Iliad, Book 24: Priam and Achilles

1λῦτο δʼ ἀγών, λαοὶ δὲ θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας ἕκαστοι

ἐσκίδναντʼ ἰέναι. τοὶ μὲν δόρποιο μέδοντο

ὕπνου τε γλυκεροῦ ταρπήμεναι· αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

κλαῖε φίλου ἑτάρου μεμνημένος, οὐδέ μιν ὕπνος

5ᾕρει πανδαμάτωρ, ἀλλʼ ἐστρέφετʼ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα

Πατρόκλου ποθέων ἀνδροτῆτά τε καὶ μένος ἠΰ,

ἠδʼ ὁπόσα τολύπευσε σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ πάθεν ἄλγεα

ἀνδρῶν τε πτολέμους ἀλεγεινά τε κύματα πείρων·

τῶν μιμνησκόμενος θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυον εἶβεν,

10ἄλλοτʼ ἐπὶ πλευρὰς κατακείμενος, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὖτε

ὕπτιος, ἄλλοτε δὲ πρηνής· τοτὲ δʼ ὀρθὸς ἀναστὰς

δινεύεσκʼ ἀλύων παρὰ θῖνʼ ἁλός· οὐδέ μιν ἠὼς

φαινομένη λήθεσκεν ὑπεὶρ ἅλα τʼ ἠϊόνας τε.

ἀλλʼ ὅ γʼ ἐπεὶ ζεύξειεν ὑφʼ ἅρμασιν ὠκέας ἵππους,

15Ἕκτορα δʼ ἕλκεσθαι δησάσκετο δίφρου ὄπισθεν,

τρὶς δʼ ἐρύσας περὶ σῆμα Μενοιτιάδαο θανόντος

αὖτις ἐνὶ κλισίῃ παυέσκετο, τὸν δέ τʼ ἔασκεν

ἐν κόνι ἐκτανύσας προπρηνέα· τοῖο δʼ Ἀπόλλων

πᾶσαν ἀεικείην ἄπεχε χροῒ φῶτʼ ἐλεαίρων

20καὶ τεθνηότα περ· περὶ δʼ αἰγίδι πάντα κάλυπτε

χρυσείῃ, ἵνα μή μιν ἀποδρύφοι ἑλκυστάζων.

1The assembly broke up, and the people scattered, each to his swift ship,

making their way back. They thought of supper

and taking their pleasure in sweet sleep; but Achilles

wept, remembering his dear companion, and sleep,

5all-subduing, could not seize him; he tossed this way and that,

longing for Patroclus' manhood and noble strength,

for all he had accomplished beside him and all the pains he had suffered,

passing through wars of men and grievous waves.

Remembering these things, he shed swelling tears,

10lying now upon his side, then again

upon his back, then facedown; and then he would rise upright

and wander distraught along the sea's shore. Dawn,

appearing over sea and shores, never escaped his notice.

But when he had yoked his swift horses beneath the chariot,

15he would bind Hector behind the car to be dragged,

and after hauling him three times around the tomb of Menoetius' dead son,

he would rest again inside his hut, leaving Hector

stretched facedown in the dust. But Apollo

kept every disfigurement from his flesh, pitying the man,

20dead though he was; he covered him all around with the golden aegis,

so Achilles would not tear his body as he dragged him.

22ὣς ὃ μὲν Ἕκτορα δῖον ἀείκιζεν μενεαίνων·

τὸν δʼ ἐλεαίρεσκον μάκαρες θεοὶ εἰσορόωντες,

κλέψαι δʼ ὀτρύνεσκον ἐΰσκοπον ἀργεϊφόντην.

25ἔνθʼ ἄλλοις μὲν πᾶσιν ἑήνδανεν, οὐδέ ποθʼ Ἥρῃ

οὐδὲ Ποσειδάωνʼ οὐδὲ γλαυκώπιδι κούρῃ,

ἀλλʼ ἔχον ὥς σφιν πρῶτον ἀπήχθετο Ἴλιος ἱρὴ

καὶ Πρίαμος καὶ λαὸς Ἀλεξάνδρου ἕνεκʼ ἄτης,

ὃς νείκεσσε θεὰς ὅτε οἱ μέσσαυλον ἵκοντο,

30τὴν δʼ ᾔνησʼ ἥ οἱ πόρε μαχλοσύνην ἀλεγεινήν.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δή ῥʼ ἐκ τοῖο δυωδεκάτη γένετʼ ἠώς,

22So in his fury Achilles kept dishonoring noble Hector;

but the blessed gods looked on him with pity

and urged the keen-sighted Slayer of Argus to steal him away.

25The plan pleased all the others, but never Hera,

nor Poseidon, nor the bright-eyed maiden;

they held to the hatred they had first conceived for sacred Ilium,

for Priam and his people, because of Alexander's ruinous folly—

he who insulted the goddesses when they came to his courtyard

30and praised the one who offered him grievous lust.

But when the twelfth dawn after that day came,

32καὶ τότʼ ἄρʼ ἀθανάτοισι μετηύδα Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων·

σχέτλιοί ἐστε θεοί, δηλήμονες· οὔ νύ ποθʼ ὑμῖν

Ἕκτωρ μηρίʼ ἔκηε βοῶν αἰγῶν τε τελείων;

35τὸν νῦν οὐκ ἔτλητε νέκυν περ ἐόντα σαῶσαι

ᾗ τʼ ἀλόχῳ ἰδέειν καὶ μητέρι καὶ τέκεϊ ᾧ

καὶ πατέρι Πριάμῳ λαοῖσί τε, τοί κέ μιν ὦκα

ἐν πυρὶ κήαιεν καὶ ἐπὶ κτέρεα κτερίσαιεν.

ἀλλʼ ὀλοῷ Ἀχιλῆϊ θεοὶ βούλεσθʼ ἐπαρήγειν,

40ᾧ οὔτʼ ἂρ φρένες εἰσὶν ἐναίσιμοι οὔτε νόημα

γναμπτὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσι, λέων δʼ ὣς ἄγρια οἶδεν,

ὅς τʼ ἐπεὶ ἂρ μεγάλῃ τε βίῃ καὶ ἀγήνορι θυμῷ

εἴξας εἶσʼ ἐπὶ μῆλα βροτῶν ἵνα δαῖτα λάβῃσιν·

ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς ἔλεον μὲν ἀπώλεσεν, οὐδέ οἱ αἰδὼς

45γίγνεται, ἥ τʼ ἄνδρας μέγα σίνεται ἠδʼ ὀνίνησι.

μέλλει μέν πού τις καὶ φίλτερον ἄλλον ὀλέσσαι

ἠὲ κασίγνητον ὁμογάστριον ἠὲ καὶ υἱόν·

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι κλαύσας καὶ ὀδυράμενος μεθέηκε·

τλητὸν γὰρ Μοῖραι θυμὸν θέσαν ἀνθρώποισιν.

50αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ Ἕκτορα δῖον, ἐπεὶ φίλον ἦτορ ἀπηύρα,

ἵππων ἐξάπτων περὶ σῆμʼ ἑτάροιο φίλοιο

ἕλκει· οὐ μήν οἱ τό γε κάλλιον οὐδέ τʼ ἄμεινον.

μὴ ἀγαθῷ περ ἐόντι νεμεσσηθέωμέν οἱ ἡμεῖς·

κωφὴν γὰρ δὴ γαῖαν ἀεικίζει μενεαίνων.

32Phoebus Apollo then addressed the immortals:

“Cruel gods, destroyers! Did Hector never burn for you

the thigh pieces of perfect cattle and goats?

35Yet now you cannot bring yourselves to save him, though he is a corpse,

so his wife might see him, and his mother and child,

and Priam his father and his people, who would quickly

burn him in the fire and bestow his funeral gifts.

Instead, gods, you are bent on helping murderous Achilles,

40whose thoughts are not just, nor is the purpose

within his breast ever yielding; like a lion, he knows only savagery,

that yields to its great strength and arrogant spirit

and goes among mortals' flocks to seize a feast.

So Achilles has destroyed pity, and no reverence

45arises in him—reverence that greatly harms men and also helps them.

A man may lose someone dearer still—

a brother born from the same womb, or even a son—

yet after he has wept and mourned, he leaves off,

for the Fates have set an enduring heart in human beings.

50But after Achilles robbed noble Hector of his life,

he fastens him behind his horses around his dear companion's tomb

and drags him. Surely this is neither finer nor better for him.

Noble though he is, let him beware lest we ourselves grow angry with him,

for in his fury he dishonors nothing but unfeeling earth.”

55τὸν δὲ χολωσαμένη προσέφη λευκώλενος Ἥρη·

εἴη κεν καὶ τοῦτο τεὸν ἔπος ἀργυρότοξε

εἰ δὴ ὁμὴν Ἀχιλῆϊ καὶ Ἕκτορι θήσετε τιμήν.

Ἕκτωρ μὲν θνητός τε γυναῖκά τε θήσατο μαζόν·

αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεύς ἐστι θεᾶς γόνος, ἣν ἐγὼ αὐτὴ

60θρέψά τε καὶ ἀτίτηλα καὶ ἀνδρὶ πόρον παράκοιτιν

Πηλέϊ, ὃς περὶ κῆρι φίλος γένετʼ ἀθανάτοισι.

πάντες δʼ ἀντιάασθε θεοὶ γάμου· ἐν δὲ σὺ τοῖσι

δαίνυʼ ἔχων φόρμιγγα κακῶν ἕταρʼ, αἰὲν ἄπιστε.

55White-armed Hera answered him in anger:

“Your word might stand so, lord of the silver bow,

if you gods will assign equal honor to Achilles and Hector.

Hector was mortal and suckled at a woman's breast,

but Achilles is the child of a goddess whom I myself

60reared and cherished and gave to a man as wife—

to Peleus, who was especially dear to the immortals' hearts.

All you gods attended the wedding, and among them you

feasted with your lyre, companion of evils, forever faithless.”

64τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

65Ἥρη μὴ δὴ πάμπαν ἀποσκύδμαινε θεοῖσιν·

οὐ μὲν γὰρ τιμή γε μίʼ ἔσσεται· ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἕκτωρ

φίλτατος ἔσκε θεοῖσι βροτῶν οἳ ἐν Ἰλίῳ εἰσίν·

ὣς γὰρ ἔμοιγʼ, ἐπεὶ οὔ τι φίλων ἡμάρτανε δώρων.

οὐ γάρ μοί ποτε βωμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης

70λοιβῆς τε κνίσης τε· τὸ γὰρ λάχομεν γέρας ἡμεῖς.

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι κλέψαι μὲν ἐάσομεν, οὐδέ πῃ ἔστι,

λάθρῃ Ἀχιλλῆος θρασὺν Ἕκτορα· ἦ γάρ οἱ αἰεὶ

μήτηρ παρμέμβλωκεν ὁμῶς νύκτάς τε καὶ ἦμαρ.

ἀλλʼ εἴ τις καλέσειε θεῶν Θέτιν ἆσσον ἐμεῖο,

75ὄφρά τί οἱ εἴπω πυκινὸν ἔπος, ὥς κεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

δώρων ἐκ Πριάμοιο λάχῃ ἀπό θʼ Ἕκτορα λύσῃ.

64Cloud-gathering Zeus answered her:

65“Hera, do not be utterly angry with the gods.

Their honor will not be equal. Yet Hector too

was dearest to the gods among all mortals living in Ilium,

as he was to me, since he never failed in gifts that please me.

My altar never lacked its equal feast,

70libation and savor; that is the honor allotted to us gods.

But we will let this theft alone, for there is no way

to steal bold Hector from Achilles in secret: his mother

is always beside him, alike by night and day.

But if one of the gods would call Thetis close to me,

75I could speak a prudent word to her, so that Achilles

may receive gifts from Priam and release Hector.”

77ὣς ἔφατʼ, ὦρτο δὲ Ἶρις ἀελλόπος ἀγγελέουσα,

μεσσηγὺς δὲ Σάμου τε καὶ Ἴμβρου παιπαλοέσσης

ἔνθορε μείλανι πόντῳ· ἐπεστονάχησε δὲ λίμνη.

80ἣ δὲ μολυβδαίνῃ ἰκέλη ἐς βυσσὸν ὄρουσεν,

ἥ τε κατʼ ἀγραύλοιο βοὸς κέρας ἐμβεβαυῖα

ἔρχεται ὠμηστῇσιν ἐπʼ ἰχθύσι κῆρα φέρουσα.

εὗρε δʼ ἐνὶ σπῆϊ γλαφυρῷ Θέτιν, ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρʼ ἄλλαι

εἵαθʼ ὁμηγερέες ἅλιαι θεαί· ἣ δʼ ἐνὶ μέσσῃς

85κλαῖε μόρον οὗ παιδὸς ἀμύμονος, ὅς οἱ ἔμελλε

φθίσεσθʼ ἐν Τροίῃ ἐριβώλακι τηλόθι πάτρης.

ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱσταμένη προσέφη πόδας ὠκέα Ἶρις·

ὄρσο Θέτι· καλέει Ζεὺς ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδώς.

τὴν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα θεὰ Θέτις ἀργυρόπεζα·

90τίπτέ με κεῖνος ἄνωγε μέγας θεός; αἰδέομαι δὲ

μίσγεσθʼ ἀθανάτοισιν, ἔχω δʼ ἄχεʼ ἄκριτα θυμῷ.

εἶμι μέν, οὐδʼ ἅλιον ἔπος ἔσσεται ὅττί κεν εἴπῃ.

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσασα κάλυμμʼ ἕλε δῖα θεάων

κυάνεον, τοῦ δʼ οὔ τι μελάντερον ἔπλετο ἔσθος.

95βῆ δʼ ἰέναι, πρόσθεν δὲ ποδήνεμος ὠκέα Ἶρις

ἡγεῖτʼ· ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρα σφι λιάζετο κῦμα θαλάσσης.

ἀκτὴν δʼ ἐξαναβᾶσαι ἐς οὐρανὸν ἀϊχθήτην,

εὗρον δʼ εὐρύοπα Κρονίδην, περὶ δʼ ἄλλοι ἅπαντες

εἵαθʼ ὁμηγερέες μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες.

100ἣ δʼ ἄρα πὰρ Διὶ πατρὶ καθέζετο, εἶξε δʼ Ἀθήνη.

Ἥρη δὲ χρύσεον καλὸν δέπας ἐν χερὶ θῆκε

καί ῥʼ εὔφρηνʼ ἐπέεσσι· Θέτις δʼ ὤρεξε πιοῦσα.

77So he spoke, and storm-footed Iris sprang up to carry the message.

Midway between Samos and rugged Imbros

she plunged into the dark sea, and the waters groaned.

80She darted toward the depths like a lead weight

set within the horn of a ranging ox,

which brings death down upon ravenous fish.

She found Thetis in a hollow cave, and around her the other

goddesses of the sea sat gathered; in their midst

85she mourned the fate of her blameless son, who was destined

to perish in rich-soiled Troy, far from his homeland.

