The Iliad of Homer Translated into English Blank Verse by...

Now, on the golden floor of Jove’s abode The Gods all sat consulting; Hebe them, Graceful, with nectar served;[1] they pledging each His next, alternate quaff’d from cups of gold, And at their ease reclined, look’d down on Troy,5 When, sudden, Jove essay’d by piercing speech Invidious, to enkindle Juno’s ire.

Two Goddesses on Menelaus’ part Confederate stand, Juno in Argos known, Pallas in Alalcomene;[2] yet they10 Sequester’d sit, look on, and are amused. Not so smile-loving Venus; she, beside Her champion station’d, saves him from his fate, And at this moment, by her aid, he lives. But now, since victory hath proved the lot15 Of warlike Menelaus, weigh ye well The matter; shall we yet the ruinous strife Prolong between the nations, or consent To give them peace? should peace your preference win, And prove alike acceptable to all,20 Stand Ilium, and let Menelaus bear Helen of Argos back to Greece again.

He ended; Juno and Minerva heard, Low-murmuring deep disgust; for side by side They forging sat calamity to Troy.25 Minerva through displeasure against Jove Nought utter’d, for with rage her bosom boil’d; But Juno check’d not hers, who thus replied.

What word hath pass’d thy lips, Jove most severe! How? wouldst thou render fruitless all my pains?30 The sweat that I have pour’d? my steeds themselves Have fainted while I gather’d Greece in arms For punishment of Priam and his sons. Do it. But small thy praise shall be in heaven.

Then her the Thunderer answer’d sore displeased.35 Ah shameless! how have Priam and his sons So much transgress’d against thee, that thou burn’st With ceaseless rage to ruin populous Troy? Go, make thine entrance at her lofty gates, Priam and all his house, and all his host40 Alive devour; then, haply, thou wilt rest; Do even as thou wilt, that this dispute Live not between us a consuming fire For ever. But attend; mark well the word. When I shall also doom in future time45 Some city to destruction, dear to thee, Oppose me not, but give my fury way As I give way to thine, not pleased myself, Yet not unsatisfied, so thou be pleased. For of all cities of the sons of men,50 And which the sun and stars from heaven behold, Me sacred Troy most pleases, Priam me Most, and the people of the warrior King. Nor without cause. They feed mine altar well; Libation there, and steam of savory scent55 Fail not, the tribute which by lot is ours.

Him answer’d, then, the Goddess ample-eyed,[3] Majestic Juno: Three fair cities me, Of all the earth, most interest and engage, Mycenæ for magnificence renown’d,60 Argos, and Sparta. Them, when next thy wrath Shall be inflamed against them, lay thou waste; I will not interpose on their behalf; Thou shalt not hear me murmur; what avail Complaint or force against thy matchless arm?65 Yet were it most unmeet that even I Should toil in vain; I also boast a birth Celestial; Saturn deeply wise, thy Sire, Is also mine; our origin is one. Thee I acknowledge Sovereign, yet account70 Myself entitled by a twofold claim To veneration both from Gods and men, The daughter of Jove’s sire, and spouse of Jove. Concession mutual therefore both thyself Befits and me, whom when the Gods perceive75 Disposed to peace, they also shall accord. Come then.—To yon dread field dispatch in haste Minerva, with command that she incite The Trojans first to violate their oath By some fresh insult on the exulting Greeks.80

The Goddess heard, and what she wish’d, enjoin’d, Down-darted swift from the Olympian heights, In form a meteor, such as from his hand Not seldom Jove dismisses, beaming bright And breaking into stars, an omen sent90 To mariners, or to some numerous host. Such Pallas seem’d, and swift descending, dropp’d Full in the midst between them. They with awe That sign portentous and with wonder view’d, Achaians both and Trojans, and his next95 The soldier thus bespake. Now either war And dire hostility again shall flame, Or Jove now gives us peace. Both are from Jove.

So spake the soldiery; but she the form Taking of brave Laodocus, the son100 Of old Antenor, throughout all the ranks Sought godlike Pandarus.[4] Ere long she found The valiant son illustrious of Lycaon, Standing encompass’d by his dauntless troops, Broad-shielded warriors, from Æsepus’ stream105 His followers; to his side the Goddess came, And in wing’d accents ardent him bespake.

