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Pope, A. Iliad
Pope, A. Iliad
ALEXANDER POPE
m
EDITOR'S NOTE
"It is certainly the noblest version of
poetry that the world has ever seen," said
"
. Dr. Johnson, and its publication must there-
> fore be considered as one of the great events
i in the annals of Learning."
Pope was twenty-five when he began his
translations of the Iliad thirty when he
finished. It lifted him at one bound to affluence
and power. Itwas a remarkable experiment in
publishing, and many of Pope's friends shook
their heads at his temerity in attempting to
subscribe the work, almost single-handed, at
the unheard-of price of six guineas for six
quarto volumes, But in face of the greatest
difficulties not the least of which was the
increasing gibes of his political enemies the
poet succeeded triumphantly. The full
HOMER
TRANSLATED BY
ALEXANDER POPE
16. THE SIXTH BATTLE. THE ACTS AND DEATH OF PATROCLUS 293
17. THE SEVENTH BATTLE, FOR THE BODY OF PATROCLUS.
THE ACTS OF MENELAUS 315
18. THE GRIEF OF ACHILLES, AND NEW ARMOUR MADE HIM
BY VULCAN 333
19. THE RECONCILIATION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON . 349
20. THE BATTLE OF THE GODS, AND THE ACTS OF ACHILLES 360
....
.
ILIAD
OF
HOMER
Tranflated by Mr. POPE.
LONDON :
is not
Art may carry the greatest appearance, there
of Nature. The first can
plant or flower but is the gift more obvious
beauties of the latter into a
only reduce the
better take in, and is
figure, which the common eye may
therefore more entertained with them.
And perhaps
most critics are inclined to prefer a
the reason why
judicious and methodical genius
to a great and Iruittui
one, is, because they find it easier for themselves to pursue
their observations through an uniform
and bounded
walk of art, than to comprehend the vast and
various
extent of Nature.
Our author's work is a wild paradise, where if we can
not see all the beauties so distinctly as in an ordered garden, ,
not only the richest head, but the finest ear, in the world.
This is so great a truth, that whoever will but consult
the tune of his verses, even without understanding them
(with the same sort of diligence as we daily see practised
in the case of Italian operas), will find more sweetness,
variety, and majesty of sound than in any other language
or poetry. The beauty of his numbers is allowed by the
critics to be copied but faintly by Virgil himself, though
they are so just to ascribe it to the nature of the Latin
tongue : indeed, the Greek has some advantages both
from the natural sound of its words, and the turn and
cadence of its verse, which agree with the genius of no
other language. Virgil was very sensible of this, and
used the utmost diligence in working up a more intractable
language to whatsoever graces it was capable of ; and
in particular never failed to bring the sound of his line
to a beautiful agreement with its sense. If the Grecian
say, there have not been more men misled in former times
by a servile dull adherence to the letter, than have been
deluded in ours by a chimerical insolent hope of raising
and improving their author. It is not to be doubted that
the fire of a poem is what a translator should principally
regard, as it is most likely to expire in his managing :
however, it is his safest way to be content with preserving
this to his utmost in the whole, without endeavouring
to be more than he finds his author is, in any particular
place. It is a great secret in writing, to know when to
be plain, and when poetical and figurative ; and it
is what Homer will teach us, if we will but follow
* The words " as I wish, for the sake of the world, he had pre-
rented me in the rest," were inserted here in the first edition, but
subsequently elided, apparently from a conviction that no reader
would think them sincere.
32 PREFACE
That the Earl of Halifax was one of the first to favour
me, of whom it is hard to say whether the advancement
of the polite arts is more owing to his generosity or his
example : That such a genius as my Lord Bolingbroke,
not more distinguished in the great scenes of business,
than in all the useful and entertaining parts of learning,
has not refused to be the critic of these sheets, and the
patron of their writer :and that the noble author * of the
tragedy of Heroic Love has continued his partiality to
me, from my writing Pastorals, to my attempting the
Iliad. I cannot deny myself the pride of confessing,
that I have had the advantage not only of their advice
for the conduct in general, but their correction of several
particulars of this translation.
I could say a great deal of the pleasure of being dis
tinguished by the Earl of Carnarvon, but it is almost
absurd to particularise any one generous action in a person
whose whole life is a continued series of them. Mr.
Stanhope, the present secretary of state, will pardon my
desire of having it known that he was pleased to promote
this affair. The particular zeal of Mr. Harcourt (the
son of the late Lord Chancellor) gave me a proof how
much I am honoured in a share of his friendship. I must
attribute to the same motive that of several others of
my friends, to whom all acknowledgments are rendered
unnecessary by the privileges of a familiar correspondence ;
THE ARGUMENT
THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON
In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the
neighbouring towns, and taking from thence two beauti
ful captives, Chrysei's and Brisei's, allotted the first to
Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles. Chryses, the
father of Chryseis, and priest of Apollo, comes to the
Grecian camp to ransom her with which the action of
;
the poem opens, in the tenth year of the siege. The priest
being refused and insolently dismissed by Agamemnon,
entreats for vengeance from his god, who inflicts a pesti
lence on the Greeks. Achilles calls a council, and encourages
Chalcas to declare the cause of it, who attributes it to the
refusal of Chryseis. The king being obliged to send back
his captive, enters into a furious contest with Achilles,
which Nestor pacifies; however, as he had the absolute
command of the army, he seizes on Brisei's in revenge.
Achilles in discontent withdraws himself and his forces
from the rest of the Greeks and complaining to Thetis,
;
" Fond of
the power, but fonder of the prize I
157205 BOOK I 37
"
Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise.
But that imperious, that unconquered soul,
No laws can limit, no respect control :
"
Tyrant, I well deserved thy galling chain,
To thy slave, and still to serve in vain,
live
Should submit to each unjust decree
I :
"
O parent goddess since in early bloom
!
Then down the deep she plunged, from whence she rose,
And left him sorrowing on the lonely coast
In wild resentment for the fair he lost.
In Chrysa's port now sage Ulysses rode ;
Beneath the deck the destined victims stowed :
The sails they furled, they lashed the mast aside,
And dropped their anchors, and the pinnace tied.
Next on the shore their hecatomb they land,
Chryse'is last descending on the strand.
Her, thus returning from the furrowed main,
Ulysses led to Phoebus' sacred fane ;
Where at his solemn altar, as the maid
He gave to Chryses, thus the hero said :
"
Hail, reverend priest to Phoebus' awful dome
1
"
My words could please thee, or my actions aid ;
Some marks of honour on my son bestow,
And pay in glory what in life you owe.
Fame is at least by heavenly promise due
To life so short, and now dishonoured too.
Avenge this wrong, O ever just and wise 1
But thou, nor they, shall search the thoughts that roll
Deep in the close recesses of my soul."
Full on the sire, the goddess of the skies
Rolled the large orbs of her majestic eyes,
And thus returned " Austere Saturnius, say,
:
THE ARGUMENT
THE TRIAL OF THE ARMY AND CATALOGUE OF THE FORCES
Jupiter, in pursuance of the request of Thetis, sends a deceit
ful vision to
Agamemnon, persuading him to lead the
army to hattle, morder to make the Greeks sensible of
their want of Achilles. The general, who is deluded with
the hopes of taking Troy without his assistance, hut fears
the army was discouraged hy his absence and the late
plague, as well as by length of time, contrives to make
trial of their disposition by a stratagem. He first com
municates his design to the princes in council, that he
would propose a return to the soldiers, and that they
should put a stop to them if the proposal was embraced.
Then he assembles the whole host, and upon moving for a
return to Greece, they unanimously agree to it, and run to
prepare the ships. They are detained by the management
of Ulysses, who chastises the insolence of Thersites. The
assembly is recalled, several speeches made on the occa
sion, and at length the advice of Nestor followed, which
was to make a general muster of the troops, and to divide
them into their several nations, before they proceeded to
battle. This gives occasion to the poet to enumerate all
the forces of the Greeks and Trojans, in a large catalogue.
The time employed in this book consists not entirely of one
day. The scene lies in the Grecian camp and upon the sea
shore ; toward the end it removes to Troy.
i/rijrov; o:l! vV;,vbi;. 1 < b-ioivy#.'rt #02 L-;i; HM ,iovT
Now pleasing sleep had sealed each mortal eye ;
Stretched in the tents the Grecian leaders lie,
The immortal slumbered on their thrones above ;
All but the ever-wakeful eyes of Jove.
To honour Thetis' son he bends his care,
And plunge the Greeks in all the woes of war :
Then bids an empty phantom rise to sight,
And thus commands the vision of the night * :
"
Fly hence, deluding Dream and, light as air,
1
"
Canst thou, with all a monarch's cares oppressed,
O Atreus' son canst thou indulge thy rest ?
!
" Princes of
Greece, your faithful ears incline,
Nor doubt the vision of the powers divine ;
Sent by great Jove to him who rules the host,
Forbid it, heaven, this warning should be lost !
"
Warriors like you, with strength and wisdom blest,
By brave examples should confirm the rest.
The monarch's will not yet revealed appears ;
"
Ye godsI what wonders has Ulysses wrought I
When
"
thus the king prefers his solemn prayer :
THE ARGUMENT
THE DUEL OF MENELAUS AND PARIS
The armies being* ready to engage, a single combat is agreed
upon between Menelaus and Paris (by the intervention of
Hector) for the determination of the war. Iris is sent to
call Helena to behold the fight. She leads her to the walls
of Troy, where Priam sat with his counsellors, observing
the Grecian leaders on the plains below, to whom Helen
gives an account of the chief of them. The kings on either
part take the solemn oath for the conditions of the com
bat. The duel ensues, wherein Paris being overcome, is
snatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his
apartment. She then calls Helen from the walls, and
brings the lovers together. Agamemnon, on the part of
the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen, and the
performance of the articles.
The three-and-twentieth day still continues throughout this
book. The scene is sometimes in the field before Troy,
and sometimes in Troy itself.
* The
Scaean Gate.
366414 BOOK III 81
"
Obey the power from whom thy glories rise :
"
Is this the chief, who, lost to sense of shame,
Late fled the field, and yet survives his fame ?
Oh, hadst thou died beneath the righteous sword
Of that brave man whom once I called my lord I
Be therefore now
the Spartan wealth restored,
Let Argive Helen own her lawful lord ;
The appointed fine let Ilion justly pay,
And age to age record this signal day."
He ceased his army's loud applauses rise,
;
THE ARGUMENT
THE BREACH OF THE TRUCE, AND THE FIRST BATTLE
The gods deliberate in council concerning the Trojan war:
they agree upon the continuation of it, and Jupiter sends
down Minerva to break the truce. She persuades Pan-
darus to aim an arrow at Menelaiis, who is wounded, but
cured by Machaon. In the meantime some of the Trojan
troops attack the Greeks. Agamemnon is distinguished in
all the parts of a good general he reviews the troops and
;
" Shall
then, O tyrant of the ethereal reign I
"
Shame to your country, scandal of your kind 1
" Well
might I wish, could mortal wish renew
94 THE ILIAD 371-419
"
Can Peleus* son forget a warrior's part,
And fears Ulysses, skilled in every art ?
