The Iliad · Book 6

55 passages · 26 speeches · 41 psychological term instances

Lines 1–15

So was the dread strife of the Trojans and Achaeans left to itself, and oft to this side and to that surged the battle over the plain, as they aimed one at the other their bronze-tipped spears between the Simoïs and the streams of Xanthus. Aias, son of Telamon, bulwark of the Achaeans was first to break a battalion of the Trojans, and to bring a light of deliverance to his comrades, for he smote a man that was chiefest among the Thracians, even Eüssorus' son Acamas, a valiant man and tall. Him he was first to smite upon the horn of his helmet with thick crest of horse-hair, and drave the spear into his forehead so that the point of bronze pierced within the bone; and darkness enfolded his eyes. And Diomedes, good at the war-cry, slew Axylus, Teuthras' son, that dwelt in well-built Arisbe, a man rich in substance, that was beloved of all men; for he dwelt in a home by the high-road and was wont to give entertainment to all. Howbeit of all these was there not one on this day to meet the foe before his face, and ward from him woeful destruction; but Diomedes robbed the twain of life, himself and his squire Calesius, that was then the driver of his car; so they two passed beneath the earth.

Τρώων δʼ οἰώθη καὶ Ἀχαιῶν φύλοπις αἰνή· πολλὰ δʼ ἄρʼ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθʼ ἴθυσε μάχη πεδίοιο ἀλλήλων ἰθυνομένων χαλκήρεα δοῦρα μεσσηγὺς Σιμόεντος ἰδὲ Ξάνθοιο ῥοάων. Αἴας δὲ πρῶτος Τελαμώνιος ἕρκος Ἀχαιῶν Τρώων ῥῆξε φάλαγγα, φόως δʼ ἑτάροισιν ἔθηκεν, ἄνδρα βαλὼν ὃς ἄριστος ἐνὶ Θρῄκεσσι τέτυκτο υἱὸν Ἐϋσσώρου Ἀκάμαντʼ ἠΰν τε μέγαν τε. τόν ῥʼ ἔβαλε πρῶτος κόρυθος φάλον ἱπποδασείης, ἐν δὲ μετώπῳ πῆξε, πέρησε δʼ ἄρʼ ὀστέον εἴσω αἰχμὴ χαλκείη· τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψεν. Ἄξυλον δʼ ἄρʼ ἔπεφνε βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Διομήδης Τευθρανίδην, ὃς ἔναιεν ἐϋκτιμένῃ ἐν Ἀρίσβῃ ἀφνειὸς βιότοιο, φίλος δʼ ἦν ἀνθρώποισι. πάντας γὰρ φιλέεσκεν ὁδῷ ἔπι οἰκία ναίων.

Lattimore commentary

Fighting throughout the poem presents an alternation of mass formations—the “battalion” (phalanx)—and looser, individual engagements against the foe. This may not be far from the reality of archaic warfare. Around 700–650 BC, Greek states began employing the fast-moving collision force of contingents of hoplites (heavily armed men) who maintained close formation. This tactic left little room or time for the display of heroic individualism. It may have been known to the poet of the Iliad, but is never unambiguously depicted in the poem.

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Lines 16–30

Then Euryalus slew Dresus and Opheltius, and went on after Aesepus and Pedasus, whom on a time the fountain-nymph Abarbarea bare to peerless Bucolion. Now Bucolion was son of lordly Laomedon, his eldest born, though the mother that bare him was unwed; he while shepherding his flocks lay with the nymph in love, and she conceived and bare twin sons. Of these did the son of Mecisteus loose the might and the glorious limbs and strip the armour from their shoulders. And Polypoetes staunch in fight slew Astyalus, and Odysseus with his spear of bronze laid low Pidytes of Percote, and Teucer goodly Aretaon. And Antilochus, son of Nestor, slew Ablerus with his bright spear, and the king of men, Agamemnon, slew Elatus that dwelt in steep Pedasus by the banks of fair-flowing Satnioeis.

ἀλλά οἱ οὔ τις τῶν γε τότʼ ἤρκεσε λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον πρόσθεν ὑπαντιάσας, ἀλλʼ ἄμφω θυμὸν ἀπηύρα αὐτὸν καὶ θεράποντα Καλήσιον, ὅς ῥα τόθʼ ἵππων ἔσκεν ὑφηνίοχος· τὼ δʼ ἄμφω γαῖαν ἐδύτην. Δρῆσον δʼ Εὐρύαλος καὶ Ὀφέλτιον ἐξενάριξε· βῆ δὲ μετʼ Αἴσηπον καὶ Πήδασον, οὕς ποτε νύμφη νηῒς Ἀβαρβαρέη τέκʼ ἀμύμονι Βουκολίωνι. Βουκολίων δʼ ἦν υἱὸς ἀγαυοῦ Λαομέδοντος πρεσβύτατος γενεῇ, σκότιον δέ ἑ γείνατο μήτηρ· ποιμαίνων δʼ ἐπʼ ὄεσσι μίγη φιλότητι καὶ εὐνῇ, ἣ δʼ ὑποκυσαμένη διδυμάονε γείνατο παῖδε. καὶ μὲν τῶν ὑπέλυσε μένος καὶ φαίδιμα γυῖα Μηκιστηϊάδης καὶ ἀπʼ ὤμων τεύχεʼ ἐσύλα. Ἀστύαλον δʼ ἄρʼ ἔπεφνε μενεπτόλεμος Πολυποίτης· Πιδύτην δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς Περκώσιον ἐξενάριξεν

Lattimore commentary

The motif of friends or equipment being powerless to save one in battle punctuates the poem: cf. 2.873, 15.530. Naiads are one of several nymph varieties, oreads (of mountains) and dryads (of trees) being the other main groups, along with sea nymphs called Okeanids or Nereids (daughters of Nereus, like Thetis). The naiad dwells in a lake, spring, or river. The flashback to a bucolic scene, as occurs in similes as well, makes for a jarring contrast with the ongoing battle.

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menos thumos

Lines 31–45

And the warrior Leïtus slew Phylacus, as he fled before him; and Eurypylus laid Melanthius low. themselves went on toward the city whither the rest were fleeing in rout; but their master rolled from out the car beside the wheel headlong in the dust upon his face. And to his side came Menelaus, son of Atreus, bearing his far-shadowing spear. Then Adrastus clasped him by the knees and besought him: Take me alive, thou son of Atreus, and accept a worthy ransom; treasures full many lie stored in the palace of my wealthy father, bronze and gold and iron wrought with toil; thereof would my father grant thee ransom past counting,should he hear that I am alive at the ships of the Achaeans. So spake he, and sought to persuade the other's heart in his breast, and lo, Menelaus was about to give him to his squire to lead to the swift ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running to meet him, and spake a word of reproof, saying:

ἔγχεϊ χαλκείῳ, Τεῦκρος δʼ Ἀρετάονα δῖον. Ἀντίλοχος δʼ Ἄβληρον ἐνήρατο δουρὶ φαεινῷ Νεστορίδης, Ἔλατον δὲ ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων· ναῖε δὲ Σατνιόεντος ἐϋρρείταο παρʼ ὄχθας Πήδασον αἰπεινήν. Φύλακον δʼ ἕλε Λήϊτος ἥρως φεύγοντʼ· Εὐρύπυλος δὲ Μελάνθιον ἐξενάριξεν. Ἄδρηστον δʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος ζωὸν ἕλʼ· ἵππω γάρ οἱ ἀτυζομένω πεδίοιο ὄζῳ ἔνι βλαφθέντε μυρικίνῳ ἀγκύλον ἅρμα ἄξαντʼ ἐν πρώτῳ ῥυμῷ αὐτὼ μὲν ἐβήτην πρὸς πόλιν, ᾗ περ οἱ ἄλλοι ἀτυζόμενοι φοβέοντο, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκ δίφροιο παρὰ τροχὸν ἐξεκυλίσθη πρηνὴς ἐν κονίῃσιν ἐπὶ στόμα· πὰρ δέ οἱ ἔστη Ἀτρεΐδης Μενέλαος ἔχων δολιχόσκιον ἔγχος. Ἄδρηστος δʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα λαβὼν ἐλίσσετο γούνων·

Lattimore commentary

Supplication scenes include the grasping of the would-be protector’s knees (sometimes chin, too); mention of ransom; and, on occasion, biographical details that the suppliant imagines might evoke pity: see 11.131, and the most developed scene (Lykaon), 21.74. The contrasted reactions of the two brothers are a deft touch of characterization.

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Adrastus (trojan) to Menelaus

Lines 46–50

should he hear that I am alive at the ships of the Achaeans.

ζώγρει Ἀτρέος υἱέ, σὺ δʼ ἄξια δέξαι ἄποινα· πολλὰ δʼ ἐν ἀφνειοῦ πατρὸς κειμήλια κεῖται χαλκός τε χρυσός τε πολύκμητός τε σίδηρος, τῶν κέν τοι χαρίσαιτο πατὴρ ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα εἴ κεν ἐμὲ ζωὸν πεπύθοιτʼ ἐπὶ νηυσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.

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Lines 51–54

ὣς φάτο, τῷ δʼ ἄρα θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἔπειθε· καὶ δή μιν τάχʼ ἔμελλε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν δώσειν ᾧ θεράποντι καταξέμεν· ἀλλʼ Ἀγαμέμνων ἀντίος ἦλθε θέων, καὶ ὁμοκλήσας ἔπος ηὔδα·

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peitho thumos

Agamemnon to Menelaus

Lines 55–60

Soft-hearted Menelaus, why carest thou thus for the men? Hath then so great kindness been done thee in thy house by Trojans? Of them let not one escape sheer destruction and the might of our hands, nay, not the man-child whom his mother bears in her womb; let not even him escape,but let all perish together out of Ilios, unmourned and unmarked. So spake the warrior, and turned his brother's mind, for he counselled aright; so Menelaus with his hand thrust from him the warrior Adrastus, and lord Agamemnon smote him on the flank, and he fell backward; and the son of Atreus but let all perish together out of Ilios, unmourned and unmarked.

ὦ πέπον ὦ Μενέλαε, τί ἢ δὲ σὺ κήδεαι οὕτως ἀνδρῶν; ἦ σοὶ ἄριστα πεποίηται κατὰ οἶκον πρὸς Τρώων; τῶν μή τις ὑπεκφύγοι αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον χεῖράς θʼ ἡμετέρας, μηδʼ ὅν τινα γαστέρι μήτηρ κοῦρον ἐόντα φέροι, μηδʼ ὃς φύγοι, ἀλλʼ ἅμα πάντες Ἰλίου ἐξαπολοίατʼ ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄφαντοι.

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Lines 61–66

planted his heel on his chest, and drew forth the ashen spear. Then Nestor shouted aloud, and called to the Argives: My friends, Danaan warriors, squires of Ares, let no man now abide behind in eager desire for spoil, that he may come to the ships bearing the greatest store;nay, let us slay the men; thereafter in peace shall ye strip the armour from the corpses that lie dead over the plain.

ὣς εἰπὼν ἔτρεψεν ἀδελφειοῦ φρένας ἥρως αἴσιμα παρειπών· ὃ δʼ ἀπὸ ἕθεν ὤσατο χειρὶ ἥρωʼ Ἄδρηστον· τὸν δὲ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων οὖτα κατὰ λαπάρην· ὃ δʼ ἀνετράπετʼ, Ἀτρεΐδης δὲ λὰξ ἐν στήθεσι βὰς ἐξέσπασε μείλινον ἔγχος. Νέστωρ δʼ Ἀργείοισιν ἐκέκλετο μακρὸν ἀΰσας·

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phren

Nestor to Greeks

Lines 67–71

nay, let us slay the men; thereafter in peace shall ye strip the armour from the corpses that lie dead over the plain.