Swift-footed Iris stood near and addressed her:

“Rise, Thetis. Zeus, who knows imperishable counsels, calls you.”

Then the silver-footed goddess Thetis answered her:

90“Why does that great god command me? I shrink

from mingling with the immortals, for my heart holds measureless grief.

Still I will go, and whatever he says will not be spoken in vain.”

So saying, the radiant goddess took up a veil,

deep blue, and no garment was darker than it.

95She set out, and wind-footed swift Iris went

before her; the sea's wave drew back around them.

They climbed out upon the shore and shot up to heaven.

There they found the wide-seeing son of Cronus, with all the other

blessed gods who live forever seated together around him.

100Thetis sat beside father Zeus, and Athena yielded her place.

Hera put a beautiful golden cup into her hand

and comforted her with words; Thetis drank and handed it back.

103τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

ἤλυθες Οὔλυμπον δὲ θεὰ Θέτι κηδομένη περ,

105πένθος ἄλαστον ἔχουσα μετὰ φρεσίν· οἶδα καὶ αὐτός·

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧς ἐρέω τοῦ σʼ εἵνεκα δεῦρο κάλεσσα.

ἐννῆμαρ δὴ νεῖκος ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ὄρωρεν

Ἕκτορος ἀμφὶ νέκυι καὶ Ἀχιλλῆϊ πτολιπόρθῳ·

κλέψαι δʼ ὀτρύνουσιν ἐΰσκοπον ἀργεϊφόντην·

110αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ τόδε κῦδος Ἀχιλλῆϊ προτιάπτω

αἰδῶ καὶ φιλότητα τεὴν μετόπισθε φυλάσσων.

αἶψα μάλʼ ἐς στρατὸν ἐλθὲ καὶ υἱέϊ σῷ ἐπίτειλον·

σκύζεσθαί οἱ εἰπὲ θεούς, ἐμὲ δʼ ἔξοχα πάντων

ἀθανάτων κεχολῶσθαι, ὅτι φρεσὶ μαινομένῃσιν

115Ἕκτορʼ ἔχει παρὰ νηυσὶ κορωνίσιν οὐδʼ ἀπέλυσεν,

αἴ κέν πως ἐμέ τε δείσῃ ἀπό θʼ Ἕκτορα λύσῃ.

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ Πριάμῳ μεγαλήτορι Ἶριν ἐφήσω

λύσασθαι φίλον υἱὸν ἰόντʼ ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν,

δῶρα δʼ Ἀχιλλῆϊ φερέμεν, τά κε θυμὸν ἰήνῃ.

103Then the father of gods and men began the discussion among them:

“You have come to Olympus, goddess Thetis, despite your sorrow,

105with unforgettable grief within your mind; I know it myself.

Even so, I will tell you why I called you here.

For nine days now a quarrel has raged among the immortals

over Hector's corpse and Achilles, sacker of cities.

They urge the keen-sighted Slayer of Argus to steal the body,

110but I am granting this glory to Achilles,

preserving my regard for you and our friendship hereafter.

Go quickly to the camp and give your son this command:

tell him that the gods are angry, and I beyond all

the immortals am enraged, because in the madness of his heart

115he keeps Hector beside the curved ships and has not released him—

perhaps he will fear me and release Hector.

For my part, I will send Iris to great-hearted Priam,

so he may go to the Achaean ships and ransom his dear son,

bringing Achilles gifts that may warm his heart.”

120ὣς ἔφατʼ, οὐδʼ ἀπίθησε θεὰ Θέτις ἀργυρόπεζα,

βῆ δὲ κατʼ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων ἀΐξασα,

ἷξεν δʼ ἐς κλισίην οὗ υἱέος· ἔνθʼ ἄρα τόν γε

εὗρʼ ἁδινὰ στενάχοντα· φίλοι δʼ ἀμφʼ αὐτὸν ἑταῖροι

ἐσσυμένως ἐπένοντο καὶ ἐντύνοντο ἄριστον·

125τοῖσι δʼ ὄϊς λάσιος μέγας ἐν κλισίῃ ἱέρευτο.

ἣ δὲ μάλʼ ἄγχʼ αὐτοῖο καθέζετο πότνια μήτηρ,

χειρί τέ μιν κατέρεξεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·

τέκνον ἐμὸν τέο μέχρις ὀδυρόμενος καὶ ἀχεύων

σὴν ἔδεαι κραδίην μεμνημένος οὔτέ τι σίτου

130οὔτʼ εὐνῆς; ἀγαθὸν δὲ γυναικί περ ἐν φιλότητι

μίσγεσθʼ· οὐ γάρ μοι δηρὸν βέῃ, ἀλλά τοι ἤδη

ἄγχι παρέστηκεν θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιή.

ἀλλʼ ἐμέθεν ξύνες ὦκα, Διὸς δέ τοι ἄγγελός εἰμι·

σκύζεσθαι σοί φησι θεούς, ἑὲ δʼ ἔξοχα πάντων

135ἀθανάτων κεχολῶσθαι, ὅτι φρεσὶ μαινομένῃσιν

Ἕκτορʼ ἔχεις παρὰ νηυσὶ κορωνίσιν οὐδʼ ἀπέλυσας.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ λῦσον, νεκροῖο δὲ δέξαι ἄποινα.

τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

τῇδʼ εἴη· ὃς ἄποινα φέροι καὶ νεκρὸν ἄγοιτο,

140εἰ δὴ πρόφρονι θυμῷ Ὀλύμπιος αὐτὸς ἀνώγει.

120So he spoke, and the silver-footed goddess Thetis did not disobey.

She went darting down from the peaks of Olympus

and reached her son's hut. There she found him

groaning heavily, while around him his dear companions

busied themselves with work and prepared the morning meal.

125A large, shaggy sheep was being slaughtered for them in the hut.

His lady mother sat very close beside him,

She stroked him with her hand, spoke, and called him by name:

“My child, how long will you consume your heart

in grief and mourning, remembering neither food

130nor bed? It is good to join with a woman in love,

for you will not remain alive for me much longer; already

death and mighty fate stand close beside you.

But heed me quickly, for I come to you as Zeus's messenger.

He says the gods are angry, and he beyond all

135the immortals is enraged, because in the madness of your heart

you keep Hector beside the curved ships and have not released him.

Come, release him now, and accept ransom for the corpse.”

Swift-footed Achilles answered her:

“So be it. Let whoever brings the ransom take away the corpse,

140if the Olympian himself commands it in earnest.”

141ὣς οἵ γʼ ἐν νηῶν ἀγύρει μήτηρ τε καὶ υἱὸς

πολλὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευον.

Ἶριν δʼ ὄτρυνε Κρονίδης εἰς Ἴλιον ἱρήν·

βάσκʼ ἴθι Ἶρι ταχεῖα λιποῦσʼ ἕδος Οὐλύμποιο

145ἄγγειλον Πριάμῳ μεγαλήτορι Ἴλιον εἴσω

λύσασθαι φίλον υἱὸν ἰόντʼ ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν,

δῶρα δʼ Ἀχιλλῆϊ φερέμεν τά κε θυμὸν ἰήνῃ

οἶον, μὴ δέ τις ἄλλος ἅμα Τρώων ἴτω ἀνήρ.

κῆρύξ τίς οἱ ἕποιτο γεραίτερος, ὅς κʼ ἰθύνοι

150ἡμιόνους καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐΰτροχον, ἠδὲ καὶ αὖτις

νεκρὸν ἄγοι προτὶ ἄστυ, τὸν ἔκτανε δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

μὴ δέ τί οἱ θάνατος μελέτω φρεσὶ μὴ δέ τι τάρβος·

τοῖον γάρ οἱ πομπὸν ὀπάσσομεν ἀργεϊφόντην,

ὃς ἄξει εἷός κεν ἄγων Ἀχιλῆϊ πελάσσῃ.

155αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν ἀγάγῃσιν ἔσω κλισίην Ἀχιλῆος,

οὔτʼ αὐτὸς κτενέει ἀπό τʼ ἄλλους πάντας ἐρύξει·

οὔτε γάρ ἐστʼ ἄφρων οὔτʼ ἄσκοπος οὔτʼ ἀλιτήμων,

ἀλλὰ μάλʼ ἐνδυκέως ἱκέτεω πεφιδήσεται ἀνδρός.

141So amid the gathering of ships, mother and son

spoke many winged words to one another.

Then the son of Cronus sent Iris to sacred Ilium:

“Go quickly, swift Iris. Leave the seat of Olympus

145and tell great-hearted Priam within Ilium

to go to the Achaean ships and ransom his dear son,

bringing Achilles gifts that may warm his heart.

Let him go alone; no other Trojan man is to go with him.

Only an older herald should attend him, one who can guide

150the mules and well-wheeled wagon, and then again

carry back to the city the corpse of the man godlike Achilles killed.

Let neither death weigh on his mind nor any fear,

for we will grant him such a guide—the Slayer of Argus—

who will lead him until he has brought him near Achilles.

155And once he has brought him inside Achilles' hut,

Achilles will not kill him and will hold back all the others.

For he is neither senseless, heedless, nor wicked,

but he will carefully spare the man who comes as suppliant.”

159ὣς ἔφατʼ, ὦρτο δὲ Ἶρις ἀελλόπος ἀγγελέουσα.

160ἷξεν δʼ ἐς Πριάμοιο, κίχεν δʼ ἐνοπήν τε γόον τε.

παῖδες μὲν πατέρʼ ἀμφὶ καθήμενοι ἔνδοθεν αὐλῆς

δάκρυσιν εἵματʼ ἔφυρον, ὃ δʼ ἐν μέσσοισι γεραιὸς

ἐντυπὰς ἐν χλαίνῃ κεκαλυμμένος· ἀμφὶ δὲ πολλὴ

κόπρος ἔην κεφαλῇ τε καὶ αὐχένι τοῖο γέροντος

165τήν ῥα κυλινδόμενος καταμήσατο χερσὶν ἑῇσι.

θυγατέρες δʼ ἀνὰ δώματʼ ἰδὲ νυοὶ ὠδύροντο

τῶν μιμνησκόμεναι οἳ δὴ πολέες τε καὶ ἐσθλοὶ

χερσὶν ὑπʼ Ἀργείων κέατο ψυχὰς ὀλέσαντες.

στῆ δὲ παρὰ Πρίαμον Διὸς ἄγγελος, ἠδὲ προσηύδα

170τυτθὸν φθεγξαμένη· τὸν δὲ τρόμος ἔλλαβε γυῖα·

θάρσει Δαρδανίδη Πρίαμε φρεσί, μὴ δέ τι τάρβει·

οὐ μὲν γάρ τοι ἐγὼ κακὸν ὀσσομένη τόδʼ ἱκάνω

ἀλλʼ ἀγαθὰ φρονέουσα· Διὸς δέ τοι ἄγγελός εἰμι,

ὅς σευ ἄνευθεν ἐὼν μέγα κήδεται ἠδʼ ἐλεαίρει.

175λύσασθαί σʼ ἐκέλευσεν Ὀλύμπιος Ἕκτορα δῖον,

δῶρα δʼ Ἀχιλλῆϊ φερέμεν τά κε θυμὸν ἰήνῃ

οἶον, μὴ δέ τις ἄλλος ἅμα Τρώων ἴτω ἀνήρ.

κῆρύξ τίς τοι ἕποιτο γεραίτερος, ὅς κʼ ἰθύνοι

ἡμιόνους καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐΰτροχον, ἠδὲ καὶ αὖτις

180νεκρὸν ἄγοι προτὶ ἄστυ, τὸν ἔκτανε δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

μὴ δέ τί τοι θάνατος μελέτω φρεσὶ μηδέ τι τάρβος·

τοῖος γάρ τοι πομπὸς ἅμʼ ἕψεται ἀργεϊφόντης,

ὅς σʼ ἄξει εἷός κεν ἄγων Ἀχιλῆϊ πελάσσῃ.

αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν ἀγάγῃσιν ἔσω κλισίην Ἀχιλῆος,

185οὔτʼ αὐτὸς κτενέει ἀπό τʼ ἄλλους πάντας ἐρύξει·

οὔτε γάρ ἔστʼ ἄφρων οὔτʼ ἄσκοπος οὔτʼ ἀλιτήμων,

ἀλλὰ μάλʼ ἐνδυκέως ἱκέτεω πεφιδήσεται ἀνδρός.

ἣ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς εἰποῦσʼ ἀπέβη πόδας ὠκέα Ἶρις,

159So he spoke, and storm-footed Iris sprang up to carry the message.

160She reached Priam's house and came upon wailing and lamentation.

His sons sat around their father inside the courtyard,

drenching their clothes with tears. The old man sat among them,

wrapped tightly in his cloak; thick dung

covered the old man's head and neck,

165which, rolling in it, he had heaped there with his own hands.

His daughters and his sons' wives mourned throughout the house,

remembering those many brave men

who lay dead at Argive hands, their lives destroyed.

The messenger of Zeus stood beside Priam and addressed him

170in a low voice; trembling seized his limbs.

“Take heart, Dardanid Priam, and do not be afraid.

I have not come here foreseeing evil for you,

but with good intent. I am a messenger from Zeus,

who, though far away, greatly cares for you and pities you.

175The Olympian commands you to ransom noble Hector,

bringing Achilles gifts that may warm his heart.

You are to go alone; no other Trojan man is to go with you.

Only an older herald should attend you, one who can guide

the mules and well-wheeled wagon, and then again

180carry back to the city the corpse of the man godlike Achilles killed.

Let neither death weigh on your mind nor any fear,

for such a guide will attend you—the Slayer of Argus—

who will lead you until he has brought you near Achilles.

And once he has brought you inside Achilles' hut,

185Achilles will not kill you and will hold back all the others.

For he is neither senseless, heedless, nor wicked,

but he will carefully spare the man who comes as suppliant.”

With that, swift-footed Iris departed.

189αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ υἷας ἄμαξαν ἐΰτροχον ἡμιονείην

190ὁπλίσαι ἠνώγει, πείρινθα δὲ δῆσαι ἐπʼ αὐτῆς.

αὐτὸς δʼ ἐς θάλαμον κατεβήσετο κηώεντα

κέδρινον ὑψόροφον, ὃς γλήνεα πολλὰ κεχάνδει·

ἐς δʼ ἄλοχον Ἑκάβην ἐκαλέσσατο φώνησέν τε·

δαιμονίη Διόθεν μοι Ὀλύμπιος ἄγγελος ἦλθε

195λύσασθαι φίλον υἱὸν ἰόντʼ ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν,

δῶρα δʼ Ἀχιλλῆϊ φερέμεν τά κε θυμὸν ἰήνῃ.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ τί τοι φρεσὶν εἴδεται εἶναι;

αἰνῶς γάρ μʼ αὐτόν γε μένος καὶ θυμὸς ἄνωγε

κεῖσʼ ἰέναι ἐπὶ νῆας ἔσω στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν.

