him in anger,

taking the shape of a man and speaking from the deep eddy:

214ὦ Ἀχιλεῦ, περὶ μὲν κρατέεις, περὶ δʼ αἴσυλα ῥέζεις

215ἀνδρῶν· αἰεὶ γάρ τοι ἀμύνουσιν θεοὶ αὐτοί.

εἴ τοι Τρῶας ἔδωκε Κρόνου παῖς πάντας ὀλέσσαι,

ἐξ ἐμέθεν γʼ ἐλάσας πεδίον κάτα μέρμερα ῥέζε·

πλήθει γὰρ δή μοι νεκύων ἐρατεινὰ ῥέεθρα,

οὐδέ τί πῃ δύναμαι προχέειν ῥόον εἰς ἅλα δῖαν

220στεινόμενος νεκύεσσι, σὺ δὲ κτείνεις ἀϊδήλως.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ καὶ ἔασον· ἄγη μʼ ἔχει ὄρχαμε λαῶν.

τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

ἔσται ταῦτα Σκάμανδρε διοτρεφές, ὡς σὺ κελεύεις.

Τρῶας δʼ οὐ πρὶν λήξω ὑπερφιάλους ἐναρίζων,

225πρὶν ἔλσαι κατὰ ἄστυ καὶ Ἕκτορι πειρηθῆναι

ἀντιβίην, ἤ κέν με δαμάσσεται, ἦ κεν ἐγὼ τόν.

214“Achilles, you surpass men in strength, and surpass them in lawless deeds,

215for the gods themselves always defend you.

If Cronus’ son has given you all the Trojans to destroy,

drive them out of me and do your grim work on the plain.

My lovely channels are choked with corpses;

I cannot pour my current onward to the bright sea,

220crammed with the dead, while you go on killing without mercy.

Come, stop now. Horror grips me, leader of armies.”

Swift-footed Achilles answered him:

“It shall be so, Zeus-nurtured Scamander, as you command.

But I will not cease from killing the overbearing Trojans

225until I pen them in the city and make trial of Hector

face-to-face—whether he will bring me down, or I him.”

227ὣς εἰπὼν Τρώεσσιν ἐπέσσυτο δαίμονι ἶσος·

καὶ τότʼ Ἀπόλλωνα προσέφη ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης·

ὢ πόποι ἀργυρότοξε Διὸς τέκος οὐ σύ γε βουλὰς

230εἰρύσαο Κρονίωνος, ὅ τοι μάλα πόλλʼ ἐπέτελλε

Τρωσὶ παρεστάμεναι καὶ ἀμύνειν, εἰς ὅ κεν ἔλθῃ

δείελος ὀψὲ δύων, σκιάσῃ δʼ ἐρίβωλον ἄρουραν.

227So he spoke and rushed upon the Trojans, equal to a god.

Then the deep-eddying river addressed Apollo:

“Ah, silver-bowed child of Zeus, you have not kept

230the counsels of Cronus’ son, who charged you time and again

to stand beside the Trojans and defend them until

late day sinks and shadows the rich-soiled earth.”

233ἦ, καὶ Ἀχιλλεὺς μὲν δουρικλυτὸς ἔνθορε μέσσῳ

κρημνοῦ ἀπαΐξας· ὃ δʼ ἐπέσσυτο οἴδματι θύων,

235πάντα δʼ ὄρινε ῥέεθρα κυκώμενος, ὦσε δὲ νεκροὺς

πολλούς, οἵ ῥα κατʼ αὐτὸν ἅλις ἔσαν, οὓς κτάνʼ Ἀχιλλεύς

τοὺς ἔκβαλλε θύραζε μεμυκὼς ἠΰτε ταῦρος

χέρσον δέ· ζωοὺς δὲ σάω κατὰ καλὰ ῥέεθρα,

κρύπτων ἐν δίνῃσι βαθείῃσιν μεγάλῃσι.

240δεινὸν δʼ ἀμφʼ Ἀχιλῆα κυκώμενον ἵστατο κῦμα,

ὤθει δʼ ἐν σάκεϊ πίπτων ῥόος· οὐδὲ πόδεσσιν

εἶχε στηρίξασθαι· ὃ δὲ πτελέην ἕλε χερσὶν

εὐφυέα μεγάλην· ἣ δʼ ἐκ ῥιζῶν ἐριποῦσα

κρημνὸν ἅπαντα διῶσεν, ἐπέσχε δὲ καλὰ ῥέεθρα

245ὄζοισιν πυκινοῖσι, γεφύρωσεν δέ μιν αὐτὸν

εἴσω πᾶσʼ ἐριποῦσʼ· ὃ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐκ δίνης ἀνορούσας

ἤϊξεν πεδίοιο ποσὶ κραιπνοῖσι πέτεσθαι

δείσας· οὐδέ τʼ ἔληγε θεὸς μέγας, ὦρτο δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ

ἀκροκελαινιόων, ἵνα μιν παύσειε πόνοιο

250δῖον Ἀχιλλῆα, Τρώεσσι δὲ λοιγὸν ἀλάλκοι.

233He spoke, and spear-famed Achilles sprang into midstream,

leaping from the bank. The river surged against him, raging in flood,

235churned all his channels into turmoil, and drove the corpses—

the many lying thick within him, whom Achilles had killed—

and cast them outside, bellowing like a bull,

onto dry land; but he saved the living in his beautiful currents,

hiding them in his deep and mighty eddies.

240A terrible wave, churning, rose around Achilles,

and the current, striking his shield, drove him; he could not

brace his feet. With both hands he grasped an elm,

large and well-grown; torn out by the roots, it crashed down,

broke away the whole bank and checked the beautiful streams

245with its thick branches, bridging the river itself

as the whole tree fell inside. Achilles sprang up from the eddy

and darted across the plain to fly on swift feet,

afraid. The great god did not relent but rose against him,

blackening at the crest, so he might

250halt godlike Achilles from his labor and ward ruin from the Trojans.

251Πηλεΐδης δʼ ἀπόρουσεν ὅσον τʼ ἐπὶ δουρὸς ἐρωή,

αἰετοῦ οἴματʼ ἔχων μέλανος τοῦ θηρητῆρος,

ὅς θʼ ἅμα κάρτιστός τε καὶ ὤκιστος πετεηνῶν·

τῷ ἐϊκὼς ἤϊξεν, ἐπὶ στήθεσσι δὲ χαλκὸς

255σμερδαλέον κονάβιζεν· ὕπαιθα δὲ τοῖο λιασθεὶς

φεῦγʼ, ὃ δʼ ὄπισθε ῥέων ἕπετο μεγάλῳ ὀρυμαγδῷ.

ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἀνὴρ ὀχετηγὸς ἀπὸ κρήνης μελανύδρου

ἂμ φυτὰ καὶ κήπους ὕδατι ῥόον ἡγεμονεύῃ

χερσὶ μάκελλαν ἔχων, ἀμάρης ἐξ ἔχματα βάλλων·

260τοῦ μέν τε προρέοντος ὑπὸ ψηφῖδες ἅπασαι

ὀχλεῦνται· τὸ δέ τʼ ὦκα κατειβόμενον κελαρύζει

χώρῳ ἔνι προαλεῖ, φθάνει δέ τε καὶ τὸν ἄγοντα·

ὣς αἰεὶ Ἀχιλῆα κιχήσατο κῦμα ῥόοιο

καὶ λαιψηρὸν ἐόντα· θεοὶ δέ τε φέρτεροι ἀνδρῶν.