ὦ φίλοι ἥρωες Δαναοὶ θεράποντες Ἄρηος μή τις νῦν ἐνάρων ἐπιβαλλόμενος μετόπισθε μιμνέτω ὥς κε πλεῖστα φέρων ἐπὶ νῆας ἵκηται, ἀλλʼ ἄνδρας κτείνωμεν· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἕκηλοι νεκροὺς ἂμ πεδίον συλήσετε τεθνηῶτας.

Lattimore commentary

Nestor makes explicit the mixed motivations among the fighters throughout the battle, as the common goal of subduing the Trojans competes with individual desires for plundered armor.

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Lines 72–76

had not the son of Priam, Helenus, far the best of augurs, come up to Aeneas and Hector, and said to them: Aeneas and Hector, seeing that upon you above all others rests the war-toil of Trojans and Lycians, for that in every undertaking ye are the best both in war and in counsel,hold ye your ground, and go ye this way and that throughout the host and keep them back before the gates, or ever in flight they fling themselves in their women's arms, and be made a joy to their foemen. But when ye have aroused all our battalions, we verily will abide here and fight against the Danaans,sore wearied though we be, for necessity weighs hard upon us; but do thou, Hector, go thy way to the city and speak there to her that is thy mother and mine; let her gather the aged wives to the temple of flashing-eyed Athene in the citadel, and when she has opened with the key the doors of the holy house,the robe that seemeth to her the fairest and amplest in her hall, and that is far dearest to her own self, this let her lay upon the knees of fair-haired Athene, and vow to her that she will sacrifice in her temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, if she will have compassionon the city and the Trojan's wives and their little children; in hope she may hold back from sacred Ilios the son of Tydeus, that savage spearman, a mighty deviser of rout, who has verily, meseems, proved himself the mightiest of the Achaeans. Not even Achilles did we ever fear on this wise, that leader of men,who, they say, is born of a goddess; nay this man rageth beyond all measure, and no one can vie with him in might. So spake he, and Hector was in no wise disobedient unto his brother's word. Forthwith he leapt in his armour from his chariot to the ground, and brandishing his two sharp spears went everywhere throughout host,

ὣς εἰπὼν ὄτρυνε μένος καὶ θυμὸν ἑκάστου. ἔνθά κεν αὖτε Τρῶες ἀρηϊφίλων ὑπʼ Ἀχαιῶν Ἴλιον εἰσανέβησαν ἀναλκείῃσι δαμέντες, εἰ μὴ ἄρʼ Αἰνείᾳ τε καὶ Ἕκτορι εἶπε παραστὰς Πριαμίδης Ἕλενος οἰωνοπόλων ὄχʼ ἄριστος·

Lattimore commentary

Helenos later overhears the wishes of the gods (7.44), but here we do not learn his source for the advice to placate Athene in her shrine. The offering of a robe resembles the presentation to Athene during the Panathenaic festival in Athens (memorably depicted on the frieze of the Parthenon). The focus on Diomedes as most dangerous of the Greek threats keeps the audience in mind of his raging attacks in the preceding book.

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menos thumos

Helenus to Hector

Lines 77–101

hold ye your ground, and go ye this way and that throughout the host and keep them back before the gates, or ever in flight they fling themselves in their women's arms, and be made a joy to their foemen. But when ye have aroused all our battalions, we verily will abide here and fight against the Danaans, sore wearied though we be, for necessity weighs hard upon us; but do thou, Hector, go thy way to the city and speak there to her that is thy mother and mine; let her gather the aged wives to the temple of flashing-eyed Athene in the citadel, and when she has opened with the key the doors of the holy house, the robe that seemeth to her the fairest and amplest in her hall, and that is far dearest to her own self, this let her lay upon the knees of fair-haired Athene, and vow to her that she will sacrifice in her temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, if she will have compassion on the city and the Trojan's wives and their little children; in hope she may hold back from sacred Ilios the son of Tydeus, that savage spearman, a mighty deviser of rout, who has verily, meseems, proved himself the mightiest of the Achaeans. Not even Achilles did we ever fear on this wise, that leader of men, who, they say, is born of a goddess; nay this man rageth beyond all measure, and no one can vie with him in might.

Αἰνεία τε καὶ Ἕκτορ, ἐπεὶ πόνος ὔμμι μάλιστα Τρώων καὶ Λυκίων ἐγκέκλιται, οὕνεκʼ ἄριστοι πᾶσαν ἐπʼ ἰθύν ἐστε μάχεσθαί τε φρονέειν τε, στῆτʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ λαὸν ἐρυκάκετε πρὸ πυλάων πάντῃ ἐποιχόμενοι πρὶν αὖτʼ ἐν χερσὶ γυναικῶν φεύγοντας πεσέειν, δηΐοισι δὲ χάρμα γενέσθαι. αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κε φάλαγγας ἐποτρύνητον ἁπάσας, ἡμεῖς μὲν Δαναοῖσι μαχησόμεθʼ αὖθι μένοντες, καὶ μάλα τειρόμενοί περ· ἀναγκαίη γὰρ ἐπείγει· Ἕκτορ ἀτὰρ σὺ πόλιν δὲ μετέρχεο, εἰπὲ δʼ ἔπειτα μητέρι σῇ καὶ ἐμῇ· ἣ δὲ ξυνάγουσα γεραιὰς νηὸν Ἀθηναίης γλαυκώπιδος ἐν πόλει ἄκρῃ οἴξασα κληῗδι θύρας ἱεροῖο δόμοιο πέπλον, ὅς οἱ δοκέει χαριέστατος ἠδὲ μέγιστος εἶναι ἐνὶ μεγάρῳ καί οἱ πολὺ φίλτατος αὐτῇ, θεῖναι Ἀθηναίης ἐπὶ γούνασιν ἠϋκόμοιο, καί οἱ ὑποσχέσθαι δυοκαίδεκα βοῦς ἐνὶ νηῷ ἤνις ἠκέστας ἱερευσέμεν, αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃ ἄστύ τε καὶ Τρώων ἀλόχους καὶ νήπια τέκνα, ὥς κεν Τυδέος υἱὸν ἀπόσχῃ Ἰλίου ἱρῆς ἄγριον αἰχμητὴν κρατερὸν μήστωρα φόβοιο, ὃν δὴ ἐγὼ κάρτιστον Ἀχαιῶν φημι γενέσθαι. οὐδʼ Ἀχιλῆά ποθʼ ὧδέ γʼ ἐδείδιμεν ὄρχαμον ἀνδρῶν, ὅν πέρ φασι θεᾶς ἐξέμμεναι· ἀλλʼ ὅδε λίην μαίνεται, οὐδέ τίς οἱ δύναται μένος ἰσοφαρίζειν.

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menos

Lines 102–110

urging them to fight; and he roused the dread din of battle. So they rallied, and took their stand with their faces toward the Achaeans, and the Argives gave ground and ceased from slaying; and they deemed that one of the immortals had come down from starry heaven to bear aid to the Trojans, that they rallied thus. And Hector shouted aloud and called to the Trojans: Ye Trojans, high of heart, and far-famed allies, be men, my friends, and bethink you of furious valour, the while I go to Ilios and bid the elders that give counsel, and our wivesto make prayer to the gods, and promise them hecatombs.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, Ἕκτωρ δʼ οὔ τι κασιγνήτῳ ἀπίθησεν. αὐτίκα δʼ ἐξ ὀχέων σὺν τεύχεσιν ἆλτο χαμᾶζε, πάλλων δʼ ὀξέα δοῦρα κατὰ στρατὸν ᾤχετο πάντῃ ὀτρύνων μαχέσασθαι, ἔγειρε δὲ φύλοπιν αἰνήν. οἳ δʼ ἐλελίχθησαν καὶ ἐναντίοι ἔσταν Ἀχαιῶν· Ἀργεῖοι δʼ ὑπεχώρησαν, λῆξαν δὲ φόνοιο, φὰν δέ τινʼ ἀθανάτων ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος Τρωσὶν ἀλεξήσοντα κατελθέμεν, ὡς ἐλέλιχθεν. Ἕκτωρ δὲ Τρώεσσιν ἐκέκλετο μακρὸν ἀΰσας·

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Hector to Trojans

Lines 111–115

to make prayer to the gods, and promise them hecatombs.

Τρῶες ὑπέρθυμοι τηλεκλειτοί τʼ ἐπίκουροι ἀνέρες ἔστε φίλοι, μνήσασθε δὲ θούριδος ἀλκῆς, ὄφρʼ ἂν ἐγὼ βείω προτὶ Ἴλιον, ἠδὲ γέρουσιν εἴπω βουλευτῇσι καὶ ἡμετέρῃς ἀλόχοισι δαίμοσιν ἀρήσασθαι, ὑποσχέσθαι δʼ ἑκατόμβας.

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Lines 116–122

came together in the space between the two hosts, eager to do battle. And when the twain were now come near as they advanced one against the other, Diomedes, good at the war-cry, was first to speak, saying: Who art thou, mighty one, among mortal men? For never have I seen thee in battle where men win gloryuntil this day, but now hast thou come forth far in advance of all in thy hardihood, in that thou abidest my far-shadowing spear. Unhappy are they whose children face my might. But and if thou art one of the immortals come down from heaven, then will I not fight with the heavenly gods.Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods—he that on a time drave down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus.But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror gat hold of him at the man's threatenings. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease wax wroth, and the son of Cronos made him blind;and he lived not for long, seeing that he was hated of all the immortal gods. So would not I be minded to fight against the blessed gods. But if thou art of men, who eat the fruit of the field, draw nigh, that thou mayest the sooner enter the toils of destruction. 273.1 Then spake to him the glorious son of Hippolochus:

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπέβη κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ· ἀμφὶ δέ μιν σφυρὰ τύπτε καὶ αὐχένα δέρμα κελαινὸν ἄντυξ ἣ πυμάτη θέεν ἀσπίδος ὀμφαλοέσσης. Γλαῦκος δʼ Ἱππολόχοιο πάϊς καὶ Τυδέος υἱὸς ἐς μέσον ἀμφοτέρων συνίτην μεμαῶτε μάχεσθαι. οἳ δʼ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦσαν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοισιν ἰόντε, τὸν πρότερος προσέειπε βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Διομήδης·

Lattimore commentary

From the detail, we learn that Hektor carries an archaic Mykenaian-era full-body shield; other warriors have a smaller round shield of more recent type.

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Diomedes to Glaucus (lycian)

Lines 123–143

until this day, but now hast thou come forth far in advance of all in thy hardihood, in that thou abidest my far-shadowing spear. Unhappy are they whose children face my might. But and if thou art one of the immortals come down from heaven, then will I not fight with the heavenly gods. Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods—he that on a time drave down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus. But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror gat hold of him at the man's threatenings. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease wax wroth, and the son of Cronos made him blind; and he lived not for long, seeing that he was hated of all the immortal gods. So would not I be minded to fight against the blessed gods. But if thou art of men, who eat the fruit of the field, draw nigh, that thou mayest the sooner enter the toils of destruction.

