ἸΛΙΆΣ 8

Ἠὼς μὲν κροκόπεπλος ἐκίδνατο πᾶσαν ἐπ’ αἶαν,
Ζεὺς δὲ θεῶν ἀγορὴν ποιήσατο τερπικέραυνος
ἀκροτάτῃ κορυφῇ πολυδειράδος Οὐλύμποιο·
αὐτὸς δέ σφ’ ἀγόρευε, θεοὶ δ’ ὑπὸ πάντες ἄκουον·
«κέκλυτέ μευ πάντές τε θεοὶ πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι,
ὄφρ’ εἴπω τά με θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι κελεύει.
μήτέ τις οὖν θήλεια θεὸς τό γε μήτέ τις ἄρσην
πειράτω διακέρσαι ἐμὸν ἔπος, ἀλλ’ ἅμα πάντες
αἰνεῖτ’, ὄφρα τάχιστα τελευτήσω τάδε ἔργα.
ὃν δ’ ἂν ἐγὼν ἀπάνευθε θεῶν ἐθέλοντα νοήσω
ἐλθόντ’ ἢ Τρώεσσιν ἀρηγέμεν ἢ Δαναοῖσι
πληγεὶς οὐ κατὰ κόσμον ἐλεύσεται Οὔλυμπον δέ·
ἤ μιν ἑλὼν ῥίψω ἐς Τάρταρον ἠερόεντα
τῆλε μάλ’, ἧχι βάθιστον ὑπὸ χθονός ἐστι βέρεθρον,
ἔνθα σιδήρειαί τε πύλαι καὶ χάλκεος οὐδός,
τόσσον ἔνερθ’ Ἀΐδεω ὅσον οὐρανός ἐστ’ ἀπὸ γαίης·
γνώσετ’ ἔπειθ’ ὅσον εἰμὶ θεῶν κάρτιστος ἁπάντων.
εἰ δ’ ἄγε πειρήσασθε θεοὶ ἵνα εἴδετε πάντες·
σειρὴν χρυσείην ἐξ οὐρανόθεν κρεμάσαντες
πάντές τ’ ἐξάπτεσθε θεοὶ πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι·

ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἂν ἐρύσαιτ’ ἐξ οὐρανόθεν πεδίονδε
Ζῆν’ ὕπατον μήστωρ’, οὐδ’ εἰ μάλα πολλὰ κάμοιτε.
ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ καὶ ἐγὼ πρόφρων ἐθέλοιμι ἐρύσσαι,
αὐτῇ κεν γαίῃ ἐρύσαιμ’ αὐτῇ τε θαλάσσῃ·
σειρὴν μέν κεν ἔπειτα περὶ ῥίον Οὐλύμποιο
δησαίμην, τὰ δέ κ’ αὖτε μετήορα πάντα γένοιτο.
τόσσον ἐγὼ περί τ’ εἰμὶ θεῶν περί τ’ εἴμ’ ἀνθρώπων.»
Ὣς ἔφαθ’, οἱ δ’ ἄρα πάντες ἀκὴν ἐγένοντο σιωπῇ
μῦθον ἀγασσάμενοι· μάλα γὰρ κρατερῶς ἀγόρευσεν.
ὀψὲ δὲ δὴ μετέειπε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
«ὦ πάτερ ἡμέτερε Κρονίδη ὕπατε κρειόντων
εὖ νυ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν ὅ τοι σθένος οὐκ ἐπιεικτόν·
ἀλλ’ ἔμπης Δαναῶν ὀλοφυρόμεθ’ αἰχμητάων,
οἵ κεν δὴ κακὸν οἶτον ἀναπλήσαντες ὄλωνται.
ἀλλ’ ἤτοι πολέμου μὲν ἀφεξόμεθ’ ὡς σὺ κελεύεις·
βουλὴν δ’ Ἀργείοις ὑποθησόμεθ’ ἥ τις ὀνήσει,
ὡς μὴ πάντες ὄλωνται ὀδυσσαμένοιο τεοῖο.»
Τὴν δ’ ἐπιμειδήσας προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·
«θάρσει Τριτογένεια φίλον τέκος· οὔ νύ τι θυμῷ
πρόφρονι μυθέομαι, ἐθέλω δέ τοι ἤπιος εἶναι.»
Ὣς εἰπὼν ὑπ’ ὄχεσφι τιτύσκετο χαλκόποδ’ ἵππω
ὠκυπέτα χρυσέῃσιν ἐθείρῃσιν κομόωντε,
χρυσὸν δ’ αὐτὸς ἔδυνε περὶ χροΐ, γέντο δ’ ἱμάσθλην
χρυσείην εὔτυκτον, ἑοῦ δ’ ἐπεβήσετο δίφρου,
μάστιξεν δ’ ἐλάαν· τὼ δ’ οὐκ ἀέκοντε πετέσθην
μεσσηγὺς γαίης τε καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος.
Ἴδην δ’ ἵκανεν πολυπίδακα μητέρα θηρῶν
Γάργαρον, ἔνθά τέ οἱ τέμενος βωμός τε θυήεις.
ἔνθ’ ἵππους ἔστησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε

λύσας ἐξ ὀχέων, κατὰ δ’ ἠέρα πουλὺν ἔχευεν.
αὐτὸς δ’ ἐν κορυφῇσι καθέζετο κύδεϊ γαίων,
εἰσορόων Τρώων τε πόλιν καὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν.
Οἱ δ’ ἄρα δεῖπνον ἕλοντο κάρη κομόωντες Ἀχαιοὶ
ῥίμφα κατὰ κλισίας, ἀπὸ δ’ αὐτοῦ θωρήσσοντο.
Τρῶες δ’ αὖθ’ ἑτέρωθεν ἀνὰ πτόλιν ὁπλίζοντο,
παυρότεροι· μέμασαν δὲ καὶ ὧς ὑσμῖνι μάχεσθαι
χρειοῖ ἀναγκαίῃ, πρό τε παίδων καὶ πρὸ γυναικῶν.
πᾶσαι δ’ ὠΐγνυντο πύλαι, ἐκ δ’ ἔσσυτο λαός,
πεζοί θ’ ἱππῆές τε· πολὺς δ’ ὀρυμαγδὸς ὀρώρει.
Οἱ δ’ ὅτε δή ῥ’ ἐς χῶρον ἕνα ξυνιόντες ἵκοντο,
σύν ῥ’ ἔβαλον ῥινούς, σὺν δ’ ἔγχεα καὶ μένε’ ἀνδρῶν
χαλκεοθωρήκων· ἀτὰρ ἀσπίδες ὀμφαλόεσσαι
ἔπληντ’ ἀλλήλῃσι, πολὺς δ’ ὀρυμαγδὸς ὀρώρει.
ἔνθα δ’ ἅμ’ οἰμωγή τε καὶ εὐχωλὴ πέλεν ἀνδρῶν
ὀλλύντων τε καὶ ὀλλυμένων, ῥέε δ’ αἵματι γαῖα.
Ὄφρα μὲν ἠὼς ἦν καὶ ἀέξετο ἱερὸν ἦμαρ,
τόφρα μάλ’ ἀμφοτέρων βέλε’ ἥπτετο, πῖπτε δὲ λαός.
ἦμος δ’ Ἠέλιος μέσον οὐρανὸν ἀμφιβεβήκει,
καὶ τότε δὴ χρύσεια πατὴρ ἐτίταινε τάλαντα·
ἐν δ’ ἐτίθει δύο κῆρε τανηλεγέος θανάτοιο,
Τρώων θ’ ἱπποδάμων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων,
ἕλκε δὲ μέσσα λαβών· ῥέπε δ’ αἴσιμον ἦμαρ Ἀχαιῶν.
αἱ μὲν Ἀχαιῶν κῆρες ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ
ἑζέσθην, Τρώων δὲ πρὸς οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἄερθεν·
αὐτὸς δ’ ἐξ Ἴδης μεγάλ’ ἔκτυπε, δαιόμενον δὲ
ἧκε σέλας μετὰ λαὸν Ἀχαιῶν· οἱ δὲ ἰδόντες
θάμβησαν, καὶ πάντας ὑπὸ χλωρὸν δέος εἷλεν.
Ἔνθ’ οὔτ’ Ἰδομενεὺς τλῆ μίμνειν οὔτ’ Ἀγαμέμνων,

οὔτε δύ’ Αἴαντες μενέτην θεράποντες Ἄρηος·
Νέστωρ οἶος ἔμιμνε Γερήνιος οὖρος Ἀχαιῶν
οὔ τι ἑκών, ἀλλ’ ἵππος ἐτείρετο, τὸν βάλεν ἰῷ
δῖος Ἀλέξανδρος Ἑλένης πόσις ἠϋκόμοιο
ἄκρην κὰκ κορυφήν, ὅθι τε πρῶται τρίχες ἵππων
κρανίῳ ἐμπεφύασι, μάλιστα δὲ καίριόν ἐστιν.
ἀλγήσας δ’ ἀνέπαλτο, βέλος δ’ εἰς ἐγκέφαλον δῦ,
σὺν δ’ ἵππους ἐτάραξε κυλινδόμενος περὶ χαλκῷ.
ὄφρ’ ὁ γέρων ἵπποιο παρηορίας ἀπέταμνε
φασγάνῳ ἀΐσσων, τόφρ’ Ἕκτορος ὠκέες ἵπποι
ἦλθον ἀν’ ἰωχμὸν θρασὺν ἡνίοχον φορέοντες
Ἕκτορα· καί νύ κεν ἔνθ’ ὁ γέρων ἀπὸ θυμὸν ὄλεσσεν
εἰ μὴ ἄρ’ ὀξὺ νόησε βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Διομήδης·
σμερδαλέον δ’ ἐβόησεν ἐποτρύνων Ὀδυσῆα·
«διογενὲς Λαερτιάδη πολυμήχαν’ Ὀδυσσεῦ
πῇ φεύγεις μετὰ νῶτα βαλὼν κακὸς ὣς ἐν ὁμίλῳ;
μή τίς τοι φεύγοντι μεταφρένῳ ἐν δόρυ πήξῃ·
ἀλλὰ μέν’ ὄφρα γέροντος ἀπώσομεν ἄγριον ἄνδρα.»
Ὣς ἔφατ’, οὐδ’ ἐσάκουσε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
ἀλλὰ παρήϊξεν κοίλας ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν.
Τυδεΐδης δ’ αὐτός περ ἐὼν προμάχοισιν ἐμίχθη,
στῆ δὲ πρόσθ’ ἵππων Νηληϊάδαο γέροντος,
καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
«ὦ γέρον ἦ μάλα δή σε νέοι τείρουσι μαχηταί,
σὴ δὲ βίη λέλυται, χαλεπὸν δέ σε γῆρας ὀπάζει,
ἠπεδανὸς δέ νύ τοι θεράπων, βραδέες δέ τοι ἵπποι.
ἀλλ’ ἄγ’ ἐμῶν ὀχέων ἐπιβήσεο, ὄφρα ἴδηαι
οἷοι Τρώϊοι ἵπποι ἐπιστάμενοι πεδίοιο
κραιπνὰ μάλ’ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα διωκέμεν ἠδὲ φέβεσθαι,
οὕς ποτ’ ἀπ’ Αἰνείαν ἑλόμην μήστωρε φόβοιο.