265ὁσσάκι δʼ ὁρμήσειε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

στῆναι ἐναντίβιον καὶ γνώμεναι εἴ μιν ἅπαντες

ἀθάνατοι φοβέουσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσι,

τοσσάκι μιν μέγα κῦμα διιπετέος ποταμοῖο

πλάζʼ ὤμους καθύπερθεν· ὃ δʼ ὑψόσε ποσσὶν ἐπήδα

270θυμῷ ἀνιάζων· ποταμὸς δʼ ὑπὸ γούνατʼ ἐδάμνα

λάβρος ὕπαιθα ῥέων, κονίην δʼ ὑπέρεπτε ποδοῖιν.

251Peleus’ son bounded as far as a spear can fly,

with the swoop of a black eagle, the hunter,

at once the strongest and swiftest of winged creatures.

Like it he darted; the bronze upon his chest

255clanged terribly. Veering away before the flood,

he fled, but the river streamed behind him with a mighty roar.

As when a man who cuts channels from a dark-water spring

leads a stream among plants and gardens,

mattock in hand, clearing obstructions from the trench;

260as it runs, all the pebbles beneath are stirred,

and the water, pouring swiftly downward, babbles

over the sloping ground and outruns even the man who guides it—

so the river’s wave kept overtaking Achilles,

swift though he was, for gods are stronger than men.

265As often as swift-footed, godlike Achilles tried

to stand against it and learn whether all

the immortals who hold broad heaven were driving him in flight,

so often the great wave of the Zeus-sent river

beat down upon his shoulders. He leapt high with his feet,

270anguished at heart; the river overpowered his knees

as it rushed fiercely beneath him and swept the soil from under his feet.

272Πηλεΐδης δʼ ᾤμωξεν ἰδὼν εἰς οὐρανὸν εὐρύν·

Ζεῦ πάτερ ὡς οὔ τίς με θεῶν ἐλεεινὸν ὑπέστη

ἐκ ποταμοῖο σαῶσαι· ἔπειτα δὲ καί τι πάθοιμι.

275ἄλλος δʼ οὔ τις μοι τόσον αἴτιος Οὐρανιώνων,

ἀλλὰ φίλη μήτηρ, ἥ με ψεύδεσσιν ἔθελγεν·

ἥ μʼ ἔφατο Τρώων ὑπὸ τείχεϊ θωρηκτάων

λαιψηροῖς ὀλέεσθαι Ἀπόλλωνος βελέεσσιν.

ὥς μʼ ὄφελʼ Ἕκτωρ κτεῖναι ὃς ἐνθάδε γʼ ἔτραφʼ ἄριστος·

280τώ κʼ ἀγαθὸς μὲν ἔπεφνʼ, ἀγαθὸν δέ κεν ἐξενάριξε·

νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι

ἐρχθέντʼ ἐν μεγάλῳ ποταμῷ ὡς παῖδα συφορβόν,

ὅν ῥά τʼ ἔναυλος ἀποέρσῃ χειμῶνι περῶντα.

ὣς φάτο, τῷ δὲ μάλʼ ὦκα Ποσειδάων καὶ Ἀθήνη

285στήτην ἐγγὺς ἰόντε, δέμας δʼ ἄνδρεσσιν ἐΐκτην,

χειρὶ δὲ χεῖρα λαβόντες ἐπιστώσαντʼ ἐπέεσσι.

τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων·

Πηλεΐδη μήτʼ ἄρ τι λίην τρέε μήτέ τι τάρβει·

τοίω γάρ τοι νῶϊ θεῶν ἐπιταρρόθω εἰμὲν

290Ζηνὸς ἐπαινήσαντος ἐγὼ καὶ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη·

ὡς οὔ τοι ποταμῷ γε δαμήμεναι αἴσιμόν ἐστιν,

ἀλλʼ ὅδε μὲν τάχα λωφήσει, σὺ δὲ εἴσεαι αὐτός·

αὐτάρ τοι πυκινῶς ὑποθησόμεθʼ αἴ κε πίθηαι·

μὴ πρὶν παύειν χεῖρας ὁμοιΐου πολέμοιο

295πρὶν κατὰ Ἰλιόφι κλυτὰ τείχεα λαὸν ἐέλσαι

Τρωϊκόν, ὅς κε φύγῃσι· σὺ δʼ Ἕκτορι θυμὸν ἀπούρας

ἂψ ἐπὶ νῆας ἴμεν· δίδομεν δέ τοι εὖχος ἀρέσθαι.

τὼ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς εἰπόντε μετʼ ἀθανάτους ἀπεβήτην·

272Peleus’ son groaned and looked into broad heaven:

“Father Zeus, no god has stepped forward to save me,

wretched as I am, from the river; after that I would face anything.

275No other of Heaven’s children is so much to blame

as my dear mother, who beguiled me with lies.

She said I would perish beneath the walls of the armored Trojans,

by the swift shafts of Apollo.

If only Hector, the best man reared here, had killed me!

280Then a brave man would have killed and stripped a brave man.

But now it is fated that I be caught by a wretched death,

trapped in a great river like a young swineherd,

whom a winter torrent sweeps away as he tries to cross.”

So he spoke, and Poseidon and Athena came very swiftly

285and stood near him, taking the bodily form of men.

They took him by the hand and gave him assurance with words.

Earth-shaking Poseidon began speaking among them:

“Peleus’ son, do not tremble so greatly or be afraid.

For two such helpers from among the gods stand beside you—

290with Zeus’s assent, I and Pallas Athena.

It is not allotted for you to be subdued by a river.

This one will soon subside, as you yourself will see.

But we will give you sound counsel, if you will obey:

do not stay your hands from the common war

295until you pen the host within Ilium’s famous walls—

the Trojans, whoever escapes. Once you have taken Hector’s life,

return to the ships; we grant you the triumph.”

So the two spoke and went away among the immortals.

299αὐτὰρ ὃ βῆ, μέγα γάρ ῥα θεῶν ὄτρυνεν ἐφετμή,

300ἐς πεδίον· τὸ δὲ πᾶν πλῆθʼ ὕδατος ἐκχυμένοιο,

πολλὰ δὲ τεύχεα καλὰ δαὶ κταμένων αἰζηῶν

πλῶον καὶ νέκυες· τοῦ δʼ ὑψόσε γούνατʼ ἐπήδα

πρὸς ῥόον ἀΐσσοντος ἀνʼ ἰθύν, οὐδέ μιν ἴσχεν

εὐρὺ ῥέων ποταμός· μέγα γὰρ σθένος ἔμβαλʼ Ἀθήνη.

305οὐδὲ Σκάμανδρος ἔληγε τὸ ὃν μένος, ἀλλʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον

χώετο Πηλεΐωνι, κόρυσσε δὲ κῦμα ῥόοιο

ὑψόσʼ ἀειρόμενος, Σιμόεντι δὲ κέκλετʼ ἀΰσας·

299But he advanced—for the gods’ great command urged him—

300onto the plain; all of it was filled with outpoured water,

and many fine arms from young men slain in battle

floated there, and corpses. His knees sprang high

as he rushed straight upstream; the broad-flowing river

could not check him, for Athena had put great strength in him.

305Nor did Scamander slacken his force; still more

he grew angry with Peleus’ son and raised the river’s wave to a crest,

lifting himself high as he called aloud to Simois:

308φίλε κασίγνητε σθένος ἀνέρος ἀμφότεροί περ

σχῶμεν, ἐπεὶ τάχα ἄστυ μέγα Πριάμοιο ἄνακτος

310ἐκπέρσει, Τρῶες δὲ κατὰ μόθον οὐ μενέουσιν.