τίς δὲ σύ ἐσσι φέριστε καταθνητῶν ἀνθρώπων; οὐ μὲν γάρ ποτʼ ὄπωπα μάχῃ ἔνι κυδιανείρῃ τὸ πρίν· ἀτὰρ μὲν νῦν γε πολὺ προβέβηκας ἁπάντων σῷ θάρσει, ὅ τʼ ἐμὸν δολιχόσκιον ἔγχος ἔμεινας· δυστήνων δέ τε παῖδες ἐμῷ μένει ἀντιόωσιν. εἰ δέ τις ἀθανάτων γε κατʼ οὐρανοῦ εἰλήλουθας, οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε θεοῖσιν ἐπουρανίοισι μαχοίμην. οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ Δρύαντος υἱὸς κρατερὸς Λυκόοργος δὴν ἦν, ὅς ῥα θεοῖσιν ἐπουρανίοισιν ἔριζεν· ὅς ποτε μαινομένοιο Διωνύσοιο τιθήνας σεῦε κατʼ ἠγάθεον Νυσήϊον· αἳ δʼ ἅμα πᾶσαι θύσθλα χαμαὶ κατέχευαν ὑπʼ ἀνδροφόνοιο Λυκούργου θεινόμεναι βουπλῆγι· Διώνυσος δὲ φοβηθεὶς δύσεθʼ ἁλὸς κατὰ κῦμα, Θέτις δʼ ὑπεδέξατο κόλπῳ δειδιότα· κρατερὸς γὰρ ἔχε τρόμος ἀνδρὸς ὁμοκλῇ. τῷ μὲν ἔπειτʼ ὀδύσαντο θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες, καί μιν τυφλὸν ἔθηκε Κρόνου πάϊς· οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔτι δὴν ἦν, ἐπεὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀπήχθετο πᾶσι θεοῖσιν· οὐδʼ ἂν ἐγὼ μακάρεσσι θεοῖς ἐθέλοιμι μάχεσθαι. εἰ δέ τίς ἐσσι βροτῶν οἳ ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδουσιν, ἆσσον ἴθʼ ὥς κεν θᾶσσον ὀλέθρου πείραθʼ ἵκηαι.

Lattimore commentary

Diomedes’ tough talk is intended to diminish his opponent, and therefore we can read his questioning (whether Glaukos has divine status) as highly ironic, rather than as contradicting his special temporary capacity to detect gods. The tale of Lykourgos is one of many such stories about misdirected rejections of Dionysos, the most famous of which underlies Euripides’ Bacchae. In the current analogy, Diomedes professes fear of resembling Lykourgos, but his focus on Dionysos’ flight seems like a taunt directed toward Glaukos.

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Lines 144

τὸν δʼ αὖθʼ Ἱππολόχοιο προσηύδα φαίδιμος υἱός·

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Glaucus (lycian) to Diomedes

Lines 145–211

Great-souled son of Tydeus, wherefore inquirest thou of my lineage? Even as are the generations of leaves, such are those also of men. As for the leaves, the wind scattereth some upon the earth, but the forest, as it bourgeons, putteth forth others when the season of spring is come; even so of men one generation springeth up and another passeth away.Howbeit, if thou wilt, hear this also, that thou mayest know well my lineage; and many there be that know it. There is a city Ephyre in the heart of Argos, pasture-land of horses, and there dwelt Sisyphus that was craftiest of men, Sisyphus, son of Aeolus; and he begat a son Glaucus;and Glaucus begat peerless Bellerophon. Howbeit, if thou wilt, hear this also, that thou mayest know well my lineage; and many there be that know it. There is a city Ephyre in the heart of Argos, pasture-land of horses, and there dwelt Sisyphus that was craftiest of men, Sisyphus, son of Aeolus; and he begat a son Glaucus; and Glaucus begat peerless Bellerophon. Now the wife of Proetus, fair Anteia, lusted madly for Bellerophon, to lie with him in secret love, but could in no wise prevail upon wise-hearted Bellerophon, for that his heart was upright. So she made a tale of lies, and spake to king Proetus: Either die thyself, Proetus, or slay Bellerophon,seeing he was minded to lie with me in love against my will. So she spake, and wrath gat hold upon the king to hear that word. To slay him he forbare, for his soul had awe of that; but he sent him to Lycia, and gave him baneful tokens, graving in a folded tablet many signs and deadly,275.1 seeing he was minded to lie with me in love against my will. and bade him show these to his own wife's father, that he might be slain. So he went his way to Lycia under the blameless escort of the gods. And when he was come to Lycia and the stream of Xanthus, then with a ready heart did the king of wide Lycia do him honour: for nine days' space he shewed him entertainment, and slew nine oxen. Howbeit when the tenth rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, then at length he questioned him and asked to see whatever token he bare from his daughter's husband, Proetus. But when he had received from him the evil token of his daughter's husband, first he bade him slay the raging Chimaera. She was of divine stock, not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire. And Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the signs of the gods. Next fought he with the glorious Solymi, and this, said he was the mightest battle of warriors that ever he entered; and thirdly he slew the Amazons, women the peers of men. And against him, as he journeyed back therefrom, the king wove another cunning wile; he chose out of wide Lycia the bravest men and set an ambush; but these returned not home in any wise, for peerless Bellerophon slew them one and all. a fair tract of orchard and of plough-land, to possess it. And the lady bare to wise-hearted Bellerophon three children, Isander and Hippolochus and Laodameia. With Laodameia lay Zeus the counsellor, and she bare godlike Sarpedon, the warrior harnessed in bronze. But when even Bellerophon came to be hated of all the gods, then verily he wandered alone over the Aleian plain, devouring his own soul, and shunning the paths of men; and Isander his son was slain by Ares, insatiate of battle, as he fought against the glorious Solymi; and his daughter was slain in wrath by Artemis of the golden reins. But Hippolochus begat me and of him do I declare that I am sprung; and he sent me to Troy and straitly charged me ever to be bravest and pre-eminent above all, and not bring shame upon the race of my fathers, that were far the noblest in Ephyre and in wide Lycia. This is the lineage and the blood whereof I avow me sprung.

Τυδεΐδη μεγάθυμε τί ἢ γενεὴν ἐρεείνεις; οἵη περ φύλλων γενεὴ τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν. φύλλα τὰ μέν τʼ ἄνεμος χαμάδις χέει, ἄλλα δέ θʼ ὕλη τηλεθόωσα φύει, ἔαρος δʼ ἐπιγίγνεται ὥρη· ὣς ἀνδρῶν γενεὴ ἣ μὲν φύει ἣ δʼ ἀπολήγει. εἰ δʼ ἐθέλεις καὶ ταῦτα δαήμεναι ὄφρʼ ἐῢ εἰδῇς ἡμετέρην γενεήν, πολλοὶ δέ μιν ἄνδρες ἴσασιν· ἔστι πόλις Ἐφύρη μυχῷ Ἄργεος ἱπποβότοιο, ἔνθα δὲ Σίσυφος ἔσκεν, ὃ κέρδιστος γένετʼ ἀνδρῶν, Σίσυφος Αἰολίδης· ὃ δʼ ἄρα Γλαῦκον τέκεθʼ υἱόν, αὐτὰρ Γλαῦκος τίκτεν ἀμύμονα Βελλεροφόντην· τῷ δὲ θεοὶ κάλλός τε καὶ ἠνορέην ἐρατεινὴν ὤπασαν· αὐτάρ οἱ Προῖτος κακὰ μήσατο θυμῷ, ὅς ῥʼ ἐκ δήμου ἔλασσεν, ἐπεὶ πολὺ φέρτερος ἦεν, Ἀργείων· Ζεὺς γάρ οἱ ὑπὸ σκήπτρῳ ἐδάμασσε. τῷ δὲ γυνὴ Προίτου ἐπεμήνατο δῖʼ Ἄντεια κρυπταδίῃ φιλότητι μιγήμεναι· ἀλλὰ τὸν οὔ τι πεῖθʼ ἀγαθὰ φρονέοντα δαΐφρονα Βελλεροφόντην. ἣ δὲ ψευσαμένη Προῖτον βασιλῆα προσηύδα· τεθναίης ὦ Προῖτʼ, ἢ κάκτανε Βελλεροφόντην, ὅς μʼ ἔθελεν φιλότητι μιγήμεναι οὐκ ἐθελούσῃ. ὣς φάτο, τὸν δὲ ἄνακτα χόλος λάβεν οἷον ἄκουσε· κτεῖναι μέν ῥʼ ἀλέεινε, σεβάσσατο γὰρ τό γε θυμῷ, πέμπε δέ μιν Λυκίην δέ, πόρεν δʼ ὅ γε σήματα λυγρὰ γράψας ἐν πίνακι πτυκτῷ θυμοφθόρα πολλά, δεῖξαι δʼ ἠνώγειν ᾧ πενθερῷ ὄφρʼ ἀπόλοιτο. αὐτὰρ ὁ βῆ Λυκίην δὲ θεῶν ὑπʼ ἀμύμονι πομπῇ. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ Λυκίην ἷξε Ξάνθόν τε ῥέοντα, προφρονέως μιν τῖεν ἄναξ Λυκίης εὐρείης· ἐννῆμαρ ξείνισσε καὶ ἐννέα βοῦς ἱέρευσεν. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ δεκάτη ἐφάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠὼς καὶ τότε μιν ἐρέεινε καὶ ᾔτεε σῆμα ἰδέσθαι ὅττί ῥά οἱ γαμβροῖο πάρα Προίτοιο φέροιτο. αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ σῆμα κακὸν παρεδέξατο γαμβροῦ, πρῶτον μέν ῥα Χίμαιραν ἀμαιμακέτην ἐκέλευσε πεφνέμεν· ἣ δʼ ἄρʼ ἔην θεῖον γένος οὐδʼ ἀνθρώπων, πρόσθε λέων, ὄπιθεν δὲ δράκων, μέσση δὲ χίμαιρα, δεινὸν ἀποπνείουσα πυρὸς μένος αἰθομένοιο, καὶ τὴν μὲν κατέπεφνε θεῶν τεράεσσι πιθήσας. δεύτερον αὖ Σολύμοισι μαχέσσατο κυδαλίμοισι· καρτίστην δὴ τήν γε μάχην φάτο δύμεναι ἀνδρῶν. τὸ τρίτον αὖ κατέπεφνεν Ἀμαζόνας ἀντιανείρας. τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἀνερχομένῳ πυκινὸν δόλον ἄλλον ὕφαινε· κρίνας ἐκ Λυκίης εὐρείης φῶτας ἀρίστους εἷσε λόχον· τοὶ δʼ οὔ τι πάλιν οἶκον δὲ νέοντο· πάντας γὰρ κατέπεφνεν ἀμύμων Βελλεροφόντης. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ γίγνωσκε θεοῦ γόνον ἠῢν ἐόντα αὐτοῦ μιν κατέρυκε, δίδου δʼ ὅ γε θυγατέρα ἥν, δῶκε δέ οἱ τιμῆς βασιληΐδος ἥμισυ πάσης· καὶ μέν οἱ Λύκιοι τέμενος τάμον ἔξοχον ἄλλων καλὸν φυταλιῆς καὶ ἀρούρης, ὄφρα νέμοιτο. ἣ δʼ ἔτεκε τρία τέκνα δαΐφρονι Βελλεροφόντῃ Ἴσανδρόν τε καὶ Ἱππόλοχον καὶ Λαοδάμειαν. Λαοδαμείῃ μὲν παρελέξατο μητίετα Ζεύς, ἣ δʼ ἔτεκʼ ἀντίθεον Σαρπηδόνα χαλκοκορυστήν. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ καὶ κεῖνος ἀπήχθετο πᾶσι θεοῖσιν, ἤτοι ὃ κὰπ πεδίον τὸ Ἀλήϊον οἶος ἀλᾶτο ὃν θυμὸν κατέδων, πάτον ἀνθρώπων ἀλεείνων· Ἴσανδρον δέ οἱ υἱὸν Ἄρης ἆτος πολέμοιο μαρνάμενον Σολύμοισι κατέκτανε κυδαλίμοισι· τὴν δὲ χολωσαμένη χρυσήνιος Ἄρτεμις ἔκτα. Ἱππόλοχος δέ μʼ ἔτικτε, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φημι γενέσθαι· πέμπε δέ μʼ ἐς Τροίην, καί μοι μάλα πόλλʼ ἐπέτελλεν αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν καὶ ὑπείροχον ἔμμεναι ἄλλων, μηδὲ γένος πατέρων αἰσχυνέμεν, οἳ μέγʼ ἄριστοι ἔν τʼ Ἐφύρῃ ἐγένοντο καὶ ἐν Λυκίῃ εὐρείῃ. ταύτης τοι γενεῆς τε καὶ αἵματος εὔχομαι εἶναι.