200ὣς φάτο, κώκυσεν δὲ γυνὴ καὶ ἀμείβετο μύθῳ·

ὤ μοι πῇ δή τοι φρένες οἴχονθʼ, ᾗς τὸ πάρος περ

ἔκλεʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπους ξείνους ἠδʼ οἷσιν ἀνάσσεις;

πῶς ἐθέλεις ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν ἐλθέμεν οἶος

ἀνδρὸς ἐς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὅς τοι πολέας τε καὶ ἐσθλοὺς

205υἱέας ἐξενάριξε· σιδήρειόν νύ τοι ἦτορ.

εἰ γάρ σʼ αἱρήσει καὶ ἐσόψεται ὀφθαλμοῖσιν

ὠμηστὴς καὶ ἄπιστος ἀνὴρ ὅ γε οὔ σʼ ἐλεήσει,

οὐδέ τί σʼ αἰδέσεται. νῦν δὲ κλαίωμεν ἄνευθεν

ἥμενοι ἐν μεγάρῳ· τῷ δʼ ὥς ποθι Μοῖρα κραταιὴ

210γιγνομένῳ ἐπένησε λίνῳ, ὅτε μιν τέκον αὐτή,

ἀργίποδας κύνας ἆσαι ἑῶν ἀπάνευθε τοκήων

ἀνδρὶ πάρα κρατερῷ, τοῦ ἐγὼ μέσον ἧπαρ ἔχοιμι

ἐσθέμεναι προσφῦσα· τότʼ ἄντιτα ἔργα γένοιτο

παιδὸς ἐμοῦ, ἐπεὶ οὔ ἑ κακιζόμενόν γε κατέκτα,

215ἀλλὰ πρὸ Τρώων καὶ Τρωϊάδων βαθυκόλπων

ἑσταότʼ οὔτε φόβου μεμνημένον οὔτʼ ἀλεωρῆς.

τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

μή μʼ ἐθέλοντʼ ἰέναι κατερύκανε, μὴ δέ μοι αὐτὴ

ὄρνις ἐνὶ μεγάροισι κακὸς πέλευ· οὐδέ με πείσεις.

220εἰ μὲν γάρ τίς μʼ ἄλλος ἐπιχθονίων ἐκέλευεν,

ἢ οἳ μάντιές εἰσι θυοσκόοι ἢ ἱερῆες,

ψεῦδός κεν φαῖμεν καὶ νοσφιζοίμεθα μᾶλλον·

νῦν δʼ, αὐτὸς γὰρ ἄκουσα θεοῦ καὶ ἐσέδρακον ἄντην,

εἶμι καὶ οὐχ ἅλιον ἔπος ἔσσεται. εἰ δέ μοι αἶσα

225τεθνάμεναι παρὰ νηυσὶν Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων

βούλομαι· αὐτίκα γάρ με κατακτείνειεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἀγκὰς ἑλόντʼ ἐμὸν υἱόν, ἐπὴν γόου ἐξ ἔρον εἵην.

189Then he ordered his sons to ready the well-wheeled mule wagon

190and fasten its wicker body upon it.

He himself went down into the fragrant chamber,

high-roofed and cedar-built, which held many treasures.

He called his wife Hecuba inside and said:

“My lady, an Olympian messenger came to me from Zeus,

195bidding me go to the Achaeans' ships to ransom our dear son

and bring Achilles gifts that may warm his heart.

Come, tell me this: how does it seem to you?

For my own strength and spirit urge me fiercely

to go there, inside the Achaeans' broad encampment by their ships.”

200So he spoke. His wife wailed and answered him:

“Ah me! Where now is the judgment for which before

you were renowned among strangers and those you rule?

How can you wish to go alone to the Achaeans' ships,

before the eyes of the man who slaughtered so many

205of your brave sons? Your heart must be iron.

For if he seizes you and looks upon you,

that savage and faithless man will not pity you

or respect you at all. Let us sit far away

inside the hall and weep. For him mighty Fate

210spun this thread at his birth, when I myself bore him:

to glut swift-footed dogs far from his parents,

beside that powerful man. If only I could seize the middle of his liver

and eat it, clinging to him! Then his deeds against my son

would be repaid. He did not kill him playing the coward,

215but as he stood before the Trojans and deep-bosomed Trojan women,

with no thought of flight or shelter.”

Godlike old Priam answered her again:

“Do not hold me back when I am resolved to go,

and do not yourself become an ill-omened bird in my halls. You will not persuade me.

220If some other earthborn man had ordered me,

one of the seers, interpreters of sacrifice, or priests,

we would call it a lie and reject it all the more.

But now, since I myself heard the goddess and saw her face to face,

I will go, and her word will not prove empty. If it is my fate

225to die beside the ships of the bronze-clad Achaeans,

so I choose. Let Achilles kill me at once,

once I have taken my son in my arms and satisfied my desire for mourning.”

228ἦ καὶ φωριαμῶν ἐπιθήματα κάλʼ ἀνέῳγεν·

ἔνθεν δώδεκα μὲν περικαλλέας ἔξελε πέπλους,

230δώδεκα δʼ ἁπλοΐδας χλαίνας, τόσσους δὲ τάπητας,

τόσσα δὲ φάρεα λευκά, τόσους δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖσι χιτῶνας.

χρυσοῦ δὲ στήσας ἔφερεν δέκα πάντα τάλαντα,

ἐκ δὲ δύʼ αἴθωνας τρίποδας, πίσυρας δὲ λέβητας,

ἐκ δὲ δέπας περικαλλές, ὅ οἱ Θρῇκες πόρον ἄνδρες

235ἐξεσίην ἐλθόντι μέγα κτέρας· οὐδέ νυ τοῦ περ

φείσατʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροις ὃ γέρων, περὶ δʼ ἤθελε θυμῷ

λύσασθαι φίλον υἱόν. ὃ δὲ Τρῶας μὲν ἅπαντας

αἰθούσης ἀπέεργεν ἔπεσσʼ αἰσχροῖσιν ἐνίσσων·

ἔρρετε λωβητῆρες ἐλεγχέες· οὔ νυ καὶ ὑμῖν

240οἴκοι ἔνεστι γόος, ὅτι μʼ ἤλθετε κηδήσοντες;

ἦ ὀνόσασθʼ ὅτι μοι Κρονίδης Ζεὺς ἄλγεʼ ἔδωκε

παῖδʼ ὀλέσαι τὸν ἄριστον; ἀτὰρ γνώσεσθε καὶ ὔμμες·

ῥηΐτεροι γὰρ μᾶλλον Ἀχαιοῖσιν δὴ ἔσεσθε

κείνου τεθνηῶτος ἐναιρέμεν. αὐτὰρ ἔγωγε

245πρὶν ἀλαπαζομένην τε πόλιν κεραϊζομένην τε

ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδεῖν βαίην δόμον Ἄϊδος εἴσω.

ἦ καὶ σκηπανίῳ δίεπʼ ἀνέρας· οἳ δʼ ἴσαν ἔξω

228He spoke and opened the handsome lids of his chests.

From them he took twelve robes of surpassing beauty,

230twelve single-fold cloaks, and as many rugs,

as many white mantles, and as many tunics besides.

He weighed out and carried ten full talents of gold,

then two gleaming tripods and four cauldrons,

and a splendid cup the Thracians had given him,

235a great treasure, when he went among them on an embassy. Not even this

did the old man spare within his halls, so deeply did his heart desire

to ransom his dear son. Then he drove all the Trojans

from the portico, rebuking them with words of abuse:

“Away, you disgraces, you men of shame! Have you no mourning

240at home, that you come here to trouble me?

Or do you count it nothing that Zeus, Cronus' son, gave me grief

by destroying my best son? You too will learn it:

now that he is dead, you will be far easier

for the Achaeans to kill. But as for me,

245before I see the city sacked and plundered

with my own eyes, may I go down into the house of Hades.”

He spoke and scattered the men with his staff; they went out

248σπερχομένοιο γέροντος· ὃ δʼ υἱάσιν οἷσιν ὁμόκλα

νεικείων Ἕλενόν τε Πάριν τʼ Ἀγάθωνά τε δῖον

250Πάμμονά τʼ Ἀντίφονόν τε βοὴν ἀγαθόν τε Πολίτην

Δηΐφοβόν τε καὶ Ἱππόθοον καὶ δῖον Ἀγαυόν·

ἐννέα τοῖς ὃ γεραιὸς ὁμοκλήσας ἐκέλευε·

σπεύσατέ μοι κακὰ τέκνα κατηφόνες· αἴθʼ ἅμα πάντες

Ἕκτορος ὠφέλετʼ ἀντὶ θοῇς ἐπὶ νηυσὶ πεφάσθαι.

255ὤ μοι ἐγὼ πανάποτμος, ἐπεὶ τέκον υἷας ἀρίστους

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ, τῶν δʼ οὔ τινά φημι λελεῖφθαι,

Μήστορά τʼ ἀντίθεον καὶ Τρωΐλον ἱππιοχάρμην

Ἕκτορά θʼ, ὃς θεὸς ἔσκε μετʼ ἀνδράσιν, οὐδὲ ἐῴκει

ἀνδρός γε θνητοῦ πάϊς ἔμμεναι ἀλλὰ θεοῖο.

260τοὺς μὲν ἀπώλεσʼ Ἄρης, τὰ δʼ ἐλέγχεα πάντα λέλειπται

ψεῦσταί τʼ ὀρχησταί τε χοροιτυπίῃσιν ἄριστοι

ἀρνῶν ἠδʼ ἐρίφων ἐπιδήμιοι ἁρπακτῆρες.

οὐκ ἂν δή μοι ἄμαξαν ἐφοπλίσσαιτε τάχιστα,

ταῦτά τε πάντʼ ἐπιθεῖτε, ἵνα πρήσσωμεν ὁδοῖο;

265ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ἄρα πατρὸς ὑποδείσαντες ὁμοκλὴν

248before the old man's anger. Then he shouted at his own sons,

rebuking Helenus, Paris, godlike Agathon,

250Pammon, Antiphonus, Polites good at the war cry,

Deiphobus, Hippothous, and godlike Agavus.

These nine the old man summoned and commanded:

“Hurry, shameful worthless sons! If only all of you

had been killed beside the swift ships in Hector's place!

255Ah me, utterly accursed! I fathered the finest sons

in broad Troy, yet I say not one of them is left:

Mestor the godlike, Troilus the chariot-fighter,

and Hector, who was a god among men and seemed

no mortal man's child, but a god's.

260Ares destroyed those, while all these disgraces remain:

liars and dancers, champions only at beating the floor,

public thieves of their own people's lambs and kids.

Will you not quickly ready the wagon for me

and load all these things, so that we may be on our way?”

265So he spoke. They shrank from their father's shout

266ἐκ μὲν ἄμαξαν ἄειραν ἐΰτροχον ἡμιονείην

καλὴν πρωτοπαγέα, πείρινθα δὲ δῆσαν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς,

κὰδ δʼ ἀπὸ πασσαλόφι ζυγὸν ᾕρεον ἡμιόνειον

πύξινον ὀμφαλόεν εὖ οἰήκεσσιν ἀρηρός·

270ἐκ δʼ ἔφερον ζυγόδεσμον ἅμα ζυγῷ ἐννεάπηχυ.

καὶ τὸ μὲν εὖ κατέθηκαν ἐϋξέστῳ ἐπὶ ῥυμῷ

πέζῃ ἔπι πρώτῃ, ἐπὶ δὲ κρίκον ἕστορι βάλλον,

τρὶς δʼ ἑκάτερθεν ἔδησαν ἐπʼ ὀμφαλόν, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

ἑξείης κατέδησαν, ὑπὸ γλωχῖνα δʼ ἔκαμψαν.

275ἐκ θαλάμου δὲ φέροντες ἐϋξέστης ἐπʼ ἀπήνης

νήεον Ἑκτορέης κεφαλῆς ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα,

ζεῦξαν δʼ ἡμιόνους κρατερώνυχας ἐντεσιεργούς,

τούς ῥά ποτε Πριάμῳ Μυσοὶ δόσαν ἀγλαὰ δῶρα.

ἵππους δὲ Πριάμῳ ὕπαγον ζυγόν, οὓς ὃ γεραιὸς

280αὐτὸς ἔχων ἀτίταλλεν ἐϋξέστῃ ἐπὶ φάτνῃ.

τὼ μὲν ζευγνύσθην ἐν δώμασιν ὑψηλοῖσι

κῆρυξ καὶ Πρίαμος πυκινὰ φρεσὶ μήδεʼ ἔχοντες·

266and brought out the well-wheeled mule wagon,

handsome and newly built, and fastened its wicker body upon it.

They took the mule yoke down from its peg,

boxwood, fitted with a boss, and well joined with guiding rings;

270with the yoke they brought out the nine-cubit yoke strap.

They set the yoke carefully on the polished pole,

at its foremost pin, then slipped the ring over the peg.

Three times on either side they bound it around the boss;

then they tied it down in sequence and bent the projecting end underneath.

275Bringing the immeasurable ransom for Hector's head from the chamber,

they heaped it upon the well-polished wagon.

They yoked the strong-hoofed mules, trained to work in harness,

splendid gifts the Mysians once gave Priam.

For Priam they led under the yoke the horses the old man

280kept and tended himself at their polished manger.

The two men yoked their teams in the high-roofed palace,

Priam and the herald, both with prudent thoughts in mind.

283ἀγχίμολον δέ σφʼ ἦλθʼ Ἑκάβη τετιηότι θυμῷ

οἶνον ἔχουσʼ ἐν χειρὶ μελίφρονα δεξιτερῆφι

285χρυσέῳ ἐν δέπαϊ, ὄφρα λείψαντε κιοίτην·

στῆ δʼ ἵππων προπάροιθεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·

τῆ σπεῖσον Διὶ πατρί, καὶ εὔχεο οἴκαδʼ ἱκέσθαι

ἂψ ἐκ δυσμενέων ἀνδρῶν, ἐπεὶ ἂρ σέ γε θυμὸς

ὀτρύνει ἐπὶ νῆας ἐμεῖο μὲν οὐκ ἐθελούσης.

290ἀλλʼ εὔχεο σύ γʼ ἔπειτα κελαινεφέϊ Κρονίωνι

Ἰδαίῳ, ὅς τε Τροίην κατὰ πᾶσαν ὁρᾶται,

αἴτει δʼ οἰωνὸν ταχὺν ἄγγελον, ὅς τέ οἱ αὐτῷ

φίλτατος οἰωνῶν, καί εὑ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον,

δεξιόν, ὄφρά μιν αὐτὸς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσι νοήσας

295τῷ πίσυνος ἐπὶ νῆας ἴῃς Δαναῶν ταχυπώλων.

εἰ δέ τοι οὐ δώσει ἑὸν ἄγγελον εὐρύοπα Ζεύς,

οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγέ σʼ ἔπειτα ἐποτρύνουσα κελοίμην

νῆας ἐπʼ Ἀργείων ἰέναι μάλα περ μεμαῶτα.

τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

300ὦ γύναι οὐ μέν τοι τόδʼ ἐφιεμένῃ ἀπιθήσω.

ἐσθλὸν γὰρ Διὶ χεῖρας ἀνασχέμεν αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃ.

