The Iliad of Homer
Page 14
425 Placing these on sticks cleft and peeled they burned them,
and spitted the vitals and held them over the flame of Hephaistos.
But when they had burned the thigh pieces and tasted the vitals
they cut all the remainder into pieces and spitted them
and roasted all carefully and took off the pieces.
430 Then after they had finished the work and got the feast ready
they feasted, nor was any man’s hunger denied a fair portion.
But when they had put away their desire for eating and drinking
the Gerenian horseman Nestor began speaking among them:
“Son of Atreus, most lordly and king of men, Agamemnon,
435 let us talk no more of these things, nor for a long time
set aside the action which the god puts into our hands now.
Come then, let the heralds of the bronze-armored Achaians
make proclamation to the people and assemble them by the vessels,
and let us together as we are go down the wide host
440 of the Achaians, to stir more quickly the fierce war god.”
He spoke, nor did the lord of men Agamemnon neglect him,
but straightway commanded the clear-voiced heralds to summon
by proclamation to battle the flowing-haired Achaians;
and the heralds made their cry and the men were assembled swiftly.
445 And they, the god-supported kings, about Agamemnon
ran marshaling the men, and among them gray-eyed Athene
holding the dear treasured aegis, ageless, immortal,
from whose edges float a hundred all-golden tassels,
each one carefully woven, and each worth a hundred oxen.
450 With this fluttering she swept through the host of the Achaians
urging them to go forward. She kindled the strength in each man’s
heart to take the battle without respite and keep on fighting.
And now battle became sweeter to them than to go back
in their hollow ships to the beloved land of their fathers.
455 As obliterating fire lights up a vast forest
along the crests of a mountain, and the flare shows far off,
so as they marched, from the magnificent bronze the gleam went
dazzling all about through the upper air to the heaven.
These, as the multitudinous nations of birds winged,
460 of geese, and of cranes, and of swans long-throated
in the Asian meadow beside the Kaÿstrian waters
this way and that way make their flights in the pride of their wings, then
settle in clashing swarms and the whole meadow echoes with them,
so of these the multitudinous tribes from the ships and
465 shelters poured to the plain of Skamandros, and the earth beneath their
feet and under the feet of their horses thundered horribly.
They took position in the blossoming meadow of Skamandros,
thousands of them, as leaves and flowers appear in their season.
Like the multitudinous nations of swarming insects
470 who drive hither and thither about the stalls of the sheepfold
in the season of spring when the milk splashes in the milk pails:
in such numbers the flowing-haired Achaians stood up
through the plain against the Trojans, hearts burning to break them.
These, as men who are goatherds among the wide goatflocks
475 easily separate them in order as they take to the pasture,
thus the leaders separated them this way and that way
toward the encounter, and among them powerful Agamemnon,
with eyes and head like Zeus who delights in thunder,
like Ares for girth, and with the chest of Poseidon;
480 like some ox of the herd pre-eminent among the others,
a bull, who stands conspicuous in the huddling cattle;
such was the son of Atreus as Zeus made him that day,
conspicuous among men, and foremost among the fighters.
Tell me now, you Muses who have your homes on Olympos.
485 For you, who are goddesses, are there, and you know all things,
and we have heard only the rumor of it and know nothing.
Who then of those were the chief men and the lords of the Danaäns?
I could not tell over the multitude of them nor name them,
not if I had ten tongues and ten mouths, not if I had
490 a voice never to be broken and a heart of bronze within me,
not unless the Muses of Olympia, daughters
of Zeus of the aegis, remembered all those who came beneath Ilion.
I will tell the lords of the ships, and the ships numbers.
Leïtos and Peneleos were leaders of the Boiotians,
495 with Arkesilaos and Prothoënor and Klonios;
they who lived in Hyria and in rocky Aulis,
in the hill-bends of Eteonos, and Schoinos, and Skolos,
Thespeia and Graia, and in spacious Mykalessos;
they who dwelt about Harma and Eilesion and Erythrai,
500 they who held Eleon and Hyle and Peteon,
with Okalea and Medeon, the strong-founded citadel,
Kopai, and Eutresis, and Thisbe of the dove-cotes;
they who held Koroneia, and the meadows of Haliartos,
they who held Plataia, and they who dwelt about Glisa,
505 they who held the lower Thebes, the strong-founded citadel,
and Onchestos the sacred, the shining grove of Poseidon;
they who held Arne of the great vineyards, and Mideia,
with Nisa the sacrosanct and uttermost Anthedon.
Of these there were fifty ships in all, and on board
510 each of these a hundred and twenty sons of the Boiotians.
But they who lived in Aspledon and Orchomenos of the Minyai,
Askalaphos led these, and Ialmenos, children of Ares,
whom Astyochē bore to him in the house of Aktor
Azeus’ son, a modest maiden; she went into the chamber
515 with strong Ares, who was laid in bed with her secretly.
With these two there were marshaled thirty hollow vessels.
Schedios and Epistrophos led the men of Phokis,
children of Iphitos, who was son of great-hearted Naubolos.
