The Iliad 24.782–796

but when the tenth Dawn arose, giving light unto mortals, then bare they forth bold Hector, shedding tears the while, and on the topmost pyre they laid the dead man, and cast fire thereon. But soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then gathered the folk about the pyre of glorious Hector. And when they were assembled and met together, first they quenched with flaming wine all the pyre, so far as the fire's might had come upon it, and thereafter his brethren and his comrades gathered the white bones, mourning, and big tears flowed ever down their cheeks. The bones they took and placed in a golden urn, covering them over with soft purple robes, and quickly laid the urn in a hollow grave, and covered it over with great close-set stones. Then with speed heaped they the mound, and round about were watchers set on every side,

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ὑπʼ ἀμάξῃσιν βόας ἡμιόνους τε ζεύγνυσαν, αἶψα δʼ ἔπειτα πρὸ ἄστεος ἠγερέθοντο. ἐννῆμαρ μὲν τοί γε ἀγίνεον ἄσπετον ὕλην· ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ δεκάτη ἐφάνη φαεσίμβροτος ἠώς, καὶ τότʼ ἄρʼ ἐξέφερον θρασὺν Ἕκτορα δάκρυ χέοντες, ἐν δὲ πυρῇ ὑπάτῃ νεκρὸν θέσαν, ἐν δʼ ἔβαλον πῦρ. ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς, τῆμος ἄρʼ ἀμφὶ πυρὴν κλυτοῦ Ἕκτορος ἔγρετο λαός. αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τʼ ἐγένοντο πρῶτον μὲν κατὰ πυρκαϊὴν σβέσαν αἴθοπι οἴνῳ πᾶσαν, ὁπόσσον ἐπέσχε πυρὸς μένος· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα ὀστέα λευκὰ λέγοντο κασίγνητοί θʼ ἕταροί τε μυρόμενοι, θαλερὸν δὲ κατείβετο δάκρυ παρειῶν. καὶ τά γε χρυσείην ἐς λάρνακα θῆκαν ἑλόντες πορφυρέοις πέπλοισι καλύψαντες μαλακοῖσιν.

Lattimore commentary

The poem ends with a glimmer of hope: the doomed Achilleus relents long enough to allow the enemy to bury their champion. That the emotional climax should center not on Achilleus but his victim Hektor (shown to be every bit as heroic as the Greeks) speaks for the deep humanity of the whole composition. title: The Iliad of Homer ---? xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> Bibliography Chantraine, P., and H. Goube, eds. Iliade: Chant XXIII. Paris, 1964. Griffin, J. Homer: Iliad IX. Oxford, 1995. Kirk, G. S. et al., eds. The Iliad: A Commentary. 6 vols. Cambridge, 1985–93. Leaf, W., ed. The Iliad. Edited with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. London, 1900–1902. Macleod, C. W., ed. Homer: Iliad, Book XXIV. Cambridge, 1982. Arnold, M. “On Translating Homer.” In Matthew Arnold: Selected Essays, edited by Noel Annan. Oxford, 1964. Chapman, G., trans. Chapman’s Homer: The Iliad. Edited with introduction and glossary by A. Nicoll; with a new preface by Garry Wills. Princeton, 1998. Fagles, R., trans. Homer: The Iliad. Introduction and notes by Bernard Knox. New York, 1990.

Read in context →

menos