ἦ ῥα καὶ ἀμφίπολον ταμίην ὄτρυνʼ ὃ γεραιὸς

χερσὶν ὕδωρ ἐπιχεῦαι ἀκήρατον· ἣ δὲ παρέστη

χέρνιβον ἀμφίπολος πρόχοόν θʼ ἅμα χερσὶν ἔχουσα.

305νιψάμενος δὲ κύπελλον ἐδέξατο ἧς ἀλόχοιο·

εὔχετʼ ἔπειτα στὰς μέσῳ ἕρκεϊ, λεῖβε δὲ οἶνον

οὐρανὸν εἰσανιδών, καὶ φωνήσας ἔπος ηὔδα·

Ζεῦ πάτερ Ἴδηθεν μεδέων κύδιστε μέγιστε

δός μʼ ἐς Ἀχιλλῆος φίλον ἐλθεῖν ἠδʼ ἐλεεινόν,

310πέμψον δʼ οἰωνὸν ταχὺν ἄγγελον, ὅς τε σοὶ αὐτῷ

φίλτατος οἰωνῶν, καί εὑ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον,

δεξιόν, ὄφρά μιν αὐτὸς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσι νοήσας

τῷ πίσυνος ἐπὶ νῆας ἴω Δαναῶν ταχυπώλων.

ὣς ἔφατʼ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δʼ ἔκλυε μητίετα Ζεὺς

315αὐτίκα δʼ αἰετὸν ἧκε τελειότατον πετεηνῶν

μόρφνον θηρητῆρʼ ὃν καὶ περκνὸν καλέουσιν.

ὅσση δʼ ὑψορόφοιο θύρη θαλάμοιο τέτυκται

ἀνέρος ἀφνειοῖο ἐῢ κληῗσʼ ἀραρυῖα,

τόσσʼ ἄρα τοῦ ἑκάτερθεν ἔσαν πτερά· εἴσατο δέ σφι

320δεξιὸς ἀΐξας διὰ ἄστεος· οἳ δὲ ἰδόντες

γήθησαν, καὶ πᾶσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θυμὸς ἰάνθη.

283Hecuba came near them, sorrowful at heart,

holding in her right hand honey-hearted wine

285in a golden cup, so they might pour libation before setting out.

She stood before the horses, spoke, and called him by name:

“Here, pour to Father Zeus and pray to return home

from the enemy, since your heart drives you

to the ships against my will.

290Then pray to Cronus' son of the dark clouds,

the god of Ida who looks down over all Troy.

Ask for his swift messenger among birds, the one

dearest to him and greatest in strength,

on your right, so that seeing it with your own eyes

295and trusting it, you may go to the ships of the horse-proud Danaans.

But if far-seeing Zeus will not grant you his messenger,

then I would never urge or command you

to go to the Argives' ships, however eager you are.”

Godlike Priam answered her:

300“Wife, I will not disobey you in what you desire.

It is good to raise my hands to Zeus, in case he pities me.”

So the old man spoke and ordered a stewardess

to pour pure water over his hands. The attendant came near,

holding a basin and pitcher in her hands.

305When he had washed, he took the cup from his wife.

Then he stood in the middle of the courtyard and prayed, pouring wine,

looking up to heaven, and spoke aloud:

“Father Zeus, ruling from Ida, most glorious and greatest,

grant that I come before Achilles as one he will welcome and pity.

310Send your swift messenger among birds, the one

dearest to you and greatest in strength,

on my right, so that seeing it with my own eyes

and trusting it, I may go to the ships of the horse-proud Danaans.”

So he prayed, and Zeus the counselor heard him.

315At once he sent an eagle, surest in fulfillment among winged creatures,

the dark hunter they also call the dusky eagle.

As broad as the door of a high-roofed chamber

in a rich man's house, fitted firmly with bolts,

so broad were its wings on either side. It appeared to them,

320darting on the right across the city. When they saw it,

they rejoiced, and the heart in every breast grew warm.

322σπερχόμενος δʼ ὃ γεραιὸς ἑοῦ ἐπεβήσετο δίφρου,

ἐκ δʼ ἔλασε προθύροιο καὶ αἰθούσης ἐριδούπου.

πρόσθε μὲν ἡμίονοι ἕλκον τετράκυκλον ἀπήνην,

325τὰς Ἰδαῖος ἔλαυνε δαΐφρων· αὐτὰρ ὄπισθεν

ἵπποι, τοὺς ὃ γέρων ἐφέπων μάστιγι κέλευε

καρπαλίμως κατὰ ἄστυ· φίλοι δʼ ἅμα πάντες ἕποντο

πόλλʼ ὀλοφυρόμενοι ὡς εἰ θάνατον δὲ κιόντα.

οἳ δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν πόλιος κατέβαν, πεδίον δʼ ἀφίκοντο,

330οἳ μὲν ἄρʼ ἄψορροι προτὶ Ἴλιον ἀπονέοντο

παῖδες καὶ γαμβροί, τὼ δʼ οὐ λάθον εὐρύοπα Ζῆν

ἐς πεδίον προφανέντε· ἰδὼν δʼ ἐλέησε γέροντα,

αἶψα δʼ ἄρʼ Ἑρμείαν υἱὸν φίλον ἀντίον ηὔδα·

Ἑρμεία, σοὶ γάρ τε μάλιστά γε φίλτατόν ἐστιν

335ἀνδρὶ ἑταιρίσσαι, καί τʼ ἔκλυες ᾧ κʼ ἐθέλῃσθα,

βάσκʼ ἴθι καὶ Πρίαμον κοίλας ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν

ὣς ἄγαγʼ, ὡς μήτʼ ἄρ τις ἴδῃ μήτʼ ἄρ τε νοήσῃ

τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν, πρὶν Πηλεΐωνα δʼ ἱκέσθαι.

ὣς ἔφατʼ, οὐδʼ ἀπίθησε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης.

322The old man hurried and mounted his chariot,

then drove out through the echoing gateway and portico.

In front, the mules drew the four-wheeled wagon,

325driven by wise Idaeus; behind came

the horses, which the old man followed and urged with the whip

swiftly through the city. All his loved ones went with him,

lamenting loudly as though he were going to his death.

When they had gone down from the city and reached the plain,

330his sons and sons-in-law turned back

toward Ilium. But the pair, emerging on the plain,

did not escape far-seeing Zeus. He saw the old man and pitied him,

and at once addressed his dear son Hermes:

“Hermes, since it is your dearest practice

335to accompany a man, and you listen to whomever you please,

go now and guide Priam to the hollow ships of the Achaeans

so that none of the other Danaans sees or notices him

before he reaches Peleus' son.”

So he spoke, and the guide, the Slayer of Argus, did not disobey.

340αὐτίκʼ ἔπειθʼ ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα

ἀμβρόσια χρύσεια, τά μιν φέρον ἠμὲν ἐφʼ ὑγρὴν

ἠδʼ ἐπʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν ἅμα πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο·

εἵλετο δὲ ῥάβδον, τῇ τʼ ἀνδρῶν ὄμματα θέλγει

ὧν ἐθέλει, τοὺς δʼ αὖτε καὶ ὑπνώοντας ἐγείρει·

345τὴν μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχων πέτετο κρατὺς ἀργεϊφόντης.

αἶψα δʼ ἄρα Τροίην τε καὶ Ἑλλήσποντον ἵκανε,

βῆ δʼ ἰέναι κούρῳ αἰσυμνητῆρι ἐοικὼς

πρῶτον ὑπηνήτῃ, τοῦ περ χαριεστάτη ἥβη.

οἳ δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν μέγα σῆμα παρὲξ Ἴλοιο ἔλασσαν,

350στῆσαν ἄρʼ ἡμιόνους τε καὶ ἵππους ὄφρα πίοιεν

ἐν ποταμῷ· δὴ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἤλυθε γαῖαν.

τὸν δʼ ἐξ ἀγχιμόλοιο ἰδὼν ἐφράσσατο κῆρυξ

Ἑρμείαν, ποτὶ δὲ Πρίαμον φάτο φώνησέν τε·

φράζεο Δαρδανίδη· φραδέος νόου ἔργα τέτυκται.

355ἄνδρʼ ὁρόω, τάχα δʼ ἄμμε διαρραίσεσθαι ὀΐω.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ φεύγωμεν ἐφʼ ἵππων, ἤ μιν ἔπειτα

γούνων ἁψάμενοι λιτανεύσομεν αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃ.

ὣς φάτο, σὺν δὲ γέροντι νόος χύτο, δείδιε δʼ αἰνῶς,

ὀρθαὶ δὲ τρίχες ἔσταν ἐνὶ γναμπτοῖσι μέλεσσι,

360στῆ δὲ ταφών· αὐτὸς δʼ ἐριούνιος ἐγγύθεν ἐλθὼν

χεῖρα γέροντος ἑλὼν ἐξείρετο καὶ προσέειπε·

πῇ πάτερ ὧδʼ ἵππους τε καὶ ἡμιόνους ἰθύνεις

νύκτα διʼ ἀμβροσίην, ὅτε θʼ εὕδουσι βροτοὶ ἄλλοι;

οὐδὲ σύ γʼ ἔδεισας μένεα πνείοντας Ἀχαιούς,

365οἵ τοι δυσμενέες καὶ ἀνάρσιοι ἐγγὺς ἔασι;

τῶν εἴ τίς σε ἴδοιτο θοὴν διὰ νύκτα μέλαιναν

τοσσάδʼ ὀνείατʼ ἄγοντα, τίς ἂν δή τοι νόος εἴη;

οὔτʼ αὐτὸς νέος ἐσσί, γέρων δέ τοι οὗτος ὀπηδεῖ,

ἄνδρʼ ἀπαμύνασθαι, ὅτε τις πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ.

370ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οὐδέν σε ῥέξω κακά, καὶ δέ κεν ἄλλον

σεῦ ἀπαλεξήσαιμι· φίλῳ δέ σε πατρὶ ἐΐσκω.

340At once he bound beneath his feet the lovely sandals,

immortal and golden, which carried him over the sea

and over the boundless land with the blasts of the wind.

He took the wand with which he charms the eyes

of those he wishes and wakes others from sleep.

345Holding it in his hands, the mighty Slayer of Argus flew.

Swiftly he reached Troy and the Hellespont,

then went on in the likeness of a young prince,

whose beard was first coming in, the most graceful time of youth.

When they had driven past the great tomb of Ilus,

350they halted the mules and horses so they might drink

in the river, for dusk had already come over the earth.

The herald, seeing Hermes close beside them, took notice;

he turned to Priam and said:

“Take thought, Dardanid; this calls for a wary mind.

355I see a man, and I think he will soon cut us down.

Come, let us flee on the horses, or else

clasp his knees and beg him to show us mercy.”

So he spoke. The old man's mind reeled; he was terribly afraid.

The hair stood upright on his bent limbs,

360and he stood in a daze. But the Helper came close,

took the old man's hand, questioned him, and said:

“Where, father, are you guiding these horses and mules

through immortal night, when other mortals sleep?

Have you no fear of the Achaeans, breathing fury,

365your hostile and merciless enemies who are near?

If one of them should see you through the swift black night,

driving so much treasure, what plan would you have?

You are not young yourself, and this old man attends you;

you could not beat off a man who first attacked you.

370But I will do you no harm, and I would even defend you

from another, for you remind me of my dear father.”

372τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

οὕτω πῃ τάδε γʼ ἐστὶ φίλον τέκος ὡς ἀγορεύεις.

ἀλλʼ ἔτι τις καὶ ἐμεῖο θεῶν ὑπερέσχεθε χεῖρα,

375ὅς μοι τοιόνδʼ ἧκεν ὁδοιπόρον ἀντιβολῆσαι

αἴσιον, οἷος δὴ σὺ δέμας καὶ εἶδος ἀγητός,

πέπνυσαί τε νόῳ, μακάρων δʼ ἔξεσσι τοκήων.

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης·

ναὶ δὴ ταῦτά γε πάντα γέρον κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπες.

380ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον,

ἠέ πῃ ἐκπέμπεις κειμήλια πολλὰ καὶ ἐσθλὰ

ἄνδρας ἐς ἀλλοδαποὺς ἵνα περ τάδε τοι σόα μίμνῃ,

ἦ ἤδη πάντες καταλείπετε Ἴλιον ἱρὴν

δειδιότες· τοῖος γὰρ ἀνὴρ ὤριστος ὄλωλε

385σὸς πάϊς· οὐ μὲν γάρ τι μάχης ἐπιδεύετʼ Ἀχαιῶν.

τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

τίς δὲ σύ ἐσσι φέριστε τέων δʼ ἔξεσσι τοκήων;

ὥς μοι καλὰ τὸν οἶτον ἀπότμου παιδὸς ἔνισπες.

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης·

390πειρᾷ ἐμεῖο γεραιὲ καὶ εἴρεαι Ἕκτορα δῖον.

τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ μάλα πολλὰ μάχῃ ἔνι κυδιανείρῃ

ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ὄπωπα, καὶ εὖτʼ ἐπὶ νηυσὶν ἐλάσσας

Ἀργείους κτείνεσκε δαΐζων ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ·

ἡμεῖς δʼ ἑσταότες θαυμάζομεν· οὐ γὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

395εἴα μάρνασθαι κεχολωμένος Ἀτρεΐωνι.

τοῦ γὰρ ἐγὼ θεράπων, μία δʼ ἤγαγε νηῦς εὐεργής·

Μυρμιδόνων δʼ ἔξειμι, πατὴρ δέ μοί ἐστι Πολύκτωρ.

ἀφνειὸς μὲν ὅ γʼ ἐστί, γέρων δὲ δὴ ὡς σύ περ ὧδε,

ἓξ δέ οἱ υἷες ἔασιν, ἐγὼ δέ οἱ ἕβδομός εἰμι·

400τῶν μέτα παλλόμενος κλήρῳ λάχον ἐνθάδʼ ἕπεσθαι.

νῦν δʼ ἦλθον πεδίον δʼ ἀπὸ νηῶν· ἠῶθεν γὰρ

θήσονται περὶ ἄστυ μάχην ἑλίκωπες Ἀχαιοί.

ἀσχαλόωσι γὰρ οἵδε καθήμενοι, οὐδὲ δύνανται

ἴσχειν ἐσσυμένους πολέμου βασιλῆες Ἀχαιῶν.

372Then godlike old Priam answered him:

“It is indeed somehow as you say, dear child.

Yet some god has still held a hand over me,

375who sent a traveler like you to meet me as a favorable sign,

wonderful as you are in stature and appearance,

wise in mind, and born of blessed parents.”

The guide, the Slayer of Argus, answered him again:

“Yes, old man, all that you have said is fitting.

380But come, tell me this and give me a truthful account:

are you sending many fine treasures away

to foreign men, so that they may remain safe for you,

or are you all already abandoning sacred Ilium

in fear? So great and noble a man has died,

385your son, who never fell short of the Achaeans in battle.”

Then godlike old Priam answered him:

“Who are you, excellent sir, and who are your parents,

that you have told me so well of my unhappy son's death?”