τούτω μὲν θεράποντε κομείτων, τώδε δὲ νῶϊ
Τρωσὶν ἐφ’ ἱπποδάμοις ἰθύνομεν, ὄφρα καὶ Ἕκτωρ
εἴσεται εἰ καὶ ἐμὸν δόρυ μαίνεται ἐν παλάμῃσιν.»
Ὣς ἔφατ’, οὐδ’ ἀπίθησε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ.
Νεστορέας μὲν ἔπειθ’ ἵππους θεράποντε κομείτην
ἴφθιμοι Σθένελός τε καὶ Εὐρυμέδων ἀγαπήνωρ.
τὼ δ’ εἰς ἀμφοτέρω Διομήδεος ἅρματα βήτην·
Νέστωρ δ’ ἐν χείρεσσι λάβ’ ἡνία σιγαλόεντα,
μάστιξεν δ’ ἵππους· τάχα δ’ Ἕκτορος ἄγχι γένοντο.
τοῦ δ’ ἰθὺς μεμαῶτος ἀκόντισε Τυδέος υἱός·
καὶ τοῦ μέν ῥ’ ἀφάμαρτεν, ὃ δ’ ἡνίοχον θεράποντα
υἱὸν ὑπερθύμου Θηβαίου Ἠνιοπῆα,
ἵππων ἡνί’ ἔχοντα βάλε στῆθος παρὰ μαζόν.
ἤριπε δ’ ἐξ ὀχέων, ὑπερώησαν δέ οἱ ἵπποι
ὠκύποδες· τοῦ δ’ αὖθι λύθη ψυχή τε μένος τε.
Ἕκτορα δ’ αἰνὸν ἄχος πύκασε φρένας ἡνιόχοιο·
τὸν μὲν ἔπειτ’ εἴασε καὶ ἀχνύμενός περ ἑταίρου,
κεῖσθαι, ὃ δ’ ἡνίοχον μέθεπε θρασύν· οὐδ’ ἄρ’ ἔτι δὴν
ἵππω δευέσθην σημάντορος· αἶψα γὰρ εὗρεν
Ἰφιτίδην Ἀρχεπτόλεμον θρασύν, ὅν ῥα τόθ’ ἵππων
ὠκυπόδων ἐπέβησε, δίδου δέ οἱ ἡνία χερσίν.
Ἔνθά κε λοιγὸς ἔην καὶ ἀμήχανα ἔργα γένοντο,
καί νύ κε σήκασθεν κατὰ Ἴλιον ἠΰτε ἄρνες,
εἰ μὴ ἄρ’ ὀξὺ νόησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·
βροντήσας δ’ ἄρα δεινὸν ἀφῆκ’ ἀργῆτα κεραυνόν,
κὰδ δὲ πρόσθ’ ἵππων Διομήδεος ἧκε χαμᾶζε·
δεινὴ δὲ φλὸξ ὦρτο θεείου καιομένοιο,
τὼ δ’ ἵππω δείσαντε καταπτήτην ὑπ’ ὄχεσφι·

Νέστορα δ’ ἐκ χειρῶν φύγον ἡνία σιγαλόεντα,
δεῖσε δ’ ὅ γ’ ἐν θυμῷ, Διομήδεα δὲ προσέειπε·
«Τυδεΐδη ἄγε δ’ αὖτε φόβον δ’ ἔχε μώνυχας ἵππους.
ἦ οὐ γιγνώσκεις ὅ τοι ἐκ Διὸς οὐχ ἕπετ’ ἀλκή;
νῦν μὲν γὰρ τούτῳ Κρονίδης Ζεὺς κῦδος ὀπάζει
σήμερον· ὕστερον αὖτε καὶ ἡμῖν, αἴ κ’ ἐθέλῃσι,
δώσει· ἀνὴρ δέ κεν οὔ τι Διὸς νόον εἰρύσσαιτο
οὐδὲ μάλ’ ἴφθιμος, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερός ἐστι.»
Τὸν δ’ ἠμείβετ’ ἔπειτα βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Διομήδης·
«ναὶ δὴ ταῦτά γε πάντα γέρον κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπες·
ἀλλὰ τόδ’ αἰνὸν ἄχος κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἱκάνει·
Ἕκτωρ γάρ ποτε φήσει ἐνὶ Τρώεσσ’ ἀγορεύων·
“Τυδεΐδης ὑπ’ ἐμεῖο φοβεύμενος ἵκετο νῆας.”
ὥς ποτ’ ἀπειλήσει· τότε μοι χάνοι εὐρεῖα χθών.»
Τὸν δ’ ἠμείβετ’ ἔπειτα Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ·
«ὤ μοι Τυδέος υἱὲ δαΐφρονος, οἷον ἔειπες.
εἴ περ γάρ σ’ Ἕκτωρ γε κακὸν καὶ ἀνάλκιδα φήσει,
ἀλλ’ οὐ πείσονται Τρῶες καὶ Δαρδανίωνες
καὶ Τρώων ἄλοχοι μεγαθύμων ἀσπιστάων,
τάων ἐν κονίῃσι βάλες θαλεροὺς παρακοίτας.»
Ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας φύγαδε τράπε μώνυχας ἵππους
αὖτις ἀν’ ἰωχμόν· ἐπὶ δὲ Τρῶές τε καὶ Ἕκτωρ
ἠχῇ θεσπεσίῃ βέλεα στονόεντα χέοντο.
τῷ δ’ ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἄϋσε μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·
«Τυδεΐδη περὶ μέν σε τίον Δαναοὶ ταχύπωλοι
ἕδρῃ τε κρέασίν τε ἰδὲ πλείοις δεπάεσσι·
νῦν δέ σ’ ἀτιμήσουσι· γυναικὸς ἄρ’ ἀντὶ τέτυξο.
ἔῤῥε κακὴ γλήνη, ἐπεὶ οὐκ εἴξαντος ἐμεῖο
πύργων ἡμετέρων ἐπιβήσεαι, οὐδὲ γυναῖκας
ἄξεις ἐν νήεσσι· πάρος τοι δαίμονα δώσω.»

Ὣς φάτο, Τυδεΐδης δὲ διάνδιχα μερμήριξεν,
ἵππους τε στρέψαι καὶ ἐναντίβιον μαχέσασθαι.
τρὶς μὲν μερμήριξε κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν,
τρὶς δ’ ἄρ’ ἀπ’ Ἰδαίων ὀρέων κτύπε μητίετα Ζεὺς
σῆμα τιθεὶς Τρώεσσι μάχης ἑτεραλκέα νίκην.
Ἕκτωρ δὲ Τρώεσσιν ἐκέκλετο μακρὸν ἀΰσας·
«Τρῶες καὶ Λύκιοι καὶ Δάρδανοι ἀγχιμαχηταὶ
ἀνέρες ἔστε φίλοι, μνήσασθε δὲ θούριδος ἀλκῆς.
γιγνώσκω δ’ ὅτι μοι πρόφρων κατένευσε Κρονίων
νίκην καὶ μέγα κῦδος, ἀτὰρ Δαναοῖσί γε πῆμα·
νήπιοι οἳ ἄρα δὴ τάδε τείχεα μηχανόωντο
ἀβλήχρ’ οὐδενόσωρα· τὰ δ’ οὐ μένος ἁμὸν ἐρύξει·
ἵπποι δὲ ῥέα τάφρον ὑπερθορέονται ὀρυκτήν.
ἀλλ’ ὅτε κεν δὴ νηυσὶν ἔπι γλαφυρῇσι γένωμαι,
μνημοσύνη τις ἔπειτα πυρὸς δηΐοιο γενέσθω,
ὡς πυρὶ νῆας ἐνιπρήσω, κτείνω δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς
Ἀργείους παρὰ νηυσὶν ἀτυζομένους ὑπὸ καπνοῦ.»
Ὣς εἰπὼν ἵπποισιν ἐκέκλετο φώνησέν τε·
«Ξάνθέ τε καὶ σὺ Πόδαργε καὶ Αἴθων Λάμπέ τε δῖε,
νῦν μοι τὴν κομιδὴν ἀποτίνετον, ἣν μάλα πολλὴν
Ἀνδρομάχη θυγάτηρ μεγαλήτορος Ἠετίωνος
ὑμῖν πὰρ προτέροισι μελίφρονα πυρὸν ἔθηκεν
οἶνόν τ’ ἐγκεράσασα πιεῖν, ὅτε θυμὸς ἀνώγοι,
ἢ ἐμοί, ὅς πέρ οἱ θαλερὸς πόσις εὔχομαι εἶναι.
ἀλλ’ ἐφομαρτεῖτον καὶ σπεύδετον ὄφρα λάβωμεν
ἀσπίδα Νεστορέην, τῆς νῦν κλέος οὐρανὸν ἵκει
πᾶσαν χρυσείην ἔμεναι, κανόνας τε καὶ αὐτήν,
αὐτὰρ ἀπ’ ὤμοιιν Διομήδεος ἱπποδάμοιο
δαιδάλεον θώρηκα, τὸν Ἥφαιστος κάμε τεύχων.