Why stand you distant, and the rest expect
To mix in combat which yourselves neglect ?
From you 'twas hoped among the first to dare
The shock of armies, and commence the war.
For this your names are called before the rest,
To share the pleasures of the genial feast :
And can you, chiefs without a blush survey
I
*Pandarus.
104 THE ILIAD 170218
With that, the blue-eyed Virgin winged her flight ;
O
son ol Tydeus, cease be wise, and see
1
"
Go and the great Minerva be thy aid.
!
THE ARGUMENT
THE EPISODES OF GLAUCUS AND DIOMED, AND OP
HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE
The gods having left the field, the Grecians prevail. Helenus,
the chief augur of Troy, commands Hector to return to
the city, in order to appoint a solemn procession of the
queen and the Trojan matrons to the temple of Minerva,
to entreat her to remove Diomed from the fight. The
battle relaxing during the absence of Hector, Glaucus
and Diomed have an interview between the two armies ;
where, coming to the knowledge of the friendship and
hospitality past between their ancestors, they make
exchange of their arms. Hector, having performed the
orders of Helenus, prevailed upon Paris to return to the
battle, and taken a tender leave of his wife Andromache,
hastens again to the field.
The scene is first in the field of battle, between the rivers
Simois and Scamander, and then changes to Troy.
Alas I
my parents, brothers, kindred, all
Once more will perish, if my Hector fall I
THE ARGUMENT
THE SINGLE COMBAT OF HECTOR AND AJAX
The battle renewing with double ardour upon the return of
Hector, Minerva is under apprehensions for the Greeks.
Apollo, seeing her descend from Olympus, joins her near
the Scaean gate. They agree to put off the general
engagement for that day, and incite Hector to challenge
the Greeks to a single combat. Nine of the princes
accepting the challenge, the lot is cast, and falls upon
Ajax. These heroes, after several attacks, are parted by
the night. The Trojans calling a council, Antenor pro
poses the delivery of Helen to the Greeks, to which Paris
will not consent, but offers to restore them her riches.
Priam sends a herald to make this offer, and to demand
a truce for burning the dead, the last of which only is
agreed to by Agamemnon. When the funerals are per
formed, the Greeks, pursuant to the advice of Nestor,
erect a fortification to protect their fleet and camp, flanked
with towers, and defended by a ditch and palisades. Nep
tune testifies his jealousy at this work, but is pacified by
a promise from Jupiter. Both armies pass the night in
feasting, but Jupiter disheartens the Trojans with thunder
and other signs of his wrath.
The three-and-twentieth day ends with the duel of Hector and
Ajax t the next day the truce is agreed another is taken
:
" What
cause, O daughter of almighty Jove,
Thus wings thy progress from the realms above ?
Once more impetuous dost thou bend thy way
To give to Greece the long-divided day ?
Too much has Troy already felt thy hate,
Now breathe thy rage, and hush the stern debate :
"
Whither, O Menelaiis wouldst thou run,
1
first of 1
'
Whom heaven ad,orns, superior to thy kind,
With strength of body, and with worth of mind,
Now martial law commands us to forbear ;
Hereafter we shall meet in glorious war
;
Some future day shall lengthen out the strife,
And let the gods decide of death or life :
"
Ye Trojans, Dardans, and auxiliars, hear 1
my 1-
Heasld may ye hear-so heaven succeed prayers ,
declares.
What Paris, author of the war,
t
The spoils and treasures he to Ilion our shore
O had he perished ere they touched
!
with largeincrease
He proffers injured Greece;
wealth, to buy the peace.
Of added Trojan
bride again,
But, to restore the beauteous m
vain.
This Greece demands, and Troy requests
Next Oye chiefs 1 we ask a truce to burn
bones murn
Our slaughtered heroes, and their
war be tried,
That done, once more the fate of
And the mighty
whose conquest, j*"*****^
The Greeks give ear, but none the
silence broke
.
,
fame
<
Otake not, friends, defrauded of your
the Spartan dame.
Their proffered wealth, nor e'en
them ours: fate shakes their wall,
Let conquest make
And Troy already totters to her fall.
The admiring chiefs, and all the Grecian name,
WitlT general shouts returned him loud
acclaim.
Then thus the king of kings rejects the peace
:
of Greece.
" Herald 1 in him thou hearest the voice
let funeral flames be fed
For what remains,
dead :
With heroes' corps : I war not with the
chiefs on yonder plain,
Go search your slaughtered
And gratify the manes of the slain. on ^
Be witness, Jove, whose thunder rolls hign I
the
He said, and reared his sceptre to sky.
To sacred Troy, where all her princes lay
To wait the event, the herald bent his way.
He came, and, standing in the midst, explained
The peace rejected, but the truce obtained. move
the Trojans
Straight to their several cares
;
THE ARGUMENT
THE SECOND BATTLE, AND THE DISTRESS OF THE GREEKS
Jupiter assembles a council of the deities, and threatens them
with the pains of Tartarus, if they assist either side :
"
O chief too daring in thy friend's defence,
I
This arm shall reach thy heart, and stretch thee dead."
Now fears dissuade him, and now hopes invite,
To stop his coursers, and to stand the fight ;
Thrice turned the chief, and thrice imperial Jove
On Ida's summit thundered from above.
Great Hector heard ; he saw the
flashing light,
The sign of conquest, and thus urged the fight :
Hear every Trojan, Lycian, Dardan band,
All famed in war, and dreadful hand to
hand,
Be mindful of the wreaths your arms have won,
*
Nestor was brought up at now on the west
Gerenia, Kitries,
coast of the Morea.