Lattimore commentary

The line offers the oldest surviving quotation from Homer, in a poem by Simonides who flourished circa 500 BC and attributes it to “the man of Chios.” The image of leaves is used to make a different point by Apollo (21.464), that ephemeral humans should not disturb divine harmony. Sisyphos tricked Death once, and another time Hades, in order to return to his life, but was finally tasked with constantly rolling an eternally returning boulder up a hill in the underworld. The story of Bellerophontes combines the motifs of a Jung hero driven from his kingdom (Jason, Perseus) with the “Potiphar’s wife” plot (Genesis 39:1–20; cf. the ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers, from the thirteenth century BC). The “murderous symbols” may be a vague recollection of an early form of writing (perhaps Linear B or a script of Asia Minor) by a poet whose audience does not know letters, or an archaizing touch, for a literate public, focalizing the imagined viewpoint of the Bronze Age hero. Folding writing tablets dating to the fourteenth century BC were recovered in the 1980s from the Uluburun shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, close to what was ancient Lykia. The Chimaira (“she-goat”) is one of the few monsters mentioned by Homer, a type more at home in the poetry of Hesiod, whose Theogony (325) refers also to the role of Pegasos, the famous winged horse of Bellerophontes, in the story of his conquest of the beast. The Iliad version omits Pegasos just as it avoids mention of the hero’s unwise attempt to fly to Olympos, only vaguely referring to his unhappy end. Herodotus (1.173) reports that the Solymoi, original inhabitants of Lykia, were driven out by invaders from Crete. The Amazons, a famous race of women warriors, fought against the Trojans in Priam’s youth (3.189) and will reappear later in the saga, when Penthesileia, daughter of Ares, leads them to aid Troy (a story told in the Cyclic epic sequel to the Iliad, the Aithiopis).

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menos peitho thumos

Lines 212–214

ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δὲ βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Διομήδης· ἔγχος μὲν κατέπηξεν ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ, αὐτὰρ ὃ μειλιχίοισι προσηύδα ποιμένα λαῶν·

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Diomedes to Glaucus (lycian)

Lines 215–231

Verily now art thou a friend of my father's house from of old: for goodly Oeneus on a time entertained peerless Bellerophon in his halls, and kept him twenty days; and moreover they gave one to the other fair gifts of friendship. Oeneus gave a belt bright with scarlet,and Bellerophon a double cup of gold which I left in my palace as I came hither. But Tydeus I remember not, seeing I was but a little child when he left, what time the host of the Achaeans perished at Thebes. Therefore now am I a dear guest-friend to thee in the midst of Argos,and thou to me in Lycia, whenso I journey to the land of that folk. So let us shun one another's spears even amid the throng; full many there be for me to slay, both Trojans and famed allies, whomsoever a god shall grant me and my feet overtake;and many Achaeans again for thee to slay whomsoever thou canst. And let us make exchange of armour, each with the other, that these men too may know that we declare ourselves to be friends from our fathers' days. and Bellerophon a double cup of gold which I left in my palace as I came hither. But Tydeus I remember not, seeing I was but a little child when he left, what time the host of the Achaeans perished at Thebes. Therefore now am I a dear guest-friend to thee in the midst of Argos, and thou to me in Lycia, whenso I journey to the land of that folk. So let us shun one another's spears even amid the throng; full many there be for me to slay, both Trojans and famed allies, whomsoever a god shall grant me and my feet overtake; and many Achaeans again for thee to slay whomsoever thou canst. And let us make exchange of armour, each with the other, that these men too may know that we declare ourselves to be friends from our fathers' days.

ἦ ῥά νύ μοι ξεῖνος πατρώϊός ἐσσι παλαιός· Οἰνεὺς γάρ ποτε δῖος ἀμύμονα Βελλεροφόντην ξείνισʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἐείκοσιν ἤματʼ ἐρύξας· οἳ δὲ καὶ ἀλλήλοισι πόρον ξεινήϊα καλά· Οἰνεὺς μὲν ζωστῆρα δίδου φοίνικι φαεινόν, Βελλεροφόντης δὲ χρύσεον δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον καί μιν ἐγὼ κατέλειπον ἰὼν ἐν δώμασʼ ἐμοῖσι. Τυδέα δʼ οὐ μέμνημαι, ἐπεί μʼ ἔτι τυτθὸν ἐόντα κάλλιφʼ, ὅτʼ ἐν Θήβῃσιν ἀπώλετο λαὸς Ἀχαιῶν. τὼ νῦν σοὶ μὲν ἐγὼ ξεῖνος φίλος Ἄργεϊ μέσσῳ εἰμί, σὺ δʼ ἐν Λυκίῃ ὅτε κεν τῶν δῆμον ἵκωμαι. ἔγχεα δʼ ἀλλήλων ἀλεώμεθα καὶ διʼ ὁμίλου· πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐμοὶ Τρῶες κλειτοί τʼ ἐπίκουροι κτείνειν ὅν κε θεός γε πόρῃ καὶ ποσσὶ κιχείω, πολλοὶ δʼ αὖ σοὶ Ἀχαιοὶ ἐναιρέμεν ὅν κε δύνηαι. τεύχεα δʼ ἀλλήλοις ἐπαμείψομεν, ὄφρα καὶ οἵδε γνῶσιν ὅτι ξεῖνοι πατρώϊοι εὐχόμεθʼ εἶναι.

Lattimore commentary

The connection of Glaukos with a leading Greek clan is not what prompts the offer of friendship from Diomedes. Instead, it is the (alleged) guest-friendship (xenia) of their grandfathers. A cynic might read Diomedes’ whole tale as a devious ploy to wrest gold armor from his innocent opponent. Most critics see the episode as a sincere, humane interlude amid mutual slaughter. Either way, Diomedes has benefited from the iron-clad rules of exchange, which ignore asymmetry of gifts.

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Lines 232–246

seeing he made exchange of armour with Diomedes, son of Tydeus, giving golden for bronze, the worth of an hundred oxen for the worth of nine. But when Hector was come to the Scaean gate and the oak-tree, round about him came running the wives and daughters of the Trojans asking of their sons and brethren and friends and husbands. But he thereupon bade them make prayer to the gods, all of them in turn; yet over many were sorrows hung. But when he was now come to the beauteous palace of Priam, adorned with polished colonnades —and in it were fifty chambers of polished stone, built each hard by the other; therein the sons of Priam were wont to sleep beside their wedded wives; and for his daughters over against them on the opposite side within the court were twelve roofed chambers of polished stone, built each hard by the other;

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσαντε καθʼ ἵππων ἀΐξαντε χεῖράς τʼ ἀλλήλων λαβέτην καὶ πιστώσαντο· ἔνθʼ αὖτε Γλαύκῳ Κρονίδης φρένας ἐξέλετο Ζεύς, ὃς πρὸς Τυδεΐδην Διομήδεα τεύχεʼ ἄμειβε χρύσεα χαλκείων, ἑκατόμβοιʼ ἐννεαβοίων. Ἕκτωρ δʼ ὡς Σκαιάς τε πύλας καὶ φηγὸν ἵκανεν, ἀμφʼ ἄρα μιν Τρώων ἄλοχοι θέον ἠδὲ θύγατρες εἰρόμεναι παῖδάς τε κασιγνήτους τε ἔτας τε καὶ πόσιας· ὃ δʼ ἔπειτα θεοῖς εὔχεσθαι ἀνώγει πάσας ἑξείης· πολλῇσι δὲ κήδεʼ ἐφῆπτο. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ Πριάμοιο δόμον περικαλλέʼ ἵκανε ξεστῇς αἰθούσῃσι τετυγμένον· αὐτὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ πεντήκοντʼ ἔνεσαν θάλαμοι ξεστοῖο λίθοιο πλησίον ἀλλήλων δεδμημένοι, ἔνθα δὲ παῖδες κοιμῶντο Πριάμοιο παρὰ μνηστῇς ἀλόχοισι,

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phren

Lines 247–253

therein slept Priam's sons-in-law beside their chaste wives—there his bounteous mother came to meet him, leading in Laodice, fairest of her daughters to look upon; and she clasped him by the hand and spake and addressed him: My child, why hast thou left the fierce battle and come hither?Of a surety the sons of the Achaeans, of evil name, are pressing sore upon thee as they fight about our city, and thy heart hath bid thee come hitherward and lift up thy hands to Zeus from the citadel. But stay till I have brought thee honey-sweet wine that thou mayest pour libation to Zeus and the other immortals first,and then shalt thou thyself have profit thereof, if so be thou wilt drink. When a man is spent with toil wine greatly maketh his strength to wax, even as thou art spent with defending thy fellows.

κουράων δʼ ἑτέρωθεν ἐναντίοι ἔνδοθεν αὐλῆς δώδεκʼ ἔσαν τέγεοι θάλαμοι ξεστοῖο λίθοιο πλησίον ἀλλήλων δεδμημένοι, ἔνθα δὲ γαμβροὶ κοιμῶντο Πριάμοιο παρʼ αἰδοίῃς ἀλόχοισιν· ἔνθά οἱ ἠπιόδωρος ἐναντίη ἤλυθε μήτηρ Λαοδίκην ἐσάγουσα θυγατρῶν εἶδος ἀρίστην· ἔν τʼ ἄρα οἱ φῦ χειρὶ ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·

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Hecuba to Hector

Lines 254–262

Of a surety the sons of the Achaeans, of evil name, are pressing sore upon thee as they fight about our city, and thy heart hath bid thee come hitherward and lift up thy hands to Zeus from the citadel. But stay till I have brought thee honey-sweet wine that thou mayest pour libation to Zeus and the other immortals first, and then shalt thou thyself have profit thereof, if so be thou wilt drink. When a man is spent with toil wine greatly maketh his strength to wax, even as thou art spent with defending thy fellows.

τέκνον τίπτε λιπὼν πόλεμον θρασὺν εἰλήλουθας; ἦ μάλα δὴ τείρουσι δυσώνυμοι υἷες Ἀχαιῶν μαρνάμενοι περὶ ἄστυ· σὲ δʼ ἐνθάδε θυμὸς ἀνῆκεν ἐλθόντʼ ἐξ ἄκρης πόλιος Διὶ χεῖρας ἀνασχεῖν. ἀλλὰ μένʼ ὄφρά κέ τοι μελιηδέα οἶνον ἐνείκω, ὡς σπείσῃς Διὶ πατρὶ καὶ ἄλλοις ἀθανάτοισι πρῶτον, ἔπειτα δὲ καὐτὸς ὀνήσεαι αἴ κε πίῃσθα. ἀνδρὶ δὲ κεκμηῶτι μένος μέγα οἶνος ἀέξει, ὡς τύνη κέκμηκας ἀμύνων σοῖσιν ἔτῃσι.