The guide, the Slayer of Argus, answered him again:

390“You test me, old man, by asking about godlike Hector.

I saw him many times with my own eyes

in battle where men win glory, and when he drove the Argives

against their ships, killing them with the sharp bronze.

We stood and marveled, for Achilles would not

395let us fight, being angry with Atreus' son.

I am his attendant; one well-built ship brought me here.

I am one of the Myrmidons, and my father is Polyctor.

He is wealthy, and old now, just as you are,

and he has six sons; I am his seventh.

400I shook the lots among them and drew the lot to come here.

Now I have come from the ships toward the plain, for at dawn

the keen-eyed Achaeans will array for battle around the city.

They are restless sitting idle, and the Achaean kings

cannot hold back their eagerness for war.”

405τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

εἰ μὲν δὴ θεράπων Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

εἴς, ἄγε δή μοι πᾶσαν ἀληθείην κατάλεξον,

ἢ ἔτι πὰρ νήεσσιν ἐμὸς πάϊς, ἦέ μιν ἤδη

ᾗσι κυσὶν μελεϊστὶ ταμὼν προύθηκεν Ἀχιλλεύς.

410τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης·

ὦ γέρον οὔ πω τόν γε κύνες φάγον οὐδʼ οἰωνοί,

ἀλλʼ ἔτι κεῖνος κεῖται Ἀχιλλῆος παρὰ νηῒ

αὔτως ἐν κλισίῃσι· δυωδεκάτη δέ οἱ ἠὼς

κειμένῳ, οὐδέ τί οἱ χρὼς σήπεται, οὐδέ μιν εὐλαὶ

415ἔσθουσʼ, αἵ ῥά τε φῶτας ἀρηϊφάτους κατέδουσιν.

ἦ μέν μιν περὶ σῆμα ἑοῦ ἑτάροιο φίλοιο

ἕλκει ἀκηδέστως ἠὼς ὅτε δῖα φανήῃ,

οὐδέ μιν αἰσχύνει· θηοῖό κεν αὐτὸς ἐπελθὼν

οἷον ἐερσήεις κεῖται, περὶ δʼ αἷμα νένιπται,

420οὐδέ ποθι μιαρός· σὺν δʼ ἕλκεα πάντα μέμυκεν

ὅσσʼ ἐτύπη· πολέες γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ χαλκὸν ἔλασσαν.

ὥς τοι κήδονται μάκαρες θεοὶ υἷος ἑῆος

καὶ νέκυός περ ἐόντος, ἐπεί σφι φίλος περὶ κῆρι.

ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δʼ ὃ γέρων, καὶ ἀμείβετο μύθῳ·

425ὦ τέκος, ἦ ῥʼ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἐναίσιμα δῶρα διδοῦναι

ἀθανάτοις, ἐπεὶ οὔ ποτʼ ἐμὸς πάϊς, εἴ ποτʼ ἔην γε,

λήθετʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι θεῶν οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσι·

τώ οἱ ἀπεμνήσαντο καὶ ἐν θανάτοιό περ αἴσῃ.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ τόδε δέξαι ἐμεῦ πάρα καλὸν ἄλεισον,

430αὐτόν τε ῥῦσαι, πέμψον δέ με σύν γε θεοῖσιν,

ὄφρά κεν ἐς κλισίην Πηληϊάδεω ἀφίκωμαι.

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης·

πειρᾷ ἐμεῖο γεραιὲ νεωτέρου, οὐδέ με πείσεις,

ὅς με κέλῃ σέο δῶρα παρὲξ Ἀχιλῆα δέχεσθαι.

435τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ δείδοικα καὶ αἰδέομαι περὶ κῆρι

συλεύειν, μή μοί τι κακὸν μετόπισθε γένηται.

σοὶ δʼ ἂν ἐγὼ πομπὸς καί κε κλυτὸν Ἄργος ἱκοίμην,

ἐνδυκέως ἐν νηῒ θοῇ ἢ πεζὸς ὁμαρτέων·

οὐκ ἄν τίς τοι πομπὸν ὀνοσσάμενος μαχέσαιτο.

405Then godlike old Priam answered him:

“If you truly are an attendant of Achilles, Peleus' son,

come, tell me the whole truth:

is my son still beside the ships, or has Achilles already

cut him limb from limb and thrown him to his dogs?”

410The guide, the Slayer of Argus, answered him again:

“Old man, neither dogs nor birds have eaten him yet.

He still lies there beside Achilles' ship,

just as he was in the huts. This is the twelfth dawn

he has lain there, yet his flesh does not decay, nor do worms

415devour him, those that consume men slain in war.

To be sure, each time bright dawn appears Achilles

drags him ruthlessly around the tomb of his dear companion,

yet he does not disfigure him. You would marvel if you came near

at how fresh with dew he lies; all the blood is washed away,

420and nowhere is he defiled. All the wounds have closed,

every one he received, though many drove bronze into his body.

So the blessed gods care for your son,

even though he is dead, because he was dear to their hearts.”

So he spoke. The old man rejoiced and answered him:

425“My child, it is truly good to give the immortals

their due gifts, since my son, if ever such a son lived,

never forgot in his halls the gods who hold Olympus.

Therefore they remembered him even in the doom of death.

Come now, accept this handsome cup from me,

430protect me yourself, and escort me with the gods' favor

until I reach the hut of Peleus' son.”

The guide, the Slayer of Argus, answered him again:

“You test me, old man, though I am younger, and you will not persuade me

when you urge me to accept gifts from you behind Achilles' back.

435I fear and deeply respect him;

I will not rob him, lest evil come upon me afterward.

But I would be your escort even as far as glorious Argos,

attending you carefully in a swift ship or on foot.

No one would fight you out of scorn for such a guide.”

440ἦ καὶ ἀναΐξας ἐριούνιος ἅρμα καὶ ἵππους

καρπαλίμως μάστιγα καὶ ἡνία λάζετο χερσίν,

ἐν δʼ ἔπνευσʼ ἵπποισι καὶ ἡμιόνοις μένος ἠΰ.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ πύργους τε νεῶν καὶ τάφρον ἵκοντο,

οἳ δὲ νέον περὶ δόρπα φυλακτῆρες πονέοντο,

445τοῖσι δʼ ἐφʼ ὕπνον ἔχευε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης

πᾶσιν, ἄφαρ δʼ ὤϊξε πύλας καὶ ἀπῶσεν ὀχῆας,

ἐς δʼ ἄγαγε Πρίαμόν τε καὶ ἀγλαὰ δῶρʼ ἐπʼ ἀπήνης.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ κλισίην Πηληϊάδεω ἀφίκοντο

ὑψηλήν, τὴν Μυρμιδόνες ποίησαν ἄνακτι

450δοῦρʼ ἐλάτης κέρσαντες· ἀτὰρ καθύπερθεν ἔρεψαν

λαχνήεντʼ ὄροφον λειμωνόθεν ἀμήσαντες·

ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ μεγάλην αὐλὴν ποίησαν ἄνακτι

σταυροῖσιν πυκινοῖσι· θύρην δʼ ἔχε μοῦνος ἐπιβλὴς

εἰλάτινος, τὸν τρεῖς μὲν ἐπιρρήσσεσκον Ἀχαιοί,

455τρεῖς δʼ ἀναοίγεσκον μεγάλην κληῗδα θυράων

τῶν ἄλλων· Ἀχιλεὺς δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπιρρήσσεσκε καὶ οἶος·

δή ῥα τόθʼ Ἑρμείας ἐριούνιος ᾦξε γέροντι,

ἐς δʼ ἄγαγε κλυτὰ δῶρα ποδώκεϊ Πηλεΐωνι,

ἐξ ἵππων δʼ ἀπέβαινεν ἐπὶ χθόνα φώνησέν τε·

460ὦ γέρον ἤτοι ἐγὼ θεὸς ἄμβροτος εἰλήλουθα

Ἑρμείας· σοὶ γάρ με πατὴρ ἅμα πομπὸν ὄπασσεν.

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι μὲν ἐγὼ πάλιν εἴσομαι, οὐδʼ Ἀχιλῆος

ὀφθαλμοὺς εἴσειμι· νεμεσσητὸν δέ κεν εἴη

ἀθάνατον θεὸν ὧδε βροτοὺς ἀγαπαζέμεν ἄντην·

465τύνη δʼ εἰσελθὼν λαβὲ γούνατα Πηλεΐωνος,

καί μιν ὑπὲρ πατρὸς καὶ μητέρος ἠϋκόμοιο

λίσσεο καὶ τέκεος, ἵνα οἱ σὺν θυμὸν ὀρίνῃς.

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπέβη πρὸς μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον

440He spoke, and the Helper sprang up onto the chariot.

Swiftly he took whip and reins in his hands

and breathed brave strength into the horses and mules.

But when they reached the fortifications and trench of the ships,

the guards were just busy with their supper.

445The guide, the Slayer of Argus, poured sleep over them all;

at once he opened the gates and pushed back the bars,

then brought in Priam and the splendid gifts upon the wagon.

But when they reached the high hut of Peleus' son,

which the Myrmidons had built for their lord,

450cutting fir logs, then roofed it over

with a shaggy thatch they had mown from the meadow,

and around it made a great courtyard for their lord

with close-set stakes: a single fir bar held the gate,

which three Achaeans used to drive home

455and three to draw back, the huge bolt of the doors,

among the rest; but Achilles could drive it home alone.

Then the Helper Hermes opened it for the old man

and brought the glorious gifts inside for swift-footed Peleus' son.

He climbed down from the horses to the ground and said:

460“Old man, I am an immortal god who has come to you—

Hermes; my father sent me to accompany you.

But now I will go back and will not enter

Achilles' sight, for it would draw divine resentment

if an immortal god openly cherished mortals in this way.

465Go in yourself, clasp the knees of Peleus' son,

and entreat him by his father, his lovely-haired mother,

and his child, so that you may stir his heart.”

So Hermes spoke and departed for high Olympus.

469Ἑρμείας· Πρίαμος δʼ ἐξ ἵππων ἆλτο χαμᾶζε,

470Ἰδαῖον δὲ κατʼ αὖθι λίπεν· ὃ δὲ μίμνεν ἐρύκων

ἵππους ἡμιόνους τε· γέρων δʼ ἰθὺς κίεν οἴκου,

τῇ ῥʼ Ἀχιλεὺς ἵζεσκε Διῒ φίλος· ἐν δέ μιν αὐτὸν

εὗρʼ, ἕταροι δʼ ἀπάνευθε καθήατο· τὼ δὲ δύʼ οἴω

ἥρως Αὐτομέδων τε καὶ Ἄλκιμος ὄζος Ἄρηος

475ποίπνυον παρεόντε· νέον δʼ ἀπέληγεν ἐδωδῆς

ἔσθων καὶ πίνων· ἔτι καὶ παρέκειτο τράπεζα.

τοὺς δʼ ἔλαθʼ εἰσελθὼν Πρίαμος μέγας, ἄγχι δʼ ἄρα στὰς

χερσὶν Ἀχιλλῆος λάβε γούνατα καὶ κύσε χεῖρας

δεινὰς ἀνδροφόνους, αἵ οἱ πολέας κτάνον υἷας.

480ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἂν ἄνδρʼ ἄτη πυκινὴ λάβῃ, ὅς τʼ ἐνὶ πάτρῃ

φῶτα κατακτείνας ἄλλων ἐξίκετο δῆμον

ἀνδρὸς ἐς ἀφνειοῦ, θάμβος δʼ ἔχει εἰσορόωντας,

ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς θάμβησεν ἰδὼν Πρίαμον θεοειδέα·

θάμβησαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι, ἐς ἀλλήλους δὲ ἴδοντο.

469Then Priam sprang from the chariot to the ground

470and left Idaeus there; he stayed behind to hold

the horses and mules. The old man went straight toward the hut

where Achilles, dear to Zeus, used to sit. Inside he found

the man himself; his companions sat apart, and only two—

the hero Automedon and Alcimus, scion of Ares—

475were nearby, busy in attendance. Achilles had just ceased

from eating and drinking; the table still stood beside him.

Great Priam entered unseen by them, came close,

clasped Achilles' knees in his hands, and kissed those hands—

terrible, man-killing hands that had slain so many of his sons.

480As when a man is seized by blinding ruin after killing

a man in his own country, and reaches a foreign land,

the house of a wealthy man, and wonder grips all who see him—

so Achilles marveled when he saw godlike Priam.

The others marveled too and looked at one another.

485τὸν καὶ λισσόμενος Πρίαμος πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπε·

μνῆσαι πατρὸς σοῖο θεοῖς ἐπιείκελʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ,

τηλίκου ὥς περ ἐγών, ὀλοῷ ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ·

καὶ μέν που κεῖνον περιναιέται ἀμφὶς ἐόντες

τείρουσʼ, οὐδέ τίς ἐστιν ἀρὴν καὶ λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι.

490ἀλλʼ ἤτοι κεῖνός γε σέθεν ζώοντος ἀκούων

χαίρει τʼ ἐν θυμῷ, ἐπί τʼ ἔλπεται ἤματα πάντα

ὄψεσθαι φίλον υἱὸν ἀπὸ Τροίηθεν ἰόντα·

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ πανάποτμος, ἐπεὶ τέκον υἷας ἀρίστους

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ, τῶν δʼ οὔ τινά φημι λελεῖφθαι.

495πεντήκοντά μοι ἦσαν ὅτʼ ἤλυθον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν·

ἐννεακαίδεκα μέν μοι ἰῆς ἐκ νηδύος ἦσαν,

τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους μοι ἔτικτον ἐνὶ μεγάροισι γυναῖκες.

τῶν μὲν πολλῶν θοῦρος Ἄρης ὑπὸ γούνατʼ ἔλυσεν·

ὃς δέ μοι οἶος ἔην, εἴρυτο δὲ ἄστυ καὶ αὐτούς,

500τὸν σὺ πρῴην κτεῖνας ἀμυνόμενον περὶ πάτρης

Ἕκτορα· τοῦ νῦν εἵνεχʼ ἱκάνω νῆας Ἀχαιῶν

λυσόμενος παρὰ σεῖο, φέρω δʼ ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα.

ἀλλʼ αἰδεῖο θεοὺς Ἀχιλεῦ, αὐτόν τʼ ἐλέησον

μνησάμενος σοῦ πατρός· ἐγὼ δʼ ἐλεεινότερός περ,

505ἔτλην δʼ οἷʼ οὔ πώ τις ἐπιχθόνιος βροτὸς ἄλλος,

ἀνδρὸς παιδοφόνοιο ποτὶ στόμα χεῖρʼ ὀρέγεσθαι.

485Then Priam pleaded with him and spoke:

“Remember your own father, godlike Achilles,

as old as I am, on the ruinous threshold of age.

Perhaps the neighbors who surround him now

oppress him, with no one there to ward off ruin and destruction.

490But when he hears that you are alive,

his heart rejoices, and every day he hopes

to see his dear son return from Troy.

But my fate is utter misery. I fathered noble sons

in broad Troy, and I say that not one of them remains.