213259 BOOK VIII 157
Give me
to seize rich Nestor's shield of gold ;
"
O daughter of that god, whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the sable shield 1
THE ARGUMENT
THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES
Agamemnon, after the last day's defeat, proposes to the
Greeks to quit the siege, and return to their country.
Diomed opposes this, and Nestor seconds him, praising
his wisdom and resolution. He orders the guard to be
strengthened, and a council summoned to deliberate
what measures were to be followed in this emergency.
Agamemnon pursues this advice, and Nestor farther pre
vails upon him to send ambassadors to Achilles, in order
to move him to a reconciliation. Ulysses and Ajax are
made choice of, who are accompanied by old Phoenix.
They make, each of them, very moving and pressing
speeches, but are rejected with roughness by Achilles,
who notwithstanding retains Phoenix in his tent. The
ambassadors return unsuccessfully to the camp, and the
troops betake themselves to sleep.
This book, and the next following, take up the space of one
night, which is the twenty-seventh from the beginning
of the poem. The scene lies on the sea-shore, the station
of the Grecian ships.
"
O truly great in whom the gods have joined
!
" Great
Agamemnon, glorious king of men I
*
Ajax, who was a rough soldier, and no orator, is impatient to
have the business over; he makes a sign to Phoenix to begin, but
Ulysses prevents him.
176 THE ILIAD 332380
Trust that to heaven: but thou thy cares engage
To calm thy passions, and subdue thy rage :
What in my
secret soul is understood,
My tongue shall utter, and deeds make good.
my
Let Greece then know, my
purpose I retain,
Nor with new treaties vex my
peace in vain.
Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My" heart detests him as the gates of hell.
Then thus in short my
fixed resolves attend,
Which nor Atrides, nor his Greeks, can bend :
Long toils, long perils, in their cause I bore ;
But now the unfruitful glories charm no more.
Fight or not fight, a like reward we claim,
The wretch and hero find their prize the same ;
Alike regretted in the dust he lies,
Who yields ignobly, or who bravely dies.
Of all my dangers, all my glorious pains,
A life of labours, lo I what fruit remains ?
As the bold bird her helpless
young attends,
From danger guards them, and from want defends ;
"
She from Marpessa sprung, divinely fair,
And matchless Idas,* more than man in war ;
"
My second father, and my reverend guide I
i- -wo
-
-(fit
i/TO-'fr.fi to n, oT
fi or^-;! , .-.fd ion ?J.
!
'
, . ^ rf,/>
BOOK X
THE ARGUMENT
THE NIGHT ADVENTURE OF DIOMED AND ULYSSES
Upon the refusal of Achilles to return to the army, the
distress of Agamemnon is described in the most lively
manner. He takes no rest that night, but passes through
the camp, awaking the leaders, and contriving all possible
methods for the public safety. Menelaus, Nestor, Ulysses,
and Diomed, are employee! in raising the rest of the
captains. They call a council of war, and determine to
send scouts into the enemy's camp, to learn their posture,
and discover their intentions. Diomed undertakes this
hazardous enterprise, and makes choice of Ulysses for
his companion. In their passage they surprise Dolon,
whom Hector had sent on a like design to the camp of
the Grecians. From him they are informed of the situa
tion of the Trojan and auxiliary forces, and particularly
of Rhesus, and the Thracians, who were lately arrived.
They pass on with success ; kill Rhesus with several of
his officers, and seize the famous horses of that prince,
with which they return in triumph to the camp.
The same night continues ; the scene lies in the two camps.
And all my
people's miseries are mine.
If aught of use thy waking thought suggest,
Since cares, like mine, deprive thy soul of rest,
Impart thy counsel, and assist thy friend :
Now let us jointly to the trench descend,
At every gate the fainting guard excite,
Tired with the toils of day, and watch of night :
Else may the sudden foe our works invade,
So near, and favoured by the gloomy shade."
To him thus Nestor : " Trust the powers above,
Nor think proud Hector's hopes confirmed by Jove :
"
Rise, son of Tydeus to the brave and strong
I
Yet if my
years thy kind regard engage,
Employ thy youth as I employ my age ;
Succeed to these my cares, and rouse the rest ;
He serves me most, who serves his country best."
This said, the hero o'er his shoulder flung
A lion's spoils, that to his ankles hung ;
"
O daughter of that god, whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield 1
"
Be witness, thou immortal lord of all I
I
'*
To whom Ulysses made this wise reply :
Whoe'er thou art, be bold, nor fear to die.
What moves thee, say, when sleep has closed the sight,
To roam the silent fields in dead of night ?
Gamest thou the secrets of our camp to find,
By Hector prompted, or thy daring mind ?
459507 BOOK X 197
"
Enough, my son : from farther slaughter cease,
Regard thy safety, and depart in peace ;
Haste to the ships, the gotten spoils enjoy,
Nor tempt too far the hostile gods of Troy/'
The voice divine confessed the martial Maid ;
In haste he mounted, and her word obeyed ;
" The
gifts of heaven are of a nobler kind.
Of Thracian lineage are the steeds ye view,
Whose hostile king the brave Tydides slew ;
Sleeping he died, with all his guards around,
And twelve beside lay gasping on the ground.
