Homer (Nagy trans.) - Scroll 4 lyrics

[1] Now the gods were sitting with Zeus in council upon the golden floor while the goddess Hebe went round pouring out nectar for them to drink, and as they pledged one another in their cups of gold they looked down upon the town of Troy. [5] The son of Kronos then began to tease Hera, talking at her so as to provoke her. “Menelaos,” said he, “has two good friends among the goddesses, Hera of Argos, and Athena of Alalkomene, but they only sit still [10] and look on, while laughing Aphrodite keeps ever by the side of Alexandros to defend him in any danger; indeed she has just rescued him when he made sure that it was all over with him for the victory really did lie with warlike Menelaos. We must consider what we shall do about all this; [15] shall we set them fighting anew or make peace between them? If you will agree to this last Menelaos can take back Helen of Argos and the city of Priam may remain still inhabited.” [20] Athena and Hera muttered their discontent as they sat side-by-side hatching mischief for the Trojans. Athena scowled at her father, for she was in a furious pa**ion with him, and said nothing, but Hera could not contain herself. [25] “Dread son of Kronos,” said she, “what, pray, is the meaning of all this? Is my trouble [ponos], then, to go for nothing, and the sweat that I have sweated, to say nothing of my horses, while getting the people together against Priam and his children? Do as you will, but we other gods shall not all of us approve your counsel.” [30] Zeus who gathers clouds was angry and answered, “My dear, what harm have Priam and his sons done you that you are so hotly bent on destroying the strong-founded city of Ilion? Will nothing do for you but you must go within their walls and [35] eat Priam raw, with his sons and all the other Trojans to boot? Have it your own way then; for I would not have this matter become a bone of contention between us. I say further, and lay my saying to your heart, [40] if ever I want to destroy a city belonging to friends of yours, you must not try to stop me; you will have to let me do it, for I am giving in to you sorely against my will. Of all inhabited cities under the sun and stars of the sky, [45] there was none that I so much respected as sacred Ilion with Priam of the strong ash spear and his whole people. Equitable feasts were never wanting about my altar, nor the savor of burning fat, which is honor due to ourselves.” [50] “My own three favorite cities,” answered the ox-vision goddess Hera, “are Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae. Destroy them whenever you may be displeased with them. I shall not defend them and I shall not care. [55] Even if I did, and tried to stay you, I should take nothing by it, for you are much stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted. I too am a god and of the same lineage as yourself. I am devious-devising Kronos' eldest daughter, [60] and am honorable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king over the gods. Let it be a case, then, of give-and-take between us, and the rest of the gods will follow our lead. Tell Athena [65] to go and take part in the fight at once, and let her contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the far-famed Achaeans.” The father of gods and men heeded her words, and said to Athena, [70] “Go at once into the Trojan and Achaean armies, and contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the far-famed Achaeans.” This was what Athena was already eager to do, so down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus. She shot through the sky [75] as some radiant meteor which the son of scheming Kronos has sent as a sign to mariners or to some great army, and a fiery train of light follows in its wake. [80] The Trojans and strong-greaved Achaeans were struck with awe as they beheld, and one would turn to his neighbor, saying, “Either we shall again have war and din of combat, or Zeus the lord of battle will now make peace between us.” [85] Thus did they converse. Then Athena took the form of Laodokos, son of Antenor, and went through the ranks of the Trojans to find godlike Pandaros, the terrifying son of Lykaon, a man blameless and powerful. She found him [90] standing among the stalwart heroes who had followed him from the banks of the Aisopos, so she went close up to him and said, “Brave and high-spirited son of Lykaon, will you do as I tell you? If you dare send an arrow at Menelaos [95] you will win honor and gratitude [kharis] from all the Trojans, and especially from prince Alexandros he would be the first to requite you very handsomely if he could see warlike Menelaos, son of Atreus mount his funeral pyre, slain by an arrow from your hand. [100] Take your home aim then, and pray to Lycian Apollo, the famous archer; vow that when you get home to your strong city of sacred Zelea you will offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honor.” His fool's heart was persuaded, [105] and he took his bow from its case. This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex that he had k**ed as it was bounding from a rock; he had stalked it, and it had fallen as the arrow struck it to the heart. Its horns were sixteen palms long, [110] and a worker in horn had made them into a bow, smoothing them well down, and giving them tips of gold. When Pandaros had strung his bow he laid it carefully on the ground, and his brave followers held their shields before him lest the Achaeans should set upon him [115] before he had shot warlike Menelaos. Then he opened the lid of his quiver and took out a winged arrow that had never yet been shot, fraught