The Iliad of Homer · Homer
BOOK IX.
Me therefore shalt thou not with my consent550 Leave here, my son! no, not would Jove himself Promise me, reaping smooth this silver beard, To make me downy-cheek’d as in my youth; Such as when erst from Hellas beauty-famed I fled, escaping from my father’s wrath555 Amyntor, son of Ormenus, who loved A beauteous concubine, and for her sake Despised his wife and persecuted me. My mother suppliant at my knees, with prayer Perpetual importuned me to embrace560 The damsel first, that she might loathe my sire. I did so; and my father soon possess’d With hot suspicion of the fact, let loose A storm of imprecation, in his rage Invoking all the Furies to forbid565 That ever son of mine should press his knees. Tartarian Jove[14] and dread Persephone Fulfill’d his curses; with my pointed spear I would have pierced his heart, but that my wrath Some Deity assuaged, suggesting oft570 What shame and obloquy I should incur, Known as a parricide through all the land. At length, so treated, I resolved to dwell No longer in his house. My friends, indeed, And all my kindred compass’d me around575 With much entreaty, wooing me to stay; Oxen and sheep they slaughter’d, many a plump Well-fatted brawn extended in the flames, And drank the old man’s vessels to the lees.
Nine nights continual at my side they slept,580 While others watch’d by turns, nor were the fires Extinguish’d ever, one, beneath the porch Of the barr’d hall, and one that from within The vestibule illumed my chamber door. But when the tenth dark night at length arrived,585 Sudden the chamber doors bursting I flew That moment forth, and unperceived alike By guards and menial woman, leap’d the wall. Through spacious Hellas flying thence afar, I came at length to Phthia the deep-soil’d,590 Mother of flocks, and to the royal house Of Peleus; Peleus with a willing heart Receiving, loved me as a father loves His only son, the son of his old age, Inheritor of all his large demesnes.595 He made me rich; placed under my control A populous realm, and on the skirts I dwelt Of Phthia, ruling the Dolopian race. Thee from my soul, thou semblance of the Gods, I loved, and all illustrious as thou art,600 Achilles! such I made thee.
For with me, Me only, would’st thou forth to feast abroad, Nor would’st thou taste thy food at home, till first I placed thee on my knees, with my own hand Thy viands carved and fed thee, and the wine605 Held to thy lips; and many a time, in fits Of infant frowardness, the purple juice Rejecting thou hast deluged all my vest, And fill’d my bosom. Oh, I have endured Much, and have also much perform’d for thee,610 Thus purposing, that since the Gods vouchsaf’d No son to me, thyself shouldst be my son, Godlike Achilles! who shouldst screen perchance From a foul fate my else unshelter’d age. Achilles! bid thy mighty spirit down.615 Thou shouldst not be thus merciless; the Gods, Although more honorable, and in power And virtue thy superiors, are themselves Yet placable; and if a mortal man Offend them by transgression of their laws,620 Libation, incense, sacrifice, and prayer, In meekness offer’d turn their wrath away. Prayers are Jove’s daughters,[15] wrinkled,[16] lame, slant-eyed, Which though far distant, yet with constant pace Follow Offence. Offence, robust of limb,625 And treading firm the ground, outstrips them all, And over all the earth before them runs Hurtful to man. They, following, heal the hurt.
Received respectfully when they approach, They help us, and our prayers hear in return.630 But if we slight, and with obdurate heart Resist them, to Saturnian Jove they cry Against us, supplicating that Offence May cleave to us for vengeance of the wrong. Thou, therefore, O Achilles! honor yield635 To Jove’s own daughters, vanquished, as the brave Have ofttimes been, by honor paid to thee. For came not Agamemnon as he comes With gifts in hand, and promises of more Hereafter; burn’d his anger still the same,640 I would not move thee to renounce thy own, And to assist us, howsoe’er distress’d. But now, not only are his present gifts Most liberal, and his promises of more Such also, but these Princes he hath sent645 Charged with entreaties, thine especial friends, And chosen for that cause, from all the host. Slight not their embassy, nor put to shame Their intercession. We confess that once Thy wrath was unreprovable and just.650 Thus we have heard the heroes of old times Applauded oft, whose anger, though intense, Yet left them open to the gentle sway Of reason and conciliatory gifts. I recollect an ancient history,655 Which, since all here are friends, I will relate.
