The Iliad of Homer Part 16

Thus having spoken, ill.u.s.trious Hector took up the horse-haired helmet, and his beloved wife departed home, looking back from time to time, and shedding copious tears. Then immediately she reached the very commodious palace of man-slaying Hector, and within she found many maids, and in all of them she excited grief. They, indeed, bewailed in his own palace Hector still alive, for they thought that he would never return back again from battle, escaping the might and the hands of the Greeks.

Nor did Paris delay in his lofty halls; but he, after he had put on his famous arms, variegated with bra.s.s, then hastened through the city, relying on his swift feet. And as[250] when a stabled courser, fed with barley at the stall, having broken his cord, runs prancing over the plain, elate with joy, being accustomed to bathe in some fair-flowing river. He bears aloft his head, and his mane is tossed about on his shoulders: but he, relying on his beauty,[251] his knees easily bear him to the accustomed pastures[252] of the mares. Thus Paris, the son of Priam, shining in arms like the sun, exulting descended down from the citadel of Pergamus, but his swift feet bore him, and immediately after he found his n.o.ble brother Hector, when he was now about to depart from the place where he was conversing with his spouse.

[Footnote 250: Cf. Ennius apud Macrob. iv. 3:

"Et tunc sicut equus, qui de praesepibus actus, Vincla sueis magneis animeis abrumpit, et inde Fert sese campi per caerula, laetaque prata, Celso pectore, saepe jubam qua.s.sat simul altam; Spiritus ex anima calida spumas agit albas."]

[Footnote 251: Observe the anacoluthon.]

[Footnote 252: An instance of hendiadys.]

Him G.o.dlike Alexander first addressed: "Honoured brother, a.s.suredly now I am altogether detaining thee, although hastening, nor have I come in due time as thou didst order."

Him then crest-tossing Hector answering addressed: "Strange man! not any man indeed, who is just, could dispraise thy deeds of war, for thou art brave. But willingly art thou remiss, and dost not wish [to fight]; and my heart is saddened in my breast, when I hear dishonourable things of thee from the Trojans, who have much toil on thy account. But let us away, these things we shall arrange hereafter, if ever Jove shall grant us to place a free goblet in our halls to the heavenly everlasting G.o.ds, when we shall have repulsed the well-greaved Greeks from Troy."

BOOK THE SEVENTH.

ARGUMENT.

Hector challenges the bravest of the Greeks to single combat, and nine of the chiefs having cast lots, Ajax is appointed to meet him. Having protracted the contest till night, the combatants exchange gifts, and separate. A truce is then made for the purpose of burying the dead, and the Greeks fortify their camp.

Thus having said, ill.u.s.trious Hector rushed forth from the gates, and with him went his brother Alexander, for both were eager in soul to wage war and to fight. As when the deity hath given a prosperous wind to expecting mariners, after they have become weary, agitating the deep with well-polished oars, and their limbs are relaxed with toil; thus then did those two appear to the expecting Trojans. Then they slew, the one,[253] indeed, Menesthius, son of king Areithous, who dwelt in Arne, whom the club-bearer Areithous and large-eyed Philomedusa brought forth; but Hector smote Eoneus with his sharp spear upon the neck, under his well-wrought brazen helmet,[254] and relaxed his limbs. And Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, leader of the Lycian heroes, in fierce engagement smote Iphinous, son of Dexias, upon the shoulder with his spear, as he vaulted on his swift mares.

[Footnote 253: _I. e_. Paris. The construction is an instance of the s??a ?a?' ???? ?a? ????. See Jelf, Gk. Gr. --478, and my note on aesch. Prom. p. 8, ed. Bohn.]

[Footnote 254: Apollonius, Lex. p. 734. seems to regard the stef??? as a distinct kind of helmet, or cap. So, also, the Schol. and Hesych. t. ii. p. 186, and p. 1266. Others understand the rim of the helmet. Paschal, de Coronis, i. 2: "Eam galeae partem quam Hesychius dicit habere e?????, id quod in galea eminentissimum est. Et vero apud Plutarchum distinguitur t?