with the pangs of d**h. He laid the arrow on the string and prayed to Lycian Apollo, the famous archer, [120] vowing that when he got home to his strong city of sacred Zelea he would offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honor. He laid the notch of the arrow on the ox-hide bowstring, and drew both notch and string to his breast till the arrowhead was near the bow; then when the bow was arched into a half-circle [125] he let fly, and the bow twanged, and the string sang as the arrow flew gladly on over the heads of the throng. But the blessed gods did not forget you, O Menelaos, and Zeus' daughter, driver of the spoil, was the first to stand before you and ward off the piercing arrow. [130] She turned it from his skin as a mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping sweetly; she guided it to the part where the golden buckles of the belt that pa**ed over his double cuira** were fastened, so the arrow struck the belt that went tightly round him. [135] It went right through this and through the cuira** of cunning workmanship; it also pierced the belt beneath it, which he wore next his skin to keep out darts or arrows; it was this that served him in the best stead, nevertheless the arrow went through it and grazed the top of the skin, [140] so that blood began flowing from the wound. As when some woman of Maeonia or Caria strains purple dye on to a piece of ivory that is to be the cheek-piece of a horse, and is to be laid up in a treasure house many a charioteer wants to bear it, [145] but the king keeps it as an ornament [kosmos] of which both horse and driver may be proud even so, O Menelaos, were your shapely thighs and your legs down to your fair ankles stained with blood. When King Agamemnon, lord of men, saw the blood flowing from the wound he was afraid, [150] and so was brave Menelaos himself till he saw that the barbs of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrowhead to the shaft were still outside the wound. Then he took heart, but Agamemnon heaved a deep sigh as he held Menelaos' hand in his own, and his comrades made moan in concert. [155] “Dear brother, “he cried, “I have been the d**h of you in pledging this covenant and letting you come forward as our champion. The Trojans have trampled on their oaths and have wounded you; nevertheless the oath, the blood of lambs, the drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship in which have put our trust shall not be vain. [160] If he that rules Olympus fulfill it not here and now, he will yet fulfill it hereafter, and they shall pay dearly with their lives and with their wives and children. The day will surely come when mighty Ilion shall be laid low, [165] with Priam of the strong ash spear and Priam's people, when the son of Kronos from his high throne shall overshadow them with his terrifying aegis in punishment of their present treachery. This shall surely be; but how, Menelaos, shall I have grief [akhos] for you, [170] if it be your lot now to die? I should return to Argos the thirsty as a by-word, for the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen of Argos, and the earth will rot your bones [175] as you lie here at Troy with your purpose not fulfilled. Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb and say, ‘Ever thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance; he brought his army in vain; [180] he is gone home to his own land with empty ships, and has left brave Menelaos behind him.' Thus will one of them say, and may the earth then swallow me.” But fair-haired Menelaos rea**ured him and said, “Take heart, and do not alarm the people; [185] the arrow has not struck me in a mortal part, for my outer belt of burnished metal first stayed it, and under this my cuira** and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths made me.” And powerful Agamemnon answered, “I trust, dear Menelaos, that it may be even so, [190] but the surgeon shall examine your wound and lay herbs upon it to relieve your pain.” He then said to Talthybios, “Talthybios, tell Makhaon, son to the great physician, blameless Asklepios, [195] to come and see Menelaos immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our grief [penthos], and to his own great glory [kleos].” Talthybios did as he was told, and went about the army of warriors, [200] trying to find Makhaon. Presently he found him standing amid the brave warriors who had followed him from horse-pasturing Tricca; then he went up to him and said, “Son of Asklepios, powerful King Agamemnon says [205] you are to come and see warlike Menelaos immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our grief [penthos] and to his own great glory [kleos].” Thus did he speak, and Makhaon was moved to go. They pa**ed through the vast army of the Achaeans [210] and went on till they came to the place where fair-haired Menelaos had been wounded and was lying with the chieftains gathered in a circle round him. Makhaon pa**ed into the middle of the ring and at once drew the arrow from the belt, bending its barbs back through the force with which he pulled it out. [215] He undid the burnished belt, and beneath this the cuira** and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths had made; then, when he had seen the wound, he wiped away the blood and applied some soothing d** which Cheiron had given to Asklepios out of the good will he bore him. [220] While they were thus busy about Menelaos of the great war cry, the Trojans came forward against them, for they had put on their armor, and now renewed the fight. You would not have then found radiant Agamemnon asleep nor cowardly and unwilling to fight, [225] but