Lattimore commentary

Hekabē is convincingly sketched as a doting mother, whose conjectures about Hektor’s motives (that he was exhausted from the fighting, that he wanted to pray to Zeus) the audience already knows are wrong. Hektor’s piety is embodied in the concern for ritual purity.

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menos thumos

Lines 263

τὴν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

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Hector to Hecuba

Lines 264–285

lest thou cripple me, and I be forgetful of my might and my valour; moreover with hands unwashen I have awe to pour libation of flaming wine to Zeus; nor may it in any wise be that a man should make prayer to the son of Cronos, lord of the dark clouds, all befouled with blood and filth. Nay, do thou go to the temple of Athene, driver of the spoil, with burnt-offerings, when thou hast gathered together the aged wives; and the robe that seemeth to thee the fairest and amplest in thy hall, and that is dearest far to thine own self, this do thou lay upon the knees of fair-haired Athene and vow to her that thou wilt sacrifice in her temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, if she will take pity on Troy and the Trojans' wives and their little children; in hope she may hold back the son of Tydeus from sacred Ilios, that savage spearman, a mighty deviser of rout. So go thou to the temple of Athene, driver of the spoil; and I will go after Paris, to summon him, if haply he will hearken to my bidding. Would that the earth might straightway gape for him! for in grievous wise hath the Olympian reared him as a bane to the Trojans and to great-hearted Priam, and the sons of Priam. If I but saw him going down to the house of Hades, then might I deem that my heart had forgotten its woe.

μή μοι οἶνον ἄειρε μελίφρονα πότνια μῆτερ, μή μʼ ἀπογυιώσῃς μένεος, ἀλκῆς τε λάθωμαι· χερσὶ δʼ ἀνίπτοισιν Διὶ λείβειν αἴθοπα οἶνον ἅζομαι· οὐδέ πῃ ἔστι κελαινεφέϊ Κρονίωνι αἵματι καὶ λύθρῳ πεπαλαγμένον εὐχετάασθαι. ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν πρὸς νηὸν Ἀθηναίης ἀγελείης ἔρχεο σὺν θυέεσσιν ἀολλίσσασα γεραιάς· πέπλον δʼ, ὅς τίς τοι χαριέστατος ἠδὲ μέγιστος ἔστιν ἐνὶ μεγάρῳ καί τοι πολὺ φίλτατος αὐτῇ, τὸν θὲς Ἀθηναίης ἐπὶ γούνασιν ἠϋκόμοιο, καί οἱ ὑποσχέσθαι δυοκαίδεκα βοῦς ἐνὶ νηῷ ἤνις ἠκέστας ἱερευσέμεν, αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃ ἄστύ τε καὶ Τρώων ἀλόχους καὶ νήπια τέκνα, αἴ κεν Τυδέος υἱὸν ἀπόσχῃ Ἰλίου ἱρῆς ἄγριον αἰχμητὴν κρατερὸν μήστωρα φόβοιο. ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν πρὸς νηὸν Ἀθηναίης ἀγελείης ἔρχευ, ἐγὼ δὲ Πάριν μετελεύσομαι ὄφρα καλέσσω αἴ κʼ ἐθέλῃσʼ εἰπόντος ἀκουέμεν· ὥς κέ οἱ αὖθι γαῖα χάνοι· μέγα γάρ μιν Ὀλύμπιος ἔτρεφε πῆμα Τρωσί τε καὶ Πριάμῳ μεγαλήτορι τοῖό τε παισίν. εἰ κεῖνόν γε ἴδοιμι κατελθόντʼ Ἄϊδος εἴσω φαίην κε φρένʼ ἀτέρπου ὀϊζύος ἐκλελαθέσθαι.

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menos phren

Lines 286–300

whom godlike Alexander had himself brought from Sidon, as he sailed over the wide sea on that journey on the which he brought back high-born Helen. Of these Hecabe took one, and bare it as an offering for Athene, the one that was fairest in its broiderings and amplest, and shone like a star, and lay undermost of all. Then she went her way, and the throng of aged wives hastened after her. for her had the Trojans made priestess of Athene. Then with sacred cries they all lifted up their hands to Athene; and fair-cheeked Theano took the robe and laid it upon the knees of fair-haired Athene, and with vows made prayer to the daughter of great Zeus:

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, ἣ δὲ μολοῦσα ποτὶ μέγαρʼ ἀμφιπόλοισι κέκλετο· ταὶ δʼ ἄρʼ ἀόλλισσαν κατὰ ἄστυ γεραιάς. αὐτὴ δʼ ἐς θάλαμον κατεβήσετο κηώεντα, ἔνθʼ ἔσάν οἱ πέπλοι παμποίκιλα ἔργα γυναικῶν Σιδονίων, τὰς αὐτὸς Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδὴς ἤγαγε Σιδονίηθεν ἐπιπλὼς εὐρέα πόντον, τὴν ὁδὸν ἣν Ἑλένην περ ἀνήγαγεν εὐπατέρειαν· τῶν ἕνʼ ἀειραμένη Ἑκάβη φέρε δῶρον Ἀθήνῃ, ὃς κάλλιστος ἔην ποικίλμασιν ἠδὲ μέγιστος, ἀστὴρ δʼ ὣς ἀπέλαμπεν· ἔκειτο δὲ νείατος ἄλλων. βῆ δʼ ἰέναι, πολλαὶ δὲ μετεσσεύοντο γεραιαί. αἱ δʼ ὅτε νηὸν ἵκανον Ἀθήνης ἐν πόλει ἄκρῃ, τῇσι θύρας ὤϊξε Θεανὼ καλλιπάρῃος Κισσηῒς ἄλοχος Ἀντήνορος ἱπποδάμοιο· τὴν γὰρ Τρῶες ἔθηκαν Ἀθηναίης ἱέρειαν.

Lattimore commentary

Sidon and Tyre were cities of Phoenicia. Herodotus (2.116) cites this passage with its mention of a Near Eastern detour as evidence that the Cyclic epic Cypria (according to which Paris and Helen reached Troy from mainland Greece in three days) could not have been composed by Homer.

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Lines 301–304

αἳ δʼ ὀλολυγῇ πᾶσαι Ἀθήνῃ χεῖρας ἀνέσχον· ἣ δʼ ἄρα πέπλον ἑλοῦσα Θεανὼ καλλιπάρῃος θῆκεν Ἀθηναίης ἐπὶ γούνασιν ἠϋκόμοιο, εὐχομένη δʼ ἠρᾶτο Διὸς κούρῃ μεγάλοιο·

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Theano to Athena

Lines 305–310

Lady Athene, that dost guard our city, fairest among goddesses, break now the spear of Diomedes, and grant furthermore that himself may fall headlong before the Scaean gates; to the end that we may now forthwith sacrifice to thee in thy temple twelve sleek heifers that have not felt the goad, if thou wilt take pityon Troy and the Trojans' wives and their little children. So spake she praying, but Pallas Athene denied the prayer. Thus were these praying to the daughter of great Zeus, but Hector went his way to the palace of Alexander, the fair palace that himself had builded with the men on Troy and the Trojans' wives and their little children.

πότνιʼ Ἀθηναίη ἐρυσίπτολι δῖα θεάων ἆξον δὴ ἔγχος Διομήδεος, ἠδὲ καὶ αὐτὸν πρηνέα δὸς πεσέειν Σκαιῶν προπάροιθε πυλάων, ὄφρά τοι αὐτίκα νῦν δυοκαίδεκα βοῦς ἐνὶ νηῷ ἤνις ἠκέστας ἱερεύσομεν, αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃς ἄστύ τε καὶ Τρώων ἀλόχους καὶ νήπια τέκνα.

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Lines 311–325

that were in that day the best builders in deep-soiled Troy; these had made him a chamber and hall and court hard by the palaces of Priam and Hector in the citadel. There entered in Hector, dear to Zeus, and in his hand he held a spear of eleven cubits, and before him blazed the spear-point of bronze, around which ran a ring of gold. He found Paris in his chamber busied with his beauteous arms, his shield and his corselet, and handling his curved bow; and Argive Helen sat amid her serving-women and appointed to them their glorious handiwork. And at sight of him Hector rebuked him with words of shame: Strange man, thou dost not well to nurse this anger in thy heart. Thy people are perishing about the town and the steep wall in battle, and it is because of thee that the battle-cry and the war are ablaze about this city; thou wouldest thyself vent wrath on any other,whomso thou shouldest haply see shrinking from hateful war. Nay, then, rouse thee, lest soon the city blaze with consuming fire.

ὣς ἔφατʼ εὐχομένη, ἀνένευε δὲ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη. ὣς αἳ μέν ῥʼ εὔχοντο Διὸς κούρῃ μεγάλοιο, Ἕκτωρ δὲ πρὸς δώματʼ Ἀλεξάνδροιο βεβήκει καλά, τά ῥʼ αὐτὸς ἔτευξε σὺν ἀνδράσιν οἳ τότʼ ἄριστοι ἦσαν ἐνὶ Τροίῃ ἐριβώλακι τέκτονες ἄνδρες, οἵ οἱ ἐποίησαν θάλαμον καὶ δῶμα καὶ αὐλὴν ἐγγύθι τε Πριάμοιο καὶ Ἕκτορος ἐν πόλει ἄκρῃ. ἔνθʼ Ἕκτωρ εἰσῆλθε Διῒ φίλος, ἐν δʼ ἄρα χειρὶ ἔγχος ἔχʼ ἑνδεκάπηχυ· πάροιθε δὲ λάμπετο δουρὸς αἰχμὴ χαλκείη, περὶ δὲ χρύσεος θέε πόρκης. τὸν δʼ εὗρʼ ἐν θαλάμῳ περικαλλέα τεύχεʼ ἕποντα ἀσπίδα καὶ θώρηκα, καὶ ἀγκύλα τόξʼ ἁφόωντα· Ἀργείη δʼ Ἑλένη μετʼ ἄρα δμῳῇσι γυναιξὶν ἧστο καὶ ἀμφιπόλοισι περικλυτὰ ἔργα κέλευε. τὸν δʼ Ἕκτωρ νείκεσσεν ἰδὼν αἰσχροῖς ἐπέεσσι·

Lattimore commentary

A significant contrast is intended between weary, bloodstained Hektor, whose anxious wife awaits, and his brother Paris ensconced in domestic comfort with his paramour. Lattimore has Hektor and Paris argue whether “coldness” (326, 335) is the motive for Paris’ withdrawal. The Greek at both places is kholos (anger, resentment), which has been seen as a narrative slip caused by the pressure of the more central theme, Achilleus’ anger. A compromise interpretation could be that Paris nurses a sort of passive aggression because his fellow Trojans are by now themselves angry enough to let him be killed (3.454).

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Hector to Paris

Lines 326–331

whomso thou shouldest haply see shrinking from hateful war. Nay, then, rouse thee, lest soon the city blaze with consuming fire.

δαιμόνιʼ οὐ μὲν καλὰ χόλον τόνδʼ ἔνθεο θυμῷ, λαοὶ μὲν φθινύθουσι περὶ πτόλιν αἰπύ τε τεῖχος μαρνάμενοι· σέο δʼ εἵνεκʼ ἀϋτή τε πτόλεμός τε ἄστυ τόδʼ ἀμφιδέδηε· σὺ δʼ ἂν μαχέσαιο καὶ ἄλλῳ, ὅν τινά που μεθιέντα ἴδοις στυγεροῦ πολέμοιο. ἀλλʼ ἄνα μὴ τάχα ἄστυ πυρὸς δηΐοιο θέρηται.