ἀλλʼ ἐπάμυνε τάχιστα, καὶ ἐμπίπληθι ῥέεθρα

ὕδατος ἐκ πηγέων, πάντας δʼ ὀρόθυνον ἐναύλους,

ἵστη δὲ μέγα κῦμα, πολὺν δʼ ὀρυμαγδὸν ὄρινε

φιτρῶν καὶ λάων, ἵνα παύσομεν ἄγριον ἄνδρα

315ὃς δὴ νῦν κρατέει, μέμονεν δʼ ὅ γε ἶσα θεοῖσι.

φημὶ γὰρ οὔτε βίην χραισμησέμεν οὔτέ τι εἶδος

οὔτε τὰ τεύχεα καλά, τά που μάλα νειόθι λίμνης

κείσεθʼ ὑπʼ ἰλύος κεκαλυμμένα· κὰδ δέ μιν αὐτὸν

εἰλύσω ψαμάθοισιν ἅλις χέραδος περιχεύας

320μυρίον, οὐδέ οἱ ὀστέʼ ἐπιστήσονται Ἀχαιοὶ

ἀλλέξαι· τόσσην οἱ ἄσιν καθύπερθε καλύψω.

αὐτοῦ οἱ καὶ σῆμα τετεύξεται, οὐδέ τί μιν χρεὼ

ἔσται τυμβοχόης, ὅτε μιν θάπτωσιν Ἀχαιοί.

308“Dear brother, let both of us check this man’s strength,

for soon he will sack the great city of lord Priam,

310and the Trojans will not hold their ground in the melee.

Come, help me with all speed: fill your channels

with water from the springs, and rouse every torrent,

raise a mighty wave, and stir a great roar

of logs and stones, so that we may stop the savage man

315who now prevails and is bent on matching the gods.

For I say neither his force nor his beauty will avail him,

nor his fine armor, which will lie somewhere far beneath the pool,

covered over with silt. I will wrap the man himself

in sand, pouring shingle all around him,

320a measureless mass; nor will the Achaeans know how to gather his bones,

so great the mud I will heap above him.

There on the spot his marker will be made; he will have no need

of mound-raising when the Achaeans bury him.”

324ἦ, καὶ ἐπῶρτʼ Ἀχιλῆϊ κυκώμενος ὑψόσε θύων

325μορμύρων ἀφρῷ τε καὶ αἵματι καὶ νεκύεσσι.

πορφύρεον δʼ ἄρα κῦμα διιπετέος ποταμοῖο

ἵστατʼ ἀειρόμενον, κατὰ δʼ ᾕρεε Πηλεΐωνα·

Ἥρη δὲ μέγʼ ἄϋσε περιδείσασʼ Ἀχιλῆϊ

μή μιν ἀποέρσειε μέγας ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης,

330αὐτίκα δʼ Ἥφαιστον προσεφώνεεν ὃν φίλον υἱόν·

ὄρσεο κυλλοπόδιον ἐμὸν τέκος· ἄντα σέθεν γὰρ

Ξάνθον δινήεντα μάχῃ ἠΐσκομεν εἶναι·

ἀλλʼ ἐπάμυνε τάχιστα, πιφαύσκεο δὲ φλόγα πολλήν.

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ Ζεφύροιο καὶ ἀργεστᾶο Νότοιο

335εἴσομαι ἐξ ἁλόθεν χαλεπὴν ὄρσουσα θύελλαν,

ἥ κεν ἀπὸ Τρώων κεφαλὰς καὶ τεύχεα κήαι

φλέγμα κακὸν φορέουσα· σὺ δὲ Ξάνθοιο παρʼ ὄχθας

δένδρεα καῖʼ, ἐν δʼ αὐτὸν ἵει πυρί· μὴ δέ σε πάμπαν

μειλιχίοις ἐπέεσσιν ἀποτρεπέτω καὶ ἀρειῇ·

340μὴ δὲ πρὶν ἀπόπαυε τεὸν μένος, ἀλλʼ ὁπότʼ ἂν δὴ

φθέγξομʼ ἐγὼν ἰάχουσα, τότε σχεῖν ἀκάματον πῦρ.

324He spoke and surged against Achilles, churning and raging high,

325roaring with foam and blood and corpses.

The purple wave of the Zeus-sent river

rose high and swept Peleus’ son away.

Hera screamed aloud in terror for Achilles,

lest the great deep-eddying river sweep him away.

330At once she addressed Hephaestus, her dear son:

“Rise, my crooked-footed child! For we deemed

eddying Xanthus a match for you in battle.

Come, help with all speed and show forth a mighty flame.

I will go to fetch Zephyr and the clear-blowing South Wind

335from the sea, raising a terrible storm

that may burn the Trojans’ heads and armor,

bearing an evil blaze. You, along Xanthus’s banks,

burn the trees and assail the river himself with fire.

Do not let him turn you at all with gentle words or threats.

340Do not stay your force before the moment

I cry aloud; then hold back your tireless fire.”

342ὣς ἔφαθʼ, Ἥφαιστος δὲ τιτύσκετο θεσπιδαὲς πῦρ.

πρῶτα μὲν ἐν πεδίῳ πῦρ δαίετο, καῖε δὲ νεκροὺς

πολλούς, οἵ ῥα κατʼ αὐτὸν ἅλις ἔσαν, οὓς κτάνʼ Ἀχιλλεύς·

345πᾶν δʼ ἐξηράνθη πεδίον, σχέτο δʼ ἀγλαὸν ὕδωρ.

ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ὀπωρινὸς Βορέης νεοαρδέʼ ἀλωὴν

αἶψʼ ἀγξηράνῃ· χαίρει δέ μιν ὅς τις ἐθείρῃ·

ὣς ἐξηράνθη πεδίον πᾶν, κὰδ δʼ ἄρα νεκροὺς

κῆεν· ὃ δʼ ἐς ποταμὸν τρέψε φλόγα παμφανόωσαν.

350καίοντο πτελέαι τε καὶ ἰτέαι ἠδὲ μυρῖκαι,

καίετο δὲ λωτός τε ἰδὲ θρύον ἠδὲ κύπειρον,

τὰ περὶ καλὰ ῥέεθρα ἅλις ποταμοῖο πεφύκει·

τείροντʼ ἐγχέλυές τε καὶ ἰχθύες οἳ κατὰ δίνας,

οἳ κατὰ καλὰ ῥέεθρα κυβίστων ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα

355πνοιῇ τειρόμενοι πολυμήτιος Ἡφαίστοιο.

342So she spoke, and Hephaestus made ready his divinely blazing fire.

First the fire kindled on the plain and burned the corpses,

the many lying thick there, whom Achilles had killed.

345The whole plain dried; the shining water was checked.

As when the autumn North Wind quickly dries a freshly watered field,

and whoever tends it rejoices,

so the whole plain dried, and Hephaestus burned the corpses down.

Then he turned his all-gleaming flame against the river.

350Elms, willows, and tamarisks burned;

lotus, rush, and galingale burned as well,

all that had grown thick beside the river’s beautiful channels.

Eels and fish were tormented in the eddies,

tumbling here and there throughout the beautiful currents,

355distressed by the blast of resourceful Hephaestus.

356καίετο δʼ ἲς ποταμοῖο ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·

Ἥφαιστʼ, οὔ τις σοί γε θεῶν δύνατʼ ἀντιφερίζειν,

οὐδʼ ἂν ἐγὼ σοί γʼ ὧδε πυρὶ φλεγέθοντι μαχοίμην.

λῆγʼ ἔριδος, Τρῶας δὲ καὶ αὐτίκα δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

360ἄστεος ἐξελάσειε· τί μοι ἔριδος καὶ ἀρωγῆς;

356The river’s force was burning; he spoke and called Hephaestus by name:

“Hephaestus, no god can vie with you,

nor would I fight you while you blaze with fire like this.