These other spoils from conquered Dolon came,
A wretch, whose swiftness was his only fame ;
H7-H
BOOK XI
THE ARGUMENT
THE THIRD BATTLE, AND THE ACTS OF AGAMEMNON
Agamemnon, having armed himself, leads the Grecians to
battle Hector prepares the Trojans to receive them
; ;
"
O spare our youth, and, for the life we owe,
Antimachus shall copious gifts bestow ;
Soon as he hears, that, not in battle slain,
The Grecian ships his captive sons detain,
Large heaps of brass in ransom shall be told,
And steel well-tempered, and persuasive gold."
These words, attended with a flood of tears,
The youths addressed to unrelenting ears :
Then Jove shall string his arm, and fire his breast.
Then to her ships shall flying Greece be pressed,
Till to the main the burning sun descend,
208 THE ILIAD 252300
And sacred night her awful shade extend."
He spoke, and Iris at his word obeyed ;
Then Jove shall string thy arm, and fire thy breast,
Then to her ships shall flying Greece be pressed,
Till to the main the burning sun descend,
And sacred night her awful shade extend/'
She said, and vanished Hector with a bound,
:
"
O friends O Greeks assert your honours won
1 I ;
"
No martial toil I shun, no danger fear ;
Let Hector come, I wait his fury here.
But Jove with conquest crowns the Trojan train,
And, Jove our foe, all human force is vain."
He sighed ; but, sighing, raised his vengeful steel,
And from his car the proud Thyrnbrseus fell :
;
The great Achilles with impatience stays.
To great Achilles this respect I owe ;
Nestor. The city of Elis seems to be of later date than the poems.
220 THE ILIAD 835883
My sire three hundred chosen sheep obtained
That large reprisal he might justly claim,
For prize defrauded, and insulted fame ;
When Elis' monarch at the public course
Detained his chariot, and victorious horse
The rest the people shared ;myself surveyed
The just partition, and due victims paid.
Three days were past, when Elis rose to war,
With many a courser, and with many a car ;
"
Along fair Arene's delightful plain,
Soft Minyas rolls his waters to the main ;
THE ARGUMENT
THE BATTLE AT THE GRECIAN WALL
The Greeks being retired into their entrenchments, Hector
attempts to force them ; but it proving impossible to pass
the ditch, Polydamas advises to quit their chariots, and
manage the attack on foot. The Trojans follow
his
counsel, and having divided their army into five bodies
of foot, begin the assault. But upon the signal of an
eagle with a serpent in his talons, which appeared on the
left hand of the Trojans, Polydamas endeavours to with
draw them again. This Hector opposes, and continues the
attack ; in which, after many actions, Sarpedon makes
the first breach in the wall : Hector also, casting a stone
of a vast size, forces open one of the gates, and enters
at the head of his troops, who victoriously pursue the
Grecians even to their ships.
bold Alcathous,
The sons of
}
6
^
graceful Paris sl>
the
and Agenor joins,
Priam with the third
appear
Deiphobus, and Helenus the
8 with thesc the
seer;
TxV"?
Who mighty Asius stood
drew from Hyrtacus
And whom
his noWeblood
Arisba's yellow
The coursers fed on Selle's coursers bore
Antenor-s sons the fourth winding shore
And great ^ battalion *te
neas , born on fountful Ide.
Dnine Sarpedon the last band
a US and Aster obeyed,
N?xt him
wext K P*us aid ;
him, tK
1
"
Your aid," said Thoos, Peteus' son demands.
Your strength, united, best may help to bear
The bloody labours of the doubtful war :
"
Now, valiant Lycomede exert your might,
!
"
That done, expect me to complete the day
Then, with his seven-fold shield, he strode away.
With equal steps bold Teucer pressed the shore,
Whose fatal bow the strong Pandion bore.
High on the walls appeared the Lycian powers,
Like some black tempest gathering round the towers ;
1171
234 THE ILIAD 467514
The bearded shaft the destined passage found ;
"
O where, ye Lycians is the strength you boast ?
I
*
Sarpedon.
515562 BOOK XII 235
Nor these can keep, nor those can win, the wall.
Their manly breasts are pierced with many a wound,
Loud strokes are heard, and rattling arms resound ;
THE ARGUMENT
THE FOURTH BATTLE CONTINUED, IN WHICH NEPTUNE
ASSISTS THE GREEKS. THE ACTS OF IDOMENEUS
"
'Tis yours, O warriors, all our hopes to raise ;
"
Oh lasting infamy, oh dire disgrace
To chiefs of vigorous youth, and manly race !
For behold
this, in horrid arms I shine,
1
heart
Against his bosom beats his quivering ;
"
Not unattended," the proud Trojan cries,
" Nor
unrevenged, lamented Asius lies :
wE^tJ?5
Attends
^te
tn e l ud rustics
T2? * the+
rough mountain's head,
^ rs and to Daughter bred/
'
Trailed the long lance that marked with blood the sand ;
* The
Thracian swords were very large and weighty.
252 THE ILIAD 749797
But good Agenor gently from the wound
The spear solicits, and the bandage bound ;
i*
.an/i //U Ion ?iT'
.'; tt-r/r io Il.i/i^ odT
"
What new alarms, divine Machaon, say,
What mixed events attend this mighty day ?
Hark how the shouts divide, and how they
I meet,
And now come full, and thicken to the fleet I
*
At the end of the eleventh book Nestor was sitting at table
with Machaon.
260 THE ILIAD 1967
Dire disarray I the tumult of the fight,
The wall in ruins, and the Greeks in night.