eager rather for the fray. He left his chariot rich with bronze and his panting steeds in charge of his attendant [therapōn] Eurymedon, son of Ptolemaios the son of Peiraios, and bade him hold them in readiness against the time [230] his limbs should weary of going about and giving orders to so many, for he went among the ranks on foot. When he saw men hastening to the front he stood by them and cheered them on. “Argives,” said he, “slacken not one whit in your onset; [235] father Zeus will be no helper of liars; the Trojans have been the first to break their oaths and to attack us; therefore they shall be devoured of vultures; we shall take their city and carry off their wives and children in our ships.” [240] But he angrily rebuked those whom he saw shirking and disinclined to fight. “Argives,” he cried, “cowardly miserable creatures, have you no shame to stand here like frightened fawns who, when they can no longer scud over the plain, [245] huddle together, but show no fight? You are as dazed and spiritless as deer. Would you wait till the Trojans reach the sterns of our ships as they lie on the shore, to see whether the son of Kronos will hold his hand over you to protect you?” [250] Thus did he go about giving his orders among the ranks. Pa**ing through the crowd, he came presently on the Cretans, arming round Idomeneus, who was at their head, fierce as a wild boar, while Meriones was bringing up the battalions that were in the rear. [255] Agamemnon was glad when he saw him, and spoke to him fairly. “Idomeneus,” said he, “I treat you with greater distinction than I do any others of the Achaeans, whether in war or in other things, or at table. When the princes [260] are mixing my choicest wines in the mixing-bowls, they have each of them a fixed allowance, but your cup is kept always full like my own, that you may drink whenever you are minded. Go, therefore, into battle, and show yourself the man you have been always proud to be.” [265] Idomeneus lord of the Cretans answered, “I will be a trusty comrade, as I promised you from the first I would be. Urge on the other flowing-haired Achaeans, that we may join battle at once, for the Trojans have trampled upon [270] their covenants. d**h and destruction shall be theirs, seeing they have been the first to break their oaths and to attack us.” The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till he came upon the two Ajaxes arming themselves amid a ma** of foot-soldiers. [275] As when a goat-herd from some high post watches a storm drive over the deep sea [pontos] before the west wind black as pitch is the offing and a mighty whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and drives his flock into a cave [280] even thus did the ranks of stalwart youths move in a dark ma** to battle under the Ajaxes, horrid with shield and spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he saw them. [285] “No need,” he cried, “to give orders to such leaders of the bronze-armored Argives as you are, for of your own selves you spur your men on to fight with might and main. Would, by father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo that all were so minded as you are, [290] for the city of Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we should destroy it.” With this he left them and went onward to Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, who was marshalling his men and urging them on, [295] in company with Pelagon, Alastor, Khromios, Haimon, and Bias shepherd of his people. He placed his horsemen with their chariots and horses in the front rank, while the foot-soldiers, brave men and many, whom he could trust, were in the rear. The cowards he drove into the middle, [300] that they might fight whether they would or no. He gave his orders to the horsemen first, bidding them hold their horses well in hand, so as to avoid confusion. “Let no man,” he said, “relying on his strength or sk** in charioteering, get before the others and engage singly with the Trojans, [305] nor yet let him lag behind or you will weaken your attack; but let each when he meets an enemy's chariot throw his spear from his own; this will be much the best; this is how the men of old took towns and strongholds; in this way- was their thinking [noos].” [310] Thus did the old man charge them, for he had been in many a fight, and King Agamemnon was glad. “I wish,” he said to him, that your limbs were as supple and your strength [biē] as sure as your judgment is; [315] but age, the common enemy of humankind, has laid his hand upon you; would that it had fallen upon some other, and that you were still young.” And Nestor, charioteer of Gerenia, answered, “Son of Atreus, I too would gladly be the man I was when I slew mighty Ereuthalion; [320] but the gods will not give us everything at one and the same time. I was then young, and now I am old; still I can go with my horsemen and give them that counsel which old men have a right to give. The wielding of the spear I leave to those [325] who are younger and have more force [biē] than myself.” Agamemnon went his way rejoicing, and presently found Menestheus, son of Peteos, driver of horses, tarrying in his place, and with him were the Athenians loud of tongue in battle. Near him also tarried resourceful Odysseus, [330] with his sturdy Kephallēnians round him; they had not yet heard the battle-cry, for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans had only just begun to move, so they were standing still, waiting for some other columns of the Achaeans [335] to attack the Trojans and begin the fighting. When he saw this Agamemnon rebuked them and said, “Son of Peteos, and you