εἰ τούτω κε λάβοιμεν, ἐελποίμην κεν Ἀχαιοὺς
αὐτονυχὶ νηῶν ἐπιβησέμεν ὠκειάων.»
Ὣς ἔφατ’ εὐχόμενος, νεμέσησε δὲ πότνια Ἥρη,
σείσατο δ’ εἰνὶ θρόνῳ, ἐλέλιξε δὲ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον,
καί ῥα Ποσειδάωνα μέγαν θεὸν ἀντίον ηὔδα·
«ὢ πόποι ἐννοσίγαι’ εὐρυσθενές, οὐδέ νυ σοί περ
ὀλλυμένων Δαναῶν ὀλοφύρεται ἐν φρεσὶ θυμός.
οἳ δέ τοι εἰς Ἑλίκην τε καὶ Αἰγὰς δῶρ’ ἀνάγουσι
πολλά τε καὶ χαρίεντα· σὺ δέ σφισι βούλεο νίκην.
εἴ περ γάρ κ’ ἐθέλοιμεν, ὅσοι Δαναοῖσιν ἀρωγοί,
Τρῶας ἀπώσασθαι καὶ ἐρυκέμεν εὐρύοπα Ζῆν,
αὐτοῦ κ’ ἔνθ’ ἀκάχοιτο καθήμενος οἶος ἐν Ἴδῃ.»
Τὴν δὲ μέγ’ ὀχθήσας προσέφη κρείων ἐνοσίχθων·
«Ἥρη ἀπτοεπὲς ποῖον τὸν μῦθον ἔειπες.
οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγ’ ἐθέλοιμι Διὶ Κρονίωνι μάχεσθαι
ἡμέας τοὺς ἄλλους, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερός ἐστιν.»
Ὣς οἳ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον·
τῶν δ’ ὅσον ἐκ νηῶν ἀπὸ πύργου τάφρος ἔεργε,
πλῆθεν ὁμῶς ἵππων τε καὶ ἀνδρῶν ἀσπιστάων
εἰλομένων· εἴλει δὲ θοῷ ἀτάλαντος Ἄρηϊ
Ἕκτωρ Πριαμίδης, ὅτε οἱ Ζεὺς κῦδος ἔδωκε.
καί νύ κ’ ἐνέπρησεν πυρὶ κηλέῳ νῆας ἐΐσας,
εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκ’ Ἀγαμέμνονι πότνια Ἥρη
αὐτῷ ποιπνύσαντι θοῶς ὀτρῦναι Ἀχαιούς.
βῆ δ’ ἰέναι παρά τε κλισίας καὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν
πορφύρεον μέγα φᾶρος ἔχων ἐν χειρὶ παχείῃ,
στῆ δ’ ἐπ’ Ὀδυσσῆος μεγακήτεϊ νηῒ μελαίνῃ,
ἥ ῥ’ ἐν μεσσάτῳ ἔσκε γεγωνέμεν ἀμφοτέρωσε,
ἠμὲν ἐπ’ Αἴαντος κλισίας Τελαμωνιάδαο

ἠδ’ ἐπ’ Ἀχιλλῆος, τοί ῥ’ ἔσχατα νῆας ἐΐσας
εἴρυσαν, ἠνορέῃ πίσυνοι καὶ κάρτεϊ χειρῶν·
ἤϋσεν δὲ διαπρύσιον Δαναοῖσι γεγωνώς·
«αἰδὼς Ἀργεῖοι, κάκ’ ἐλέγχεα, εἶδος ἀγητοί·
πῇ ἔβαν εὐχωλαί, ὅτε δὴ φάμεν εἶναι ἄριστοι,
ἃς ὁπότ’ ἐν Λήμνῳ κενεαυχέες ἠγοράασθε,
ἔσθοντες κρέα πολλὰ βοῶν ὀρθοκραιράων
πίνοντες κρητῆρας ἐπιστεφέας οἴνοιο,
Τρώων ἄνθ’ ἑκατόν τε διηκοσίων τε ἕκαστος
στήσεσθ’ ἐν πολέμῳ· νῦν δ’ οὐδ’ ἑνὸς ἄξιοί εἰμεν
Ἕκτορος, ὃς τάχα νῆας ἐνιπρήσει πυρὶ κηλέῳ.
Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἦ ῥά τιν’ ἤδη ὑπερμενέων βασιλήων
τῇδ’ ἄτῃ ἄασας καί μιν μέγα κῦδος ἀπηύρας;
οὐ μὲν δή ποτέ φημι τεὸν περικαλλέα βωμὸν
νηῒ πολυκλήϊδι παρελθέμεν ἐνθάδε ἔῤῥων,
ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ πᾶσι βοῶν δημὸν καὶ μηρί’ ἔκηα
ἱέμενος Τροίην εὐτείχεον ἐξαλαπάξαι.
ἀλλὰ Ζεῦ τόδε πέρ μοι ἐπικρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·
αὐτοὺς δή περ ἔασον ὑπεκφυγέειν καὶ ἀλύξαι,
μηδ’ οὕτω Τρώεσσιν ἔα δάμνασθαι Ἀχαιούς.»
Ὣς φάτο, τὸν δὲ πατὴρ ὀλοφύρατο δάκρυ χέοντα,
νεῦσε δέ οἱ λαὸν σόον ἔμμεναι οὐδ’ ἀπολέσθαι.
αὐτίκα δ’ αἰετὸν ἧκε τελειότατον πετεηνῶν,
νεβρὸν ἔχοντ’ ὀνύχεσσι τέκος ἐλάφοιο ταχείης·
πὰρ δὲ Διὸς βωμῷ περικαλλέϊ κάββαλε νεβρόν,
ἔνθα πανομφαίῳ Ζηνὶ ῥέζεσκον Ἀχαιοί.
οἳ δ’ ὡς οὖν εἴδονθ’ ὅ τ’ ἄρ’ ἐκ Διὸς ἤλυθεν ὄρνις,
μᾶλλον ἐπὶ Τρώεσσι θόρον, μνήσαντο δὲ χάρμης.

Ἔνθ’ οὔ τις πρότερος Δαναῶν πολλῶν περ ἐόντων
εὔξατο Τυδεΐδαο πάρος σχέμεν ὠκέας ἵππους
τάφρου τ’ ἐξελάσαι καὶ ἐναντίβιον μαχέσασθαι,
ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρῶτος Τρώων ἕλεν ἄνδρα κορυστὴν
Φραδμονίδην Ἀγέλαον· ὃ μὲν φύγαδ’ ἔτραπεν ἵππους·
τῷ δὲ μεταστρεφθέντι μεταφρένῳ ἐν δόρυ πῆξεν
ὤμων μεσσηγύς, διὰ δὲ στήθεσφιν ἔλασσεν·
ἤριπε δ’ ἐξ ὀχέων, ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχε’ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ.
Τὸν δὲ μετ’ Ἀτρεΐδαι Ἀγαμέμνων καὶ Μενέλαος,
τοῖσι δ’ ἐπ’ Αἴαντες θοῦριν ἐπιειμένοι ἀλκήν,
τοῖσι δ’ ἐπ’ Ἰδομενεὺς καὶ ὀπάων Ἰδομενῆος
Μηριόνης ἀτάλαντος Ἐνυαλίῳ ἀνδρειφόντῃ,
τοῖσι δ’ ἐπ’ Εὐρύπυλος Εὐαίμονος ἀγλαὸς υἱός·
Τεῦκρος δ’ εἴνατος ἦλθε παλίντονα τόξα τιταίνων,
στῆ δ’ ἄρ’ ὑπ’ Αἴαντος σάκεϊ Τελαμωνιάδαο.
ἔνθ’ Αἴας μὲν ὑπεξέφερεν σάκος· αὐτὰρ ὅ γ’ ἥρως
παπτήνας, ἐπεὶ ἄρ τιν’ ὀϊστεύσας ἐν ὁμίλῳ
βεβλήκοι, ὃ μὲν αὖθι πεσὼν ἀπὸ θυμὸν ὄλεσσεν,
αὐτὰρ ὃ αὖτις ἰὼν πάϊς ὣς ὑπὸ μητέρα δύσκεν
εἰς Αἴανθ’· ὃ δέ μιν σάκεϊ κρύπτασκε φαεινῷ.
Ἔνθα τίνα πρῶτον Τρώων ἕλε Τεῦκρος ἀμύμων;
Ὀρσίλοχον μὲν πρῶτα καὶ Ὄρμενον ἠδ’ Ὀφελέστην
Δαίτορά τε Χρομίον τε καὶ ἀντίθεον Λυκοφόντην
καὶ Πολυαιμονίδην Ἀμοπάονα καὶ Μελάνιππον,
πάντας ἐπασσυτέρους πέλασε χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ.
τὸν δὲ ἰδὼν γήθησεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων
τόξου ἄπο κρατεροῦ Τρώων ὀλέκοντα φάλαγγας·
στῆ δὲ παρ’ αὐτὸν ἰὼν καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπε·
«Τεῦκρε φίλη κεφαλή, Τελαμώνιε κοίρανε λαῶν
βάλλ’ οὕτως, αἴ κέν τι φόως Δαναοῖσι γένηαι
πατρί τε σῷ Τελαμῶνι, ὅ σ ἔτρεφε τυτθὸν ἐόντα,

καί σε νόθον περ ἐόντα κομίσσατο ᾧ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ·
τὸν καὶ τηλόθ’ ἐόντα ἐϋκλείης ἐπίβησον.
σοὶ δ’ ἐγὼ ἐξερέω ὡς καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται·
αἴ κέν μοι δώῃ Ζεύς τ’ αἰγίοχος καὶ Ἀθήνη
Ἰλίου ἐξαλαπάξαι ἐϋκτίμενον πτολίεθρον,
πρώτῳ τοι μετ’ ἐμὲ πρεσβήϊον ἐν χερὶ θήσω,
ἢ τρίποδ’ ἠὲ δύω ἵππους αὐτοῖσιν ὄχεσφιν
ἠὲ γυναῖχ’, ἥ κέν τοι ὁμὸν λέχος εἰσαναβαίνοι.»
Τὸν δ’ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσεφώνεε Τεῦκρος ἀμύμων·
«Ἀτρεΐδη κύδιστε τί με σπεύδοντα καὶ αὐτὸν
ὀτρύνεις; οὐ μέν τοι ὅση δύναμίς γε πάρεστι
παύομαι, ἀλλ’ ἐξ οὗ προτὶ Ἴλιον ὠσάμεθ’ αὐτούς,
ἐκ τοῦ δὴ τόξοισι δεδεγμένος ἄνδρας ἐναίρω.
ὀκτὼ δὴ προέηκα τανυγλώχινας ὀϊστούς,
πάντες δ’ ἐν χροῒ πῆχθεν ἀρηϊθόων αἰζηῶν·
τοῦτον δ’ οὐ δύναμαι βαλέειν κύνα λυσσητῆρα.»
Ἦ ῥα καὶ ἄλλον ὀϊστὸν ἀπὸ νευρῆφιν ἴαλλεν
Ἕκτορος ἀντικρύ, βαλέειν δέ ἑ ἵετο θυμός·
καὶ τοῦ μέν ῥ’ ἀφάμαρθ’, ὃ δ’ ἀμύμονα Γοργυθίωνα
υἱὸν ἐῢν Πριάμοιο κατὰ στῆθος βάλεν ἰῷ,
τόν ῥ’ ἐξ Αἰσύμηθεν ὀπυιομένη τέκε μήτηρ
καλὴ Καστιάνειρα δέμας ἐϊκυῖα θεῇσι.
μήκων δ’ ὡς ἑτέρωσε κάρη βάλεν, ἥ τ’ ἐνὶ κήπῳ,
καρπῷ βριθομένη νοτίῃσί τε εἰαρινῇσιν,
ὣς ἑτέρωσ’ ἤμυσε κάρη πήληκι βαρυνθέν.
Τεῦκρος δ’ ἄλλον ὀϊστὸν ἀπὸ νευρῆφιν ἴαλλεν
Ἕκτορος ἀντικρύ, βαλέειν δέ ἑ ἵετο θυμός.
ἀλλ’ ὅ γε καὶ τόθ’ ἅμαρτε· παρέσφηλεν γὰρ Ἀπόλλων·
ἀλλ’ Ἀρχεπτόλεμον θρασὺν Ἕκτορος ἡνιοχῆα,