Cease from strife. Let godlike Achilles at once

360drive the Trojans from the city. What have I to do with strife or aid?”

361φῆ πυρὶ καιόμενος, ἀνὰ δʼ ἔφλυε καλὰ ῥέεθρα.

ὡς δὲ λέβης ζεῖ ἔνδον ἐπειγόμενος πυρὶ πολλῷ

κνίσην μελδόμενος ἁπαλοτρεφέος σιάλοιο

πάντοθεν ἀμβολάδην, ὑπὸ δὲ ξύλα κάγκανα κεῖται,

365ὣς τοῦ καλὰ ῥέεθρα πυρὶ φλέγετο, ζέε δʼ ὕδωρ·

οὐδʼ ἔθελε προρέειν, ἀλλʼ ἴσχετο· τεῖρε δʼ ἀϋτμὴ

Ἡφαίστοιο βίηφι πολύφρονος. αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ Ἥρην

πολλὰ λισσόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

361He spoke as fire burned him, and his beautiful currents boiled up.

As a cauldron boils within, pressed by a great fire,

melting down the fat of a well-fed pig,

bubbling up on every side while dry wood lies beneath,

365so his beautiful currents burned with fire, and the water boiled.

It would not flow onward but was held; the hot blast oppressed him

by the force of resourceful Hephaestus. Then he pleaded with Hera

earnestly and addressed her with winged words:

369Ἥρη τίπτε σὸς υἱὸς ἐμὸν ῥόον ἔχραε κήδειν

370ἐξ ἄλλων; οὐ μέν τοι ἐγὼ τόσον αἴτιός εἰμι

ὅσσον οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες, ὅσοι Τρώεσσιν ἀρωγοί.

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι μὲν ἐγὼν ἀποπαύσομαι εἰ σὺ κελεύεις,

παυέσθω δὲ καὶ οὗτος· ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπὶ καὶ τόδʼ ὀμοῦμαι,

μή ποτʼ ἐπὶ Τρώεσσιν ἀλεξήσειν κακὸν ἦμαρ,

375μὴ δʼ ὁπότʼ ἂν Τροίη μαλερῷ πυρὶ πᾶσα δάηται

καιομένη, καίωσι δʼ ἀρήϊοι υἷες Ἀχαιῶν.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τό γʼ ἄκουσε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη,

αὐτίκʼ ἄρʼ Ἥφαιστον προσεφώνεεν ὃν φίλον υἱόν·

Ἥφαιστε σχέο τέκνον ἀγακλεές· οὐ γὰρ ἔοικεν

380ἀθάνατον θεὸν ὧδε βροτῶν ἕνεκα στυφελίζειν.

369“Hera, why has your son singled out my current for torment

370above all others? Surely I am not so much to blame

as all the other gods who aid the Trojans.

I will stop, if you command me,

but let him stop as well; and I swear this too:

never to ward the evil day from the Trojans,

375not even when all Troy burns in devouring fire,

and the warlike sons of the Achaeans set it ablaze.”

When the white-armed goddess Hera heard this,

at once she addressed Hephaestus, her dear son:

“Hephaestus, stop, my glorious child; it is not fitting

380to batter an immortal god this way for mortals’ sake.”

381ὣς ἔφαθʼ, Ἥφαιστος δὲ κατέσβεσε θεσπιδαὲς πῦρ,

ἄψορρον δʼ ἄρα κῦμα κατέσσυτο καλὰ ῥέεθρα.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ Ξάνθοιο δάμη μένος, οἳ μὲν ἔπειτα

παυσάσθην, Ἥρη γὰρ ἐρύκακε χωομένη περ·

381So she spoke, and Hephaestus quenched his divinely blazing fire.

Then the wave rushed back down the beautiful channels.

Once the force of Xanthus was subdued, the two of them

ceased; Hera restrained them, angry though she was.

385ἐν δʼ ἄλλοισι θεοῖσιν ἔρις πέσε βεβριθυῖα

ἀργαλέη, δίχα δέ σφιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θυμὸς ἄητο·

σὺν δʼ ἔπεσον μεγάλῳ πατάγῳ, βράχε δʼ εὐρεῖα χθών,

ἀμφὶ δὲ σάλπιγξεν μέγας οὐρανός. ἄϊε δὲ Ζεὺς

ἥμενος Οὐλύμπῳ· ἐγέλασσε δέ οἱ φίλον ἦτορ

390γηθοσύνῃ, ὅθʼ ὁρᾶτο θεοὺς ἔριδι ξυνιόντας.

385Among the other gods a weighty strife fell,

grievous, and their hearts were driven in opposite ways.

They clashed with a mighty crash; broad earth rang,

and great heaven trumpeted around them. Zeus heard,

seated on Olympus, and his dear heart laughed

390for joy when he saw the gods meeting in strife.

391ἔνθʼ οἵ γʼ οὐκέτι δηρὸν ἀφέστασαν· ἦρχε γὰρ Ἄρης

ῥινοτόρος, καὶ πρῶτος Ἀθηναίῃ ἐπόρουσε

χάλκεον ἔγχος ἔχων, καὶ ὀνείδειον φάτο μῦθον·

τίπτʼ αὖτʼ ὦ κυνάμυια θεοὺς ἔριδι ξυνελαύνεις

395θάρσος ἄητον ἔχουσα, μέγας δέ σε θυμὸς ἀνῆκεν;

ἦ οὐ μέμνῃ ὅτε Τυδεΐδην Διομήδεʼ ἀνῆκας

οὐτάμεναι, αὐτὴ δὲ πανόψιον ἔγχος ἑλοῦσα

ἰθὺς ἐμεῦ ὦσας, διὰ δὲ χρόα καλὸν ἔδαψας;

τώ σʼ αὖ νῦν ὀΐω ἀποτισέμεν ὅσσα ἔοργας.

400ὣς εἰπὼν οὔτησε κατʼ αἰγίδα θυσσανόεσσαν

σμερδαλέην, ἣν οὐδὲ Διὸς δάμνησι κεραυνός·

τῇ μιν Ἄρης οὔτησε μιαιφόνος ἔγχεϊ μακρῷ.

ἣ δʼ ἀναχασσαμένη λίθον εἵλετο χειρὶ παχείῃ

κείμενον ἐν πεδίῳ μέλανα τρηχύν τε μέγαν τε,

405τόν ῥʼ ἄνδρες πρότεροι θέσαν ἔμμεναι οὖρον ἀρούρης·

τῷ βάλε θοῦρον Ἄρηα κατʼ αὐχένα, λῦσε δὲ γυῖα.

ἑπτὰ δʼ ἐπέσχε πέλεθρα πεσών, ἐκόνισε δὲ χαίτας,

τεύχεά τʼ ἀμφαράβησε· γέλασσε δὲ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη,

καί οἱ ἐπευχομένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

410νηπύτιʼ οὐδέ νύ πώ περ ἐπεφράσω ὅσσον ἀρείων

εὔχομʼ ἐγὼν ἔμεναι, ὅτι μοι μένος ἰσοφαρίζεις.

οὕτω κεν τῆς μητρὸς ἐρινύας ἐξαποτίνοις,

ἥ τοι χωομένη κακὰ μήδεται οὕνεκʼ Ἀχαιοὺς

κάλλιπες, αὐτὰρ Τρωσὶν ὑπερφιάλοισιν ἀμύνεις.

391Then they no longer stood apart for long, for Ares began,

shield-piercer, and first sprang at Athena,

holding his bronze spear, and spoke this taunting declaration:

“Why again, you dog-fly, do you drive the gods together in strife

395with reckless daring? Has your mighty spirit urged you on?