?????? galea ap? t?? stef????, ab ejus parte quae est in ipsius summitate."]

But he fell from his mares on the ground, and his limbs were relaxed.

But when the azure-eyed G.o.ddess Minerva saw them destroying the Greeks, in fierce engagement, she descended straightway, rushing down from the tops of Olympus to sacred Ilium. Then Apollo hastened to meet her, having perceived her from Pergamus, for he wished victory to the Trojans. And they met each other at the beech-tree. Her first king Apollo, the son of Jove, addressed:

"Why again dost thou, O daughter of mighty Jove, come ardently from Olympus, and why has thy mighty soul impelled thee? It is that thou mightst give to the Greeks the doubtful victory of battle, for thou dost not pity the Trojans perishing. But if thou obeyest me in aught, which indeed would be much better, let us now make the war and conflict to cease this day, afterwards shall they fight until they find an end of Ilium; since it is pleasing to the mind of you G.o.ddesses to overthrow this city." [255]

[Footnote 255: On the partisan deities for and against Troy, cf.

Dionys. 817.

"?????, ?? ?p???sse ??se?d??? ?a? ?p?????, ?????, ?? ???pa?a? ????a?? te ?a? ???".

See Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. i. p. 68.]

But him in turn the azure-eyed G.o.ddess Minerva thus addressed: "Be it so, Far-darter; for I myself, meditating the same things, came down from Olympus to the Trojans and the Greeks. But come, how dost thou intend to make the battle of men to cease?"

Her then in turn king Apollo, the son of Jove, addressed: "Let us arouse the valiant spirit of horse-breaking Hector, if perchance he will challenge some one of the Greeks to fight against him singly opposed in grievous combat. And the well-greaved Greeks enraged will urge on some single man to fight with n.o.ble Hector."

Thus he spoke, nor did the azure-eyed G.o.ddess disobey. But Helenus, the dear son of Priam, perceived in his mind the counsel, which seemed good to the G.o.ds deliberating. He therefore went and stood near Hector, and thus accosted him:

"Hector, son of Priam, equal to Jove in wisdom, wilt thou obey me in aught? for I am thy brother. Cause all the rest of the Trojans and the Greeks to sit down, but do thou thyself challenge whoever is the bravest of the Greeks to fight against thee in grievous combat. For it is not yet thy fate to die, and draw on fate; for to this effect have I heard the voice of the immortal G.o.ds."

Thus he spoke. But Hector in turn rejoiced exceedingly, having heard his advice, and accordingly advancing into the midst, grasping his spear in the middle, he restrained the phalanxes of the Trojans; and they all sat down. Agamemnon also caused the well-greaved Greeks to sit down; and Minerva also, and silver-bowed Apollo, sat like unto vulture birds, on a lofty beech-tree of their sire, the aegis-bearing Jove, delighted with the heroes; of these the ranks sat thick, horribly bristling with shields, and helmets, and spears. And as the ripple of the west wind, just risen, is poured over the ocean, and the sea begins to darken under it, such sat the ranks of the Greeks and Trojans in the plain: but Hector thus spoke in the midst of both armies:

"Hear me, ye Trojans, and ye well-greaved Greeks, whilst I speak what the mind in my breast commands me. Saturnian Jove, indeed, sitting aloft, has not ratified the leagues, but devising evils against both sides, ordains them, till either ye take well-turreted Troy, or yourselves fall at your sea-traversing ships. Amongst you, indeed, there are the bravest of all the Greeks, of whom whomsoever his mind orders to fight with me, let him come hither from amongst all, to be a champion against n.o.ble Hector. This then do I propose, but let Jove be our witness; if, on the one hand, he shall slay me with his long-pointed spear, having stripped off my armour, let him bear it to the hollow ships, but send my body home, that the Trojans and the wives of the Trojans may make me, deceased, a partaker of the funeral pyre. But if, on the other hand, I shall slay him, and Apollo shall give me glory, having stripped off his armour, I will bear it to sacred Ilium, and I will hang it up on the temple of far-darting Apollo: but his body I will send back to the well-benched ships, that the long-haired Greeks may perform his exsequies, and pile up for him a tomb on the wide h.e.l.lespont. And hereafter will some one of future men say, as he sails over the sea in his many-benched ship: 'This, indeed, is the tomb of a hero long since deceased, whom once, bearing himself doughtily, ill.u.s.trious Hector slew.' Thus hereafter will some one say; but this my glory shall never perish."