495I had fifty when the sons of the Achaeans came:

nineteen were born to me from a single womb,

and women in my halls bore me all the rest.

Furious Ares has loosed the knees of most of them.

The one I had left, who guarded the city and its people,

500you killed the other day as he defended his homeland—

Hector. For his sake I have now come to the Achaean ships

to release him from you, and I bring a boundless ransom.

Revere the gods, Achilles, and take pity on me,

remembering your father. Yet I deserve more pity:

505I have endured what no other mortal on earth has yet endured—

I raised to my lips the hand of the man who killed my son.”

507ὣς φάτο, τῷ δʼ ἄρα πατρὸς ὑφʼ ἵμερον ὦρσε γόοιο·

ἁψάμενος δʼ ἄρα χειρὸς ἀπώσατο ἦκα γέροντα.

τὼ δὲ μνησαμένω ὃ μὲν Ἕκτορος ἀνδροφόνοιο

510κλαῖʼ ἁδινὰ προπάροιθε ποδῶν Ἀχιλῆος ἐλυσθείς,

αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς κλαῖεν ἑὸν πατέρʼ, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὖτε

Πάτροκλον· τῶν δὲ στοναχὴ κατὰ δώματʼ ὀρώρει.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥα γόοιο τετάρπετο δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

καί οἱ ἀπὸ πραπίδων ἦλθʼ ἵμερος ἠδʼ ἀπὸ γυίων,

515αὐτίκʼ ἀπὸ θρόνου ὦρτο, γέροντα δὲ χειρὸς ἀνίστη

οἰκτίρων πολιόν τε κάρη πολιόν τε γένειον,

καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

507So he spoke, and stirred in Achilles a longing to mourn his father.

Taking the old man's hand, he gently pushed him away.

Both men remembered: Priam remembered man-killing Hector,

510and he wept intensely, huddled before Achilles' feet;

Achilles wept now for his father, and then again

for Patroclus. Their groaning rose throughout the hut.

When godlike Achilles had taken his fill of lamentation,

and the longing had passed from his breast and limbs,

515he rose at once from his chair and raised the old man by the hand,

pitying his gray head and gray beard,

and addressed him with winged words:

518ἆ δείλʼ, ἦ δὴ πολλὰ κάκʼ ἄνσχεο σὸν κατὰ θυμόν.

πῶς ἔτλης ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν ἐλθέμεν οἶος

520ἀνδρὸς ἐς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὅς τοι πολέας τε καὶ ἐσθλοὺς

υἱέας ἐξενάριξα; σιδήρειόν νύ τοι ἦτορ.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ κατʼ ἄρʼ ἕζευ ἐπὶ θρόνου, ἄλγεα δʼ ἔμπης

ἐν θυμῷ κατακεῖσθαι ἐάσομεν ἀχνύμενοί περ·

οὐ γάρ τις πρῆξις πέλεται κρυεροῖο γόοιο·

525ὡς γὰρ ἐπεκλώσαντο θεοὶ δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσι

ζώειν ἀχνυμένοις· αὐτοὶ δέ τʼ ἀκηδέες εἰσί.

δοιοὶ γάρ τε πίθοι κατακείαται ἐν Διὸς οὔδει

δώρων οἷα δίδωσι κακῶν, ἕτερος δὲ ἑάων·

ᾧ μέν κʼ ἀμμίξας δώῃ Ζεὺς τερπικέραυνος,

530ἄλλοτε μέν τε κακῷ ὅ γε κύρεται, ἄλλοτε δʼ ἐσθλῷ·

ᾧ δέ κε τῶν λυγρῶν δώῃ, λωβητὸν ἔθηκε,

καί ἑ κακὴ βούβρωστις ἐπὶ χθόνα δῖαν ἐλαύνει,

φοιτᾷ δʼ οὔτε θεοῖσι τετιμένος οὔτε βροτοῖσιν.

ὣς μὲν καὶ Πηλῆϊ θεοὶ δόσαν ἀγλαὰ δῶρα

535ἐκ γενετῆς· πάντας γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπους ἐκέκαστο

ὄλβῳ τε πλούτῳ τε, ἄνασσε δὲ Μυρμιδόνεσσι,

καί οἱ θνητῷ ἐόντι θεὰν ποίησαν ἄκοιτιν.

ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ καὶ τῷ θῆκε θεὸς κακόν, ὅττί οἱ οὔ τι

παίδων ἐν μεγάροισι γονὴ γένετο κρειόντων,

540ἀλλʼ ἕνα παῖδα τέκεν παναώριον· οὐδέ νυ τόν γε

γηράσκοντα κομίζω, ἐπεὶ μάλα τηλόθι πάτρης

ἧμαι ἐνὶ Τροίῃ, σέ τε κήδων ἠδὲ σὰ τέκνα.

καὶ σὲ γέρον τὸ πρὶν μὲν ἀκούομεν ὄλβιον εἶναι·

ὅσσον Λέσβος ἄνω Μάκαρος ἕδος ἐντὸς ἐέργει

545καὶ Φρυγίη καθύπερθε καὶ Ἑλλήσποντος ἀπείρων,

τῶν σε γέρον πλούτῳ τε καὶ υἱάσι φασὶ κεκάσθαι.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί τοι πῆμα τόδʼ ἤγαγον Οὐρανίωνες

αἰεί τοι περὶ ἄστυ μάχαι τʼ ἀνδροκτασίαι τε.

ἄνσχεο, μὴ δʼ ἀλίαστον ὀδύρεο σὸν κατὰ θυμόν·

550οὐ γάρ τι πρήξεις ἀκαχήμενος υἷος ἑῆος,

οὐδέ μιν ἀνστήσεις, πρὶν καὶ κακὸν ἄλλο πάθῃσθα.

518“Unhappy man, how many evils you have endured in your heart.

How did you dare come alone to the Achaean ships

520and face me—I who killed so many of your brave

sons? Your heart must be iron.

Come now, sit down upon this chair. Let our sorrows

lie quiet within our hearts, though we grieve.

There is no profit in chilling lamentation.

525The gods have spun this fate for wretched mortals:

to live in grief, while they themselves know no sorrow.

For two jars stand upon the floor of Zeus,

holding the gifts he gives: one of evils, one of blessings.

When Zeus who delights in thunder mixes them for a man,

530he meets with evil at one time, with good at another.

But when Zeus gives only from the jar of misery, he makes the man an object of scorn;

devouring hunger drives him over the shining earth,

and he wanders honored by neither gods nor mortals.

So the gods gave Peleus splendid gifts

535from his birth. He surpassed all men

in fortune and wealth, and ruled the Myrmidons;

though he was mortal, they gave him a goddess as wife.

Yet a god laid an evil upon him too: no line

of princely sons was born within his halls.

540He fathered one son, doomed to die too soon; and now I do not

care for my father in his old age, because far from my homeland

I sit here at Troy, bringing misery to you and your children.

And you too, old man—we heard that once you prospered.

Within all that Lesbos, seat of Macar, bounds to the north,

545and Phrygia above, and the boundless Hellespont,

they say you excelled them all in wealth and sons.

But since the gods of heaven brought this disaster upon you,

battles and slaughter have never ceased around your city.

Endure, and do not grieve without respite in your heart.

550Your sorrow for your son will accomplish nothing;

you will not raise him up, but may suffer some new evil first.”

552τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

μή πω μʼ ἐς θρόνον ἵζε διοτρεφὲς ὄφρά κεν Ἕκτωρ

κεῖται ἐνὶ κλισίῃσιν ἀκηδής, ἀλλὰ τάχιστα

555λῦσον ἵνʼ ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἴδω· σὺ δὲ δέξαι ἄποινα

πολλά, τά τοι φέρομεν· σὺ δὲ τῶνδʼ ἀπόναιο, καὶ ἔλθοις

σὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν, ἐπεί με πρῶτον ἔασας

αὐτόν τε ζώειν καὶ ὁρᾶν φάος ἠελίοιο.

τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

560μηκέτι νῦν μʼ ἐρέθιζε γέρον· νοέω δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς

Ἕκτορά τοι λῦσαι, Διόθεν δέ μοι ἄγγελος ἦλθε

μήτηρ, ἥ μʼ ἔτεκεν, θυγάτηρ ἁλίοιο γέροντος.

καὶ δέ σε γιγνώσκω Πρίαμε φρεσίν, οὐδέ με λήθεις,

ὅττι θεῶν τίς σʼ ἦγε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν.

565οὐ γάρ κε τλαίη βροτὸς ἐλθέμεν, οὐδὲ μάλʼ ἡβῶν,

ἐς στρατόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν φυλάκους λάθοι, οὐδέ κʼ ὀχῆα

ῥεῖα μετοχλίσσειε θυράων ἡμετεράων.

τὼ νῦν μή μοι μᾶλλον ἐν ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ὀρίνῃς,

μή σε γέρον οὐδʼ αὐτὸν ἐνὶ κλισίῃσιν ἐάσω

570καὶ ἱκέτην περ ἐόντα, Διὸς δʼ ἀλίτωμαι ἐφετμάς.

ὣς ἔφατʼ, ἔδεισεν δʼ ὃ γέρων καὶ ἐπείθετο μύθῳ.

552Then godlike old Priam answered him:

“Do not seat me on a chair yet, Zeus-nurtured Achilles, while Hector

lies uncared for among the huts. Release him

555at once, so I may see him with my own eyes. Accept the abundant

ransom we bring you; may you enjoy it, and return

to your native land, since you have first allowed

me to live and see the light of the sun.”

Swift-footed Achilles looked at him from under his brows and said:

560“Do not provoke me now, old man. I myself intend

to release Hector to you. A messenger came to me from Zeus—

my mother, who bore me, daughter of the old man of the sea.

And I know in my heart, Priam—you do not escape my notice—

that one of the gods led you to the swift ships of the Achaeans.

565No mortal, not even a man in his prime, would dare come

into the camp. He could not pass the guards unseen, nor easily

shift the bar that closes our doors.

So do not stir my heart further amid my sorrows,

old man, lest I fail to spare even you here in my hut,

570suppliant though you are, and violate the commands of Zeus.”

So he spoke. The old man was afraid and obeyed his command.

572Πηλεΐδης δʼ οἴκοιο λέων ὣς ἆλτο θύραζε

οὐκ οἶος, ἅμα τῷ γε δύω θεράποντες ἕποντο

ἥρως Αὐτομέδων ἠδʼ Ἄλκιμος, οὕς ῥα μάλιστα

575τῖʼ Ἀχιλεὺς ἑτάρων μετὰ Πάτροκλόν γε θανόντα,

οἳ τόθʼ ὑπὸ ζυγόφιν λύον ἵππους ἡμιόνους τε,

ἐς δʼ ἄγαγον κήρυκα καλήτορα τοῖο γέροντος,

κὰδ δʼ ἐπὶ δίφρου εἷσαν· ἐϋξέστου δʼ ἀπʼ ἀπήνης

ᾕρεον Ἑκτορέης κεφαλῆς ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα.

580κὰδ δʼ ἔλιπον δύο φάρεʼ ἐΰννητόν τε χιτῶνα,

ὄφρα νέκυν πυκάσας δοίη οἶκον δὲ φέρεσθαι.

δμῳὰς δʼ ἐκκαλέσας λοῦσαι κέλετʼ ἀμφί τʼ ἀλεῖψαι

νόσφιν ἀειράσας, ὡς μὴ Πρίαμος ἴδοι υἱόν,

μὴ ὃ μὲν ἀχνυμένῃ κραδίῃ χόλον οὐκ ἐρύσαιτο

585παῖδα ἰδών, Ἀχιλῆϊ δʼ ὀρινθείη φίλον ἦτορ,

καί ἑ κατακτείνειε, Διὸς δʼ ἀλίτηται ἐφετμάς.

τὸν δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν δμῳαὶ λοῦσαν καὶ χρῖσαν ἐλαίῳ,

ἀμφὶ δέ μιν φᾶρος καλὸν βάλον ἠδὲ χιτῶνα,

αὐτὸς τόν γʼ Ἀχιλεὺς λεχέων ἐπέθηκεν ἀείρας,

590σὺν δʼ ἕταροι ἤειραν ἐϋξέστην ἐπʼ ἀπήνην.

ᾤμωξέν τʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα, φίλον δʼ ὀνόμηνεν ἑταῖρον·

μή μοι Πάτροκλε σκυδμαινέμεν, αἴ κε πύθηαι

εἰν Ἄϊδός περ ἐὼν ὅτι Ἕκτορα δῖον ἔλυσα

πατρὶ φίλῳ, ἐπεὶ οὔ μοι ἀεικέα δῶκεν ἄποινα.

595σοὶ δʼ αὖ ἐγὼ καὶ τῶνδʼ ἀποδάσσομαι ὅσσʼ ἐπέοικεν.

572The son of Peleus leapt from the hut like a lion.

He was not alone; two attendants went with him,

the hero Automedon and Alcimus, whom Achilles honored

575most among his companions after Patroclus died.

They freed the horses and mules from beneath the yoke,

brought in the herald who attended the old man,

and seated him on the chariot. From the polished wagon

they lifted the boundless ransom for Hector's head.

580They left behind two cloaks and a finely woven tunic,

so Achilles could wrap the corpse and give it to be carried home.

He called the enslaved women out and ordered them to wash and anoint it,

Achilles carried the body aside, so Priam would not see his son—

for fear that, with his heart in grief, Priam could not contain his anger

585when he saw his son, and Achilles' own heart would be provoked,

and he would kill Priam and violate the commands of Zeus.

When the women had washed the body and rubbed it with oil,

they put the fine cloak and tunic around him.

Achilles himself lifted him and laid him upon a bier,

590and his companions together raised it onto the polished wagon.

Then he cried aloud and called his dear companion by name:

“Do not be angry with me, Patroclus, if you learn,

even in Hades, that I released noble Hector

to his dear father, since he gave me no unworthy ransom.

595I will allot you from these gifts whatever is fitting.”

596ἦ ῥα, καὶ ἐς κλισίην πάλιν ἤϊε δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

ἕζετο δʼ ἐν κλισμῷ πολυδαιδάλῳ ἔνθεν ἀνέστη

τοίχου τοῦ ἑτέρου, ποτὶ δὲ Πρίαμον φάτο μῦθον·

υἱὸς μὲν δή τοι λέλυται γέρον ὡς ἐκέλευες,

600κεῖται δʼ ἐν λεχέεσσʼ· ἅμα δʼ ἠοῖ φαινομένηφιν

ὄψεαι αὐτὸς ἄγων· νῦν δὲ μνησώμεθα δόρπου.

καὶ γάρ τʼ ἠΰκομος Νιόβη ἐμνήσατο σίτου,

τῇ περ δώδεκα παῖδες ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ὄλοντο

ἓξ μὲν θυγατέρες, ἓξ δʼ υἱέες ἡβώοντες.

