Seba.Health

The Iliad 7.43–46

The Iliad 7.43–46
this plan that had found pleasure with the gods in council; and he came and stood by Hector's side, and spake to him, saying: Hector, son of Priam, peer of Zeus in counsel, wouldst thou now in anywise hearken unto me? for I am thy brother. Make the Trojans to sit down, and all the Achaeans,and do thou challenge whoso is best of the Achaeans to do battle with thee man to man in dread combat. Not yet is it thy fate to die and meet thy doom; for thus have I heard the voice of the gods that are for ever. So spake he and Hector rejoiced greatly when he heard his words;
ὣς ἔφατʼ, οὐδʼ ἀπίθησε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη. τῶν δʼ Ἕλενος Πριάμοιο φίλος παῖς σύνθετο θυμῷ βουλήν, ῥα θεοῖσιν ἐφήνδανε μητιόωσι· στῆ δὲ παρʼ Ἕκτορʼ ἰὼν καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·
Lattimore commentary
The most reliable mode of communicating divine will in the poem is through what is heard, rather than through (often debatable) visual signs, perhaps a clue to the poem’s own origins in oral tradition and the poet’s reliance on the word of the Muse. Having Helenos overhear the gods enables the narrative to move more quickly, while varying the usual pattern of divine descent and intervention. The seer adds his own encouraging improvement on the message, telling Hektor it is not his time to die (52).
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