Thus he said, but all became mute in silence. Ashamed indeed they were to refuse, and yet they dreaded to accept [the challenge]. At length, however, Menelaus stood up, and spoke amongst them, rebuking them with reproaches, and he groaned greatly in spirit:

"Alas! ye boasters! Greek dames! no longer Grecian men! certainly will these things be a disgrace, most grievously grievous, if none of the Greeks will now go against Hector. But may ye all become water and earth, sitting there each of you, faint-hearted; utterly inglorious: but I myself will be armed against him. But the issues of victory are rested in the immortal G.o.ds."

Thus having spoken, he put on his beautiful arms. Then, indeed, O Menelaus, would the end of life have befallen thee at the hands of Hector, since he was much the better man, had not the princes of the Greeks, starting up suddenly, restrained thee, and the son of Atreus himself, wide-ruling Agamemnon, seized thee by the right hand, and addressed thee, and spoke:

"Thou art mad, O Menelaus! offspring of Jove, nor hast thou any need of such madness: restrain thyself, although grieved, nor wish for the sake of contention to fight with a braver man than thyself, Hector, the son of Priam, whom others also dread. Nay, even Achilles, who is much braver than thou, dreads to meet him[256] in the glorious fight. But now, going to the troop of thy companions, sit down. Against him the Greeks will set up some other champion. Although he be intrepid and insatiable of battle, I think that he will gladly bend his knee,[257] if he shall escape from the hostile battle and the grievous fight."

[Footnote 256: Lesbonax, pe?? s??. p. 182, reads t??t??

?e--??t????sa?, which Valckenaer, and with reason, thinks a more _recherche_ and genuine reading than t??t?. Lesbonax compares the Attic phrase ???s?e? e for ?? Cf. Aristoph. Ran. 103, with the Scholiast.]

[Footnote 257: _I.e._ sit down through fatigue, "de iis qui longo labore seu cuisu fessi quiesc.u.n.t et vires recipiunt."--Heyne.]

Thus speaking, the hero dissuaded his brother's mind, advising him rightly; and he obeyed. His joyful attendants then stripped the armour from his shoulders. Then Nestor arose amidst the Greeks, and said:

"O G.o.ds, surely great grief comes upon the Grecian land. Certainly the aged knight Peleus, the excellent counsellor and adviser of the Myrmidons, will greatly lament, who formerly interrogated me, greatly rejoiced in his palace, inquiring the race and offspring of all the Greeks. If he now heard of them all crouching down under Hector, often indeed would he uplift his hands to the immortals, [praying] that his soul, [separated] from his limbs, might depart into the house of Pluto.

For would, O father Jove, and Minerva, and Apollo, I were young, as when the a.s.sembled Pylians and the spear-skilled Arcadians fought by the rapid Celadon, at the walls of Phaea, about the streams of Jardan. With them Ereuthalion, G.o.d-like hero, stood in the van, bearing on his shoulders the armour of king Arethous, of n.o.ble Arethous, whom men and beauteous-girt women called by surname Corynetes, since he fought not with a bow, nor with a long spear, but used to break the phalanxes with an iron club. Him Lycurgus slew by stratagem, not by strength, in a narrow defile, where his iron club did not ward off destruction from him; for Lycurgus, antic.i.p.ating, pierced him right through the waist with his spear, and he was dashed to the ground on his back; and he spoiled him of the armour which brazen Mars had given him, and he indeed afterwards bore them himself in the battle of Mars. But when Lycurgus had grown old in his palaces, he gave them to his beloved attendant Ereuthalion, to be borne: and he, having his armour, challenged all the bravest: but these trembled and feared very much: nor did any one dare [to withstand him]. But my bold mind, by its confidence, urged me on to fight him: now I was the youngest of them all; and I fought with him, and Minerva gave me glory. And I slew this most mighty and valiant hero, for vast he lay stretched out on this side and on that. Would that [now]

I were thus young, and my strength entire--so quickly should crest-tossing Hector meet with a contest. But those of you who are the bravest of all the Greeks, not even you promptly desire to go against Hector."

