by Homer
how much I am your better and so another man will be loath
to speak as my equal, openly matching himself with me.”
So he spoke. And anguish descended upon the son of Peleus
and the heart in his rugged breast debated two ways,
whether he should draw the sharp sword by his side190
and scatter the men and slay and despoil the son of Atreus,
or check his anger and restrain his spirit.
While he churned these things through his heart and mind,
as he was drawing from its sheath his great sword, Athena came to him
down from heaven; for Hera the goddess with white arms dispatched her,
who in her heart loved and cared for both men alike.
She came up behind and grabbed the son of Peleus’ tawny hair,
appearing to him alone, and none of the others saw her.
Thunderstruck, Achilles turned behind him and at once recognized
Pallas Athena; for her eyes gleamed terribly.200
And addressing her, he spoke winged words:
“Why do you come again, daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis?
Is it to witness the outrage of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus?
But I state openly to you, and I think that it will be accomplished,
that by these insolent acts he will shortly lose his life.”
Then the gleaming-eyed goddess addressed him:
“From heaven I have come to stop your anger, if you will heed me;
Hera the white-armed goddess sent me forth,
who in her heart loves and cares for you both alike.
Come, leave off this contention, stay your hand on your sword,210
but rather cut him with words, telling him how things will be.
For I will tell you this, and it will be accomplished;
someday you will have three times as many shining gifts
because of this outrage; restrain yourself and obey me.”
Then in reply Achilles of the swift feet addressed her:
“I must obey the word of you both, goddess,
enraged in spirit though I am; for so is it better.
If a man heeds the gods, then they also listen to him.”
He spoke and checked his powerful hand on the silver sword hilt
and back into the sheath thrust the great sword, nor did he disobey220
the word of Athena. Then she was gone to Olympus,
to the house of Zeus who wields the aegis and the company of the other gods.
And the son of Peleus once more with menacing words
addressed Agamemnon, and he did not hold back his anger:
“Wine-besotted, you who have the eyes of a dog and the heart of a deer,
never do you have courage to gear up for battle with your people,
nor go on ambush with the best of the Achaeans;
to you that is as death.
Far better it is, all through the broad army of the Achaeans,
to seize the gifts of the man who speaks against you.230
King who feeds upon your people, since you rule worthless men;
otherwise, son of Atreus, this now would be your last outrage.
But I say openly to you, and I swear a great oath to it—
yes, by this scepter, that never again will put forth leaves and shoots
when once it has left behind its stump in the mountains,
nor will it flourish again, since the bronze axe has stripped it round,
leaf and bark; and now in turn the sons of the Achaeans
busy with justice carry it around in their hands, they who
safeguard the ordinances of Zeus—this will be my great oath:
someday a yearning for Achilles will come upon the sons of the Achaeans,240
every man; then nothing will save you, for all your grief,
when at the hands of man-slaying Hector
dying men fall in their multitude; and you will rip the heart within you,
raging that you paid no honor to the best of the Achaeans.”
Thus spoke the son of Peleus, and hurled the gold-studded
scepter to the ground, and sat down,
while the son of Atreus raged on the other side. Then between them rose Nestor,
the sweet-sounding, the clear speaker from Pylos,
whose voice flowed from his tongue more sweetly than honey.
In his time two generations of mortal men had already250
perished, those who were born and raised with him in days of old,
in sacred Pylos, and he was ruler among the third generation.
With kindly thoughts to both he advised and addressed them:
“Oh look now, surely great trouble comes to the land of the Achaeans!
Surely Priam and the sons of Priam would be gladdened
and the rest of the Trojans greatly rejoiced in heart
if they were to learn you two were fighting over all this—
you who surpass the Danaans in counsel, who surpass them in fighting!
But hearken; you are both younger than me.
For once upon a time I banded with better260
men even than you, and never did they slight me.
Never yet have I seen, nor shall see such men—
Peirithoös and Dryas, shepherd of his people,
and Kaineus, and Exadios and Polyphemos like a god.264
These were raised to be strongest of earthly men;266
they were the strongest and they fought with the strongest—
the Centaurs who lie in the mountains—and terribly they slaughtered them.
And yet with these men I kept company, coming from Pylos,
far away, from a distant land; for they summoned me.270
And I fought by myself, I alone; against these men no
mortal now upon earth could fight.
And yet they marked my counsels and heeded my word.
Now you two heed me, since it is better to do so.
You should not, great though you are, deprive him of the girl,
but let her be, as it was to him the sons of the Achaeans gave her as prize;
nor you, son of Peleus, venture to contend face-to-face
with your king, since the king bearing the scepter partakes of
a very different honor, and is he to whom Zeus has given distinction.
And if you are the stronger man, and the mother who bore you a goddess,280
yet is this one more powerful, since he rules over more men.
Son of Atreus, restrain your spirit; for I—yes, I—
entreat you to relinquish your anger with Achilles, who is for all
Achaeans the great wall of defense against this evil war.”