605τοὺς μὲν Ἀπόλλων πέφνεν ἀπʼ ἀργυρέοιο βιοῖο

χωόμενος Νιόβῃ, τὰς δʼ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα,

οὕνεκʼ ἄρα Λητοῖ ἰσάσκετο καλλιπαρῄῳ·

φῆ δοιὼ τεκέειν, ἣ δʼ αὐτὴ γείνατο πολλούς·

τὼ δʼ ἄρα καὶ δοιώ περ ἐόντʼ ἀπὸ πάντας ὄλεσσαν.

610οἳ μὲν ἄρʼ ἐννῆμαρ κέατʼ ἐν φόνῳ, οὐδέ τις ἦεν

κατθάψαι, λαοὺς δὲ λίθους ποίησε Κρονίων·

τοὺς δʼ ἄρα τῇ δεκάτῃ θάψαν θεοὶ Οὐρανίωνες.

ἣ δʼ ἄρα σίτου μνήσατʼ, ἐπεὶ κάμε δάκρυ χέουσα.

νῦν δέ που ἐν πέτρῃσιν ἐν οὔρεσιν οἰοπόλοισιν

615ἐν Σιπύλῳ, ὅθι φασὶ θεάων ἔμμεναι εὐνὰς

νυμφάων, αἵ τʼ ἀμφʼ Ἀχελώϊον ἐρρώσαντο,

ἔνθα λίθος περ ἐοῦσα θεῶν ἐκ κήδεα πέσσει.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ καὶ νῶϊ μεδώμεθα δῖε γεραιὲ

σίτου· ἔπειτά κεν αὖτε φίλον παῖδα κλαίοισθα

620Ἴλιον εἰσαγαγών· πολυδάκρυτος δέ τοι ἔσται.

596So he spoke, and godlike Achilles went back into the hut.

He sat on the richly fashioned chair from which he had risen,

against the opposite wall, and spoke to Priam:

“Your son is now released, old man, as you asked.

600He lies upon a bier. At the first light of dawn

you will see him as you carry him away. Now let us think of supper.

Even lovely-haired Niobe remembered food,

though twelve children had perished in her halls—

six daughters and six sons in the bloom of youth.

605Apollo killed the sons with his silver bow,

angered at Niobe, and arrow-pouring Artemis killed the daughters,

because Niobe had compared herself to lovely-cheeked Leto.

She said Leto bore only two, while she herself bore many;

but those two, though only two, destroyed them all.

610For nine days they lay in their blood, with no one

to bury them, for the son of Cronus had turned the people to stone.

On the tenth day the gods of heaven buried them.

Then Niobe remembered food, when she had wearied of shedding tears.

And now, somewhere among the rocks of the lonely mountains,

615on Sipylus, where they say the goddesses have their resting places—

the nymphs who dance beside the Achelous—

there, though turned to stone, she broods upon griefs sent by the gods.

Come then, noble old man, let the two of us think

of food. Afterward you may mourn your dear son again

620when you bring him into Ilium; your tears for him will be many.”

621ἦ καὶ ἀναΐξας ὄϊν ἄργυφον ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς

σφάξʼ· ἕταροι δʼ ἔδερόν τε καὶ ἄμφεπον εὖ κατὰ κόσμον,

μίστυλλόν τʼ ἄρʼ ἐπισταμένως πεῖράν τʼ ὀβελοῖσιν,

ὄπτησάν τε περιφραδέως, ἐρύσαντό τε πάντα.

625Αὐτομέδων δʼ ἄρα σῖτον ἑλὼν ἐπένειμε τραπέζῃ

καλοῖς ἐν κανέοισιν· ἀτὰρ κρέα νεῖμεν Ἀχιλλεύς.

οἳ δʼ ἐπʼ ὀνείαθʼ ἑτοῖμα προκείμενα χεῖρας ἴαλλον.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,

ἤτοι Δαρδανίδης Πρίαμος θαύμαζʼ Ἀχιλῆα

630ὅσσος ἔην οἷός τε· θεοῖσι γὰρ ἄντα ἐῴκει·

αὐτὰρ ὃ Δαρδανίδην Πρίαμον θαύμαζεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

εἰσορόων ὄψίν τʼ ἀγαθὴν καὶ μῦθον ἀκούων.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τάρπησαν ἐς ἀλλήλους ὁρόωντες,

621So he spoke. Swift Achilles sprang up and seized a white-fleeced sheep;

he slaughtered it, and his companions flayed and dressed it in due order.

They skillfully carved it and pierced the pieces on spits,

roasted everything carefully, and drew it all from the fire.

625Automedon took bread and distributed it on the table

in fine baskets, while Achilles divided the meat.

They reached their hands toward the ready food set before them.

When they had satisfied their desire for food and drink,

Dardanid Priam marveled at Achilles—

630his stature and bearing, for face to face he seemed like the gods.

And Achilles marveled at Dardanid Priam,

gazing at his noble face and listening to his words.

When they had taken their fill of looking at one another,

634τὸν πρότερος προσέειπε γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

635λέξον νῦν με τάχιστα διοτρεφές, ὄφρα καὶ ἤδη

ὕπνῳ ὕπο γλυκερῷ ταρπώμεθα κοιμηθέντες·

οὐ γάρ πω μύσαν ὄσσε ὑπὸ βλεφάροισιν ἐμοῖσιν

ἐξ οὗ σῇς ὑπὸ χερσὶν ἐμὸς πάϊς ὤλεσε θυμόν,

ἀλλʼ αἰεὶ στενάχω καὶ κήδεα μυρία πέσσω

640αὐλῆς ἐν χόρτοισι κυλινδόμενος κατὰ κόπρον.

νῦν δὴ καὶ σίτου πασάμην καὶ αἴθοπα οἶνον

λαυκανίης καθέηκα· πάρος γε μὲν οὔ τι πεπάσμην.

ἦ ῥʼ, Ἀχιλεὺς δʼ ἑτάροισιν ἰδὲ δμῳῇσι κέλευσε

δέμνιʼ ὑπʼ αἰθούσῃ θέμεναι καὶ ῥήγεα καλὰ

645πορφύρεʼ ἐμβαλέειν, στορέσαι τʼ ἐφύπερθε τάπητας,

χλαίνας τʼ ἐνθέμεναι οὔλας καθύπερθεν ἕσασθαι.

αἳ δʼ ἴσαν ἐκ μεγάροιο δάος μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχουσαι,

αἶψα δʼ ἄρα στόρεσαν δοιὼ λέχεʼ ἐγκονέουσαι.

634godlike old Priam spoke first:

635“Zeus-nurtured Achilles, put me to bed at once, so that now

we may lie down and take our fill of sweet sleep.

My eyes beneath their lids have not closed once

since my son lost his life beneath your hands.

I have only groaned without cease and brooded on countless griefs,

640rolling in the dung upon the courtyard floor.

But now I have tasted food and sent gleaming wine

down my throat. Before this I had tasted nothing.”

So he spoke. Achilles ordered his companions and the enslaved women

to set beds beneath the portico and spread fine

645purple coverings upon them, with rugs laid over these,

and thick cloaks on top for them to wear.

The women went from the hall with torches in their hands

and busied themselves spreading the two beds at once.

649τὸν δʼ ἐπικερτομέων προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

650ἐκτὸς μὲν δὴ λέξο γέρον φίλε, μή τις Ἀχαιῶν

ἐνθάδʼ ἐπέλθῃσιν βουληφόρος, οἵ τέ μοι αἰεὶ

βουλὰς βουλεύουσι παρήμενοι, ἣ θέμις ἐστί·

τῶν εἴ τίς σε ἴδοιτο θοὴν διὰ νύκτα μέλαιναν,

αὐτίκʼ ἂν ἐξείποι Ἀγαμέμνονι ποιμένι λαῶν,

655καί κεν ἀνάβλησις λύσιος νεκροῖο γένηται.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον,

ποσσῆμαρ μέμονας κτερεϊζέμεν Ἕκτορα δῖον,

ὄφρα τέως αὐτός τε μένω καὶ λαὸν ἐρύκω.

τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής·

660εἰ μὲν δή μʼ ἐθέλεις τελέσαι τάφον Ἕκτορι δίῳ,

ὧδέ κέ μοι ῥέζων Ἀχιλεῦ κεχαρισμένα θείης.

οἶσθα γὰρ ὡς κατὰ ἄστυ ἐέλμεθα, τηλόθι δʼ ὕλη

ἀξέμεν ἐξ ὄρεος, μάλα δὲ Τρῶες δεδίασιν.

ἐννῆμαρ μέν κʼ αὐτὸν ἐνὶ μεγάροις γοάοιμεν,

665τῇ δεκάτῃ δέ κε θάπτοιμεν δαινῦτό τε λαός,

ἑνδεκάτῃ δέ κε τύμβον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ποιήσαιμεν,

τῇ δὲ δυωδεκάτῃ πολεμίξομεν εἴ περ ἀνάγκη.

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·

ἔσται τοι καὶ ταῦτα γέρον Πρίαμʼ ὡς σὺ κελεύεις·

670σχήσω γὰρ πόλεμον τόσσον χρόνον ὅσσον ἄνωγας.

649Then swift-footed Achilles addressed him teasingly:

650“You must sleep outside, dear old man, in case some Achaean

counselor should come here—men who always sit beside me

and deliberate on plans, as custom requires.

If any of them saw you during the swift black night,

he would at once report it to Agamemnon, shepherd of the people,

655and the corpse's release might then be delayed.

But come, tell me this and give me a truthful account:

how many days do you intend to honor noble Hector with funeral rites,

so that I myself may wait here and keep the army back that long?”

Then godlike old Priam answered him:

660“If you truly wish me to complete the burial of noble Hector,

Achilles, you would please me by doing this:

you know how we are penned within the city, and timber must be hauled

from far away in the mountains, while the Trojans are terribly afraid.

For nine days we would mourn him in our halls;

665on the tenth we would bury him and the people would feast;

on the eleventh we would build a burial mound over him;

and on the twelfth we will fight, if fight we must.”

Then swift-footed, godlike Achilles answered him:

“These things too shall be as you ask, old Priam.

670I will hold back the war for as long as you command.”

671ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἐπὶ καρπῷ χεῖρα γέροντος

ἔλλαβε δεξιτερήν, μή πως δείσειʼ ἐνὶ θυμῷ.

οἳ μὲν ἄρʼ ἐν προδόμῳ δόμου αὐτόθι κοιμήσαντο

κῆρυξ καὶ Πρίαμος πυκινὰ φρεσὶ μήδεʼ ἔχοντες,

675αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς εὗδε μυχῷ κλισίης ἐϋπήκτου·

τῷ δὲ Βρισηῒς παρελέξατο καλλιπάρῃος.

671So he spoke and grasped the old man's right hand

at the wrist, so no fear would remain in his heart.

There in the front porch of the hut they lay down to sleep—

the herald and Priam, with prudent plans in their minds.

675Achilles slept in the innermost part of the well-built hut,

and lovely-cheeked Briseis lay beside him.

677ἄλλοι μέν ῥα θεοί τε καὶ ἀνέρες ἱπποκορυσταὶ

εὗδον παννύχιοι μαλακῷ δεδμημένοι ὕπνῳ·

ἀλλʼ οὐχ Ἑρμείαν ἐριούνιον ὕπνος ἔμαρπτεν

680ὁρμαίνοντʼ ἀνὰ θυμὸν ὅπως Πρίαμον βασιλῆα

νηῶν ἐκπέμψειε λαθὼν ἱεροὺς πυλαωρούς.

στῆ δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·

ὦ γέρον οὔ νύ τι σοί γε μέλει κακόν, οἷον ἔθʼ εὕδεις

ἀνδράσιν ἐν δηΐοισιν, ἐπεί σʼ εἴασεν Ἀχιλλεύς.

685καὶ νῦν μὲν φίλον υἱὸν ἐλύσαο, πολλὰ δʼ ἔδωκας·

σεῖο δέ κε ζωοῦ καὶ τρὶς τόσα δοῖεν ἄποινα

παῖδες τοὶ μετόπισθε λελειμμένοι, αἴ κʼ Ἀγαμέμνων

γνώῃ σʼ Ἀτρεΐδης, γνώωσι δὲ πάντες Ἀχαιοί.

ὣς ἔφατʼ, ἔδεισεν δʼ ὃ γέρων, κήρυκα δʼ ἀνίστη.

690τοῖσιν δʼ Ἑρμείας ζεῦξʼ ἵππους ἡμιόνους τε,

ῥίμφα δʼ ἄρʼ αὐτὸς ἔλαυνε κατὰ στρατόν, οὐδέ τις ἔγνω.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ πόρον ἷξον ἐϋρρεῖος ποταμοῖο

Ξάνθου δινήεντος, ὃν ἀθάνατος τέκετο Ζεύς,

Ἑρμείας μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἀπέβη πρὸς μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον,

677All the other gods and chariot-fighting warriors

slept all night, subdued by gentle sleep;

but sleep did not seize Hermes the Helper,

680as he pondered in his heart how he might escort King Priam

away from the ships unseen by the sacred gate-watchers.

He stood above the old man's head and spoke to him:

“Old man, do you care nothing for danger, that you still sleep

among enemy men, because Achilles has let you be?

685For now you have ransomed your dear son and given much;

but for you alive your sons who remain behind would give

three times as much ransom, if Agamemnon

son of Atreus learns you are here, and all the Achaeans learn it.”

So he spoke. The old man was afraid and roused the herald.

690Hermes yoked the horses and mules for them,

then drove them swiftly through the camp himself, and no one knew.

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

eddying Xanthus, whom immortal Zeus fathered,

Hermes then departed for high Olympus,

695Ἠὼς δὲ κροκόπεπλος ἐκίδνατο πᾶσαν ἐπʼ αἶαν,

οἳ δʼ εἰς ἄστυ ἔλων οἰμωγῇ τε στοναχῇ τε

ἵππους, ἡμίονοι δὲ νέκυν φέρον. οὐδέ τις ἄλλος

ἔγνω πρόσθʼ ἀνδρῶν καλλιζώνων τε γυναικῶν,

ἀλλʼ ἄρα Κασσάνδρη ἰκέλη χρυσῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ

700Πέργαμον εἰσαναβᾶσα φίλον πατέρʼ εἰσενόησεν

ἑσταότʼ ἐν δίφρῳ, κήρυκά τε ἀστυβοώτην·

τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ἐφʼ ἡμιόνων ἴδε κείμενον ἐν λεχέεσσι·

κώκυσέν τʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα γέγωνέ τε πᾶν κατὰ ἄστυ·

ὄψεσθε Τρῶες καὶ Τρῳάδες Ἕκτορʼ ἰόντες,

705εἴ ποτε καὶ ζώοντι μάχης ἐκνοστήσαντι

χαίρετʼ, ἐπεὶ μέγα χάρμα πόλει τʼ ἦν παντί τε δήμῳ.

ὣς ἔφατʼ, οὐδέ τις αὐτόθʼ ἐνὶ πτόλεϊ λίπετʼ ἀνὴρ

οὐδὲ γυνή· πάντας γὰρ ἀάσχετον ἵκετο πένθος·

ἀγχοῦ δὲ ξύμβληντο πυλάων νεκρὸν ἄγοντι.