Brave offspring of Lycaon, is there hope That thou wilt hear my counsel? darest thou slip A shaft at Menelaus? much renown110 Thou shalt and thanks from all the Trojans win, But most of all, from Paris, prince of Troy. From him illustrious gifts thou shalt receive Doubtless, when Menelaus he shall see The martial son of Atreus by a shaft115 Subdued of thine, placed on his funeral pile. Come. Shoot at Menelaus, glorious Chief! But vow to Lycian Phœbus bow-renown’d A hecatomb, all firstlings of the flock, To fair Zeleia’s[5] walls once safe restored.120

So Pallas spake, to whom infatuate he Listening, uncased at once his polished bow.[6] That bow, the laden brows of a wild goat Salacious had supplied; him on a day Forth-issuing from his cave, in ambush placed125 He wounded with an arrow to his breast Dispatch’d, and on the rock supine he fell. Each horn had from his head tall growth attain’d, Full sixteen palms; them shaven smooth the smith Had aptly join’d, and tipt their points with gold.130 That bow he strung, then, stooping, planted firm The nether horn, his comrades bold the while Screening him close with shields, lest ere the prince Were stricken, Menelaus brave in arms, The Greeks with fierce assault should interpose.135 He raised his quiver’s lid; he chose a dart Unflown, full-fledged, and barb’d with pangs of death. He lodged in haste the arrow on the string, And vow’d to Lycian Phœbus bow-renown’d A hecatomb, all firstlings of the flock,140 To fair Zeleia’s walls once safe restored. Compressing next nerve and notch’d arrow-head He drew back both together, to his pap Drew home the nerve, the barb home to his bow, And when the horn was curved to a wide arch,145 He twang’d it. Whizz’d the bowstring, and the reed Leap’d off, impatient for the distant throng.

Thee, Menelaus, then the blessed Gods Forgat not; Pallas huntress of the spoil, Thy guardian then, baffled the cruel dart.150 Far as a mother wafts the fly aside[7] That haunts her slumbering babe, so far she drove Its course aslant, directing it herself Against the golden clasps that join’d his belt; For there the doubled hauberk interposed.155 The bitter arrow plunged into his belt. It pierced his broider’d belt, stood fixt within His twisted hauberk, nor the interior quilt, Though penetrable least to arrow-points And his best guard, withheld it, but it pass’d160 That also, and the Hero’s skin inscribed. Quick flowed a sable current from the wound.

As when a Carian or Mæonian maid Impurples ivory ordain’d to grace The cheek of martial steed; safe stored it lies,165 By many a Chief desired, but proves at last The stately trapping of some prince,[8] the pride Of his high pamper’d steed, nor less his own; Such, Menelaus, seem’d thy shapely thighs, Thy legs, thy feet, stained with thy trickling blood.170

Shudder’d King Agamemnon when he saw The blood fast trickling from the wound, nor less Shudder’d himself the bleeding warrior bold. But neck and barb observing from the flesh Extant, he gather’d heart, and lived again.175 The royal Agamemnon, sighing, grasp’d The hand of Menelaus, and while all Their followers sigh’d around them, thus began.[9]

I swore thy death, my brother, when I swore This truce, and set thee forth in sight of Greeks180 And Trojans, our sole champion; for the foe Hath trodden underfoot his sacred oath, And stained it with thy blood. But not in vain, The truce was ratified, the blood of lambs Poured forth, libation made, and right hands join’d185 In holy confidence. The wrath of Jove May sleep, but will not always; they shall pay Dear penalty; their own obnoxious heads Shall be the mulct, their children and their wives. For this I know, know surely; that a day190 Shall come, when Ilium, when the warlike King Of Ilium and his host shall perish all. Saturnian Jove high-throned, dwelling in heaven, Resentful of this outrage, then shall shake His storm-clad Ægis over them. He will;195 I speak no fable. Time shall prove me true. But, oh my Menelaus, dire distress Awaits me, if thy close of life be come, And thou must die. Then ignominy foul Shall hunt me back to Argos long-desired;200 For then all here will recollect their home, And, hope abandoning, will Helen yield To be the boast of Priam, and of Troy. So shall our toils be vain, and while thy bones Shall waste these clods beneath, Troy’s haughty sons205 The tomb of Menelaus glory-crown’d Insulting barbarous, shall scoff at me. So may Atrides, shall they say, perform His anger still as he performed it here, Whither he led an unsuccessful host,210 Whence he hath sail’d again without the spoils, And where he left his brother’s bones to rot. So shall the Trojan speak; then open earth Her mouth, and hide me in her deepest gulfs!