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thumos

Lines 332

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπεν Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδής·

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Paris to Hector

Lines 333–341

Not so much by reason of wrath and indignation against the Trojans sat I in my chamber, but I was minded to yield myself to sorrow. Even now my wife sought to turn my mind with gentle words and urged me to the war: and I, mine own self, deem that it will be better so; victory shifteth from man to man. But come now, tarry a while, let me don my harness of war; or go thy way, and I will follow; and methinks I shall overtake thee.

Ἕκτορ ἐπεί με κατʼ αἶσαν ἐνείκεσας οὐδʼ ὑπὲρ αἶσαν, τοὔνεκά τοι ἐρέω· σὺ δὲ σύνθεο καί μευ ἄκουσον· οὔ τοι ἐγὼ Τρώων τόσσον χόλῳ οὐδὲ νεμέσσι ἥμην ἐν θαλάμῳ, ἔθελον δʼ ἄχεϊ προτραπέσθαι. νῦν δέ με παρειποῦσʼ ἄλοχος μαλακοῖς ἐπέεσσιν ὅρμησʼ ἐς πόλεμον· δοκέει δέ μοι ὧδε καὶ αὐτῷ λώϊον ἔσσεσθαι· νίκη δʼ ἐπαμείβεται ἄνδρας. ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν ἐπίμεινον, Ἀρήϊα τεύχεα δύω· ἢ ἴθʼ, ἐγὼ δὲ μέτειμι· κιχήσεσθαι δέ σʼ ὀΐω.

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Lines 342–343

ὣς φάτο, τὸν δʼ οὔ τι προσέφη κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ· τὸν δʼ Ἑλένη μύθοισι προσηύδα μειλιχίοισι·

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Helena to Hector

Lines 344–358

I would that on the day when first my mother gave me birth an evil storm-wind had borne me away to some mountain or to the wave of the loud-resounding sea, where the wave might have swept me away or ever these things came to pass. Howbeit, seeing the gods thus ordained these ills, would that I had been wife to a better man, that could feel the indignation of his fellows and their many revilings. But this man's understanding is not now stable, nor ever will be hereafter; thereof I deem that he will e'en reap the fruit. But come now, enter in, and sit thee upon this chair, my brother, since above all others has trouble encompassed thy heart because of shameless me, and the folly of Alexander; on whom Zeus hath brought an evil doom, that even in days to come we may be a song for men that are yet to be.

δᾶερ ἐμεῖο κυνὸς κακομηχάνου ὀκρυοέσσης, ὥς μʼ ὄφελʼ ἤματι τῷ ὅτε με πρῶτον τέκε μήτηρ οἴχεσθαι προφέρουσα κακὴ ἀνέμοιο θύελλα εἰς ὄρος ἢ εἰς κῦμα πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης, ἔνθά με κῦμʼ ἀπόερσε πάρος τάδε ἔργα γενέσθαι. αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τάδε γʼ ὧδε θεοὶ κακὰ τεκμήραντο, ἀνδρὸς ἔπειτʼ ὤφελλον ἀμείνονος εἶναι ἄκοιτις, ὃς ᾔδη νέμεσίν τε καὶ αἴσχεα πόλλʼ ἀνθρώπων. τούτῳ δʼ οὔτʼ ἂρ νῦν φρένες ἔμπεδοι οὔτʼ ἄρʼ ὀπίσσω ἔσσονται· τὼ καί μιν ἐπαυρήσεσθαι ὀΐω. ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν εἴσελθε καὶ ἕζεο τῷδʼ ἐπὶ δίφρῳ δᾶερ, ἐπεί σε μάλιστα πόνος φρένας ἀμφιβέβηκεν εἵνεκʼ ἐμεῖο κυνὸς καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἕνεκʼ ἄτης, οἷσιν ἐπὶ Ζεὺς θῆκε κακὸν μόρον, ὡς καὶ ὀπίσσω ἀνθρώποισι πελώμεθʼ ἀοίδιμοι ἐσσομένοισι.

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phren

Lines 359

τὴν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ

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Hector to Helena

Lines 360–368

Bid me not sit, Helen, for all thou lovest me; thou wilt not persuade me. Even now my heart is impatient to bear aid to the Trojans that sorely long for me that am not with them. Nay, but rouse thou this man, and let him of himself make haste, that he may overtake me while yet I am within the city.For I shall go to my home, that I may behold my housefolk, my dear wife, and my infant son; for I know not if any more I shall return home to them again, or if even now the gods will slay me beneath the hands of the Achaeans. For I shall go to my home, that I may behold my housefolk, my dear wife, and my infant son; for I know not if any more I shall return home to them again, or if even now the gods will slay me beneath the hands of the Achaeans.

μή με κάθιζʼ Ἑλένη φιλέουσά περ· οὐδέ με πείσεις· ἤδη γάρ μοι θυμὸς ἐπέσσυται ὄφρʼ ἐπαμύνω Τρώεσσʼ, οἳ μέγʼ ἐμεῖο ποθὴν ἀπεόντος ἔχουσιν. ἀλλὰ σύ γʼ ὄρνυθι τοῦτον, ἐπειγέσθω δὲ καὶ αὐτός, ὥς κεν ἔμʼ ἔντοσθεν πόλιος καταμάρψῃ ἐόντα. καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼν οἶκον δὲ ἐλεύσομαι ὄφρα ἴδωμαι οἰκῆας ἄλοχόν τε φίλην καὶ νήπιον υἱόν. οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ εἰ ἔτι σφιν ὑπότροπος ἵξομαι αὖτις, ἦ ἤδη μʼ ὑπὸ χερσὶ θεοὶ δαμόωσιν Ἀχαιῶν.

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peitho pothos thumos

Lines 369–375

and came speedily to his well-built house. But he found not white-armed Andromache in his halls; she with her child and a fair-robed handmaiden had taken her stand upon the wall, weeping and wailing. So Hector when he found not his peerless wife within, went and stood upon the threshold, and spake amid the serving-women: Come now, ye serving-women, tell me true; whither went white-armed Andromache from the hall? Is she gone to the house of any of my sisters or my brothers' fair-robed wives, or to the temple of Athene, where the otherfair-tressed women of Troy are seeking to propitiate he dread goddess? Then a busy house-dame spake to him, saying: Hector, seeing thou straitly biddest us tell thee true, neither is she gone to any of thy sisters or thy brothers' fair-robed wives, nor yet to the temple of Athene, where the otherfair-tressed Trojan women are seeking to propitiate the dread goddess; but she went to the great wall of Ilios, for that she heard the Trojans were sorely pressed, and great victory rested with the Achaeans. So is she gone in haste to the wall, like one beside herself; and with her the nurse beareth the child.

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπέβη κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ· αἶψα δʼ ἔπειθʼ ἵκανε δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας, οὐδʼ εὗρʼ Ἀνδρομάχην λευκώλενον ἐν μεγάροισιν, ἀλλʼ ἥ γε ξὺν παιδὶ καὶ ἀμφιπόλῳ ἐϋπέπλῳ πύργῳ ἐφεστήκει γοόωσά τε μυρομένη τε. Ἕκτωρ δʼ ὡς οὐκ ἔνδον ἀμύμονα τέτμεν ἄκοιτιν ἔστη ἐπʼ οὐδὸν ἰών, μετὰ δὲ δμῳῇσιν ἔειπεν·

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Hector to Female Servants Of Andromache

Lines 376–380

fair-tressed women of Troy are seeking to propitiate he dread goddess?

εἰ δʼ ἄγε μοι δμῳαὶ νημερτέα μυθήσασθε· πῇ ἔβη Ἀνδρομάχη λευκώλενος ἐκ μεγάροιο; ἠέ πῃ ἐς γαλόων ἢ εἰνατέρων ἐϋπέπλων ἢ ἐς Ἀθηναίης ἐξοίχεται, ἔνθά περ ἄλλαι Τρῳαὶ ἐϋπλόκαμοι δεινὴν θεὸν ἱλάσκονται;

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Lines 381

τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ ὀτρηρὴ ταμίη πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·

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Female Servant Of Andromache to Hector

Lines 382–389

fair-tressed Trojan women are seeking to propitiate the dread goddess; but she went to the great wall of Ilios, for that she heard the Trojans were sorely pressed, and great victory rested with the Achaeans. So is she gone in haste to the wall, like one beside herself; and with her the nurse beareth the child.

Ἕκτορ ἐπεὶ μάλʼ ἄνωγας ἀληθέα μυθήσασθαι, οὔτέ πῃ ἐς γαλόων οὔτʼ εἰνατέρων ἐϋπέπλων οὔτʼ ἐς Ἀθηναίης ἐξοίχεται, ἔνθά περ ἄλλαι Τρῳαὶ ἐϋπλόκαμοι δεινὴν θεὸν ἱλάσκονται, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ πύργον ἔβη μέγαν Ἰλίου, οὕνεκʼ ἄκουσε τείρεσθαι Τρῶας, μέγα δὲ κράτος εἶναι Ἀχαιῶν. ἣ μὲν δὴ πρὸς τεῖχος ἐπειγομένη ἀφικάνει μαινομένῃ ἐϊκυῖα· φέρει δʼ ἅμα παῖδα τιθήνη.

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Lines 390–404

So spake the house-dame, and Hector hasted from the house back over the same way along the well-built streets. When now he was come to the gate, as he passed through the great city, the Scaean gate, whereby he was minded to go forth to the plain, there came running to meet him his bounteous wife, Andromache, daughter of great-hearted Eëtion, Eëtion that dwelt beneath wooded Placus, in Thebe under Placus, and was lord over the men of Cilicia; for it was his daughter that bronze-harnessed Hector had to wife. She now met him, and with her came a handmaid bearing in her bosom the tender boy, a mere babe, the well-loved son of Hector, like to a fair star. Him Hector was wont to call Scamandrius, but other men Astyanax; for only Hector guarded Ilios.291.1 Then Hector smiled, as he glanced at his boy in silence,

ἦ ῥα γυνὴ ταμίη, ὃ δʼ ἀπέσσυτο δώματος Ἕκτωρ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν αὖτις ἐϋκτιμένας κατʼ ἀγυιάς. εὖτε πύλας ἵκανε διερχόμενος μέγα ἄστυ Σκαιάς, τῇ ἄρʼ ἔμελλε διεξίμεναι πεδίον δέ, ἔνθʼ ἄλοχος πολύδωρος ἐναντίη ἦλθε θέουσα Ἀνδρομάχη θυγάτηρ μεγαλήτορος Ἠετίωνος Ἠετίων ὃς ἔναιεν ὑπὸ Πλάκῳ ὑληέσσῃ Θήβῃ Ὑποπλακίῃ Κιλίκεσσʼ ἄνδρεσσιν ἀνάσσων· τοῦ περ δὴ θυγάτηρ ἔχεθʼ Ἕκτορι χαλκοκορυστῇ. ἥ οἱ ἔπειτʼ ἤντησʼ, ἅμα δʼ ἀμφίπολος κίεν αὐτῇ παῖδʼ ἐπὶ κόλπῳ ἔχουσʼ ἀταλάφρονα νήπιον αὔτως Ἑκτορίδην ἀγαπητὸν ἀλίγκιον ἀστέρι καλῷ, τόν ῥʼ Ἕκτωρ καλέεσκε Σκαμάνδριον, αὐτὰρ οἱ ἄλλοι Ἀστυάνακτʼ· οἶος γὰρ ἐρύετο Ἴλιον Ἕκτωρ. ἤτοι ὃ μὲν μείδησεν ἰδὼν ἐς παῖδα σιωπῇ·

Lattimore commentary

Possibly Hektor does not allow himself, for reasons of modesty or superstition, to apply the praise name Astyanax (deriving from his own role as protector) to his son, preferring the neutral Skamandrios (from the nearby river’s name). For a similar application of father’s status to son’s name, compare Telemachos—the “far-fighter”—the son of Odysseus (who himself battles from afar, either by being an Ithacan at Troy or by his skill as an archer, who usually shoots from behind the front rank).