710πρῶται τόν γʼ ἄλοχός τε φίλη καὶ πότνια μήτηρ

τιλλέσθην ἐπʼ ἄμαξαν ἐΰτροχον ἀΐξασαι

ἁπτόμεναι κεφαλῆς· κλαίων δʼ ἀμφίσταθʼ ὅμιλος.

καί νύ κε δὴ πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα

Ἕκτορα δάκρυ χέοντες ὀδύροντο πρὸ πυλάων,

715εἰ μὴ ἄρʼ ἐκ δίφροιο γέρων λαοῖσι μετηύδα·

εἴξατέ μοι οὐρεῦσι διελθέμεν· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

ἄσεσθε κλαυθμοῖο, ἐπὴν ἀγάγωμι δόμον δέ.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δὲ διέστησαν καὶ εἶξαν ἀπήνῃ.

695and saffron-robed Dawn spread over all the earth.

They drove into the city with wailing and groaning—

the horses, while the mules carried the corpse. No one else

among the men or finely girdled women recognized them first,

but Cassandra, like golden Aphrodite,

700climbed Pergamus and saw her dear father

standing in the chariot, and the herald whose cry stirred the city;

and she saw Hector laid on the bier upon the mule wagon.

Then she wailed and cried out through the whole city:

“Come, Trojan men and Trojan women, and look upon Hector,

705if ever while he lived you rejoiced when he returned from battle,

for he was a great joy to the city and all its people.”

So she spoke, and no man remained there in the city,

nor any woman, for grief beyond restraint came upon them all.

Near the gates they met those bringing in the corpse.

710First his dear wife and his queenly mother

rushed upon the well-wheeled wagon, tearing their hair

and touching his head, while the crowd stood round them weeping.

And now they would have mourned Hector there before the gates,

shedding tears the whole day until the sun went down,

715if the old man had not addressed the people from the chariot:

“Give way, so I may pass through with the mules; afterward

you will have your fill of weeping, when I have brought him home.”

So he spoke, and they drew apart and made way for the wagon.

719οἳ δʼ ἐπεὶ εἰσάγαγον κλυτὰ δώματα, τὸν μὲν ἔπειτα

720τρητοῖς ἐν λεχέεσσι θέσαν, παρὰ δʼ εἷσαν ἀοιδοὺς

θρήνων ἐξάρχους, οἵ τε στονόεσσαν ἀοιδὴν

οἳ μὲν ἄρʼ ἐθρήνεον, ἐπὶ δὲ στενάχοντο γυναῖκες.

τῇσιν δʼ Ἀνδρομάχη λευκώλενος ἦρχε γόοιο

Ἕκτορος ἀνδροφόνοιο κάρη μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχουσα·

725ἆνερ ἀπʼ αἰῶνος νέος ὤλεο, κὰδ δέ με χήρην

λείπεις ἐν μεγάροισι· πάϊς δʼ ἔτι νήπιος αὔτως

ὃν τέκομεν σύ τʼ ἐγώ τε δυσάμμοροι, οὐδέ μιν οἴω

ἥβην ἵξεσθαι· πρὶν γὰρ πόλις ἥδε κατʼ ἄκρης

πέρσεται· ἦ γὰρ ὄλωλας ἐπίσκοπος, ὅς τέ μιν αὐτὴν

730ῥύσκευ, ἔχες δʼ ἀλόχους κεδνὰς καὶ νήπια τέκνα,

αἳ δή τοι τάχα νηυσὶν ὀχήσονται γλαφυρῇσι,

καὶ μὲν ἐγὼ μετὰ τῇσι· σὺ δʼ αὖ τέκος ἢ ἐμοὶ αὐτῇ

ἕψεαι, ἔνθά κεν ἔργα ἀεικέα ἐργάζοιο

ἀθλεύων πρὸ ἄνακτος ἀμειλίχου, ἤ τις Ἀχαιῶν

735ῥίψει χειρὸς ἑλὼν ἀπὸ πύργου λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον

χωόμενος, ᾧ δή που ἀδελφεὸν ἔκτανεν Ἕκτωρ

ἢ πατέρʼ ἠὲ καὶ υἱόν, ἐπεὶ μάλα πολλοὶ Ἀχαιῶν

Ἕκτορος ἐν παλάμῃσιν ὀδὰξ ἕλον ἄσπετον οὖδας.

οὐ γὰρ μείλιχος ἔσκε πατὴρ τεὸς ἐν δαῒ λυγρῇ·

740τὼ καί μιν λαοὶ μὲν ὀδύρονται κατὰ ἄστυ,

ἀρητὸν δὲ τοκεῦσι γόον καὶ πένθος ἔθηκας

Ἕκτορ· ἐμοὶ δὲ μάλιστα λελείψεται ἄλγεα λυγρά.

οὐ γάρ μοι θνῄσκων λεχέων ἐκ χεῖρας ὄρεξας,

οὐδέ τί μοι εἶπες πυκινὸν ἔπος, οὗ τέ κεν αἰεὶ

745μεμνῄμην νύκτάς τε καὶ ἤματα δάκρυ χέουσα.

ὣς ἔφατο κλαίουσʼ, ἐπὶ δὲ στενάχοντο γυναῖκες.

719When they had brought him into the renowned house,

720they laid him upon an openwork couch and seated singers beside him,

leaders of dirges, who began the mournful song;

they sang the lament, and the women groaned in answer.

Among them white-armed Andromache led the lament,

holding in her hands the head of Hector, slayer of men:

725“Husband, you have died young, and you leave me

a widow in the halls. Our child is still only an infant,

the child you and I, ill-fated both, begot; and I do not think

he will reach young manhood, for before then this city will be

sacked from top to bottom. You are dead, its guardian, the one who

730defended it and protected its faithful wives and infant children.

Soon they will be carried away in hollow ships,

and I among them. You too, my child, will either go with me

to labor at degrading tasks,

toiling before some pitiless master, or one of the Achaeans

735will seize you by the arm and hurl you from the tower to a cruel death,

in anger because Hector killed his brother,

his father, or his son—for very many Achaeans

bit the boundless earth beneath Hector's hands.

Your father was not gentle in the grievous battle;

740therefore the people mourn him throughout the city.

Hector, you have laid upon your parents lament and grief beyond speech,

but the bitterest pains will be left to me.

You did not stretch your hands to me from your bed as you died,

nor speak to me some close-woven word that I might always

745remember through nights and days as I shed tears.”

So she spoke weeping, and the women groaned in answer.

747τῇσιν δʼ αὖθʼ Ἑκάβη ἁδινοῦ ἐξῆρχε γόοιο·

Ἕκτορ ἐμῷ θυμῷ πάντων πολὺ φίλτατε παίδων,

ἦ μέν μοι ζωός περ ἐὼν φίλος ἦσθα θεοῖσιν·

750οἳ δʼ ἄρα σεῦ κήδοντο καὶ ἐν θανάτοιό περ αἴσῃ.

ἄλλους μὲν γὰρ παῖδας ἐμοὺς πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς

πέρνασχʼ ὅν τινʼ ἕλεσκε πέρην ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο,

ἐς Σάμον ἔς τʼ Ἴμβρον καὶ Λῆμνον ἀμιχθαλόεσσαν·

σεῦ δʼ ἐπεὶ ἐξέλετο ψυχὴν ταναήκεϊ χαλκῷ,

755πολλὰ ῥυστάζεσκεν ἑοῦ περὶ σῆμʼ ἑτάροιο

Πατρόκλου, τὸν ἔπεφνες· ἀνέστησεν δέ μιν οὐδʼ ὧς.

νῦν δέ μοι ἑρσήεις καὶ πρόσφατος ἐν μεγάροισι

κεῖσαι, τῷ ἴκελος ὅν τʼ ἀργυρότοξος Ἀπόλλων

οἷς ἀγανοῖσι βέλεσσιν ἐποιχόμενος κατέπεφνεν.

760ὣς ἔφατο κλαίουσα, γόον δʼ ἀλίαστον ὄρινε.

747Then Hecuba began the piercing lament among them:

“Hector, of all my sons you were far dearest to my heart,

even while you lived you were dear to the gods,

750and they cared for you even in the fate of death.

For every other son of mine swift-footed Achilles

would sell whenever he captured one, beyond the barren sea,

to Samos, Imbros, or smoke-shrouded Lemnos.

But after he took your life with the long-edged bronze,

755he dragged you again and again around the tomb of his companion

Patroclus, whom you killed; yet even so he did not bring Patroclus back to life.

Now you lie fresh as dew and newly dead here in the halls,

like one whom silver-bowed Apollo

has visited and killed with his gentle shafts.”

760So she spoke weeping and stirred lament without end.

761τῇσι δʼ ἔπειθʼ Ἑλένη τριτάτη ἐξῆρχε γόοιο·

Ἕκτορ ἐμῷ θυμῷ δαέρων πολὺ φίλτατε πάντων,

ἦ μέν μοι πόσις ἐστὶν Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδής,

ὅς μʼ ἄγαγε Τροίηνδʼ· ὡς πρὶν ὤφελλον ὀλέσθαι.

765ἤδη γὰρ νῦν μοι τόδε εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἐστὶν

ἐξ οὗ κεῖθεν ἔβην καὶ ἐμῆς ἀπελήλυθα πάτρης·

ἀλλʼ οὔ πω σεῦ ἄκουσα κακὸν ἔπος οὐδʼ ἀσύφηλον·

ἀλλʼ εἴ τίς με καὶ ἄλλος ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἐνίπτοι

δαέρων ἢ γαλόων ἢ εἰνατέρων εὐπέπλων,

770ἢ ἑκυρή, ἑκυρὸς δὲ πατὴρ ὣς ἤπιος αἰεί,

ἀλλὰ σὺ τὸν ἐπέεσσι παραιφάμενος κατέρυκες

σῇ τʼ ἀγανοφροσύνῃ καὶ σοῖς ἀγανοῖς ἐπέεσσι.

τὼ σέ θʼ ἅμα κλαίω καὶ ἔμʼ ἄμμορον ἀχνυμένη κῆρ·

οὐ γάρ τίς μοι ἔτʼ ἄλλος ἐνὶ Τροίῃ εὐρείῃ

775ἤπιος οὐδὲ φίλος, πάντες δέ με πεφρίκασιν.

ὣς ἔφατο κλαίουσʼ, ἐπὶ δʼ ἔστενε δῆμος ἀπείρων.

761Then Helen, third, began the lament among them:

“Hector, by far the dearest to my heart of all my husband's brothers,

for godlike Alexander is my husband,

the one who brought me to Troy—how I wish I had died before then.

765This is now the twentieth year for me

since I went away from there and left my native land,

yet never have I heard a harsh or insulting word from you.

If anyone else in the house reproached me,

one of my husband's brothers, his sisters, or his brothers' well-robed wives,

770or my mother-in-law—for my father-in-law was always gentle as a father—

you would restrain that person with persuasion,

with your gentleness and your gentle words.

Therefore I weep for you and for my ill-fated self together, grieving at heart.

For no one else remains to me in broad Troy

775who is gentle or kind; they all shudder at me.”

So she spoke weeping, and the countless people groaned.

777λαοῖσιν δʼ ὃ γέρων Πρίαμος μετὰ μῦθον ἔειπεν·

ἄξετε νῦν Τρῶες ξύλα ἄστυ δέ, μὴ δέ τι θυμῷ

δείσητʼ Ἀργείων πυκινὸν λόχον· ἦ γὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

780πέμπων μʼ ὧδʼ ἐπέτελλε μελαινάων ἀπὸ νηῶν

μὴ πρὶν πημανέειν πρὶν δωδεκάτη μόλῃ ἠώς.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ὑπʼ ἀμάξῃσιν βόας ἡμιόνους τε

ζεύγνυσαν, αἶψα δʼ ἔπειτα πρὸ ἄστεος ἠγερέθοντο.

ἐννῆμαρ μὲν τοί γε ἀγίνεον ἄσπετον ὕλην·

785ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ δεκάτη ἐφάνη φαεσίμβροτος ἠώς,

καὶ τότʼ ἄρʼ ἐξέφερον θρασὺν Ἕκτορα δάκρυ χέοντες,

ἐν δὲ πυρῇ ὑπάτῃ νεκρὸν θέσαν, ἐν δʼ ἔβαλον πῦρ.

777Then old Priam addressed the people:

“Now, Trojans, bring timber into the city, and do not fear in your hearts

some close-set ambush of the Argives. For Achilles,

780when he sent me here from the black ships, instructed me

that he would not harm us before the twelfth dawn came.”

So he spoke. They yoked oxen and mules beneath the wagons,

and quickly gathered before the city.

For nine days they brought in boundless timber;

785but when the tenth dawn, bringing light to mortals, appeared,

then they carried out bold Hector, shedding tears,

placed the corpse on top of the pyre, and set it alight.

788ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

τῆμος ἄρʼ ἀμφὶ πυρὴν κλυτοῦ Ἕκτορος ἔγρετο λαός.

790αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τʼ ἐγένοντο

πρῶτον μὲν κατὰ πυρκαϊὴν σβέσαν αἴθοπι οἴνῳ

πᾶσαν, ὁπόσσον ἐπέσχε πυρὸς μένος· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

ὀστέα λευκὰ λέγοντο κασίγνητοί θʼ ἕταροί τε

μυρόμενοι, θαλερὸν δὲ κατείβετο δάκρυ παρειῶν.

795καὶ τά γε χρυσείην ἐς λάρνακα θῆκαν ἑλόντες

πορφυρέοις πέπλοισι καλύψαντες μαλακοῖσιν.

αἶψα δʼ ἄρʼ ἐς κοίλην κάπετον θέσαν, αὐτὰρ ὕπερθε

πυκνοῖσιν λάεσσι κατεστόρεσαν μεγάλοισι·

ῥίμφα δὲ σῆμʼ ἔχεαν, περὶ δὲ σκοποὶ ἥατο πάντῃ,

800μὴ πρὶν ἐφορμηθεῖεν ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοί.

788When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

the people gathered around renowned Hector's pyre.

790When they had assembled and come together,

first they quenched the pyre with gleaming wine

throughout every place the force of fire had reached. Then

his brothers and companions gathered the white bones,

mourning, while warm tears streamed down their cheeks.

795They took the bones and placed them in a golden chest,

covering them with soft purple robes.

They quickly placed it in a hollow pit, and over it

laid a close course of great stones.

Swiftly they heaped the burial mound, while lookouts sat all around,

800lest the well-greaved Achaeans attack before they were done.

801χεύαντες δὲ τὸ σῆμα πάλιν κίον· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

εὖ συναγειρόμενοι δαίνυντʼ ἐρικυδέα δαῖτα

δώμασιν ἐν Πριάμοιο διοτρεφέος βασιλῆος.

ὣς οἵ γʼ ἀμφίεπον τάφον Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο.

801When they had heaped the mound, they went back; then

they gathered in due order and shared a glorious feast

in the house of Priam, the Zeus-nurtured king.

So they held the funeral of Hector, tamer of horses.