The brave Ætolians and Curetes met Beneath the walls of Calydon, and fought With mutual slaughter; the Ætolian powers In the defence of Calydon the fair,660 And the Curetes bent to lay it waste: That strife Diana of the golden throne Kindled between them, with resentment fired That Oeneus had not in some fertile spot The first fruits of his harvest set apart665 To her; with hecatombs he entertained All the Divinities of heaven beside, And her alone, daughter of Jove supreme, Or through forgetfulness, or some neglect, Served not; omission careless and profane!670 She, progeny of Jove, Goddess shaft-arm’d, A savage boar bright-tusk’d in anger sent, Which haunting Oeneus’ fields much havoc made. Trees numerous on the earth in heaps he cast Uprooting them, with all their blossoms on.675 But Meleager, Oeneus’ son, at length Slew him, the hunters gathering and the hounds Of numerous cities; for a boar so vast Might not be vanquish’d by the power of few, And many to their funeral piles he sent.680 Then raised Diana clamorous dispute, And contest hot between them, all alike, Curetes and Ætolians fierce in arms The boar’s head claiming, and his bristly hide. So long as warlike Meleager fought,685 Ætolia prosper’d, nor with all their powers Could the Curetes stand before the walls.
But when resentment once had fired the heart Of Meleager, which hath tumult oft Excited in the breasts of wisest men,690 (For his own mother had his wrath provoked Althæa) thenceforth with his wedded wife He dwelt, fair Cleopatra, close retired. She was Marpessa’s daughter, whom she bore To Idas, bravest warrior in his day695 Of all on earth. He fear’d not ’gainst the King Himself Apollo, for the lovely nymph Marpessa’s sake, his spouse, to bend his bow. Her, therefore, Idas and Marpessa named Thenceforth Alcyone, because the fate700 Of sad Alcyone Marpessa shared, And wept like her, by Phœbus forced away. Thus Meleager, tortured with the pangs Of wrath indulged, with Cleopatra dwelt, Vex’d that his mother cursed him; for, with grief705 Frantic, his mother importuned the Gods To avenge her slaughter’d brothers[17] on his head. Oft would she smite the earth, while on her knees Seated, she fill’d her bosom with her tears, And call’d on Pluto and dread Proserpine710 To slay her son; nor vain was that request, But by implacable Erynnis heard Roaming the shades of Erebus. Ere long The tumult and the deafening din of war Roar’d at the gates, and all the batter’d towers715 Resounded.
Then the elders of the town Dispatch’d the high-priests of the Gods to plead With Meleager for his instant aid, With strong assurances of rich reward. Where Calydon afforded fattest soil720 They bade him choose to his own use a farm Of fifty measured acres, vineyard half, And half of land commodious for the plow. Him Oeneus also, warrior grey with age, Ascending to his chamber, and his doors725 Smiting importunate, with earnest prayers Assay’d to soften, kneeling to his son. Nor less his sisters woo’d him to relent, Nor less his mother; but in vain; he grew Still more obdurate. His companions last,730 The most esteem’d and dearest of his friends, The same suit urged, yet he persisted still Relentless, nor could even they prevail. But when the battle shook his chamber-doors And the Curetes climbing the high towers735 Had fired the spacious city, then with tears The beauteous Cleopatra, and with prayers Assail’d him; in his view she set the woes Numberless of a city storm’d—the men Slaughter’d, the city burnt to dust, the chaste740 Matrons with all their children dragg’d away. That dread recital roused him, and at length Issuing, he put his radiant armor on.
Thus Meleager, gratifying first His own resentment from a fatal day745 Saved the Ætolians, who the promised gift Refused him, and his toils found no reward. But thou, my son, be wiser; follow thou No demon who would tempt thee to a course Like his; occasion more propitious far750 Smiles on thee now, than if the fleet were fired. Come, while by gifts invited, and receive From all the host, the honors of a God; For shouldst thou, by no gifts induced, at last Enter the bloody field, although thou chase755 The Trojans hence, yet less shall be thy praise. Then thus Achilles, matchless in the race. Phœnix, my guide, wise, noble and revered! I covet no such glory! the renown Ordain’d by Jove for me, is to resist760 All importunity to quit my ships While I have power to move, or breath to draw. Hear now, and mark me well. Cease thou from tears. Confound me not, pleading with sighs and sobs In Agamemnon’s cause; O love not him,765 Lest I renounce thee, who am now thy friend. Assist me rather, as thy duty bids, Him to afflict, who hath afflicted me, So shalt thou share my glory and my power.