As when old Ocean's silent surface sleeps,
The waves just heaving on the purple deeps,
While yet the expected tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the cloud, and blackens in the sky,
The mass of waters will no wind obey ;
117 J
266 THE ILIAD 311358
That she, my loved-one, shall be ever mine,
The youngest Grace, Pasithae the divine/'
The queen assents, and from the infernal bowers
Invokes the sable subtartarean powers,
And those who rule the inviolable Hoods,
Whom mortals name the dread Titanian gods.
Then, swift as wind, o'er Lemnos' smoky isle,
They wing their way, and Imbrus' sea-beat soil,
Through air, unseen, involved in darkness glide,
And light on Lectos, on the point of Ide,
Mother of savages, whose echoing hills
Are heard resounding with a hundred rills ;
Not e'en the sun, who darts through heaven his rays,
And whose broad eye the extended earth surveys."
Gazing he spoke, and, kindling at the view,
His eager arms around the goddess threw.
Glad Earth perceives, and from her bosom pours
Unbidden herbs, and voluntary flowers ;
"
Now, Neptune now, the important hour employ,
I
"
O
thou, still adverse to the eternal will,
For ever studious in promoting ill 1
"
By every oath that Powers immortal ties,
The foodful earth, and all infolding skies, :
"
Then soon the haughty sea-god shall obey,
Nor dare to act, but when we point the way.
If truth inspires thy tongue, proclaim our will
To yon bright synod on the Olympian hill ;
Our high decree let various Iris know,
And call the god that bears the silver bow.
Let her descend, and from the embattled plain
Command the sea-god to his watery reign :
While Phoebus hastes great Hector to prepare
To rise afresh, and once more wake the war ;
His labouring bosom re-inspires with breath,
And calls his senses from the verge of death.
Greece, chased by Troy e'en to Achilles' fleet,
Shall fall by thousands at the hero's feet.
He, not untouched with pity, to the plain
Shall send Patroclus, but shall send in vain.
What youths he slaughters under Ilion's walls I
E'en my loved son, divine Sarpedon, falls I
"
Attend the mandate of the sire above,
In me behold the messenger of Jove :
"
Rule as he will his portioned realms on high,
No vassal god, nor of his train, am I.
Three brother deities from Saturn came,
And ancient Rhea, earth's immortal dame :
A noble mind
disdains not to repent.
To elder brothers guardian fiends are given,
To scourge the wretch insulting them and heaven." *
"
Great is the profit," thus the god rejoined,
" When ministers are blessed with
prudent mind ;
Warned by thy words, to powerful Jove I yield,
And quit, though angry, the contended field ;
Else had my
wrath, heaven's thrones all shaking round,
Burned to the bottom of his seas profound,
And all the gods that round old Saturn dwell,
Had heard the thunders to the deeps of hell.
Well was the crime, and well the vengeance spared,
E'en power immense had found such battle hard.
Go thou, my son, the trembling Greeks alarm,
Shake my broad segis on thy active arm :
Behold !
thy Phoebus shall his arms employ,
Phoebus, propitious still to thee and Troy.
Inspire thy warriors then with manly force,
And to the ships impel thy rapid horse :
Thundering he falls ;
his falling arms resound,
And his broad buckler rings against the ground.
The victor leaps upon his prostrate prize ;
"
O
friends O heroes names for ever dear,
! 1
itv/L'/'I :.ti<.i'/f
o-, ,$)& oK
uf rt/m-ihl o/.
BOOK XVI
THE ARGUMENT
THE SIXTH BATTLE : THE ACTS AND DEATH OF PATROCLUS
Patroclus (in pursuance of the request of Nestor in the
eleventh book) entreats Achilles to suffer him to go to
the assistance of the Greeks with Achilles' troops and
.armour. He agrees to it, hut at the same time charges
him to content himself with rescuing the fleet, without
farther pursuit of the enemy. The armour, horses,
soldiers, and officers of Achilles are described. Achilles
offers a libation for the success of his friend, after which
Patroclus leads the Myrmidons to battle. The Trojans,
at the sight of Patroclus in Achilles' armour, taking him
for that hero, are cast into the utmost consternation :
"
Let Greece at length with pity touch thy breast,
Thyself a Greek and, once, of Greeks the best
;
!
*
Pope has "wings."
117-K
298 THE ILIAD 219267
As with swift step she formed the running maze :
Glut all your hearts, and weary all your hands " 1
"
Glaucus, be bold; thy task be first to dare
The glorious dangers of destructive war,
306 THE ILIAD 607655
To lead troops, to combat at their head,
my
Incite the living, and supply the dead.
Tell them, I charged them with my
latest breath
Not unrevenged to bear Sarpedon's death.
What grief, what shame, must Glaucus undergo,
If these spoiled arms adorn a Grecian foe 1
Then as a friend, and as a warrior, fight ;
Defend my body, conquer in my right ;
That, taught by great examples, all may try
Like thee to vanquish, or like me to die."
He ceased ; the fates suppressed his labouring breath,
And his eyes darkened with the shades of death.
The insulting victor with disdain bestrode
The prostrate prince, and on his bosom trod ;
"
Good heavens what active feats yon artist shews
1 1
? f
..fj
Black fate hangs o'er thee, and thy hour draws nigh ;
BOOK XVII
THE ARGUMENT
THE SEVENTH BATTLE, FOR THE BODY OF PATROGLUS.
THE ACTS OF MENELAUS
Menelaus, upon the death of Patroclus, defends his body from
the enemy Euphorbus, who attempts it, is slain. Hector
:
"
Ah, wretched man, unmindful of thy end I
From their high manes they shake the dust, and bear
The kindling chariot through the parted war.
So flies a vulture through the clamorous train
Of geese, that scream and scatter round the plajn.