ἱέμενον πόλεμον δὲ βάλε στῆθος παρὰ μαζόν·
ἤριπε δ’ ἐξ ὀχέων, ὑπερώησαν δέ οἱ ἵπποι
ὠκύποδες· τοῦ δ’ αὖθι λύθη ψυχή τε μένος τε.
Ἕκτορα δ’ αἰνὸν ἄχος πύκασε φρένας ἡνιόχοιο·
τὸν μὲν ἔπειτ’ εἴασε καὶ ἀχνύμενός περ ἑταίρου,
Κεβριόνην δ’ ἐκέλευσεν ἀδελφεὸν ἐγγὺς ἐόντα
ἵππων ἡνί’ ἑλεῖν· ὃ δ’ ἄρ’ οὐκ ἀπίθησεν ἀκούσας.
αὐτὸς δ’ ἐκ δίφροιο χαμαὶ θόρε παμφανόωντος
σμερδαλέα ἰάχων· ὃ δὲ χερμάδιον λάβε χειρί,
βῆ δ’ ἰθὺς Τεύκρου, βαλέειν δέ ἑ θυμὸς ἀνώγει.
ἤτοι ὃ μὲν φαρέτρης ἐξείλετο πικρὸν ὀϊστόν,
θῆκε δ’ ἐπὶ νευρῇ· τὸν δ’ αὖ κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ
αὐερύοντα παρ’ ὦμον, ὅθι κληῒς ἀποέργει
αὐχένα τε στῆθός τε, μάλιστα δὲ καίριόν ἐστι,
τῇ ῥ’ ἐπὶ οἷ μεμαῶτα βάλεν λίθῳ ὀκριόεντι,
ῥῆξε δέ οἱ νευρήν· νάρκησε δὲ χεὶρ ἐπὶ καρπῷ,
στῆ δὲ γνὺξ ἐριπών, τόξον δέ οἱ ἔκπεσε χειρός.
Αἴας δ’ οὐκ ἀμέλησε κασιγνήτοιο πεσόντος,
ἀλλὰ θέων περίβη καί οἱ σάκος ἀμφεκάλυψε.
τὸν μὲν ἔπειθ’ ὑποδύντε δύω ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι
Μηκιστεὺς Ἐχίοιο πάϊς καὶ δῖος Ἀλάστωρ
νῆας ἔπι γλαφυρὰς φερέτην βαρέα στενάχοντα.
Ἂψ δ’ αὖτις Τρώεσσιν Ὀλύμπιος ἐν μένος ὦρσεν·
οἳ δ’ ἰθὺς τάφροιο βαθείης ὦσαν Ἀχαιούς·
Ἕκτωρ δ’ ἐν πρώτοισι κίε σθένεϊ βλεμεαίνων.
ὡς δ’ ὅτε τίς τε κύων συὸς ἀγρίου ἠὲ λέοντος
ἅπτηται κατόπισθε ποσὶν ταχέεσσι διώκων
ἰσχία τε γλουτούς τε, ἑλισσόμενόν τε δοκεύει,
ὣς Ἕκτωρ ὤπαζε κάρη κομόωντας Ἀχαιούς,
αἰὲν ἀποκτείνων τὸν ὀπίστατον· οἳ δὲ φέβοντο.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ διά τε σκόλοπας καὶ τάφρον ἔβησαν
φεύγοντες, πολλοὶ δὲ δάμεν Τρώων ὑπὸ χερσίν,
οἳ μὲν δὴ παρὰ νηυσὶν ἐρητύοντο μένοντες,
ἀλλήλοισί τε κεκλόμενοι καὶ πᾶσι θεοῖσι
χεῖρας ἀνίσχοντες μεγάλ’ εὐχετόωντο ἕκαστος·
Ἕκτωρ δ’ ἀμφιπεριστρώφα καλλίτριχας ἵππους
Γοργοῦς ὄμματ’ ἔχων ἠδὲ βροτολοιγοῦ Ἄρηος.
Τοὺς δὲ ἰδοῦσ’ ἐλέησε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη,
αἶψα δ’ Ἀθηναίην ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
«ὢ πόποι αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος οὐκέτι νῶϊ
ὀλλυμένων Δαναῶν κεκαδησόμεθ’ ὑστάτιόν περ;
οἵ κεν δὴ κακὸν οἶτον ἀναπλήσαντες ὄλωνται
ἀνδρὸς ἑνὸς ῥιπῇ, ὃ δὲ μαίνεται οὐκέτ’ ἀνεκτῶς
Ἕκτωρ Πριαμίδης, καὶ δὴ κακὰ πολλὰ ἔοργε.»
Τὴν δ’ αὖτε προσέειπε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
«καὶ λίην οὗτός γε μένος θυμόν τ’ ὀλέσειε
χερσὶν ὑπ’ Ἀργείων φθίμενος ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ·
ἀλλὰ πατὴρ οὑμὸς φρεσὶ μαίνεται οὐκ ἀγαθῇσι
σχέτλιος, αἰὲν ἀλιτρός, ἐμῶν μενέων ἀπερωεύς·
οὐδέ τι τῶν μέμνηται, ὅ οἱ μάλα πολλάκις υἱὸν
τειρόμενον σώεσκον ὑπ’ Εὐρυσθῆος ἀέθλων.
ἤτοι ὃ μὲν κλαίεσκε πρὸς οὐρανόν, αὐτὰρ ἐμὲ Ζεὺς
τῷ ἐπαλεξήσουσαν ἀπ’ οὐρανόθεν προΐαλλεν.
εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ τάδε ᾔδε’ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ πευκαλίμῃσιν
εὖτέ μιν εἰς Ἀΐδαο πυλάρταο προὔπεμψεν
ἐξ Ἐρέβευς ἄξοντα κύνα στυγεροῦ Ἀΐδαο,
οὐκ ἂν ὑπεξέφυγε Στυγὸς ὕδατος αἰπὰ ῥέεθρα.
νῦν δ’ ἐμὲ μὲν στυγέει, Θέτιδος δ’ ἐξήνυσε βουλάς,
ἥ οἱ γούνατ’ ἔκυσσε καὶ ἔλλαβε χειρὶ γενείου,
λισσομένη τιμῆσαι Ἀχιλλῆα πτολίπορθον.
ἔσται μὰν ὅτ’ ἂν αὖτε φίλην γλαυκώπιδα εἴπῃ.

ἀλλὰ σὰ μὲν νῦν νῶϊν ἐπέντυε μώνυχας ἵππους,
ὄφρ’ ἂν ἐγὼ καταδῦσα Διὸς δόμον αἰγιόχοιο
τεύχεσιν ἐς πόλεμον θωρήξομαι, ὄφρα ἴδωμαι
ἢ νῶϊ Πριάμοιο πάϊς κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ
γηθήσει προφανέντε ἀνὰ πτολέμοιο γεφύρας,
ἦ τις καὶ Τρώων κορέει κύνας ἠδ’ οἰωνοὺς
δημῷ καὶ σάρκεσσι, πεσὼν ἐπὶ νηυσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.»
Ὣς ἔφατ’, οὐδ’ ἀπίθησε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη.
ἣ μὲν ἐποιχομένη χρυσάμπυκας ἔντυεν ἵππους
Ἥρη πρέσβα θεὰ θυγάτηρ μεγάλοιο Κρόνοιο·
αὐτὰρ Ἀθηναίη κούρη Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο
πέπλον μὲν κατέχευεν ἑανὸν πατρὸς ἐπ’ οὔδει
ποικίλον, ὅν ῥ’ αὐτὴ ποιήσατο καὶ κάμε χερσίν,
ἣ δὲ χιτῶν’ ἐνδῦσα Διὸς νεφεληγερέταο
τεύχεσιν ἐς πόλεμον θωρήσσετο δακρυόεντα.
ἐς δ’ ὄχεα φλόγεα ποσὶ βήσετο, λάζετο δ’ ἔγχος
βριθὺ μέγα στιβαρόν, τῷ δάμνησι στίχας ἀνδρῶν
ἡρώων, τοῖσίν τε κοτέσσεται ὀβριμοπάτρη.
Ἥρη δὲ μάστιγι θοῶς ἐπεμαίετ’ ἄρ’ ἵππους·
αὐτόμαται δὲ πύλαι μύκον οὐρανοῦ ἃς ἔχον Ὧραι,
τῇς ἐπιτέτραπται μέγας οὐρανὸς Οὔλυμπός τε
ἠμὲν ἀνακλῖναι πυκινὸν νέφος ἠδ’ ἐπιθεῖναι.
τῇ ῥα δι’ αὐτάων κεντρηνεκέας ἔχον ἵππους.
Ζεὺς δὲ πατὴρ Ἴδηθεν ἐπεὶ ἴδε χώσατ’ ἄρ’ αἰνῶς,
Ἶριν δ’ ὄτρυνε χρυσόπτερον ἀγγελέουσαν·
«βάσκ’ ἴθι Ἶρι ταχεῖα, πάλιν τρέπε μηδ’ ἔα ἄντην
ἔρχεσθ’· οὐ γὰρ καλὰ συνοισόμεθα πτόλεμον δέ.
ὧδε γὰρ ἐξερέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται·
γυιώσω μέν σφωϊν ὑφ’ ἅρμασιν ὠκέας ἵππους,