Don't you remember when you urged Tydeus' son Diomedes

to wound me, and you yourself seized the spear in plain sight

and drove it straight at me, tearing my lovely flesh?

So now I think I will make you pay for all you have done.”

400So he spoke and struck at the tasselled aegis,

terrible, which not even Zeus's thunderbolt can subdue;

against it blood-stained Ares drove his long spear.

Athena stepped back and took in her strong hand a stone

lying on the plain, black, jagged, and large,

405which men of old had set as the boundary marker of a field.

With it she struck furious Ares on the neck and loosed his limbs.

As he fell he covered seven plethra; his hair was dusted,

and his armor clattered around him. Pallas Athena laughed,

and exulting over him addressed him with winged words:

410“Fool, have you still not realized how much stronger

I claim to be, since you match your force against mine?

So may you pay in full your mother's curses—

she devises evil in anger because you abandoned the Achaeans

and defend the overbearing Trojans.”

415ὣς ἄρα φωνήσασα πάλιν τρέπεν ὄσσε φαεινώ·

τὸν δʼ ἄγε χειρὸς ἑλοῦσα Διὸς θυγάτηρ Ἀφροδίτη

πυκνὰ μάλα στενάχοντα· μόγις δʼ ἐσαγείρετο θυμόν.

τὴν δʼ ὡς οὖν ἐνόησε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη,

αὐτίκʼ Ἀθηναίην ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

420ὢ πόποι αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος Ἀτρυτώνη

καὶ δʼ αὖθʼ ἡ κυνάμυια ἄγει βροτολοιγὸν Ἄρηα

δηΐου ἐκ πολέμοιο κατὰ κλόνον· ἀλλὰ μέτελθε.

ὣς φάτʼ, Ἀθηναίη δὲ μετέσσυτο, χαῖρε δὲ θυμῷ,

καί ῥʼ ἐπιεισαμένη πρὸς στήθεα χειρὶ παχείῃ

425ἤλασε· τῆς δʼ αὐτοῦ λύτο γούνατα καὶ φίλον ἦτορ.

τὼ μὲν ἄρʼ ἄμφω κεῖντο ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ,

ἣ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπευχομένη ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευε·

τοιοῦτοι νῦν πάντες ὅσοι Τρώεσσιν ἀρωγοὶ

εἶεν, ὅτʼ Ἀργείοισι μαχοίατο θωρηκτῇσιν,

430ὧδέ τε θαρσαλέοι καὶ τλήμονες, ὡς Ἀφροδίτη

ἦλθεν Ἄρῃ ἐπίκουρος ἐμῷ μένει ἀντιόωσα·

τώ κεν δὴ πάλαι ἄμμες ἐπαυσάμεθα πτολέμοιο

Ἰλίου ἐκπέρσαντες ἐϋκτίμενον πτολίεθρον.

415So speaking, she turned her shining eyes away.

But Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, took Ares by the hand and led him,

groaning hard; only with difficulty did he gather his spirit.

When white-armed goddess Hera saw her,

she at once addressed Athena with winged words:

420“Ah, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, unwearied one,

there again that dog-fly is leading man-destroying Ares

from destructive battle through the tumult. Go after her.”

So she spoke, and Athena rushed after her, glad at heart,

and closing on her struck her breast with a strong hand.

425Her knees and dear heart gave way there.

So both lay on the all-nourishing earth,

while Athena exulted and spoke winged words:

“May all who aid the Trojans be like these now

whenever they fight the armored Argives—

430as bold and enduring as Aphrodite

when she came to help Ares and faced my force.

Then we would long ago have ended this war,

after sacking the well-built citadel of Ilium.”

434ὣς φάτο, μείδησεν δὲ θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη.

435αὐτὰρ Ἀπόλλωνα προσέφη κρείων ἐνοσίχθων·

Φοῖβε τί ἢ δὴ νῶϊ διέσταμεν; οὐδὲ ἔοικεν

ἀρξάντων ἑτέρων· τὸ μὲν αἴσχιον αἴ κʼ ἀμαχητὶ

ἴομεν Οὔλυμπον δὲ Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶ.

ἄρχε· σὺ γὰρ γενεῆφι νεώτερος· οὐ γὰρ ἔμοιγε

440καλόν, ἐπεὶ πρότερος γενόμην καὶ πλείονα οἶδα.

νηπύτιʼ ὡς ἄνοον κραδίην ἔχες· οὐδέ νυ τῶν περ

μέμνηαι ὅσα δὴ πάθομεν κακὰ Ἴλιον ἀμφὶ

μοῦνοι νῶϊ θεῶν, ὅτʼ ἀγήνορι Λαομέδοντι

πὰρ Διὸς ἐλθόντες θητεύσαμεν εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν

445μισθῷ ἔπι ῥητῷ· ὃ δὲ σημαίνων ἐπέτελλεν.

ἤτοι ἐγὼ Τρώεσσι πόλιν πέρι τεῖχος ἔδειμα

εὐρύ τε καὶ μάλα καλόν, ἵνʼ ἄρρηκτος πόλις εἴη·

Φοῖβε σὺ δʼ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς βουκολέεσκες

Ἴδης ἐν κνημοῖσι πολυπτύχου ὑληέσσης.

450ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ μισθοῖο τέλος πολυγηθέες ὧραι

ἐξέφερον, τότε νῶϊ βιήσατο μισθὸν ἅπαντα

Λαομέδων ἔκπαγλος, ἀπειλήσας δʼ ἀπέπεμπε.

σὺν μὲν ὅ γʼ ἠπείλησε πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ὕπερθε

δήσειν, καὶ περάαν νήσων ἔπι τηλεδαπάων·

455στεῦτο δʼ ὅ γʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀπολεψέμεν οὔατα χαλκῷ.

νῶϊ δὲ ἄψορροι κίομεν κεκοτηότι θυμῷ

μισθοῦ χωόμενοι, τὸν ὑποστὰς οὐκ ἐτέλεσσε.

τοῦ δὴ νῦν λαοῖσι φέρεις χάριν, οὐδὲ μεθʼ ἡμέων

πειρᾷ ὥς κε Τρῶες ὑπερφίαλοι ἀπόλωνται

460πρόχνυ κακῶς σὺν παισὶ καὶ αἰδοίῃς ἀλόχοισι

434So she spoke, and the goddess, white-armed Hera, smiled.

435But lord Poseidon, Earth-shaker, addressed Apollo:

“Phoebus, why do we two stand apart? It is not fitting

when the others have begun. It would be more shameful if without fighting

we went to Olympus, to Zeus's bronze-floored house.

Begin, for you are younger by birth; it would not be right for me,

440since I was born before you and know more.

Fool, what a witless heart you have! Don't you even

remember all the troubles we two alone of the gods suffered around Ilium,

when we came from Zeus to proud Laomedon

and worked as hired servants for a year

445at an agreed wage, while he directed us and gave orders?

I built the Trojans a wall around their city,

broad and very beautiful, so the city would be unbreakable;

but you, Phoebus, herded shambling, curved-horned cattle

on the slopes of many-folded, wooded Ida.

450But when the joy-bringing seasons brought round

the end of our service, terrible Laomedon withheld

all our wages by force and sent us away with threats.

He threatened to bind us both hand and foot

and sell us on distant islands;

455he threatened to cut the ears off both of us with bronze.

We went back together, our spirits seething,

angry for the wage he had promised and did not pay.

Now you show favor to his people and do not try with us

to make the overbearing Trojans perish

460miserably, headlong, with their children and honored wives.”

461τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπεν ἄναξ ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων·

ἐννοσίγαιʼ οὐκ ἄν με σαόφρονα μυθήσαιο

ἔμμεναι, εἰ δὴ σοί γε βροτῶν ἕνεκα πτολεμίξω

δειλῶν, οἳ φύλλοισιν ἐοικότες ἄλλοτε μέν τε

465ζαφλεγέες τελέθουσιν ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδοντες,

ἄλλοτε δὲ φθινύθουσιν ἀκήριοι. ἀλλὰ τάχιστα

παυώμεσθα μάχης· οἳ δʼ αὐτοὶ δηριαάσθων.

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας πάλιν ἐτράπετʼ· αἴδετο γάρ ῥα

πατροκασιγνήτοιο μιγήμεναι ἐν παλάμῃσι.

461Then the lord, far-working Apollo, answered him:

“Earth-shaker, you would not call me sound-minded

if I fought you for the sake of wretched mortals,

who are like leaves: at one time flourishing,

465they blaze with life, eating the fruit of the field,

and at another they waste away lifeless. Let us quickly

cease from battle; let them fight it out themselves.”

So speaking, he turned back; out of reverence he would not

join hand-to-hand combat with his father's brother.

470τὸν δὲ κασιγνήτη μάλα νείκεσε πότνια θηρῶν

Ἄρτεμις ἀγροτέρη, καὶ ὀνείδειον φάτο μῦθον·

φεύγεις δὴ ἑκάεργε, Ποσειδάωνι δὲ νίκην

πᾶσαν ἐπέτρεψας, μέλεον δέ οἱ εὖχος ἔδωκας·

νηπύτιε τί νυ τόξον ἔχεις ἀνεμώλιον αὔτως;

475μή σευ νῦν ἔτι πατρὸς ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἀκούσω

εὐχομένου, ὡς τὸ πρὶν ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν,

ἄντα Ποσειδάωνος ἐναντίβιον πολεμίζειν.

ὣς φάτο, τὴν δʼ οὔ τι προσέφη ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων,

ἀλλὰ χολωσαμένη Διὸς αἰδοίη παράκοιτις

480νείκεσεν ἰοχέαιραν ὀνειδείοις ἐπέεσσι·

πῶς δὲ σὺ νῦν μέμονας κύον ἀδεὲς ἀντίʼ ἐμεῖο

στήσεσθαι; χαλεπή τοι ἐγὼ μένος ἀντιφέρεσθαι

τοξοφόρῳ περ ἐούσῃ, ἐπεὶ σὲ λέοντα γυναιξὶ

Ζεὺς θῆκεν, καὶ ἔδωκε κατακτάμεν ἥν κʼ ἐθέλῃσθα.

485ἤτοι βέλτερόν ἐστι κατʼ οὔρεα θῆρας ἐναίρειν

ἀγροτέρας τʼ ἐλάφους ἢ κρείσσοσιν ἶφι μάχεσθαι.

εἰ δʼ ἐθέλεις πολέμοιο δαήμεναι, ὄφρʼ ἐῢ εἰδῇς

ὅσσον φερτέρη εἴμʼ, ὅτι μοι μένος ἀντιφερίζεις.

470But his sister, lady of wild beasts,

Artemis of the wilds, rebuked him bitterly:

“So you run away, Far-worker, and yield to Poseidon

total victory, giving him an empty boast!

Fool, why carry that bow, empty as wind?

475Let me not hear you anymore in our father's halls

boasting, as you did before among the immortal gods,

that you would fight Poseidon face-to-face.”

So she spoke, but far-working Apollo answered her nothing.

But Zeus's honored wife, angered,

480rebuked the arrow-showering goddess with taunting words:

“How dare you now, shameless bitch, stand against me?

It will be hard for you to match my force,

though you bear a bow, since Zeus made you a lion among women

and gave you power to kill whichever one you please.

485It is better for you to slaughter wild beasts in the mountains

and wild deer than fight those stronger than you by force.

But if you want to learn war, so you know well

how much stronger I am, since you match your force with mine.”

489ἦ ῥα, καὶ ἀμφοτέρας ἐπὶ καρπῷ χεῖρας ἔμαρπτε

490σκαιῇ, δεξιτερῇ δʼ ἄρʼ ἀπʼ ὤμων αἴνυτο τόξα,

αὐτοῖσιν δʼ ἄρʼ ἔθεινε παρʼ οὔατα μειδιόωσα

ἐντροπαλιζομένην· ταχέες δʼ ἔκπιπτον ὀϊστοί.

δακρυόεσσα δʼ ὕπαιθα θεὰ φύγεν ὥς τε πέλεια,

ἥ ῥά θʼ ὑπʼ ἴρηκος κοίλην εἰσέπτατο πέτρην

495χηραμόν· οὐδʼ ἄρα τῇ γε ἁλώμεναι αἴσιμον ἦεν·

ὣς ἣ δακρυόεσσα φύγεν, λίπε δʼ αὐτόθι τόξα.

489She spoke and seized both Artemis' wrists in her left hand,

490and with her right took the bow from her shoulders.

Smiling, she beat Artemis about the ears with the bow

as she twisted away; the swift arrows fell out.

The goddess fled weeping like a dove

that flies from a hawk into a hollow rock,

495into a cleft—for it was not her fate to be caught.

So she fled weeping, leaving her bow there.

497Λητὼ δὲ προσέειπε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης·

Λητοῖ ἐγὼ δέ τοι οὔ τι μαχήσομαι· ἀργαλέον δὲ

πληκτίζεσθʼ ἀλόχοισι Διὸς νεφεληγερέταο·

500ἀλλὰ μάλα πρόφρασσα μετʼ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν

εὔχεσθαι ἐμὲ νικῆσαι κρατερῆφι βίηφιν.

ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη, Λητὼ δὲ συναίνυτο καμπύλα τόξα

πεπτεῶτʼ ἄλλυδις ἄλλα μετὰ στροφάλιγγι κονίης.

ἣ μὲν τόξα λαβοῦσα πάλιν κίε θυγατέρος ἧς·

497Then Hermes the guide, slayer of Argus, addressed Leto:

“Leto, I will not fight with you. It is dangerous

to exchange blows with the wives of cloud-gathering Zeus.

500But by all means, among the immortal gods,

boast that you defeated me by overwhelming force.”

So he spoke, and Leto gathered up the curved bow

that had fallen here and there amid the whirling dust.

Taking her daughter's bow, she went back after her.

505ἣ δʼ ἄρʼ Ὄλυμπον ἵκανε Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶ,

δακρυόεσσα δὲ πατρὸς ἐφέζετο γούνασι κούρη,

ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρʼ ἀμβρόσιος ἑανὸς τρέμε· τὴν δὲ προτὶ οἷ

εἷλε πατὴρ Κρονίδης, καὶ ἀνείρετο ἡδὺ γελάσσας·

τίς νύ σε τοιάδʼ ἔρεξε φίλον τέκος Οὐρανιώνων

510μαψιδίως, ὡς εἴ τι κακὸν ῥέζουσαν ἐνωπῇ;

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπεν ἐϋστέφανος κελαδεινή·

σή μʼ ἄλοχος στυφέλιξε πάτερ λευκώλενος Ἥρη,

ἐξ ἧς ἀθανάτοισιν ἔρις καὶ νεῖκος ἐφῆπται.

ὣς οἳ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον·

505Artemis reached Olympus, to Zeus's bronze-floored house,

and the weeping daughter sat on her father's knees;

her ambrosial garment trembled around her. Her father, Cronus' son,

drew her close and asked, laughing sweetly:

“Which of Heaven's children did this to you, dear child,

510so recklessly, as if you had been doing evil openly?”