But him, the hero of the golden locks215 Thus cheer’d. My brother, fear not, nor infect With fear the Grecians; the sharp-pointed reed Hath touch’d no vital part. The broider’d zone, The hauberk, and the tough interior quilt, Work of the armorer, its force repress’d.220

He ended, and his noble herald, next,225 Bespake, Talthybius. Haste, call hither quick The son of Æsculapius, leech renown’d, The prince Machaon. Bid him fly to attend The warlike Chieftain Menelaus; him Some archer, either Lycian or of Troy,230 A dexterous one, hath stricken with a shaft To his own glory, and to our distress.

He spake, nor him the herald disobey’d, But through the Greeks bright-arm’d his course began The Hero seeking earnest on all sides235 Machaon. Him, ere long, he station’d saw Amid the shielded-ranks of his brave band From steed-famed Tricca drawn, and at his side With accents ardor-wing’d, him thus address’d.

Haste, Asclepiades! The King of men240 Calls thee. Delay not. Thou must visit quick Brave Menelaus, Atreus’ son, for him Some archer, either Lycian or of Troy, A dexterous one, hath stricken with a shaft To his own glory, and to our distress.245

So saying, he roused Machaon, who his course Through the wide host began. Arriving soon Where wounded Menelaus stood, while all The bravest of Achaia’s host around The godlike hero press’d, he strove at once250 To draw the arrow from his cincture forth. But, drawing, bent the barbs. He therefore loosed His broider’d belt, his hauberk and his quilt, Work of the armorer, and laying bare His body where the bitter shaft had plow’d255 His flesh, he suck’d the wound, then spread it o’er With drugs of balmy power, given on a time For friendship’s sake by Chiron to his sire.

While Menelaus thus the cares engross’d Of all those Chiefs, the shielded powers of Troy260 ’Gan move toward them, and the Greeks again Put on their armor, mindful of the fight. Then hadst thou[10] not great Agamemnon seen Slumbering, or trembling, or averse from war, But ardent to begin his glorious task.265 His steeds, and his bright chariot brass-inlaid He left; the snorting steeds Eurymedon, Offspring of Ptolemy Piraïdes Detain’d apart; for him he strict enjoin’d Attendance near, lest weariness of limbs270 Should seize him marshalling his numerous host. So forth he went, and through the files on foot Proceeding, where the warrior Greeks he saw Alert, he roused them by his words the more.[11]

Oh Greeks! The shame of Argos! Arrow-doom’d! Blush ye not? Wherefore stand ye thus aghast, Like fawns which wearied after scouring wide285 The champain, gaze and pant, and can no more? Senseless like them ye stand, nor seek the fight. Is it your purpose patient here to wait Till Troy invade your vessels on the shore Of the grey deep, that ye may trial make290 Of Jove, if he will prove, himself, your shield?

Thus, in discharge of his high office, pass’d Atrides through the ranks, and now arrived Where, hardy Chief! Idomeneus in front Of his bold Cretans stood, stout as a boar295 The van he occupied, while in the rear Meriones harangued the most remote. Them so prepared the King of men beheld With joyful heart, and thus in courteous terms Instant the brave Idomeneus address’d.300

Thee fighting, feasting, howsoe’er employed, I most respect, Idomeneus, of all The well-horsed Danäi; for when the Chiefs Of Argos, banqueting, their beakers charge With rosy wine the honorable meed305 Of valor, thou alone of all the Greeks Drink’st not by measure.[12] No—thy goblet stands Replenish’d still, and like myself thou know’st No rule or bound, save what thy choice prescribes. March. Seek the foe. Fight now as heretofore,310

To whom Idomeneus of Crete replied, Atrides! all the friendship and the love Which I have promised will I well perform. Go; animate the rest, Chief after Chief Of the Achaians, that the fight begin.315 For Troy has scatter’d to the winds all faith, All conscience; and for such her treachery foul Shall have large recompence of death and wo.