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Lines 405–406

but Andromache came close to his side weeping, and clasped his hand and spake to him, saying: Ah, my husband, this prowess of thine will be thy doom, neither hast thou any pity for thine infant child nor for hapless me that soon shall be thy widow; for soon will the Achaeansall set upon thee and slay thee. But for me it were better to go down to the grave if I lose thee, for nevermore shall any comfort be mine, when thou hast met thy fate, but only woes. Neither father have I nor queenly mother.

Ἀνδρομάχη δέ οἱ ἄγχι παρίστατο δάκρυ χέουσα, ἔν τʼ ἄρα οἱ φῦ χειρὶ ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·

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Andromache to Hector

Lines 407–439

all set upon thee and slay thee. But for me it were better to go down to the grave if I lose thee, for nevermore shall any comfort be mine, when thou hast met thy fate, but only woes. Neither father have I nor queenly mother. for utterly laid he waste the well-peopled city of the Cilicians, even Thebe of lofty gates. He slew Eëtion, yet he despoiled him not, for his soul had awe of that; but he burnt him in his armour, richly dight, and heaped over him a barrow; and all about were elm-trees planted by nymphs of the mountain, daughters of Zeus that beareth the aegis. And the seven brothers that were mine in our halls, all these on the selfsame day entered into the house of Hades, for all were slain of swift-footed, goodly Achilles, amid their kine of shambling gait and their white-fleeced sheep. And my mother, that was queen beneath wooded Placus, her brought he hither with the rest of the spoil, but thereafter set her free, when he had taken ransom past counting; and in her father's halls Artemis the archer slew her. Nay, Hector, thou art to me father and queenly mother, thou art brother, and thou art my stalwart husband. Come now, have pity, and remain here on the wall, lest thou make thy child an orphan and thy wife a widow. And for thy host, stay it by the wild fig-tree, where the city may best be scaled, and the wall is open to assault. For thrice at this point came the most valiant in company with the twain Aiantes and glorious Idomeneus and the sons of Atreus and the valiant son of Tydeus, and made essay to enter: whether it be that one well-skilled in soothsaying told them, or haply their own spirit urgeth and biddeth them thereto.

δαιμόνιε φθίσει σε τὸ σὸν μένος, οὐδʼ ἐλεαίρεις παῖδά τε νηπίαχον καὶ ἔμʼ ἄμμορον, ἣ τάχα χήρη σεῦ ἔσομαι· τάχα γάρ σε κατακτανέουσιν Ἀχαιοὶ πάντες ἐφορμηθέντες· ἐμοὶ δέ κε κέρδιον εἴη σεῦ ἀφαμαρτούσῃ χθόνα δύμεναι· οὐ γὰρ ἔτʼ ἄλλη ἔσται θαλπωρὴ ἐπεὶ ἂν σύ γε πότμον ἐπίσπῃς ἀλλʼ ἄχεʼ· οὐδέ μοι ἔστι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ. ἤτοι γὰρ πατέρʼ ἁμὸν ἀπέκτανε δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς, ἐκ δὲ πόλιν πέρσεν Κιλίκων εὖ ναιετάουσαν Θήβην ὑψίπυλον· κατὰ δʼ ἔκτανεν Ἠετίωνα, οὐδέ μιν ἐξενάριξε, σεβάσσατο γὰρ τό γε θυμῷ, ἀλλʼ ἄρα μιν κατέκηε σὺν ἔντεσι δαιδαλέοισιν ἠδʼ ἐπὶ σῆμʼ ἔχεεν· περὶ δὲ πτελέας ἐφύτευσαν νύμφαι ὀρεστιάδες κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο. οἳ δέ μοι ἑπτὰ κασίγνητοι ἔσαν ἐν μεγάροισιν οἳ μὲν πάντες ἰῷ κίον ἤματι Ἄϊδος εἴσω· πάντας γὰρ κατέπεφνε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς βουσὶν ἐπʼ εἰλιπόδεσσι καὶ ἀργεννῇς ὀΐεσσι. μητέρα δʼ, ἣ βασίλευεν ὑπὸ Πλάκῳ ὑληέσσῃ, τὴν ἐπεὶ ἂρ δεῦρʼ ἤγαγʼ ἅμʼ ἄλλοισι κτεάτεσσιν, ἂψ ὅ γε τὴν ἀπέλυσε λαβὼν ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα, πατρὸς δʼ ἐν μεγάροισι βάλʼ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα. Ἕκτορ ἀτὰρ σύ μοί ἐσσι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι θαλερὸς παρακοίτης· ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν ἐλέαιρε καὶ αὐτοῦ μίμνʼ ἐπὶ πύργῳ, μὴ παῖδʼ ὀρφανικὸν θήῃς χήρην τε γυναῖκα· λαὸν δὲ στῆσον παρʼ ἐρινεόν, ἔνθα μάλιστα ἀμβατός ἐστι πόλις καὶ ἐπίδρομον ἔπλετο τεῖχος. τρὶς γὰρ τῇ γʼ ἐλθόντες ἐπειρήσανθʼ οἱ ἄριστοι ἀμφʼ Αἴαντε δύω καὶ ἀγακλυτὸν Ἰδομενῆα ἠδʼ ἀμφʼ Ἀτρεΐδας καὶ Τυδέος ἄλκιμον υἱόν· ἤ πού τίς σφιν ἔνισπε θεοπροπίων ἐῢ εἰδώς, ἤ νυ καὶ αὐτῶν θυμὸς ἐποτρύνει καὶ ἀνώγει.

Lattimore commentary

Ironically, this sack of Thebes led to the capture of Chryseis (1.369), whose return home has indirectly triggered Achilleus’ angry withdrawal, which in turn will ultimately result in Hektor’s death. Although one might expect Andromachē to press her husband to take vengeance for her family’s extinction, she instead worries about preserving his life, as he is her last hope. Tradition held that the Trojan wall was scalable in one vulnerable spot and would be breached by off spring of Aiakos (grandfather of both Achilleus and Telamonian Aias), who had assisted Poseidon and Apollo in building it (Pindar, Olympian, 8.30–45 460 BC). The fig tree (433; like the oak tree, 5.693) is one of several landscape features used to orient the action near Troy (see also 11.167, 22.145).

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menos thumos

Lines 440

Then spake to her great Hector of the flashing helm: Woman, I too take thought of all this, but wondrously have I shame of the Trojans, and the Trojans' wives, with trailing robes, if like a coward I skulk apart from the battle. Nor doth mine own heart suffer it, seeing I have learnt to be valiantalways and to fight amid the foremost Trojans, striving to win my father's great glory and mine own. For of a surety know I this in heart and soul: the day shall come when sacred Ilios shall be laid low, and Priam, and the people of Priam with goodly spear of ash.Yet not so much doth the grief of the Trojans that shall be in the aftertime move me, neither Hecabe's own, nor king Priam's, nor my brethren's, many and brave, who then shall fall in the dust beneath the hands of their foemen, as doth thy grief, when some brazen-coated Achaeanshall lead thee away weeping and rob thee of thy day of freedom. Then haply in Argos shalt thou ply the loom at another s bidding, or bear water from Messeis or Hypereia, sorely against thy will, and strong necessity shall be laid upon thee. And some man shall say as he beholdeth thee weeping: Lo, the wife of Hector, that was pre-eminent in war above all the horse-taming Trojans, in the day when men fought about Ilios. So shall one say; and to thee shall come fresh grief in thy lack of a man like me to ward off the day of bondage. But let me be dead, and let the heaped-up earth cover me,ere I hear thy cries as they hale thee into captivity.

τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

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Hector to Andromache

Lines 441–465

always and to fight amid the foremost Trojans, striving to win my father's great glory and mine own. For of a surety know I this in heart and soul: the day shall come when sacred Ilios shall be laid low, and Priam, and the people of Priam with goodly spear of ash. Yet not so much doth the grief of the Trojans that shall be in the aftertime move me, neither Hecabe's own, nor king Priam's, nor my brethren's, many and brave, who then shall fall in the dust beneath the hands of their foemen, as doth thy grief, when some brazen-coated Achaean shall lead thee away weeping and rob thee of thy day of freedom. Then haply in Argos shalt thou ply the loom at another s bidding, or bear water from Messeis or Hypereia, sorely against thy will, and strong necessity shall be laid upon thee. And some man shall say as he beholdeth thee weeping: Lo, the wife of Hector, that was pre-eminent in war above all the horse-taming Trojans, in the day when men fought about Ilios. So shall one say; and to thee shall come fresh grief in thy lack of a man like me to ward off the day of bondage. But let me be dead, and let the heaped-up earth cover me, ere I hear thy cries as they hale thee into captivity.

ἦ καὶ ἐμοὶ τάδε πάντα μέλει γύναι· ἀλλὰ μάλʼ αἰνῶς αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους, αἴ κε κακὸς ὣς νόσφιν ἀλυσκάζω πολέμοιο· οὐδέ με θυμὸς ἄνωγεν, ἐπεὶ μάθον ἔμμεναι ἐσθλὸς αἰεὶ καὶ πρώτοισι μετὰ Τρώεσσι μάχεσθαι ἀρνύμενος πατρός τε μέγα κλέος ἠδʼ ἐμὸν αὐτοῦ. εὖ γὰρ ἐγὼ τόδε οἶδα κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν· ἔσσεται ἦμαρ ὅτʼ ἄν ποτʼ ὀλώλῃ Ἴλιος ἱρὴ καὶ Πρίαμος καὶ λαὸς ἐϋμμελίω Πριάμοιο. ἀλλʼ οὔ μοι Τρώων τόσσον μέλει ἄλγος ὀπίσσω, οὔτʼ αὐτῆς Ἑκάβης οὔτε Πριάμοιο ἄνακτος οὔτε κασιγνήτων, οἵ κεν πολέες τε καὶ ἐσθλοὶ ἐν κονίῃσι πέσοιεν ὑπʼ ἀνδράσι δυσμενέεσσιν, ὅσσον σεῦ, ὅτε κέν τις Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων δακρυόεσσαν ἄγηται ἐλεύθερον ἦμαρ ἀπούρας· καί κεν ἐν Ἄργει ἐοῦσα πρὸς ἄλλης ἱστὸν ὑφαίνοις, καί κεν ὕδωρ φορέοις Μεσσηΐδος ἢ Ὑπερείης πόλλʼ ἀεκαζομένη, κρατερὴ δʼ ἐπικείσετʼ ἀνάγκη· καί ποτέ τις εἴπῃσιν ἰδὼν κατὰ δάκρυ χέουσαν· Ἕκτορος ἥδε γυνὴ ὃς ἀριστεύεσκε μάχεσθαι Τρώων ἱπποδάμων ὅτε Ἴλιον ἀμφεμάχοντο. ὥς ποτέ τις ἐρέει· σοὶ δʼ αὖ νέον ἔσσεται ἄλγος χήτεϊ τοιοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς ἀμύνειν δούλιον ἦμαρ. ἀλλά με τεθνηῶτα χυτὴ κατὰ γαῖα καλύπτοι πρίν γέ τι σῆς τε βοῆς σοῦ θʼ ἑλκηθμοῖο πυθέσθαι.