Then the well-crowned, clamorous goddess answered him:

“Your wife, father—white-armed Hera—battered me,

from whom strife and quarrel have fastened on the immortals.”

So they spoke these words to one another.

515αὐτὰρ Ἀπόλλων Φοῖβος ἐδύσετο Ἴλιον ἱρήν·

μέμβλετο γάρ οἱ τεῖχος ἐϋδμήτοιο πόληος

μὴ Δαναοὶ πέρσειαν ὑπὲρ μόρον ἤματι κείνῳ.

οἳ δʼ ἄλλοι πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἴσαν θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες,

οἳ μὲν χωόμενοι, οἳ δὲ μέγα κυδιόωντες·

520κὰδ δʼ ἷζον παρὰ πατρὶ κελαινεφεῖ· αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

Τρῶας ὁμῶς αὐτούς τʼ ὄλεκεν καὶ μώνυχας ἵππους.

ὡς δʼ ὅτε καπνὸς ἰὼν εἰς οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἵκηται

ἄστεος αἰθομένοιο, θεῶν δέ ἑ μῆνις ἀνῆκε,

πᾶσι δʼ ἔθηκε πόνον, πολλοῖσι δὲ κήδεʼ ἐφῆκεν,

525ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς Τρώεσσι πόνον καὶ κήδεʼ ἔθηκεν.

515But Phoebus Apollo entered sacred Ilium;

for he was concerned for the wall of the well-built city,

lest the Danaans sack it beyond its fate on that day.

The other ever-living gods went toward Olympus,

some angry, others exulting greatly,

520and sat beside the dark-clouded father. But Achilles

kept killing Trojans themselves and single-hoofed horses alike.

As when smoke rises and reaches broad heaven

from a burning city, sent there by the wrath of gods,

which lays toil on everyone and sends grief on many,

525so Achilles laid toil and grief on the Trojans.

526ἑστήκει δʼ ὃ γέρων Πρίαμος θείου ἐπὶ πύργου,

ἐς δʼ ἐνόησʼ Ἀχιλῆα πελώριον· αὐτὰρ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ

Τρῶες ἄφαρ κλονέοντο πεφυζότες, οὐδέ τις ἀλκὴ

γίγνεθʼ· ὃ δʼ οἰμώξας ἀπὸ πύργου βαῖνε χαμᾶζε

530ὀτρύνων παρὰ τεῖχος ἀγακλειτοὺς πυλαωρούς·

πεπταμένας ἐν χερσὶ πύλας ἔχετʼ εἰς ὅ κε λαοὶ

ἔλθωσι προτὶ ἄστυ πεφυζότες· ἦ γὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἐγγὺς ὅδε κλονέων· νῦν οἴω λοίγιʼ ἔσεσθαι.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κʼ ἐς τεῖχος ἀναπνεύσωσιν ἀλέντες,

535αὖτις ἐπανθέμεναι σανίδας πυκινῶς ἀραρυίας·

δείδια γὰρ μὴ οὖλος ἀνὴρ ἐς τεῖχος ἅληται.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ἄνεσάν τε πύλας καὶ ἀπῶσαν ὀχῆας·

526Old Priam stood on a god-built tower

and saw monstrous Achilles. Beneath his assault

the Trojans fled in rout; no battle-strength arose.

Priam groaned and climbed down from the tower to the ground,

530urging the renowned gatekeepers beside the wall:

“Hold the gates open in your hands until the people

reach the city in flight, for Achilles

is near, routing them; now I think there will be ruin.

But once they have gathered inside the wall and caught their breath,

535set the closely fitted gate leaves back in place,

for I fear that destructive man may leap within the walls.”

So he spoke, and they opened the gates and pushed back the bolts.

538αἳ δὲ πετασθεῖσαι τεῦξαν φάος· αὐτὰρ Ἀπόλλων

ἀντίος ἐξέθορε Τρώων ἵνα λοιγὸν ἀλάλκοι.

540οἳ δʼ ἰθὺς πόλιος καὶ τείχεος ὑψηλοῖο

δίψῃ καρχαλέοι κεκονιμένοι ἐκ πεδίοιο

φεῦγον· ὃ δὲ σφεδανὸν ἔφεπʼ ἔγχεϊ, λύσσα δέ οἱ κῆρ

αἰὲν ἔχε κρατερή, μενέαινε δὲ κῦδος ἀρέσθαι.

538Once thrown open, the gates brought deliverance; but Apollo

sprang out to face the attack, to ward ruin from the Trojans.

540They fled straight toward the city and its high wall,

parched with thirst and coated with dust from the plain;

Achilles pursued fiercely with his spear; savage frenzy

always gripped his heart, and he yearned to win triumph.

544ἔνθά κεν ὑψίπυλον Τροίην ἕλον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν,

545εἰ μὴ Ἀπόλλων Φοῖβος Ἀγήνορα δῖον ἀνῆκε

φῶτʼ Ἀντήνορος υἱὸν ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε.

ἐν μέν οἱ κραδίῃ θάρσος βάλε, πὰρ δέ οἱ αὐτὸς

ἔστη, ὅπως θανάτοιο βαρείας χεῖρας ἀλάλκοι

φηγῷ κεκλιμένος· κεκάλυπτο δʼ ἄρʼ ἠέρι πολλῇ.

550αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ ὡς ἐνόησεν Ἀχιλλῆα πτολίπορθον

ἔστη, πολλὰ δέ οἱ κραδίη πόρφυρε μένοντι·

ὀχθήσας δʼ ἄρα εἶπε πρὸς ὃν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν·

544Then the sons of the Achaeans would have taken high-gated Troy,

545had Phoebus Apollo not stirred up godlike Agenor,

Antenor's son, a blameless and mighty man.

He put courage in Agenor's heart, and himself

stood beside him to ward off the heavy hands of death,

leaning against an oak, covered in thick mist.

550When Agenor saw Achilles, sacker of cities,

he stood, and as he waited, many thoughts churned in his heart.

Troubled, he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:

553ὤ μοι ἐγών· εἰ μέν κεν ὑπὸ κρατεροῦ Ἀχιλῆος

φεύγω, τῇ περ οἱ ἄλλοι ἀτυζόμενοι κλονέονται,

555αἱρήσει με καὶ ὧς, καὶ ἀνάλκιδα δειροτομήσει.

εἰ δʼ ἂν ἐγὼ τούτους μὲν ὑποκλονέεσθαι ἐάσω

Πηλεΐδῃ Ἀχιλῆϊ, ποσὶν δʼ ἀπὸ τείχεος ἄλλῃ

φεύγω πρὸς πεδίον Ἰλήϊον, ὄφρʼ ἂν ἵκωμαι

Ἴδης τε κνημοὺς κατά τε ῥωπήϊα δύω·

560ἑσπέριος δʼ ἂν ἔπειτα λοεσσάμενος ποταμοῖο

ἱδρῶ ἀποψυχθεὶς προτὶ Ἴλιον ἀπονεοίμην·

ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός;

μή μʼ ἀπαειρόμενον πόλιος πεδίον δὲ νοήσῃ

καί με μεταΐξας μάρψῃ ταχέεσσι πόδεσσιν.

565οὐκέτʼ ἔπειτʼ ἔσται θάνατον καὶ κῆρας ἀλύξαι·

λίην γὰρ κρατερὸς περὶ πάντων ἔστʼ ἀνθρώπων.