αὐτὰς δ’ ἐκ δίφρου βαλέω κατά θ’ ἅρματα ἄξω·
οὐδέ κεν ἐς δεκάτους περιτελλομένους ἐνιαυτοὺς
ἕλκε’ ἀπαλθήσεσθον, ἅ κεν μάρπτῃσι κεραυνός·
ὄφρα ἰδῇ γλαυκῶπις ὅτ’ ἂν ᾧ πατρὶ μάχηται.
Ἥρῃ δ’ οὔ τι τόσον νεμεσίζομαι οὐδὲ χολοῦμαι·
αἰεὶ γάρ μοι ἔωθεν ἐνικλᾶν ὅττί κεν εἴπω.»
Ὣς ἔφατ’, ὦρτο δὲ Ἶρις ἀελλόπος ἀγγελέουσα,
βῆ δ’ ἐξ Ἰδαίων ὀρέων ἐς μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον.
πρώτῃσιν δὲ πύλῃσι πολυπτύχου Οὐλύμποιο
ἀντομένη κατέρυκε, Διὸς δέ σφ’ ἔννεπε μῦθον·
«πῇ μέματον; τί σφῶϊν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ μαίνεται ἦτορ;
οὐκ ἐάᾳ Κρονίδης ἐπαμυνέμεν Ἀργείοισιν.
ὧδε γὰρ ἠπείλησε Κρόνου πάϊς, ᾗ τελέει περ,
γυιώσειν μὲν σφῶϊν ὑφ’ ἅρμασιν ὠκέας ἵππους,
αὐτὰς δ’ ἐκ δίφρου βαλέειν κατά θ’ ἅρματα ἄξειν·
οὐδέ κεν ἐς δεκάτους περιτελλομένους ἐνιαυτοὺς
ἕλκε’ ἀπαλθήσεσθον, ἅ κεν μάρπτῃσι κεραυνός·
ὄφρα ἰδῇς γλαυκῶπι ὅτ’ ἂν σῷ πατρὶ μάχηαι.
Ἥρῃ δ’ οὔ τι τόσον νεμεσίζεται οὐδὲ χολοῦται·
αἰεὶ γάρ οἱ ἔωθεν ἐνικλᾶν ὅττι κεν εἴπῃ·
ἀλλὰ σύ γ’ αἰνοτάτη κύον ἀδεὲς εἰ ἐτεόν γε
τολμήσεις Διὸς ἄντα πελώριον ἔγχος ἀεῖραι.»
Ἣ μὲν ἄρ’ ὣς εἰποῦσ’ ἀπέβη πόδας ὠκέα Ἶρις,
αὐτὰρ Ἀθηναίην Ἥρη πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·
«ὢ πόποι αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος, οὐκέτ’ ἔγωγε
νῶϊ ἐῶ Διὸς ἄντα βροτῶν ἕνεκα πτολεμίζειν·
τῶν ἄλλος μὲν ἀποφθίσθω, ἄλλος δὲ βιώτω,
ὅς κε τύχῃ· κεῖνος δὲ τὰ ἃ φρονέων ἐνὶ θυμῷ
Τρωσί τε καὶ Δαναοῖσι δικαζέτω, ὡς ἐπιεικές.»

Ὣς ἄρα φωνήσασα πάλιν τρέπε μώνυχας ἵππους·
τῇσιν δ’ Ὧραι μὲν λῦσαν καλλίτριχας ἵππους,
καὶ τοὺς μὲν κατέδησαν ἐπ’ ἀμβροσίῃσι κάπῃσιν,
ἅρματα δ’ ἔκλιναν πρὸς ἐνώπια παμφανόωντα·
αὐταὶ δὲ χρυσέοισιν ἐπὶ κλισμοῖσι κάθιζον
μίγδ’ ἄλλοισι θεοῖσι, φίλον τετιημέναι ἦτορ.
Ζεὺς δὲ πατὴρ Ἴδηθεν ἐΰτροχον ἅρμα καὶ ἵππους
Οὔλυμπον δὲ δίωκε, θεῶν δ’ ἐξίκετο θώκους.
τῷ δὲ καὶ ἵππους μὲν λῦσε κλυτὸς ἐννοσίγαιος,
ἅρματα δ’ ἂμ βωμοῖσι τίθει κατὰ λῖτα πετάσσας·
αὐτὸς δὲ χρύσειον ἐπὶ θρόνον εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς
ἕζετο, τῷ δ’ ὑπὸ ποσσὶ μέγας πελεμίζετ’ Ὄλυμπος.
αἳ δ’ οἶαι Διὸς ἀμφὶς Ἀθηναίη τε καὶ Ἥρη
ἥσθην, οὐδέ τί μιν προσεφώνεον οὐδ’ ἐρέοντο·
αὐτὰρ ὃ ἔγνω ᾗσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φώνησέν τε·
«τίφθ’ οὕτω τετίησθον Ἀθηναίη τε καὶ Ἥρη;
οὐ μέν θην κάμετόν γε μάχῃ ἔνι κυδιανείρῃ
ὀλλῦσαι Τρῶας, τοῖσιν κότον αἰνὸν ἔθεσθε.
πάντως, οἷον ἐμόν γε μένος καὶ χεῖρες ἄαπτοι,
οὐκ ἄν με τρέψειαν ὅσοι θεοί εἰσ’ ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ.
σφῶϊν δὲ πρίν περ τρόμος ἔλλαβε φαίδιμα γυῖα
πρὶν πόλεμόν τε ἰδεῖν πολέμοιό τε μέρμερα ἔργα.
ὧδε γὰρ ἐξερέω, τὸ δέ κεν τετελεσμένον ἦεν·
οὐκ ἂν ἐφ’ ὑμετέρων ὀχέων πληγέντε κεραυνῷ
ἂψ ἐς Ὄλυμπον ἵκεσθον, ἵν’ ἀθανάτων ἕδος ἐστίν.»
Ὣς ἔφαθ’, αἳ δ’ ἐπέμυξαν Ἀθηναίη τε καὶ Ἥρη·
πλησίαι αἵ γ’ ἥσθην, κακὰ δὲ Τρώεσσι μεδέσθην.
ἤτοι Ἀθηναίη ἀκέων ἦν οὐδέ τι εἶπε
σκυζομένη Διὶ πατρί, χόλος δέ μιν ἄγριος ᾕρει·

Ἥρῃ δ’ οὐκ ἔχαδε στῆθος χόλον, ἀλλὰ προσηύδα·
«αἰνότατε Κρονίδη ποῖον τὸν μῦθον ἔειπες.
εὖ νυ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν ὅ τοι σθένος οὐκ ἀλαπαδνόν·
ἀλλ’ ἔμπης Δαναῶν ὀλοφυρόμεθ’ αἰχμητάων,
οἵ κεν δὴ κακὸν οἶτον ἀναπλήσαντες ὄλωνται.
ἀλλ’ ἤτοι πολέμου μὲν ἀφεξόμεθ’, εἰ σὺ κελεύεις·
βουλὴν δ’ Ἀργείοις ὑποθησόμεθ’ ἥ τις ὀνήσει,
ὡς μὴ πάντες ὄλωνται ὀδυσσαμένοιο τεοῖο.»
Τὴν δ’ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·
«ἠοῦς δὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ὑπερμενέα Κρονίωνα
ὄψεαι, αἴ κ’ ἐθέλῃσθα, βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη,
ὀλλύντ’ Ἀργείων πουλὺν στρατὸν αἰχμητάων·
οὐ γὰρ πρὶν πολέμου ἀποπαύσεται ὄβριμος Ἕκτωρ
πρὶν ὄρθαι παρὰ ναῦφι ποδώκεα Πηλεΐωνα,
ἤματι τῷ ὅτ’ ἂν οἳ μὲν ἐπὶ πρύμνῃσι μάχωνται
στείνει ἐν αἰνοτάτῳ περὶ Πατρόκλοιο θανόντος·
ὣς γὰρ θέσφατόν ἐστι· σέθεν δ’ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀλεγίζω
χωομένης, οὐδ’ εἴ κε τὰ νείατα πείραθ’ ἵκηαι
γαίης καὶ πόντοιο, ἵν’ Ἰάπετός τε Κρόνος τε
ἥμενοι οὔτ’ αὐγῇς Ὑπερίονος Ἠελίοιο
τέρποντ’ οὔτ’ ἀνέμοισι, βαθὺς δέ τε Τάρταρος ἀμφίς·
οὐδ’ ἢν ἔνθ’ ἀφίκηαι ἀλωμένη, οὔ σευ ἔγωγε
σκυζομένης ἀλέγω, ἐπεὶ οὐ σέο κύντερον ἄλλο.»
Ὣς φάτο, τὸν δ’ οὔ τι προσέφη λευκώλενος Ἥρη.
ἐν δ’ ἔπεσ’ Ὠκεανῷ λαμπρὸν φάος ἠελίοιο,
ἕλκον νύκτα μέλαιναν ἐπὶ ζείδωρον ἄρουραν.
Τρωσὶν μέν ῥ’ ἀέκουσιν ἔδυ φάος, αὐτὰρ Ἀχαιοῖς
ἀσπασίη τρίλλιστος ἐπήλυθε νὺξ ἐρεβεννή.
Τρώων αὖτ’ ἀγορὴν ποιήσατο φαίδιμος Ἕκτωρ,

νόσφι νεῶν ἀγαγὼν ποταμῷ ἔπι δινήεντι,
ἐν καθαρῷ ὅθι δὴ νεκύων διεφαίνετο χῶρος.
ἐξ ἵππων δ’ ἀποβάντες ἐπὶ χθόνα μῦθον ἄκουον
τόν ῥ’ Ἕκτωρ ἀγόρευε Διῒ φίλος· ἐν δ’ ἄρα χειρὶ
ἔγχος ἔχ’ ἑνδεκάπηχυ· πάροιθε δὲ λάμπετο δουρὸς
αἰχμὴ χαλκείη, περὶ δὲ χρύσεος θέε πόρκης,
τῷ ὅ γ’ ἐρεισάμενος ἔπεα Τρώεσσι μετηύδα·
«κέκλυτέ μευ Τρῶες καὶ Δάρδανοι ἠδ’ ἐπίκουροι·
νῦν ἐφάμην νῆάς τ’ ὀλέσας καὶ πάντας Ἀχαιοὺς
ἂψ ἀπονοστήσειν προτὶ Ἴλιον ἠνεμόεσσαν·
ἀλλὰ πρὶν κνέφας ἦλθε, τὸ νῦν ἐσάωσε μάλιστα
Ἀργείους καὶ νῆας ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης.
ἀλλ’ ἤτοι νῦν μὲν πειθώμεθα νυκτὶ μελαίνῃ
δόρπά τ’ ἐφοπλισόμεσθα· ἀτὰρ καλλίτριχας ἵππους
λύσαθ’ ὑπὲξ ὀχέων, παρὰ δέ σφισι βάλλετ’ ἐδωδήν·
ἐκ πόλιος δ’ ἄξεσθε βόας καὶ ἴφια μῆλα
καρπαλίμως, οἶνον δὲ μελίφρονα οἰνίζεσθε
σῖτόν τ’ ἐκ μεγάρων, ἐπὶ δὲ ξύλα πολλὰ λέγεσθε,
ὥς κεν παννύχιοι μέσφ’ ἠοῦς ἠριγενείης
καίωμεν πυρὰ πολλά, σέλας δ’ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἵκῃ,
μή πως καὶ διὰ νύκτα κάρη κομόωντες Ἀχαιοὶ
φεύγειν ὁρμήσωνται ἐπ’ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης.
μὴ μὰν ἀσπουδί γε νεῶν ἐπιβαῖεν ἕκηλοι,
ἀλλ’ ὥς τις τούτων γε βέλος καὶ οἴκοθι πέσσῃ
βλήμενος ἢ ἰῷ ἢ ἔγχεϊ ὀξυόεντι
νηὸς ἐπιθρῴσκων, ἵνα τις στυγέῃσι καὶ ἄλλος
Τρωσὶν ἐφ’ ἱπποδάμοισι φέρειν πολύδακρυν Ἄρηα.
κήρυκες δ’ ἀνὰ ἄστυ Διῒ φίλοι ἀγγελλόντων
παῖδας πρωθήβας πολιοκροτάφους τε γέροντας