These held Kyparissos, and rocky Pytho, and Krisa
520 the sacrosanct together with Daulis and Panopeus;
they who lived about Hyampolis and Anamoreia,
they who dwelt about Kephisos, the river immortal,
they who held Lilaia beside the well springs of Kephisos.
Following along with these were forty black ships,
525 and the leaders marshaling the ranks of the Phokians set them
in arms on the left wing of the host beside the Boiotians.
Swift Aias son of Oïleus led the men of Lokris,
the lesser Aias, not great in size like the son of Telamon,
but far slighter. He was a small man armored in linen,
530 yet with the throwing spear surpassed all Achaians and Hellenes.
These were the dwellers in Kynos and Opoeis and Kalliaros,
and in Bessa, and Skarphe, and lovely Augeiai,
in Thronion and Tarphe and beside the waters of Boagrios.
Following along with him were forty black ships
535 of the Lokrians, who dwell across from sacred Euboia.
They who held Euboia, the Abantes, whose wind was fury,
Chalkis, and Eretria, the great vineyards of Histiaia,
and seaborne Kerinthos and the steep stronghold of Dion,
they who held Karystos and they who dwelt about Styra,
540 of these the leader was Elephenor, scion of Ares,
son of Chalkodon and lord of the great-hearted Abantes.
And the running Abantes followed
with him, their hair grown
long at the back, spearmen furious with the out-reached ash spear
to rip the corselets girt about the chests of their enemies.
545 Following along with him were forty black ships.
But the men who held Athens, the strong-founded citadel,
the deme of great-hearted Erechtheus, whom once Athene
Zeus’ daughter tended after the grain-giving fields had borne him,
and established him to be in Athens in her own rich temple;
550 there as the circling years go by the sons of the Athenians
make propitiation with rams and bulls sacrificed;
of these men the leader was Peteos’ son Menestheus.
Never on earth before had there been a man born like him
for the arrangement in order of horses and shielded fighters.
555 Nestor alone could challenge him, since he was far older.
Following along with him were fifty black ships.
Out of Salamis Aias brought twelve ships and placed them
next to where the Athenian battalions were drawn up.
They who held Argos and Tiryns of the huge walls,
560 Hermionē and Asinē lying down the deep gulf,
Troizen and Eïonai, and Epidauros of the vineyards,
they who held Aigina and Mases, sons of the Achaians,
of these the leader was Diomedes of the great war cry
with Sthenelos, own son to the high-renowned Kapaneus,
565 and with them as a third went Euryalos, a man godlike,
son of Mekisteus the king, and scion of Talaos;
but the leader of all was Diomedes of the great war cry.
Following along with these were eighty black ships.
But the men who held Mykenai, the strong-founded citadel,
570 Korinth the luxurious, and strong-founded Kleonai;
they who dwelt in Orneai and lovely Araithyrea,
and Sikyon, where of old Adrestos had held the kingship;
they who held Hyperesia and steep Gonoëssa,
they who held Pellene and they who dwelt about Aigion,
575 all about the seashore and about the wide headland of Helikē,
of their hundred ships the leader was powerful Agamemnon,
Atreus’ son, with whom followed far the best and bravest
people; and among them he himself stood armored in shining
bronze, glorying, conspicuous among the great fighters,
580 since he was greatest among them all, and led the most people.
They who held the swarming hollow of Lakedaimon,
Pharis, and Sparta, and Messe of the dove-cotes,
they who dwelt in Bryseiai and lovely Augeiai,
they who held Amyklai and the seaward city of Helos,
585 they who held Laas, and they who dwelt about Oitylos,
of these his brother Menelaos of the great war cry
was leader, with sixty ships marshaled apart from the others.
He himself went among them in the confidence of his valor,
driving them battleward, since above all his heart was eager
590 to avenge Helen’s longing to escape and her lamentations.
They who dwelt about Pylos and lovely Arene,
and Thryon, the Alpheios crossing, and strong-built Aipy;
they who lived in Kyparisseeis and Amphigeneia,
Pteleos and Helos and Dorion, where the Muses
595 encountering Thamyris the Thracian stopped him from singing
as he came from Oichalia and Oichalian Eurytos;
for he boasted that he would prevail, if the very Muses,
daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis, were singing against him,
and these in their anger struck him maimed, and the voice of wonder
600 they took away, and made him a singer without memory;
of these the leader was the Gerenian horseman, Nestor,
in whose command were marshaled ninety hollow vessels.
They who held Arkadia under the sheer peak, Kyllene,
beside the tomb of Aipytos, where men fight at close quarters,
605 they who dwelt in Orchomenos of the flocks, and Pheneos,
about Rhipe and Stratia and windy Enispe;
they who held Tegea and Mantineia the lovely,
they who held Stymphalos, and dwelt about Parrhasia,
their leader was Angkaios’ son, powerful Agapenor.
610 Sixty was the number of their ships, and in each ship
went many men of Arkadia, well skilled in battle.