He said, whom Agamemnon at his heart Exulting, pass’d, and in his progress came320 Where stood each Ajax; them he found prepared With all their cloud of infantry behind. As when the goat-herd on some rocky point Advanced, a cloud sees wafted o’er the deep By western gales, and rolling slow along,325 To him, who stands remote, pitch-black it seems, And comes with tempest charged; he at the sight Shuddering, his flock compels into a cave; So moved the gloomy phalanx, rough with spears, And dense with shields of youthful warriors bold,330 Close-following either Ajax to the fight.

Brave leaders of the mail-clad host of Greece! I move not you to duty; ye yourselves335 Move others, and no lesson need from me. Jove, Pallas, and Apollo! were but all Courageous as yourselves, soon Priam’s towers Should totter, and his Ilium storm’d and sack’d By our victorious bands, stoop to the dust.340

He ceased, and still proceeding, next arrived Where stood the Pylian orator, his band Marshalling under all their leaders bold Alastor, Chromius, Pelagon the vast, Hæmon the prince, and Bias, martial Chief.345 Chariot and horse he station’d in the front; His numerous infantry, a strong reserve Right valiant, in the rear; the worst, and those In whom he trusted least, he drove between, That such through mere necessity might act.350 First to his charioteers he gave in charge Their duty; bade them rein their horses hard, Shunning confusion. Let no warrior, vain And overweening of his strength or skill, Start from his rank to dare the fight alone,355 Or fall behind it, weakening whom he leaves. [13]And if, dismounted from his own, he climb Another’s chariot, let him not affect Perverse the reins, but let him stand, his spear Advancing firm, far better so employ’d.360 Such was the discipline, in ancient times, Of our forefathers; by these rules they fought Successful, and laid many a city low.

Atrides, I could also ardent wish That I were now robust as when I struck Brave Ereuthalion[14] breathless to the ground! But never all their gifts the Gods confer375 On man at once; if then I had the force Of youth, I suffer now the effects of age. Yet ancient as I am, I will be seen Still mingling with the charioteers, still prompt To give them counsel; for to counsel youth380 Is the old warrior’s province. Let the green In years, my juniors, unimpaired by time, Push with the lance, for they have strength to boast.

So he, whom Agamemnon joyful heard, And passing thence, the son of Peteos found385 Menestheus, foremost in equestrian fame, Among the brave Athenians; near to him Ulysses held his station, and at hand The Cephallenians stood, hardy and bold; For rumor none of the approaching fight390 Them yet had reach’d, so recent had the stir Arisen in either host; they, therefore, watch’d Till the example of some other band Marching, should prompt them to begin the fight, But Agamemnon, thus, the King of men395 Them seeing, sudden and severe reproved.

Menestheus, son of Peteos prince renown’d, And thou, deviser of all evil wiles! Adept in artifice! why stand ye here Appall’d? why wait ye on this distant spot400 Till others move? I might expect from you More readiness to meet the burning war, Whom foremost I invite of all to share The banquet, when the Princes feast with me. There ye are prompt; ye find it pleasant there405 To eat your savory food, and quaff your wine Delicious till satiety ensue; But here you could be well content to stand Spectators only, while ten Grecian troops Should wage before you the wide-wasting war.410

To whom Ulysses, with resentful tone Dark-frowning, thus replied. What words are these Which have escaped thy lips; and for what cause, Atrides, hast thou call’d me slow to fight? When we of Greece shall in sharp contest clash415 With you steed-tamer Trojans, mark me then; Then thou shalt see (if the concerns of war So nearly touch thee, and thou so incline) The father of Telemachus, engaged Among the foremost Trojans. But thy speech420 Was light as is the wind, and rashly made.