λέξασθαι περὶ ἄστυ θεοδμήτων ἐπὶ πύργων·
θηλύτεραι δὲ γυναῖκες ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἑκάστη
πῦρ μέγα καιόντων· φυλακὴ δέ τις ἔμπεδος ἔστω
μὴ λόχος εἰσέλθῃσι πόλιν λαῶν ἀπεόντων.
ὧδ’ ἔστω Τρῶες μεγαλήτορες ὡς ἀγορεύω·
μῦθος δ’ ὃς μὲν νῦν ὑγιὴς εἰρημένος ἔστω,
τὸν δ’ ἠοῦς Τρώεσσι μεθ’ ἱπποδάμοις ἀγορεύσω.
ἔλπομαι εὐχόμενος Διί τ’ ἄλλοισίν τε θεοῖσιν
ἐξελάαν ἐνθένδε κύνας κηρεσσιφορήτους,
οὓς κῆρες φορέουσι μελαινάων ἐπὶ νηῶν.
ἀλλ’ ἤτοι ἐπὶ νυκτὶ φυλάξομεν ἡμέας αὐτούς,
πρῶϊ δ’ ὑπηοῖοι σὺν τεύχεσι θωρηχθέντες
νηυσὶν ἔπι γλαφυρῇσιν ἐγείρομεν ὀξὺν Ἄρηα.
εἴσομαι εἴ κέ μ’ ὁ Τυδεΐδης κρατερὸς Διομήδης
πὰρ νηῶν πρὸς τεῖχος ἀπώσεται, ἤ κεν ἐγὼ τὸν
χαλκῷ δῃώσας ἔναρα βροτόεντα φέρωμαι.
αὔριον ἣν ἀρετὴν διαείσεται, εἴ κ’ ἐμὸν ἔγχος
μείνῃ ἐπερχόμενον· ἀλλ’ ἐν πρώτοισιν ὀΐω
κείσεται οὐτηθείς, πολέες δ’ ἀμφ’ αὐτὸν ἑταῖροι
ἠελίου ἀνιόντος ἐς αὔριον· εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼν ὣς
εἴην ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρως ἤματα πάντα,
τιοίμην δ’ ὡς τίετ’ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Ἀπόλλων,
ὡς νῦν ἡμέρη ἧδε κακὸν φέρει Ἀργείοισιν.»
Ὣς Ἕκτωρ ἀγόρευ’, ἐπὶ δὲ Τρῶες κελάδησαν.
οἳ δ’ ἵππους μὲν λῦσαν ὑπὸ ζυγοῦ ἱδρώοντας,
δῆσαν δ’ ἱμάντεσσι παρ’ ἅρμασιν οἷσιν ἕκαστος·
ἐκ πόλιος δ’ ἄξοντο βόας καὶ ἴφια μῆλα
καρπαλίμως, οἶνον δὲ μελίφρονα οἰνίζοντο,

σῖτόν τ’ ἐκ μεγάρων, ἐπὶ δὲ ξύλα πολλὰ λέγοντο.
κνίσην δ’ ἐκ πεδίου ἄνεμοι φέρον οὐρανὸν εἴσω.
Οἳ δὲ μέγα φρονέοντες ἐπὶ πτολέμοιο γεφύρας
εἴατο παννύχιοι, πυρὰ δέ σφισι καίετο πολλά.
ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἄστρα φαεινὴν ἀμφὶ σελήνην
φαίνετ’ ἀριπρεπέα, ὅτε τ’ ἔπλετο νήνεμος αἰθήρ·
ἔκ τ’ ἔφανεν πᾶσαι σκοπιαὶ καὶ πρώονες ἄκροι
καὶ νάπαι· οὐρανόθεν δ’ ἄρ’ ὑπεῤῥάγη ἄσπετος αἰθήρ,
πάντα δὲ εἴδεται ἄστρα, γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα ποιμήν·
τόσσα μεσηγὺ νεῶν ἠδὲ Ξάνθοιο ῥοάων
Τρώων καιόντων πυρὰ φαίνετο Ἰλιόθι πρό.
χίλι’ ἄρ’ ἐν πεδίῳ πυρὰ καίετο, πὰρ δὲ ἑκάστῳ
εἴατο πεντήκοντα σέλᾳ πυρὸς αἰθομένοιο.
ἵπποι δὲ κρῖ λευκὸν ἐρεπτόμενοι καὶ ὀλύρας
ἑσταότες παρ’ ὄχεσφιν ἐΰθρονον Ἠῶ μίμνον.

THE ILIAD VIII

As saffron-robed Dawn was strewn across all the land,
Zeus, who delights in the thunderbolt, summoned the gods to an assembly
on the highest peak of many-ridged Olympus;
He himself addressed them, and all the gods listened below:
“Hear me, all you gods and all you goddesses,
that I may speak what the heart in my breast commands.
Let no goddess and no god
attempt to thwart my word; rather, let all of you
assent, so that I may bring these deeds to their swift conclusion.
Whomever I perceive going forth of his own will, apart from the rest,
to bring aid to either the Trojans or the Danaans,
shall be struck and return to Olympus in disgrace.
Or I shall seize him and hurl him into the murky depths of Tartarus,
far, far away, where the deepest abyss beneath the earth is found;
where the gates are of iron and the threshold of bronze,
as far beneath Hades as heaven is from the earth.
Then he will know how much I am the most powerful of all the gods.
Come, try me, you gods, so that you all may see.
Hang a golden chain from the heavens,
and all of you, gods and goddesses, take hold of it.

Yet you could not drag
Zeus, the highest counselor, from the heavens down to the plain, not even if you were to strive with all your might.
But when I, in my turn, chose to pull with all my will,
I could hoist up the very earth and the sea with it.
Then I would bind the chain about a peak of Olympus,
and all these things would be left to hang in the air.
By so much am I supreme among gods and among men.”
So he spoke, and they were all struck to a silent hush,
marveling at his speech, for he had spoken with immense power.
After a long moment, the goddess grey-eyed Athene answered him:
“Our father, son of Cronos, highest of all rulers,
we know well that your strength is not to be defied.
Yet we grieve for the Danaan spearmen,
who will now perish, fulfilling a grim destiny.
But we will indeed refrain from the war, as you command;
yet we will offer the Argives counsel that may aid them,
so that they do not all perish under the weight of your wrath.”
Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer smiled and replied to her:
“Take heart, Tritogeneia, beloved child.
I do not speak with a truly wrathful heart, and it is my wish to be gentle with you.”
Having spoken thus, he harnessed to his chariot his bronze-footed horses,
swift-winged, with manes of flowing gold.
He himself donned his golden raiment, took up his
finely wrought golden lash, and mounted his chariot.
He struck the horses to drive them on, and not unwillingly they took flight,
midway between the earth and the starry heavens.
He came to many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts,
at Gargarus, where he had a sacred precinct and a fragrant altar.
There the father of men and gods reined in his horses,

loosing them from the chariot and pouring a thick mist about them.
He himself then sat upon the peaks, exulting in his glory,
looking down upon the city of the Trojans and the ships of the Achaeans.
Meanwhile, the long-haired Achaeans took their meal
swiftly throughout the camp, and after they had eaten, they armed themselves.
The Trojans, on the other side, also prepared for battle throughout their city.
They were fewer in number, yet even so they burned to fight in the press of battle,
driven by harsh necessity, for their children and their wives.
All the gates were thrown open, and the host rushed forth,
foot soldiers and charioteers, and a great din arose.
When they came together, meeting in one place,
they clashed their shields of hide, their spears, and the fury of men
in bronze breastplates.
The bossed shields struck against shields, and a great din arose.
There the wailing and the cries of triumph from men
slaying and being slain rose up together, and the earth ran with blood.
For as long as it was morning and the sacred day grew stronger,
the missiles of both sides found their mark, and the men fell.
But when the sun stood at the midpoint of the heavens,
the Father stretched out his golden scales.
In them he placed two fates of death that lays men low,
one for the horse-taming Trojans and one for the bronze-clad Achaeans.
He took the balance by the middle and lifted it, and the fated day of the Achaeans sank down.
The fates of the Achaeans came to rest upon the bountiful earth,
while those of the Trojans were lifted up toward the wide heavens.
Then Zeus himself thundered loudly from Ida and sent a blazing
thunderbolt into the Achaean host. Seeing it, they were stunned,
and pale fear seized them all.
Then neither Idomeneus dared to remain, nor Agamemnon,

nor did the two Aiantes, squires of Ares, hold their ground.
Only Nestor of Gerenia, guardian of the Achaeans, remained,
and not of his own will, for his horse was wounded. Godlike Alexander,
husband of fair-haired Helen,
had struck it with an arrow at the crown of the head, where the first hairs of the mane
sprout from the skull, a place most fatal.
The horse reared in agony as the arrow sank into its brain,
and it threw the other horses into confusion, writhing about the bronze point.
While the old man, leaping forth with his sword, was cutting away the traces of the wounded horse,
the swift steeds of Hector came on through the tumult,
bearing their bold driver,
Hector. And there the old man would have lost his life,
had not Diomedes of the loud war-cry been quick to notice.
He let out a terrible shout to rouse Odysseus:
“Zeus-born son of Laertes, Odysseus of many wiles,
where are you fleeing, turning your back like a coward in the throng?
See that no man plants a spear in your back as you run.
Stand fast, so we may drive this savage man from the old warrior.”
So he spoke, but the much-enduring, godlike Odysseus did not hear;
he rushed past, toward the hollow ships of the Achaeans.
But the son of Tydeus, though he was alone, plunged into the front ranks.
He stood before the horses of Neleus’ aged son,
and speaking to him, he uttered winged words:
“Old man, in truth these young fighters are wearing you down.
Your strength has failed, and grievous old age is upon you.
Your squire is weak, and your horses are slow.
Come, mount my chariot, so you may see
what Trojan horses are like, how they know to course swiftly across the plain,
this way and that, in pursuit or in flight—
the same ones I took from Aeneas, a master of terror.

Let our squires look after your horses, while we two
drive these against the horse-taming Trojans, so that Hector
too may learn if my spear also rages in my hands.”
So he spoke, and the Gerenian horseman Nestor did not refuse.
The mighty squires, Sthenelus and noble Eurymedon, took charge of Nestor's horses, and the two heroes mounted Diomedes' chariot.
Nestor took the shining reins in his hands
and whipped the horses, and soon they were near to Hector.
As Hector charged straight at them, the son of Tydeus cast his spear.
He missed his man, but struck the charioteer and squire,
Eniopeus, son of great-hearted Thebaeus,
as he held the reins, hitting him in the chest beside the nipple.
He fell from the chariot, and the swift-footed horses swerved aside;
and there his soul and his strength were undone.
A terrible grief enshrouded Hector's heart for his charioteer.
Yet he left him to lie there, though he grieved for his companion,
and sought a new, bold driver.
Nor were his horses long without a master, for he soon found
daring Archeptolemus, the son of Iphitus, whom he then made mount the swift-footed steeds,
placing the reins in his hands.
Then there would have been ruin and irreparable deeds,
and they would have been penned up in Ilium like lambs,
had not the father of men and gods been quick to see it.
He thundered terribly and let fly a gleaming white thunderbolt,
and he sent it to the ground before the horses of Diomedes.
A dreadful flame shot up from the divine sulphur as it burned,
and the two horses, terrified, cowered beneath the chariot.