Thus did the old man upbraid them; and nine heroes in all arose. Much the first arose Agamemnon, the king of men; after him arose brave Diomede, son of Tydeus, and after them the Ajaces, clad in impetuous valour: after them Idomeneus, and Meriones, the armour-bearer of Idomeneus, equal to man-slaughtering Mars. After them Eurypylus, the gallant son of Evaemon. And there [also arose] Thoas, son of Andraemon, and divine Ulysses. All these wished to fight with n.o.ble Hector. But these again the Gerenian knight Nestor addressed:

"Decide now, exclusively by lot, who shall obtain [the accepting of the challenge]; for he indeed will aid the well-greaved Greeks; and he will also delight his own soul, if he shall escape safe from the hostile war and the grievous fight."

Thus he spoke, and they marked each his own lot, and they cast them into the helmet of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus. The people supplicated, and raised their hands to the G.o.ds, and thus would one of them say, looking towards the wide heaven:

"O father Jove, grant that Ajax obtain the lot, or the son of Tydeus, or the king himself of rich Mycenae."

Thus they spake, and the Gerenian knight Nestor shook [the lots], and the lot of Ajax, which indeed they wished for, leaped forth from the helmet. Then a herald bearing it around through the mult.i.tude, beginning at the right, showed it to all the chiefs of the Greeks. But they, not recognizing it, disclaimed it severally. But, when at last the herald, carrying it round through the mult.i.tude, came to him, ill.u.s.trious Ajax, who had inscribed and cast it into the helmet, he [Ajax] stretched forth his hand, and the herald standing near, placed it in it. Having inspected it, he knew his own mark, and rejoiced in his soul. He cast it on the ground at his feet, and said:

"O friends, surely the lot is mine, and I myself rejoice in my soul, since I think that I shall conquer n.o.ble Hector. But come, while I put on my warlike arms, do ye meantime pray to Jove, the Saturnian king, silently within yourselves, that the Trojans may not hear; or even openly, since we fear no one at all. For no one willingly shall, by force, overcome me against my will, nor through my inexperience; since I hope I have not been so ignorantly[258] born and bred at Salamis."

[Footnote 258: I. e. ignorant of arms.]

Thus he spoke: but they prayed to Jove, the Saturnian king; and thus would one of them say looking towards the wide heaven:

"O father Jove, ruling from Ida, most glorious, most mighty, grant to Ajax to bear away victory, and ill.u.s.trious glory. But if thou lovest Hector also, and carest for him, grant equal might and glory to both."

Thus they spake, and Ajax was arming himself in splendid bra.s.s. But when he had put on all his armour around his body, then he rushed forward: as moves mighty Mars, who goes to war amidst men, whom the son of Saturn has engaged to fight with the strength of soul-gnawing strife, such mighty Ajax advanced, the bulwark of the Greeks, smiling with grim countenance; but he advanced, taking long strides with his feet beneath, brandishing his long-shadowed spear. The Greeks, on their part, rejoiced much on beholding him, but dire dismay seized the Trojans, each one as to his limbs, and the soul panted in the breast of Hector himself. But now he could not in anywise retract through fear, nor retire back into the crowd of the people, since he had challenged to the fight. But Ajax drew near, bearing a shield, like a tower, brazen, covered with seven ox-hides, which for him the artist Tychius labouring had wrought, dwelling at his home in Hyla, by far the most excellent of leather-cutters, who for him had made a moveable shield, of seven hides of very fat bulls, and drawn over it an eighth [layer] of bra.s.s.

Carrying this before his breast, Telamonian Ajax stood very near Hector, and menacing addressed him: