Seba.Health

The Iliad 2.35–49

The Iliad 2.35–49
So spoke the Dream, and departed, and left him there, pondering in his heart on things that were not to be brought to pass. For in sooth he deemed that he should take the city of Priam that very day, fool that he was! seeing he knew not what deeds Zeus was purposing, who was yet to bring woes and groanings on Trojans alike and Danaans throughout the course of stubborn fights. Then he awoke from sleep, and the divine voice was ringing in his ears. He sat upright and did on his soft tunic, fair and glistering,1 and about him cast his great cloak, and beneath his shining feet he bound his fair sandals, and about his shoulders flung his silver-studded sword; and he grasped the sceptre of his fathers, imperishable ever, and therewith took his way along the ships of the brazen-coated Achaeans. Now the goddess Dawn went up to high Olympus, to announce the light to Zeus and the other immortals,
ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπεβήσετο, τὸν δὲ λίπʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ φρονέοντʼ ἀνὰ θυμὸν ῥʼ οὐ τελέεσθαι ἔμελλον· φῆ γὰρ γʼ αἱρήσειν Πριάμου πόλιν ἤματι κείνῳ νήπιος, οὐδὲ τὰ ᾔδη ῥα Ζεὺς μήδετο ἔργα· θήσειν γὰρ ἔτʼ ἔμελλεν ἐπʼ ἄλγεά τε στοναχάς τε Τρωσί τε καὶ Δαναοῖσι διὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας. ἔγρετο δʼ ἐξ ὕπνου, θείη δέ μιν ἀμφέχυτʼ ὀμφή· ἕζετο δʼ ὀρθωθείς, μαλακὸν δʼ ἔνδυνε χιτῶνα καλὸν νηγάτεον, περὶ δὲ μέγα βάλλετο φᾶρος· ποσσὶ δʼ ὑπὸ λιπαροῖσιν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα, ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρʼ ὤμοισιν βάλετο ξίφος ἀργυρόηλον· εἵλετο δὲ σκῆπτρον πατρώϊον ἄφθιτον αἰεὶ σὺν τῷ ἔβη κατὰ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων· ἠὼς μέν ῥα θεὰ προσεβήσετο μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον Ζηνὶ φόως ἐρέουσα καὶ ἄλλοις ἀθανάτοισιν·
Lattimore commentary
Foreshadowing by the poet about facts someone in the story does not yet know is frequently accompanied by the remark that the character is a “fool” (nêpios). Dawn (Êôs) is a goddess living at the edge of the world (where myths relate that she keeps her mortal lover Tithonos). The rare and beautiful expression “message of light” draws a contrast with the loud noise of the camp as heralds summon the troops.
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