other, steeped in cunning, heart of guile, [340] why stand you here cowering and waiting on others? You two should be of all men foremost when there is hard fighting to be done, for you are ever foremost to accept my invitation when we councilors of the Achaeans are holding feast. [345] You are glad enough then to take your fill of roast meats and to drink wine as long as you please, whereas now you would not care though you saw ten columns of Achaeans engage the enemy in front of you.” Resourceful Odysseus glared at him and answered, [350] “Son of Atreus, what are you talking about? How can you say that we are slack? When the Achaeans are in full fight with the Trojans, breakers of horses, you shall see, if you care to do so, that the father of Telemakhos will join battle with the foremost [355] of them. You are talking idly.” When Agamemnon saw that Odysseus was angry, he smiled pleasantly at him and withdrew his words. “Odysseus,” said he, “noble son of Laertes and seed of Zeus, excellent in all good counsel, I have neither fault to find nor orders to give you, [360] for I know your heart is right, and that you and I are of a mind. Enough; I will make you amends for what I have said, and if any ill has now been spoken may the gods bring it to nothing.” He then left them and went on to others. [365] Presently he saw the son of Tydeus, noble high-spirited Diomedes, standing by his chariot and horses, with Sthenelos the son of Kapaneus beside him; whereon he began to upbraid him. [370] “Son of Tydeus, the daring breaker of horses,” he said, “why stand you cowering here upon the brink of battle? Tydeus did not shrink thus, but was ever ahead of his men when leading them on against the foe so, at least, say they that saw him in battle, for I never set eyes [375] upon him myself. They say that there was no man like him. He came once to Mycenae, not as an enemy but as a guest, in company with godlike Polyneikes [Polynices] to recruit his forces, for they were levying war against the strong city of Thebes, and prayed our people for a body of picked men to help them. [380] The men of Mycenae were willing to let them have one, but Zeus dissuaded them by showing them unfavorable omens [sēma pl.]. Tydeus, therefore, and Polyneikes [Polynices] went their way. When they had got as far as the deep-meadowed and rush-grown banks of the Aisopos, the Achaeans sent Tydeus as their envoy, [385] and he found the Kadmeians gathered in great numbers to a banquet in the house of mighty Eteokles. Stranger though he was, he knew no fear on finding himself single-handed among so many, but challenged them to contests of all kinds, and in each one of them was [390] at once victorious, so mightily did Athena help him. The Kadmeians who lash their horses were incensed at his success, and set a force of fifty youths with two chiefs the godlike hero Maion, son of Haimon, [395] and Polyphontes stubborn in battle, son of Autophonos at their head, to lie in wait for him on his return journey; but Tydeus slew every man of them, save only Maeon, whom he let go in obedience to divine omens. Such was Tydeus of Aetolia. [400] His son can talk more glibly, but he cannot fight as his father did.” Strong Diomedes made no answer, for he was shamed by the rebuke of Agamemnon; but the son of Kapaneus the glorious took up his words and said, “Son of Atreus, tell no lies, for you can speak truth if you will. [405] We boast ourselves as even better men than our fathers; we took seven-gated Thebes, though the wall was stronger and our men were fewer in number, for we trusted in the omens of the gods and in the help of Zeus, whereas they perished through their own sheer folly; [410] hold not, then, our fathers in like honor [timē] with us.” Darkly strong Diomedes looked sternly at him and said, “Hold your peace, my friend, as I bid you. It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge the strong-greaved Achaeans forward, [415] for the glory will be his if we take the city, and his the shame [penthos] if we are vanquished. Therefore let us acquit ourselves with valor.” As he spoke he sprang from his chariot, [420] and his armor rang so fiercely about his body that even a brave man might well have been scared to hear it. As when the mighty sea [pontos] that thunders on the beach when the west wind has lashed it into fury it has reared its head afar and now [425] comes crashing down on the shore; it bows its arching crest high over the jagged rocks and spews its salt foam in all directions even so did the serried phalanxes of the Danaans march steadfastly to battle. The chiefs gave orders each to his own people, but the men said never a word; no man would think it, [430] for huge as the ma** of warriors was, it seemed as though there was not a tongue among them, so silent were they in their obedience; and as they marched the armor about their bodies glistened in the sun. But the clamor of the Trojan ranks was as that of many thousand ewes that stand waiting to be milked in the yards of some rich master of flocks, [435] and bleat incessantly in answer to the bleating of their lambs; for they had not one speech nor language, but their tongues were diverse, and they came from many different places. These were inspired of Ares, but the others by owl-vision Athena [440] and with them came Panic, Rout, and Strife whose fury never tires, sister and friend of manslaughtering Ares, who, from being at first but low in stature, grows till she raises her head to the sky, though her feet are still on earth. She it was that went about among them and flung down discord [445] to the waxing of sorrow with even hand between them. When they were