The shining reins flew from Nestor’s hands,
and he was afraid in his heart, and said to Diomedes:
“Son of Tydeus, come, turn your single-hoofed horses back in flight.
Do you not see that strength from Zeus does not attend you?
For today, Zeus the son of Cronos grants glory to this man;
tomorrow he will give it to us, if he so wills.
A mortal man cannot thwart the will of Zeus,
not even a man of great strength, for the god is far stronger.”
Diomedes of the loud war-cry answered him:
“Yes, old man, all that you say is true.
But a terrible sorrow grips my heart and soul,
for Hector will one day boast, speaking among the Trojans:
‘Tydeus’ son fled before me and sought his ships.’
So he will boast; may the wide earth then open up and swallow me.”
The Gerenian horseman Nestor answered him:
“Ah me, son of wise-hearted Tydeus, what a thing to say!
Even if Hector calls you a coward and a weakling,
the Trojans and the Dardanians will not believe him,
nor will the wives of the great-hearted Trojan shield-bearers,
whose lusty husbands you have laid in the dust.”
So speaking, he turned the single-hoofed horses back
into the tumult of the rout. And upon them the Trojans and Hector,
with a godlike cry, poured down a shower of grievous missiles.
Great Hector of the flashing helm shouted after him from afar:
“Son of Tydeus, the swift-horsed Danaans honored you above all others
with a seat of honor, with meats, and with brimming cups.
But now they will dishonor you. You have become no better than a woman.
Be gone, you wretched doll, for you will not scale our towers
with me giving way, nor will you carry our women away
in your ships. Before that, I shall give you your doom.”

So he spoke, and the son of Tydeus was of two minds,
whether to wheel his horses about and fight him face to face.
Three times he debated in his mind and in his heart,
and three times Zeus the counselor thundered from the Idaean mountains,
giving the Trojans a sign of a turn in the battle’s tide.
And Hector, with a great cry, called out to the Trojans:
“Trojans, and Lycians, and you Dardanians who fight at close quarters,
be men, my friends, and remember your furious valor!
I know that the son of Cronos has, with a favoring nod, granted me
victory and great glory, but ruin to the Danaans.
Fools, who devised these walls,
flimsy and worthless! They will not hold back my might.
And my horses will easily leap the ditch they have dug.
But when I come to their hollow ships,
let there be a memory of consuming fire,
so that I may burn their ships with flames and kill the Argives themselves
beside them as they are choked and driven mad by the smoke.”
So speaking, he cried out to his horses and called to them by name:
“Xanthus, and you Podargus, and Aethon, and noble Lampus,
now you must repay me for all the care you have received, the abundant care
that Andromache, daughter of great-hearted Eëtion,
gave you. Before all others she would place the honey-sweet wheat before you,
and mix wine for you to drink whenever your spirits moved you,
even before she would for me, who am proud to be her blooming husband.
So now pursue them and make haste, that we may take
the shield of Nestor, the fame of which now reaches to the heavens,
that it is all of gold, both the shield itself and its rods;
and that we may strip from the shoulders of horse-taming Diomedes
the ornate breastplate that Hephaestus labored to forge.

If we could take these two things, I would hope that the Achaeans
might this very night embark upon their swift ships.”
So he spoke in prayer, but the lady Hera was filled with indignation.
She shook upon her throne, and made great Olympus tremble,
and she spoke out to the mighty god Poseidon:
“Alas, Earth-Shaker of broad power, does not your heart within your breast
feel any pity for the perishing Danaans?
Yet they bring you many pleasing gifts to Helice and to Aegae,
and you wish for them to be victorious.
For if we who are allies to the Danaans were all of us willing
to drive back the Trojans and hold back wide-seeing Zeus,
then he would be left to sit there in sorrow, all alone on Ida.”
Greatly troubled, the mighty Earth-Shaker answered her:
“Hera, reckless of speech, what words have you spoken!
I would not wish that we, the others, should go to war with Zeus, son of Cronos,
for he is far stronger.”
While these two spoke such things to one another,
the space between the ships’ wall and the trench
was filled with horses and shield-bearing men all crowded together.
They were penned in by Hector, son of Priam, who was like swift Ares in his might,
for Zeus had given him the glory.
And now he would have set fire to the well-balanced ships with blazing flames,
had not the lady Hera put it into Agamemnon’s heart
to hasten himself and swiftly rouse the Achaeans.
He went forth along the huts and ships of the Achaeans,
holding his great purple cloak in his stout hand.
He took his stand upon the huge black ship of Odysseus,
which lay in the middle, so he could be heard in both directions,
toward the camp of Telamonian Ajax

and toward that of Achilles, for these two had drawn up their well-balanced ships at the very ends of the line,
confident in their manhood and the strength of their arms.
And with a piercing cry, he called out to the Danaans:
“Shame on you, Argives, you wretched disgraces, magnificent only in appearance!
Where have our boasts gone, when we claimed to be the bravest?
The boasts you made in Lemnos, empty vaunts,
while eating the flesh of many straight-horned cattle
and drinking from craters brimming with wine,
claiming that each of you could stand against a hundred, even two hundred Trojans in battle.
Yet now we are not worth even one Hector,
who will soon set our ships ablaze with consuming fire.
Father Zeus, have you ever before afflicted a mighty king
with such a ruin, and stripped him of so great a glory?
I do not claim that I ever passed by your beautiful altar
in my many-benched ship on my wretched journey here,
but that upon every one I burned the fat and thigh-bones of oxen,
in my eagerness to sack the well-walled city of Troy.
But, O Zeus, grant me at least this one desire:
let us ourselves escape and find safety,
and do not allow the Achaeans to be so utterly subdued by the Trojans.”
So he spoke, and the Father pitied him as he wept.
He nodded his assent that his people should be saved and not perish.
At once he sent an eagle, most perfect of winged signs,
holding in its talons the fawn of a swift deer.
The eagle dropped the fawn beside the beautiful altar of Zeus,
where the Achaeans made sacrifice to Zeus of all voices.
When they saw that the bird had come from Zeus,
they rushed with greater fury upon the Trojans and remembered the joy of battle.

Then no one among the many Danaans could boast
of having driven his swift horses ahead of Diomedes
to cross the ditch and fight face to face.
Far before any other, he killed a helmeted Trojan warrior,
Agelaus son of Phradmon, who had wheeled his horses for flight.
As he turned, Diomedes planted the spear in his back
between the shoulders and drove it through his chest.
He fell from his chariot, and his armor clattered upon him.
After him came the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus,
and after them the Aiantes, cloaked in furious valor.
After them came Idomeneus and his squire
Meriones, the peer of man-slaying Enyalius.
And after them, Eurypylus, the glorious son of Euaemon.
Teucer came as the ninth, drawing his curved bow,
and he took his stand beneath the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon.
Then Ajax would lift his shield aside, and the hero Teucer would peer out,
and when he had shot and struck someone in the throng,
that man would fall and lose his life on the spot.
Then Teucer would retreat, like a child running to its mother,
and duck back behind Ajax, who would hide him with his shining shield.
Who was the first of the Trojans that blameless Teucer killed?
First Orsilochus, and Ormenus, and Ophelestes,
and Daetor and Chromius, and godlike Lycophontes,
and Amopaon son of Polyaemon, and Melanippus.
All these, one after another, he brought down to the bountiful earth.
Agamemnon, lord of men, rejoiced to see him
destroying the Trojan phalanxes with his mighty bow.
He went and stood beside him and spoke a word to him:
“Teucer, beloved head, son of Telamon, leader of your people,
shoot on in this way, in hope that you may become a light of salvation for the Danaans,
and for your father Telamon, who raised you when you were small,

and though you were a bastard, cared for you in his own house.
Though he is far away, bring him to high glory.
I will tell you this, and it shall be accomplished:
if Zeus who bears the aegis and Athene grant me
to sack the well-built citadel of Ilium,
to you first after myself I will place a prize of honor in your hand:
either a tripod, or two horses with their chariot,
or a woman, to ascend your bed and be your own.”
And blameless Teucer answered him in turn:
“Most glorious son of Atreus, why do you urge me on when I am already pressing myself to the utmost?
I tell you, from the moment we drove them back toward Ilium,
I have not ceased, so far as my strength allows,
to pick off their men with my bow.
I have let fly eight long-barbed arrows,
and all of them are fixed in the flesh of swift-fighting youths.
But this ravening dog I cannot hit.”
He spoke, and sent another arrow from the string,
straight for Hector, his heart yearning to strike him.
But he missed him, and instead struck blameless Gorgythion
in the chest, a noble son of Priam,
whom his mother, the beautiful Castianeira, like a goddess in form, had borne to him, a wife he had taken from Aesyme.
And as a poppy in a garden,
laden with fruit and the spring rains,
lets its head droop to one side, so his head, weighted down by his helmet, lolled to one side.
Teucer sent another arrow from the string,
straight for Hector, his heart yearning to strike him.
But again he missed, for Apollo deflected it.
Yet he struck Archeptolemus, Hector's bold charioteer,

as he charged into battle, hitting him in the chest beside the nipple.
He fell from his chariot, and the swift-footed horses swerved aside;
and there his soul and his strength were undone.
A terrible grief enshrouded Hector's heart for his charioteer.
Yet he left him to lie there, though he grieved for his companion,
and called to his brother Cebriones, who was near,
to take the reins of the horses. He heard and did not disobey.
Hector himself then leaped from his shining chariot to the ground
with a terrible cry. He seized a great stone in his hand
and went straight for Teucer, his heart urging him to strike.
Teucer had just taken a bitter arrow from his quiver
and had placed it on the string. But as he drew it back by his shoulder,
where the collarbone separates
the neck from the chest, a most fatal spot,
just there Hector of the flashing helm, taking aim, struck him with the jagged stone.
He broke the bowstring, and his hand at the wrist went numb.
He stood still, dropping to one knee, and the bow fell from his hand.
But Ajax did not neglect his fallen brother,
He ran and stood over him, covering him with his shield.
Then two staunch companions,
Mecisteus son of Echius and godlike Alastor,
stooped down and lifted him, and carried him, groaning heavily, to the hollow ships.
And again the Olympian roused the spirit of the Trojans.
They drove the Achaeans straight back to the deep ditch,
and Hector moved among the foremost, exulting in his strength.
As when a hound, relying on its swift feet, harries a wild boar or a lion from behind,
snapping at its haunches and flanks,
and watches as it wheels about,
so Hector pressed upon the long-haired Achaeans,
ever killing the man in the rear; and they fled in terror.