εἰ δέ κέ οἱ προπάροιθε πόλεος κατεναντίον ἔλθω·

καὶ γάρ θην τούτῳ τρωτὸς χρὼς ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ,

ἐν δὲ ἴα ψυχή, θνητὸν δέ ἕ φασʼ ἄνθρωποι

570ἔμμεναι· αὐτάρ οἱ Κρονίδης Ζεὺς κῦδος ὀπάζει.

553“Ah me! If I flee before mighty Achilles

along the path where all the others scatter in panic,

555he will catch me anyway and cut my throat like a coward.

But if I let these others be routed

by Achilles, Peleus' son, and run on foot another way from the wall,

toward the Ilian plain, until I reach

the slopes of Ida and plunge into the thickets,

560then in the evening, after bathing in the river

and cooled down after sweating, I might return to Ilium.

But why has my own spirit debated these things with me?

What if he sees me moving away from the city toward the plain,

rushes after me, and catches me with his swift feet?

565Then there will be no escaping death and doom;

for he is by far the strongest of all men.

But what if I go to meet him in front of the city?

His skin too can be wounded by sharp bronze,

and there is but one life in him; men say

570he is mortal. Yet Zeus, Cronus' son, grants him triumph.”

571ὣς εἰπὼν Ἀχιλῆα ἀλεὶς μένεν, ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ

ἄλκιμον ὁρμᾶτο πτολεμίζειν ἠδὲ μάχεσθαι.

ἠΰτε πάρδαλις εἶσι βαθείης ἐκ ξυλόχοιο

ἀνδρὸς θηρητῆρος ἐναντίον, οὐδέ τι θυμῷ

575ταρβεῖ οὐδὲ φοβεῖται, ἐπεί κεν ὑλαγμὸν ἀκούσῃ·

εἴ περ γὰρ φθάμενός μιν ἢ οὐτάσῃ ἠὲ βάλῃσιν,

ἀλλά τε καὶ περὶ δουρὶ πεπαρμένη οὐκ ἀπολήγει

ἀλκῆς, πρίν γʼ ἠὲ ξυμβλήμεναι ἠὲ δαμῆναι·

ὣς Ἀντήνορος υἱὸς ἀγαυοῦ δῖος Ἀγήνωρ

580οὐκ ἔθελεν φεύγειν, πρὶν πειρήσαιτʼ Ἀχιλῆος.

571So speaking, he braced himself and waited for Achilles; within him

his valiant heart surged to fight and battle.

As a leopard comes from a deep thicket

against a hunter, and feels no fear in its spirit

575nor turns in flight when it hears the baying,

for even if the hunter strikes first, wounds or hits it,

though run through by a spear, it does not cease

from fighting until it closes with him or is subdued;

so godlike Agenor, son of noble Antenor,

580would not flee until he had tested Achilles.

581ἀλλʼ ὅ γʼ ἄρʼ ἀσπίδα μὲν πρόσθʼ ἔσχετο πάντοσʼ ἐΐσην,

ἐγχείῃ δʼ αὐτοῖο τιτύσκετο, καὶ μέγʼ ἀΰτει·

ἦ δή που μάλʼ ἔολπας ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φαίδιμʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ

ἤματι τῷδε πόλιν πέρσειν Τρώων ἀγερώχων

585νηπύτιʼ· ἦ τʼ ἔτι πολλὰ τετεύξεται ἄλγεʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ.

ἐν γάρ οἱ πολέες τε καὶ ἄλκιμοι ἀνέρες εἰμέν,

οἳ καὶ πρόσθε φίλων τοκέων ἀλόχων τε καὶ υἱῶν

Ἴλιον εἰρυόμεσθα· σὺ δʼ ἐνθάδε πότμον ἐφέψεις

ὧδʼ ἔκπαγλος ἐὼν καὶ θαρσαλέος πολεμιστής.

590ἦ ῥα, καὶ ὀξὺν ἄκοντα βαρείης χειρὸς ἀφῆκε,

καί ῥʼ ἔβαλε κνήμην ὑπὸ γούνατος οὐδʼ ἀφάμαρτεν.

ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ κνημὶς νεοτεύκτου κασσιτέροιο

σμερδαλέον κονάβησε· πάλιν δʼ ἀπὸ χαλκὸς ὄρουσε

βλημένου, οὐδʼ ἐπέρησε, θεοῦ δʼ ἠρύκακε δῶρα.

581He held his shield, balanced on every side, before him,

aimed his spear straight at Achilles, and shouted aloud:

“Surely, glorious Achilles, you greatly hoped in your heart

to sack the city of the proud Trojans this very day,

585fool! Many sufferings will still be wrought over it.

For within it we are many valiant men,

who before our dear parents, wives, and sons

defend Ilium. Here you will meet your doom,

terrible and daring warrior though you are.”

590He spoke and sent the sharp javelin from his heavy hand,

striking Achilles' shin below the knee without missing.

Around his leg the greave of newly wrought tin

rang terribly; the bronze sprang back

from the blow and did not pierce, for the gifts of a god checked it.

595Πηλεΐδης δʼ ὁρμήσατʼ Ἀγήνορος ἀντιθέοιο

δεύτερος· οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἔασεν Ἀπόλλων κῦδος ἀρέσθαι,

ἀλλά μιν ἐξήρπαξε, κάλυψε δʼ ἄρʼ ἠέρι πολλῇ,

ἡσύχιον δʼ ἄρα μιν πολέμου ἔκπεμπε νέεσθαι.

αὐτὰρ ὃ Πηλεΐωνα δόλῳ ἀποέργαθε λαοῦ·

600αὐτῷ γὰρ ἑκάεργος Ἀγήνορι πάντα ἐοικὼς

ἔστη πρόσθε ποδῶν, ὃ δʼ ἐπέσσυτο ποσσὶ διώκειν·

εἷος ὃ τὸν πεδίοιο διώκετο πυροφόροιο

τρέψας πὰρ ποταμὸν βαθυδινήεντα Σκάμανδρον

τυτθὸν ὑπεκπροθέοντα· δόλῳ δʼ ἄρʼ ἔθελγεν Ἀπόλλων

605ὡς αἰεὶ ἔλποιτο κιχήσεσθαι ποσὶν οἷσι·

595Peleus' son rushed at godlike Agenor

in turn, but Apollo did not allow him to win triumph.

He snatched Agenor away and covered him in thick mist,

sending him quietly away from battle.

But Apollo drew Peleus' son away from the host by deceit:

600for the Far-worker, in every way like Agenor,

stood before Achilles' feet, and Achilles rushed after him on foot.

While Achilles chased him across the wheat-bearing plain,

turning him beside deep-eddying Scamander,

running only a little ahead; Apollo beguiled him by deceit

605so Achilles always expected to catch him with his feet.

606τόφρʼ ἄλλοι Τρῶες πεφοβημένοι ἦλθον ὁμίλῳ

ἀσπάσιοι προτὶ ἄστυ, πόλις δʼ ἔμπλητο ἀλέντων.

οὐδʼ ἄρα τοί γʼ ἔτλαν πόλιος καὶ τείχεος ἐκτὸς

μεῖναι ἔτʼ ἀλλήλους, καὶ γνώμεναι ὅς τε πεφεύγοι

610ὅς τʼ ἔθανʼ ἐν πολέμῳ· ἀλλʼ ἐσσυμένως ἐσέχυντο

ἐς πόλιν, ὅν τινα τῶν γε πόδες καὶ γοῦνα σαώσαι.

606Meanwhile the other routed Trojans came in a throng,

gladly reaching the city; the city filled as they crowded in.

They did not dare to remain outside the city and wall

waiting for one another, to learn who had escaped

610and who had died in battle; instead they poured eagerly

into the city, all whose feet and knees had saved them.