got together in one place shield clashed with shield and spear with spear in the rage of battle. The bossed shields beat one upon another, and there was a tramp as of a great multitude [450] d**h-cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with blood. As torrents swollen with rain course madly down their deep channels till the angry floods meet in some gorge, [455] and the shepherd on the hillside hears their roaring from afar even such was the toil [ponos] and uproar of the armies as they joined in battle. First Antilokhos slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Ekhepolos, son of Thalysios, fighting in the foremost ranks. He struck at the projecting part of his helmet and drove the spear into his brow; [460] the point of bronze pierced the bone, and darkness veiled his eyes; headlong as a tower he fell amid the press of the fight, and as he dropped King Elephenor the powerful, son of Khalkodon and chief of the proud Abantes [465] began dragging him out of reach of the darts that were falling around him, in haste to strip him of his armor. But his purpose was not for long; high-hearted Agenor saw him haling the body away, and smote him in the side with his bronze-shod spear for as he stooped his side was left unprotected by his shield [470] and thus he perished. Then the fight between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over his body, and they flew upon each other like wolves, man and man crushing one upon the other. Right away Ajax, son of Telamon, slew the fair youth Simoeisios, son of Anthemion, whom his mother [475] bore by the banks of the Simoeis, as she was coming down from Mount Ida, where she had been with her parents to see their flocks. Therefore he was named Simoeisios, but he did not live to pay his parents for his rearing, for he was cut off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax, [480] who struck him in the breast by the right nipple as he was coming on among the foremost fighters; the spear went right through his shoulder, and he fell as a poplar that has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere, and its top is thick with branches. [485] Then the wheelwright lays his axe to its roots that he may fashion a piece for the wheel of some goodly chariot, and it lies seasoning by the waterside. In such a way- did illustrious Ajax fell to earth Simoeisios, son of Anthemion. Then Antiphos of the gleaming breastplate, [490] son of Priam, hurled a spear at Ajax from amid the crowd and missed him, but he hit Leukos, the brave comrade of Odysseus, in the groin, as he was dragging the body of Simoeisios over to the other side; so he fell upon the body and loosed his hold upon it. Odysseus was furious when he saw Leukos slain, [495] and strode in full armor through the front ranks till he was quite close; then he glared round about him and took aim, and the Trojans fell back as he did so. His dart was not sped in vain, for it struck Demokoön, the ba*tard son of Priam, [500] who had come to him from Abydos, where he had charge of his father's fast-running mares. Odysseus, infuriated by the d**h of his comrade, hit him with his spear on one temple, and the bronze point came through on the other side of his forehead. Then darkness veiled his eyes, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. [505] Glorious Hector, and they that were in front, then gave round while the Argives raised a shout and drew off the dead, pressing further forward as they did so. But Apollo looked down from Pergamon and called aloud to the Trojans, for he was displeased. “Trojans, breakers of horses,” he cried, “rush on the foe, and do not let yourselves be thus beaten [510] by the Argives. Their skins are not stone nor iron that when you hit them you do them no harm. Moreover, Achilles, the son of lovely-haired Thetis, is not fighting, but is nursing his anger at the ships.” Thus spoke the mighty god, crying to them from the city, while Zeus' terrifying daughter, [515] the Trito-born, went about among the army of the Achaeans, and urged them forward whenever she beheld them slackening. Then fate fell upon Diores, son of Amarynkeus, for he was struck by a jagged stone near the ankle of his right leg. He that hurled it was [520] Peiroös, son of Imbrasos, chief of the Thracians, who had come from Ainos; the bones and both the tendons were crushed by the pitiless stone. He fell to the ground on his back, and in his d**h throes stretched out his hands towards his comrades. [525] But Peiroös, who had wounded him, sprang on him and thrust a spear into his belly, so that his bowels came gushing out upon the ground, and darkness veiled his eyes. As he was leaving the body, Thoas of Aetolia struck him in the chest near the nipple, and the point fixed itself in his lungs. Thoas came close up to him, pulled [530] the spear out of his chest, and then drawing his sword, smote him in the middle of the belly so that he died; but he did not strip him of his armor, for his Thracian comrades, men who wear their hair in a tuft at the top of their heads, stood round the body and kept him off with their long spears for all his great stature and valor; [535] so he was driven back. Thus the two corpses lay stretched on earth near to one another, the one chief of the Thracians and the other of the bronze-armored Epeioi; and many another fell round them. And now no man would have made light of the fighting [540] if he could have gone about among it unscathed and unwounded, with Athena leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of spears and arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched side-by-side face downwards upon the earth.