From danger now with swiftest speed they flew,
And now to concraest with like speed pursue ;
Sole in the seat the charioteer remains,
Now plies the javelin, now directs the reins :
THE ARGUMENT
THE GRIEF OF ACHILLES, AND NEW ARMOUR MADE HIM BY
VULCAN
The news of the death of Patroclus is brought to Achilles
by
Antilochus. Thetis, hearing his lamentations, comes witn
all her sea-nymphs to comfort him. The speeches of the
mother and son on this occasion. Iris appears to Achilles
by the command of Juno, and orders him to shew himself
at the head of the entrenchments. The sight of him turns
the fortune of the day, and the body of Patroclus is
carried off by the Greeks. The Trojans call a council,
where Hector and Polydamas disagree in their opinions ;
but the advice of the former prevails, to remain encamped
in the field. The grief of Achilles over the body of
Patroclus.
Thetis goes to the palace of Vulcan, to obtain new arms for
her son. The description of the wonderful works of
Vulcan and, lastly, that noble one of the shield of
;
Achilles.
The latter part of the nine-and-twentieth day, and the night
ensuing, take up this book. The scene is at Achilles's tent
on the sea-shore, from whence it changes to the palace of
Vulcan.
333
334 THE ILIAD 2169
" Sad thou must hear
tidings, son of Peleus 1
;
"
A flood of tears, at this, the goddess shed :
Ah then, I see thee dying, see thee dead " Let Hector
I
" Ye
sister Nereids 1 to your deeps descend ;
Haste, and our father's sacred seat attend;
I go to find the architect divine,
Where vast Olympus' starry summits shine :
So tell our hoary sire." This charge she gave :
The sea-green sisters plunge beneath the wave :
Thetis once more ascends the blest abodes,
And treads the brazen threshold of the gods.
And now the Greeks, from furious Hector's force,
Urge to broad Hellespont their headlong course :
Nor yet their chiefs Patroclus' body bore
Safe through the tempest, to the tented shore.
The horse, the foot, with equal fury joined,
Poured on the rear, and thundered close behind ;
And like a flame through fields of ripened corn,
The rage of Hector o'er the ranks was borne.
Thrice the slain hero by the foot he drew :
Thrice to the skies the Trojan clamours flew ;
As oft the Ajaces his assault sustain ;
But checked, he turns ; repulsed, attacks again.
With fiercer shouts his lingering troops he fires,
Nor yields a step, nor from his post retires :
; UtW'J
!
fl I
if!! ifi'
BOOK XIX
THE ARGUMENT
THE RECONCILIATION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON
Thetis brings to her son the armour made by Vulcan. She
preserves the body of his friend from corruption, and
commands him to assemble the army, to declare his
resentment at an end. Agamemnon and Achilles are
solemnly reconciled the speeches, presents, and cere
:
" Hear
me, ye sons of Greece I with silence hear,
And grant your monarch an impartial ear :
Awhile your loud untimely joy suspend,
And let your rash injurious clamours end :
" Hast
spread the inviting banquet in our tents ;
Thy sweet society, thy winning care,
Oft stayed Achilles, rushing to the war.
But now, alas 1 to death's cold arms resigned,
What banquet but revenge can glad my mind ?
What greater sorrow could afflict my breast,
What more, if hoary Peleus were deceased ?
Who now, perhaps, in Phthia dreads to hear
His son's sad fate, and drops a tender tear.
What more, should Neoptolemus the brave,
My only offspring, sink into the grave ?
If yet that offspring lives I distant far,
:
"
Why comes ^Eneas through the ranks so far ?
Seeks he to meet Achilles' arm in war,
In hope the realms of Priam to enjoy,
And prove his merits to the throne of Troy ?
Grant that beneath thy lance Achilles dies,
The partial monarch may refuse the prize :
Sons he has many : those thy pride may quell ;
in the combat.
222270 BOOK XX 365
"
O he
" Join Greeks,"man cries,
and every rank alarms,
battle, to man, and arms to arms !
" Wretch thou hast 'scaped again, once more thy flight
1
Such things are to be found in places where they are less likely to
be found.
259307 BOOK XXI 379
THE ARGUMENT
THE DEATH OF HECTOR
The Trojans being safe within the walls, Hector only stays to
oppose Achilles. Priam is struck at his approach, and
tries to persuade his son to re-enter the town. Hecuba
joins
her entreaties, but in vain. Hector consults within
himself what measures to take but, at the advance of
;
"
That man can feel man, fated to be cursed
: !
"
Have mercy on me, O my son revere I
Rest here :
myself will lead the Trojan on,
And urge to meet the fate he cannot shun."
Her voice divine the chief with joyful mind
Obeyed, and rested, on his lance reclined.
While like Deiphobus the martial dame,
Her face, her gesture, and her arms, the same,
In show an aid, by hapless Hector's side
Approached, and greets him thus with voice belied :
" Too
long, O Hector have I borne the sight
I
Then, prince I
you should have feared, what now you
feel;
Achilles absent was Achilles still.
Yet a short space the great avenger stayed,
Then low in dust thy strength and glory laid.
Peaceful he sleeps, with all our rites adorned,
For ever honoured, and for ever mourned :
While, cast to all the rage of hostile power,
Thee birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour."