Lattimore commentary

As often in the poem, Hektor easily articulates images and remarks set in the future. His fear for his wife’s status as a Greek slave is exacerbated by the way he imagines it reflecting back on his own heroic status. This psychologically apt speech shifts through many tones: professions of shame and desire for glory, his affection for his wife even over his blood kin, his realization of Troy’s impending doom. More than any words, the image of Hektor removing his helmet to calm his baby captures the pathos of his imminent death while defending his family.

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aidos algea phren thumos

Lines 466–475

as he marked it waving dreadfully from the topmost helm. Aloud then laughed his dear father and queenly mother; and forthwith glorious Hector took the helm from his head and laid it all-gleaming upon the ground. But he kissed his dear son, and fondled him in his arms, and spake in prayer to Zeus and the other gods: Zeus and ye other gods, grant that this my child may likewise prove, even as I, pre-eminent amid the Trojans, and as valiant in might, and that he rule mightily over Ilios. And some day may some man say of him as he cometh back from war,‘He is better far than his father’;and may he bear the blood-stained spoils of the foeman he hath slain, and may his mother's heart wax glad. So saying, he laid his child in his dear wife's arms, and she took him to her fragrant bosom, smiling through her tears; and her husband was touched with pity at sight of her,

ὣς εἰπὼν οὗ παιδὸς ὀρέξατο φαίδιμος Ἕκτωρ· ἂψ δʼ ὃ πάϊς πρὸς κόλπον ἐϋζώνοιο τιθήνης ἐκλίνθη ἰάχων πατρὸς φίλου ὄψιν ἀτυχθεὶς ταρβήσας χαλκόν τε ἰδὲ λόφον ἱππιοχαίτην, δεινὸν ἀπʼ ἀκροτάτης κόρυθος νεύοντα νοήσας. ἐκ δʼ ἐγέλασσε πατήρ τε φίλος καὶ πότνια μήτηρ· αὐτίκʼ ἀπὸ κρατὸς κόρυθʼ εἵλετο φαίδιμος Ἕκτωρ, καὶ τὴν μὲν κατέθηκεν ἐπὶ χθονὶ παμφανόωσαν· αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ ὃν φίλον υἱὸν ἐπεὶ κύσε πῆλέ τε χερσὶν εἶπε δʼ ἐπευξάμενος Διί τʼ ἄλλοισίν τε θεοῖσι·

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Hector to Zeus

Lines 476–481

and may he bear the blood-stained spoils of the foeman he hath slain, and may his mother's heart wax glad.

Ζεῦ ἄλλοι τε θεοὶ δότε δὴ καὶ τόνδε γενέσθαι παῖδʼ ἐμὸν ὡς καὶ ἐγώ περ ἀριπρεπέα Τρώεσσιν, ὧδε βίην τʼ ἀγαθόν, καὶ Ἰλίου ἶφι ἀνάσσειν· καί ποτέ τις εἴποι πατρός γʼ ὅδε πολλὸν ἀμείνων ἐκ πολέμου ἀνιόντα· φέροι δʼ ἔναρα βροτόεντα κτείνας δήϊον ἄνδρα, χαρείη δὲ φρένα μήτηρ.

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phren

Lines 482–485

and he stroked her with his hand, and spake to her, saying: Dear wife, in no wise, I pray thee, grieve overmuch at heart; no man beyond my fate shall send me forth to Hades; only his doom, methinks, no man hath ever escaped, be he coward or valiant, when once he hath been born.Nay, go thou to the house and busy thyself with thine own tasks, the loom and the distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their work: but war shall be for men, for all, but most of all for me, of them that dwell in Ilios. So spake glorious Hector and took up his helm

ὣς εἰπὼν ἀλόχοιο φίλης ἐν χερσὶν ἔθηκε παῖδʼ ἑόν· ἣ δʼ ἄρα μιν κηώδεϊ δέξατο κόλπῳ δακρυόεν γελάσασα· πόσις δʼ ἐλέησε νοήσας, χειρί τέ μιν κατέρεξεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·

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Hector to Andromache

Lines 486–493

Nay, go thou to the house and busy thyself with thine own tasks, the loom and the distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their work: but war shall be for men, for all, but most of all for me, of them that dwell in Ilios.

δαιμονίη μή μοί τι λίην ἀκαχίζεο θυμῷ· οὐ γάρ τίς μʼ ὑπὲρ αἶσαν ἀνὴρ Ἄϊδι προϊάψει· μοῖραν δʼ οὔ τινά φημι πεφυγμένον ἔμμεναι ἀνδρῶν, οὐ κακὸν οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλόν, ἐπὴν τὰ πρῶτα γένηται. ἀλλʼ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σʼ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε ἱστόν τʼ ἠλακάτην τε, καὶ ἀμφιπόλοισι κέλευε ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι· πόλεμος δʼ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει πᾶσι, μάλιστα δʼ ἐμοί, τοὶ Ἰλίῳ ἐγγεγάασιν.

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thumos

Lines 494–508

with horse-hair crest; and his dear wife went forthwith to her house, oft turning back, and shedding big tears. Presently she came to the well-built palace of man-slaying Hector and found therein her many handmaidens; and among them all she roused lamentation. So in his own house they made lament for Hector while yet he lived; for they deemed that he should never more come back from battle, escaped from the might and the hands of the Achaeans. and hastened through the city, trusting in his fleetness of foot. Even as when a stalled horse that has fed his fill at the manger breaketh his halter and runneth stamping over the plain—being wont to bathe him in the fair-flowing river—and exulteth; on high doth he hold his head, and about his shoulders

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας κόρυθʼ εἵλετο φαίδιμος Ἕκτωρ ἵππουριν· ἄλοχος δὲ φίλη οἶκον δὲ βεβήκει ἐντροπαλιζομένη, θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυ χέουσα. αἶψα δʼ ἔπειθʼ ἵκανε δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας Ἕκτορος ἀνδροφόνοιο, κιχήσατο δʼ ἔνδοθι πολλὰς ἀμφιπόλους, τῇσιν δὲ γόον πάσῃσιν ἐνῶρσεν. αἳ μὲν ἔτι ζωὸν γόον Ἕκτορα ᾧ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ· οὐ γάρ μιν ἔτʼ ἔφαντο ὑπότροπον ἐκ πολέμοιο ἵξεσθαι προφυγόντα μένος καὶ χεῖρας Ἀχαιῶν. οὐδὲ Πάρις δήθυνεν ἐν ὑψηλοῖσι δόμοισιν, ἀλλʼ ὅ γʼ, ἐπεὶ κατέδυ κλυτὰ τεύχεα ποικίλα χαλκῷ, σεύατʼ ἔπειτʼ ἀνὰ ἄστυ ποσὶ κραιπνοῖσι πεποιθώς. ὡς δʼ ὅτε τις στατὸς ἵππος ἀκοστήσας ἐπὶ φάτνῃ δεσμὸν ἀπορρήξας θείῃ πεδίοιο κροαίνων εἰωθὼς λούεσθαι ἐϋρρεῖος ποταμοῖο

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menos peitho

Lines 509–517

his mane floateth streaming, and as he glorieth in his splendour, his knees nimbly bear him to the haunts and pastures of mares; even so Paris, son of Priam, strode down from high Pergamus, all gleaming in his armour like the shining sun, laughing for glee, and his swift feet bare him on. Speedily then he overtook goodly Hector, his brother, even as he was about to turn back from the place where he had dallied with his wife. Then godlike Alexander was first to speak to him, saying: My brother, full surely I delay thee in thine haste by my long tarrying, and came not in due season, as thou badest me.

κυδιόων· ὑψοῦ δὲ κάρη ἔχει, ἀμφὶ δὲ χαῖται ὤμοις ἀΐσσονται· ὃ δʼ ἀγλαΐηφι πεποιθὼς ῥίμφά ἑ γοῦνα φέρει μετά τʼ ἤθεα καὶ νομὸν ἵππων· ὣς υἱὸς Πριάμοιο Πάρις κατὰ Περγάμου ἄκρης τεύχεσι παμφαίνων ὥς τʼ ἠλέκτωρ ἐβεβήκει καγχαλόων, ταχέες δὲ πόδες φέρον· αἶψα δʼ ἔπειτα Ἕκτορα δῖον ἔτετμεν ἀδελφεὸν εὖτʼ ἄρʼ ἔμελλε στρέψεσθʼ ἐκ χώρης ὅθι ᾗ ὀάριζε γυναικί. τὸν πρότερος προσέειπεν Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδής·

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peitho

Paris to Hector

Lines 518–519

ἠθεῖʼ ἦ μάλα δή σε καὶ ἐσσύμενον κατερύκω δηθύνων, οὐδʼ ἦλθον ἐναίσιμον ὡς ἐκέλευες;

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Lines 520

Then in answer to him spake Hector of the flashing helm: Strange man, no one that is rightminded could make light of thy work in battle, for thou art valiant; but of thine own will art thou slack, and hast no care; and thereat my heart is grieved within me, whenso I hear regarding thee words of shamefrom the lips of the Trojans, who because of thee have grievous toil. But let us go our way; these things we will make good hereafter, if so be Zeus shall grant us to set for the heavenly gods that are for ever a bowl of deliverance in our halls, when we have driven forth from the land of Troy the well-greaved Achaeans.

τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

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Hector to Paris

Lines 521–529

from the lips of the Trojans, who because of thee have grievous toil. But let us go our way; these things we will make good hereafter, if so be Zeus shall grant us to set for the heavenly gods that are for ever a bowl of deliverance in our halls, when we have driven forth from the land of Troy the well-greaved Achaeans.

δαιμόνιʼ οὐκ ἄν τίς τοι ἀνὴρ ὃς ἐναίσιμος εἴη ἔργον ἀτιμήσειε μάχης, ἐπεὶ ἄλκιμός ἐσσι· ἀλλὰ ἑκὼν μεθιεῖς τε καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλεις· τὸ δʼ ἐμὸν κῆρ ἄχνυται ἐν θυμῷ, ὅθʼ ὑπὲρ σέθεν αἴσχεʼ ἀκούω πρὸς Τρώων, οἳ ἔχουσι πολὺν πόνον εἵνεκα σεῖο. ἀλλʼ ἴομεν· τὰ δʼ ὄπισθεν ἀρεσσόμεθʼ, αἴ κέ ποθι Ζεὺς δώῃ ἐπουρανίοισι θεοῖς αἰειγενέτῃσι κρητῆρα στήσασθαι ἐλεύθερον ἐν μεγάροισιν ἐκ Τροίης ἐλάσαντας ἐϋκνήμιδας Ἀχαιούς.

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kradie thumos

Antea to Proetus

Lines 164–165

seeing he was minded to lie with me in love against my will.

τεθναίης ὦ Προῖτʼ, ἢ κάκτανε Βελλεροφόντην, ὅς μʼ ἔθελεν φιλότητι μιγήμεναι οὐκ ἐθελούσῃ.

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Argive.1 to Argive.1

Lines 460–461

Lo, the wife of Hector, that was pre-eminent in war above all the horse-taming Trojans, in the day when men fought about Ilios. So shall one say; and to thee shall come fresh grief in thy lack of a man like me to ward off the day of bondage. But let me be dead, and let the heaped-up earth cover me,

Ἕκτορος ἥδε γυνὴ ὃς ἀριστεύεσκε μάχεσθαι Τρώων ἱπποδάμων ὅτε Ἴλιον ἀμφεμάχοντο.

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Trojan.2 to Trojan.2

Lines 479

καί ποτέ τις εἴποι πατρός γʼ ὅδε πολλὸν ἀμείνων

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