These shall report as they have heard, but here770 Rest thou this night, and with the rising morn We will decide, to stay or to depart. He ceased, and silent, by a nod enjoin’d Patroclus to prepare an easy couch For Phœnix, anxious to dismiss the rest775 Incontinent; when Ajax, godlike son Of Telamon, arising, thus began. Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d: Depart we now; for I perceive that end Or fruit of all our reasonings shall be none.780 It is expedient also that we bear Our answer back (unwelcome as it is) With all dispatch, for the assembled Greeks Expect us. Brave Achilles shuts a fire Within his breast; the kindness of his friends,785 And the respect peculiar by ourselves Shown to him, on his heart work no effect. Inexorable man! others accept Even for a brother slain, or for a son Due compensation;[18] the delinquent dwells790 Secure at home, and the receiver, soothed And pacified, represses his revenge. But thou, resentful of the loss of one, One virgin (such obduracy of heart The Gods have given thee) can’st not be appeased795 Yet we assign thee seven in her stead, The most distinguish’d of their sex, and add Large gifts beside. Ah then, at last relent!
Respect thy roof; we are thy guests; we come Chosen from the multitude of all the Greeks,800 Beyond them all ambitious of thy love. To whom Achilles, swiftest of the swift. My noble friend, offspring of Telamon! Thou seem’st sincere, and I believe thee such. But at the very mention of the name805 Of Atreus’ son, who shamed me in the sight Of all Achaia’s host, bearing me down As I had been some vagrant at his door, My bosom boils. Return ye and report Your answer. I no thought will entertain810 Of crimson war, till the illustrious son Of warlike Priam, Hector, blood-embrued, Shall in their tents the Myrmidons assail Themselves, and fire my fleet. At my own ship, And at my own pavilion it may chance815 That even Hector’s violence shall pause.[19] He ended; they from massy goblets each Libation pour’d, and to the fleet their course Resumed direct, Ulysses at their head. Patroclus then his fellow-warriors bade,820 And the attendant women spread a couch For Phœnix; they the couch, obedient, spread With fleeces, with rich arras, and with flax Of subtlest woof. There hoary Phœnix lay In expectation of the sacred dawn.825 Meantime Achilles in the interior tent, With beauteous Diomeda by himself From Lesbos brought, daughter of Phorbas, lay.
Patroclus opposite reposed, with whom Slept charming Iphis; her, when he had won830 The lofty towers of Scyros, the divine Achilles took, and on his friend bestow’d. But when those Chiefs at Agamemnon’s tent Arrived, the Greeks on every side arose With golden cups welcoming their return.835 All question’d them, but Agamemnon first. Oh worthy of Achaia’s highest praise, And her chief ornament, Ulysses, speak! Will he defend the fleet? or his big heart Indulging wrathful, doth he still refuse?840 To whom renown’d Ulysses thus replied. Atrides, Agamemnon, King of men! He his resentment quenches not, nor will, But burns with wrath the more, thee and thy gifts Rejecting both. He bids thee with the Greeks845 Consult by what expedient thou may’st save The fleet and people, threatening that himself Will at the peep of day launch all his barks, And counselling, beside, the general host To voyage homeward, for that end as yet850 Of Ilium wall’d to heaven, ye shall not find, Since Jove the Thunderer with uplifted arm Protects her, and her courage hath revived. Thus speaks the Chief, and Ajax is prepared, With the attendant heralds to report855 As I have said.
But Phœnix in the tent Sleeps of Achilles, who his stay desired, That on the morrow, if he so incline, The hoary warrior may attend him hence Home to his country, but he leaves him free.860 He ended. They astonish’d at his tone (For vehement he spake) sat silent all. Long silent sat the afflicted sons of Greece, When thus the mighty Diomede began. Atrides, Agamemnon, King of men!865 Thy supplications to the valiant son Of Peleus, and the offer of thy gifts Innumerous, had been better far withheld. He is at all times haughty, and thy suit Hath but increased his haughtiness of heart870 Past bounds: but let him stay or let him go As he shall choose. He will resume the fight When his own mind shall prompt him, and the Gods Shall urge him forth. Now follow my advice. Ye have refresh’d your hearts with food and wine875 Which are the strength of man; take now repose. And when the rosy-finger’d morning fair Shall shine again, set forth without delay The battle, horse and foot, before the fleet, And where the foremost fight, fight also thou.880 He ended; all the Kings applauded warm His counsel, and the dauntless tone admired Of Diomede. Then, due libation made, Each sought his tent, and took the gift of sleep. There is much in this book which is worthy of close attention. The consummate genius, the varied and versatile power, the eloquence, truth, and nature displayed in it, will always be admired. Perhaps there is no portion of the poem more remarkable for these attributes.—Felton. Diomede and Ulysses enter the Trojan host by night, and slay Rhesus.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.