Then Hector, fainting at the approach of death :
"
By thy own soul by those who gave thee breath
1 I
A
" mourning princess, and a train in tears :
In vain alas
: her lord returns no more
1 I
follow me
"
Ah, she I cried, what plaintive noise
Invades my
ear ? 'Tis sure mother's voice. my
My faltering knees their trembling frame desert,
A pulse unusual flutters at heart. my
Some strange disaster, some reverse of fate
Ye gods avert threats the Trojan state.
it I
O
wretched husband of a wretched wife I
THE ARGUMENT
FUNERAL GAMES IN HONOUR OF PATROCLUS
Achilles and the Myrmidons do honours to the body of
Patroclus. After the funeral feast he retires to the sea
shore, where, falling asleep, the ghost of his friend appears
to him, and demands the rites of burial the next morning
:
Sad sacrifice
I twelve Trojan captives fell :
On these the rage of fire victorious preys,
Involves, and joins them in one common blaze.
Smeared with the bloody rites he stands on high,
And calls the spirit with a dreadful cry :
" All
hail, Patroclus let thy vengeful ghost
1
She watched him all the night, and all the day,
And drove the bloodhounds from their destined prey.
Nor sacred Phoebus less employed his care :
"
Think not," he cries, I tamely will resign,
O Peleus' son the mare so justly mine.
1
"
The praise of wisdom, in thy youth obtained,
An act so rash, Antilochus, has stained.
Robbed of my glory and my just reward,
To you, O Grecians be my wrong declared:1
418 THE ILIAD 655703
So not a leader shall our conduct blame,
Or judge me envious of a rival's fame.
But shall not we, ourselves, the truth maintain ?
What needs appealing in a fact so plain ?
What Greek shall blame me, if I bid thee rise,
And vindicate by oath the ill-gotten prize ?
Rise, if thou darest, before thy chariot stand,
The driving scourge high lifted in thy hand,
And touch thy steeds, and swear thy whole intent
Was but to conquer, not to circumvent.
Swear by that god whose liquid arms surround
The globe, and whose dread earthquakes heave the ground."
The prudent chief with calm attention heard ;
'Tis now
Atrides' turn to yield to thee.
Rash heat perhaps a moment might control,
Not break, the settled temper of thy soul.
Not but, my friend, 'tis still the wiser way
To waive contention with superior sway :
"
Or let me lift thee, chief, or lift thou me :
When
" great Achilles thus divides the prize :
But unblest
flies No grateful sacrifice,
I
10 ftOTlRC] ,8fl(lStH OT
Ho // rf
J- niiJarri io a//o
e abiulal
oftfc^I.e
Tir\r\v
tfUUK WTTT-
XXIV
THE ARGUMENT
THE REDEMPTION OF THE BODY OF HECTOR
7vl
The gods deliberate about the redemption of Hector's body.
Jupiter sends Thetis to Achilles to dispose him for the
restoring it, and Iris to Priam, to encourage him to go
m
person, and treat for it. The old king, notwithstanding
the remonstrances of his queen, makes ready for the
journey, to which he is encouraged by an omen from
Jupiter. He sets forth in his chariot, with a waggon
loaded with presents, under the charge of Idaeus, the
herald. Mercury descends in the shape of a young man,
and conducts him to the pavilion of Achilles. Their con
versation on the way. Priam finds Achilles at his table,
casts himself at his feet, and begs for the body of his son :
" Fear
not, oh father 1 no ill news I bear ;
From Jove I come, Jove makes thee still his care ;
For Hector's sake these walls he bids thee leave,
And bear what stern Achilles may receive :
Alone, for so he wills : no Trojan near,
432 THE ILIAD 214262
Except, to place the dead with decent care,
Some aged herald, who, with gentle hand,
May the slow mules and funeral car command.
Nor shalt thou death, nor sfialt thou danger dread;
Safe through the foe by his protection led :
"
Unhappy consort of a king distressed !
"
Hence, nor obtrude your anguish on my eyes.
Have ye no griefs at home, to fix ye there ?
Am I the only object of despair ?
Am become my people's common show,
I
Set up by Jove your spectacle of woe ?
No, you must feel him too yourselves must fall
: ;
He friends away
said, and feebly drives his
:
"
You tempt me, father, and with pity touch :
" Ah divine 1
think, thou favoured of the powers
Think of thy father's age, and pity mine 1
In my
all equal, but
misery in I- i
heart of steel,
A strength proportioned to the woes you feel.
Rise, then let reason
:
mitigate our care :
To mourn, avails not man is born to bear.
:
The rock for ever lasts, the tears for ever flow.
Such griefs, O have other parents known
king 1 :
"
Turn here your steps, and here your eyes employ,
Ye wretched daughters, and ye sons of Troy 1
" "
Forbear," he cried, this violence of woes ;
First to the palace let the car proceed,
Then pour your boundless sorrows o'er the dead."
The waves of people at his word divide ;
*
Slow rolls the chariot through the following tide :, lt T
* The Scfiean gate, Book iii., line 333, page 80.
446 THE ILIAD 898944
E'en to the palace the sad pomp they wait :
"
Snatched in thy bloom from these desiring eyes I
*
The
original runs, "For thy father was no gentle one in the
dreadful strife of battle."
945993 BOOK XXIV 447
And by the Immortals e'en in death beloved I
"
Perform, ye Trojans, what the rites require,
And fell the forests for a funeral pyre I
and the whole Essay upon Homer was written, upon such
memoirs as I had collected, by the late Dr. Parnell, Arch
deacon of Clogher in Ireland. How very much that gentle
man's friendship prevailed over his genius in detaining a
writer of his spirit in the drudgery of removing the rubbish
of past pedants, will soon appear to the world, when they
shall see those beautiful pieces of poetry, the publication
of which he left to my charge, almost with his dying breath.
For what remains, I beg to be excused from the cere
monies of taking leave at the end of my work and from ;
J'~-
W;.xfo'#oi
#oi {
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