Agamemnon the lord of men himself had given
these for the crossing of the wine-blue sea their strong-benched vessels,
Atreus’ son, since the work of the sea was nothing to these men.
615 They who lived in Bouprasion and brilliant Elis,
all as much as Hyrmine and Myrsinos the uttermost
and the Olenian rock and Alesion close between them,
of these there were four chieftains, and with each man ten swift
vessels followed, with many Epeian men on board them.
620 Of two tens Thalpios and Amphimachos were leaders,
of Aktor’s seed, sons one of Kteatos, one of Eurytos.
Ten more were led by Amaryngkeus’ son, strong Diores,
and of the fourth ten godlike Polyxeinos was leader,
son of lord Agasthenes, of the race of Augeias.
625 They who came from Doulichion and the sacred Echinai,
islands, where men live across the water from Elis,
Meges was the leader of these, a man like Ares,
Phyleus’ son, whom the rider dear to Zeus had begotten,
Phyleus, who angered with his father had settled Doulichion.
630 Following along with him were forty black ships.
But Odysseus led the high-hearted men of Kephallenia,
those who held Ithaka and leaf-trembling Neriton,
those who dwelt about Krokyleia and rigged Aigilips,
those who held Zakynthos and those who dwelt about Samos,
635 those who held the mainland and the places next to the crossing.
All these men were led by Odysseus, like Zeus in counsel.
Following with him were twelve ships with bows red painted.
Thoas son of Andraimon was leader of the Aitolians,
those who dwelt in Pleuron and Olenos and Pylene,
640 Kalydon of the rocks and Chalkis beside the seashore,
since no longer were the sons of high-hearted Oineus living,
nor Oineus himself, and fair-haired Meleagros had perished.
So all the lordship of the Aitolians was given to Thoas.
Following along with him were forty black ships.
645 Idomeneus the spear-famed was leader of the Kretans,
those who held Knosos and Gortyna of the great walls,
Lyktos and Miletos and silver-shining Lykastos,
and Phaistos and Rhytion, all towns well established,
and others who dwelt beside them in Krete of the hundred cities.
650 Of all these Idomeneus the spear-famed was leader,
with Meriones, a match for the murderous Lord of Battles.
Following along with these were eighty black ships.
Herakles’ son Tlepolemos the huge and mighty
led from Rhodes nine ships with the proud men of Rhodes aboard them,
655 those who dwelt about Rhodes and were ordered in triple division,
Ialysos and Lindos and silver-shining Kameiros.
Of all these Tlepolemos the spear-famed was leader,
he whom Astyocheia bore to the strength of Herakles.
Herakles brought her from Ephyra and the river Selleëis
660 after he sacked many cities of strong, god-supported fighters.
Now when Tlepolemos was grown in the strong-built mansion,
he struck to death his own father’
s beloved uncle,
Likymnios, scion of Ares, a man already ageing.
At once he put ships together and assembled a host of people
665 and went fugitive over the sea, since the others threatened,
the rest of the sons and the grandsons of the strength of Herakles.
And he came to Rhodes a wanderer, a man of misfortune,
and they settled there in triple division by tribes, beloved
of Zeus himself, who is lord over all gods and all men,
670 Kronos’ son, who showered the wonder of wealth upon them.
Nireus from Syme led three balanced vessels,
Nireus son of Aglaia and the king Charopos,
Nireus, the most beautiful man who came beneath Ilion
beyond the rest of the Danaäns next after perfect Achilleus.
675 But he was a man of poor strength and few people with him.
They who held Nisyros and Krapathos and Kasos,
and Kos, Eurypylos’ city, and the islands called Kalydnai,
of these again Pheidippos and Antiphos were the leaders,
sons both of Thessalos who was born to the lord Herakles.
680 In their command were marshaled thirty hollow vessels.
Now all those who dwelt about Pelasgian Argos,
those who lived by Alos and Alope and at Trachis,
those who held Phthia and Hellas the land of fair women,
who were called Myrmidons and Hellenes and Achaians,
685 of all these and their fifty ships the lord was Achilleus.
But these took no thought now for the grim clamor of battle
since there was no one who could guide them into close order,
since he, swift-footed brilliant Achilleus, lay where the ships were,
angered over the girl of the lovely hair, Briseis,
690 whom after much hard work he had taken away from Lyrnessos
after he had sacked Lyrnessos and the walls of Thebe
and struck down Epistrophos and Mynes the furious spearmen,
children of Euenos, king, and son of Selepios.
For her sake he lay grieving now, but was soon to rise up.
695 They who held Phylakē and Pyrasos of the flowers,
the precinct of Demeter, and Iton, mother of sheepflocks,
Antron by the seashore, and Pteleos deep in the meadows,
of these in turn fighting Protesilaos was leader
while he lived; but now the black earth had closed him under,
700 whose wife, cheeks torn for grief, was left behind in Phylakē
and a marriage half completed; a Dardanian man had killed him
as he leapt from his ship, far the first of all the Achaians.
Yet these, longing as they did for their leader, did not go leaderless,