But when, in their flight, they had passed through the stakes and the ditch,
and many had been brought down by the hands of the Trojans,
they at last halted and stood their ground by the ships,
calling out to one another, and with hands upraised to all the gods,
each man prayed aloud.
But Hector wheeled his fair-maned horses about,
his eyes glaring like the Gorgon’s, or like man-slaying Ares.
Seeing them, the white-armed goddess Hera felt pity,
and at once she spoke winged words to Athene:
“Alas, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, shall we no longer,
even at this last moment, care for the perishing Danaans?
They will now meet a grim fate and be destroyed
by the charge of a single man, this Hector son of Priam, who rages on, no longer bearable,
and has already wrought much evil.”
Then the goddess grey-eyed Athene answered her:
“Indeed, would that this man might lose his spirit and his life,
slain by the hands of Argives in his own fatherland.
But my own father rages with a malevolent heart,
the cruel one, ever false, a thwarter of my will.
He remembers none of the times I saved his son
when he was worn out by the labors of Eurystheus.
He would weep to the heavens, and Zeus would send me down from the sky
to help him.
If I had known all this in my prudent heart
when Eurystheus sent him to the house of Hades the gate-keeper,
to bring back from Erebus the hound of hateful Hades,
he would not have escaped the steep-flowing waters of the Styx.
But now he despises me, and has fulfilled the wishes of Thetis,
who kissed his knees and took his chin in her hand,
begging him to honor Achilles, sacker of cities.
Yet the day will come when he will again call me his dear grey-eyed one.

But come now, you prepare our single-hoofed horses,
while I go down to the house of aegis-bearing Zeus
and arm myself for war, so I may see
if Priam’s son, Hector of the flashing helm,
will rejoice when we two appear upon the bridges of war.
Surely some Trojan shall glut the dogs and birds
with his fat and his flesh, fallen beside the ships of the Achaeans.”
So she spoke, and the white-armed goddess Hera did not disobey.
Hera, the revered goddess, daughter of great Cronos, went to harness the gold-frontleted horses.
Meanwhile Athene, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus,
let her soft, embroidered robe fall to her father’s floor,
the robe she herself had made and worked with her own hands.
Then, donning the tunic of cloud-gathering Zeus,
she armed herself for tearful war.
She stepped into the flaming chariot and took up her spear,
heavy, huge, and strong, with which she vanquishes the ranks of men
heroes, she, the daughter of a mighty sire, when she is angered.
Hera swiftly touched the horses with the whip,
and the gates of heaven, which the Hours keep, groaned open of their own accord—
they to whom the great heaven and Olympus are entrusted,
to open or close the thick cloud.
Through these gates they drove their goaded horses.
But Father Zeus saw them from Ida, and he was terribly angered,
He sent golden-winged Iris to bear a message:
“Go now, swift Iris, turn them back, and do not let them come against me.
For it will not be well if we meet in battle.
For I will speak thus, and it shall be accomplished:
I will lame their swift horses beneath their chariot,

and I will hurl the goddesses themselves from the chariot-board and shatter the chariot.
Not in ten circling years will the wounds heal
that the thunderbolt will inflict.
So the grey-eyed one may learn what it is to fight against her own father.
With Hera I am not so indignant or so angered,
for it has always been her way to cross whatever I say.”
So he spoke, and storm-footed Iris rose to bear the message,
She went from the Idaean mountains to great Olympus.
At the first gates of many-folded Olympus
she met them and halted them, and spoke to them the word of Zeus:
“Where are you racing? Why does madness rage in your hearts?
The son of Cronos does not permit you to aid the Argives.
For the son of Cronos has threatened this, and he will bring it to pass:
to lame your swift horses beneath their chariot,
and to hurl you from the chariot-board and shatter the chariot.
Not in ten circling years will the wounds heal
that the thunderbolt will inflict.
So that you, grey-eyed one, may learn what it is to fight against your own father.
With Hera he is not so indignant or so angered,
for it has always been her way to cross whatever he says.
But you are the most terrible, you shameless bitch, if you truly dare
to raise your monstrous spear against Zeus.”
Having spoken thus, swift-footed Iris departed,
Then Hera spoke a word to Athene:
“Alas, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, I will no longer permit us
to wage war against Zeus for the sake of mortals.
Let one of them perish and another live,
as chance may have it. And let him, pondering in his own heart,
render judgment to the Trojans and the Danaans, as is fitting.”

So speaking, she turned back their single-hoofed horses;
The Hours unyoked the fair-maned horses for them,
and tethered them at their ambrosial mangers,
and leaned the chariot against the shining entrance walls.
The goddesses themselves sat down on their golden chairs
among the other gods, with grief in their hearts.
And Father Zeus drove his swift-wheeled chariot and horses from Ida
to Olympus, and came to the assembly of the gods.
For him the renowned Earth-Shaker unyoked the horses,
and set the chariot upon its stand, spreading a linen cloth over it.
Wide-seeing Zeus himself sat upon his golden throne,
and great Olympus trembled beneath his feet.
Only Athene and Hera sat apart from Zeus,
and they spoke no word to him nor questioned him;
But he knew in his own heart what they were thinking, and he spoke:
“Why are you two so grieved, Athene and Hera?
Surely you did not tire yourselves in the glorious battle,
destroying the Trojans, for whom you hold such terrible hatred.
In any case, such is my strength and my untouchable hands,
that all the gods who are in Olympus could not turn me.
But as for you two, trembling seized your shining limbs
even before you could look upon the war and its grim works.
For I will speak thus, and it would have been accomplished:
struck by my thunderbolt, you would not have returned
in your own chariot to Olympus, where the seat of the immortals is.”
So he spoke, and Athene and Hera murmured low.
They were sitting close together, devising evils for the Trojans.
Athene remained silent and said nothing,
though she was furious with her father Zeus and wild anger seized her.

But Hera’s breast could not contain her wrath, and she answered him:
“Most dreadful son of Cronos, what a word you have spoken!
We know well that your strength is not to be slighted.
Yet we grieve for the Danaan spearmen,
who will now perish, fulfilling a grim destiny.
But we will indeed refrain from the war, if you command it;
yet we will offer the Argives counsel that may aid them,
so that they do not all perish under the weight of your wrath.”
Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her and said:
“At dawn tomorrow, if you wish, you will see the all-powerful son of Cronos
destroying still more of the great army of Argive spearmen,
cow-eyed lady Hera.
For mighty Hector will not cease from war
until he has roused the swift-footed son of Peleus by the ships,
on that day when they shall fight beside the sterns
in the most dreadful straits over the body of the fallen Patroclus.
For so it is destined. As for you and your anger, I do not care,
not even if you go to the nethermost limits
of earth and sea, where Iapetus and Cronos
sit and have no joy in the rays of Hyperion the Sun,
nor in any breeze, but deep Tartarus is all about them.
Even if you were to wander there, I would not care for your anger,
since there is nothing more shameless than you.”
So he spoke, and the white-armed Hera gave him no answer.
And the shining light of the sun fell into the Ocean,
drawing black night over the grain-giving earth.
For the Trojans, the light sank against their will, but for the Achaeans,
the coming of dark night was a welcome, thrice-prayed-for blessing.
Then glorious Hector held an assembly of the Trojans,

leading them away from the ships to a clear space by the swirling river,
where the ground was free of corpses.
They dismounted from their horses to the ground to hear the speech
that Hector, beloved of Zeus, delivered. In his hand he held
a spear eleven cubits long; before him gleamed its
bronze point, and a ring of gold ran about it.
Leaning on this, he spoke his words among the Trojans:
“Hear me, Trojans and Dardanians and you allies!
Just now I thought that I would destroy the ships and all the Achaeans
and return back to windy Ilium.
But darkness came too soon, and this is what has now saved
the Argives and their ships on the shore of the sea.
But for now, let us yield to black night
and prepare our supper. Unyoke your fair-maned horses
from their chariots and throw fodder before them.
Bring oxen and stout sheep quickly from the city,
and fetch honey-hearted wine
and bread from your halls, and gather much wood besides,
so that all night long, until the coming of early-born Dawn,
we may burn many fires, and their light may reach to the heavens.
Let us not allow the long-haired Achaeans to try to flee during the night
over the broad back of the sea.
Let them not board their ships so easily and without a fight,
but let some one of them nurse his wound at home,
struck either by an arrow or a sharp-pointed spear
as he leaps upon his ship, so that others may dread
to bring tearful war against the horse-taming Trojans.
Let the heralds, beloved of Zeus, proclaim throughout the city
that the youths and the grey-templed elders

are to keep watch around the city upon the god-built towers.
And let the women, each in her own hall,
kindle a great fire. And let there be a constant watch,
lest an ambush enter the city while the army is away.
Let it be so, great-hearted Trojans, as I command.
Let this be a sound plan for the night;
tomorrow I shall speak again to the horse-taming Trojans.
I pray with hope to Zeus and the other gods
to drive from here these dogs brought on by the Fates,
whom the Fates have carried here on their black ships.
For this night, we will guard ourselves,
but at first light tomorrow, armored in our gear,
we will rouse sharp Ares by the hollow ships.
I will know then if the mighty Diomedes, son of Tydeus,
will drive me from the ships back to the wall, or if I will slay him
with the bronze and carry off his blood-stained armor.
Tomorrow he will know his own valor, if he can withstand my advancing spear.
But I think he will lie wounded among the first,
and many of his comrades around him, at the rising of tomorrow’s sun.
If only I could be
immortal and ageless all my days,
and be honored as Athene and Apollo are honored,
as surely as this day brings evil to the Argives.”
So Hector spoke, and the Trojans roared in acclaim.
They unyoked their sweating horses from the harness,
and tethered them with straps, each by his own chariot.
They brought oxen and stout sheep quickly from the city,
and fetched honey-hearted wine,

and bread from their halls, and gathered much wood besides.
The winds carried the savor of the sacrifice from the plain up into the heavens.
So they, with high thoughts, sat all night long on the bridges of war,
and their many fires burned.
As when in the heavens the stars around the shining moon
appear in all their glory, when the upper air is still;
and all the peaks and high promontories
and groves are revealed, and from the heavens an infinite expanse of air breaks open;
and all the stars are seen, and the shepherd’s heart rejoices;
so numerous, between the ships and the streams of Xanthus,
were the fires the Trojans kindled before the walls of Ilium.
A thousand fires were burning on the plain, and by each one
sat fifty men in the light of the blazing fire.
And the horses stood at their chariots, munching on white barley and rye,
and awaited the coming of the throned Dawn.

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