Then in turn lord Agamemnon spoke:
“Indeed all these things, old sir, you rightly say;
but this man wants to be above all other men;
he wants to be lord over all, to rule all,
to give orders to all—which I think that one man at least will not obey.
And if the eternal gods have made him a spearman290
they do not on that account appoint him to speak insults.”
Interrupting, godlike Achilles answered him:
“May I be called a coward and of no account
if I submit to you in everything you should say.
Give such orders to other men, but do not act as master to me.
For I do not think it likely I will obey you.
And I will tell you something else and put it away in your mind—
I will not fight for the girl with strength of hand,
not with you, nor with any other man, since you who take her from me also gave her.
But of other possessions beside my ships, swift and dark,300
of these you can take nothing lifted against my will.
And I invite you to try, so that these men too will know—
very quickly will your dark blood gu
sh round my spear.”
Having fought like this with words, blow for blow,
they both stood, and broke up the assembly by the ships of the Achaeans.
Peleus’ son went to his shelter and balanced ships
with the son of Menoetius and his companions.
But the son of Atreus then drew a swift ship down to the sea,
and chose twenty rowers to go in her, and put on board the sacrificial hecatomb
for the god, and fetching Chryseïs of the lovely cheeks310
put her on board; and resourceful Odysseus came on as leader.
Then, embarked, they sailed upon the watery way,
and the son of Atreus charged the men to purify themselves.
They cleansed themselves and cast the impurities into the sea,
and to Apollo they made perfect sacrificial hecatombs
of bulls and goats along the shore of the murmuring sea;
and the savor rose to heaven amid a swirl of smoke.
So they attended to these tasks throughout the army; but Agamemnon did not
leave off the quarrel, in which he first threatened Achilles,
but spoke to Talthybios and Eurybates,320
who were heralds and ready henchmen:
“Go to the shelter of Peleus’ son Achilles;
take by the hand Briseïs of the lovely cheeks and lead her away.
And if he does not give her up, I myself will take her,
coming in force, and it will be the worse for him.”
So saying, he sent them forth, and enjoined on them a harsh command.
And they two went unwilling along the shore of the murmuring sea,
and came to the camp and ships of the Myrmidons.
They found Achilles by his shelter and dark ship,
sitting; and he did not rejoice to see them.330
The two stood in fear and awe of the king,
and neither addressed him, nor questioned.
But Achilles understood in his heart, and spoke to them:
“Hail heralds, messengers of Zeus, as also of men—
come close; you are not to blame in my eyes, but Agamemnon,
who sends you two forth on account of the girl Briseïs.
But come, Patroclus, descended from Zeus, bring out the girl
and give her to these two to take away. And let them both be witnesses
before the blessed gods and mortal men alike,
and before him, this stubborn king, if ever hereafter340
other men need me to ward off shameful destruction.
For he surely raves in his ruinous heart,
and knows not to look ahead as well as behind
as to how the Achaeans shall fight in safety beside the ships.”
Thus he spoke and Patroclus obeyed his beloved companion,
and from the shelter led Briseïs of the lovely cheeks,
and gave her to be taken away. And straightway the heralds left for the ships of the Achaeans.
She the young woman, unwilling, went with them. But Achilles,
weeping, quickly slipping away from his companions, sat
on the shore of the gray salt sea, and looked out to depths as dark as wine;350
again and again, stretching forth his hands, he prayed to his beloved mother:
“Mother, since you bore me to be short-lived as I am,
Olympian Zeus who thunders on high ought to
grant me at least honor; but now he honors me not even a little.
For the son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon
has dishonored me; he keeps my prize, having seized it, he personally
taking it.”
So he spoke, shedding tears, and his lady mother heard him
as she sat in the depths of the salt sea beside her aged father.
At once she rose from the clear salt sea, like mist,
and sat before him as he wept,360
and caressed him with her hand, and spoke to him and said his name:
“Child, why do you cry? What pain has come to your heart?
Speak out, don’t hide it, so that we both know.”
Groaning deeply, Achilles of the swift feet spoke to her:
“You know; why should I recount these things to you who know them all?
We came to Thebes, the holy city of Eëtion;
we sacked it and brought everything here.
The sons of the Achaeans fairly divided the things among them,
and to the son of Atreus they gave out Chryseïs of the lovely cheeks.
Then Chryses, a priest of Apollo who strikes from afar,370
came to the swift ships of the bronze-clad Achaeans
bearing untold ransom to set free his daughter,
holding in his hands the wreaths of Apollo who strikes from afar
on a golden staff, and beseeched all the Achaeans,
but mostly the two sons of Atreus, marshalers of men.
Then all the rest of the Achaeans shouted assent,
to respect the priest and take the splendid ransom;
but this did not please the heart of Atreus’ son Agamemnon,
but violently he drove him away and laid a strong injunction upon him.
And in anger the old man went back; and Apollo380
heard him when he prayed, since he was very dear to him,
and he let fly an evil arrow against the Argives; and now the men
died in quick succession, as the arrows of the god ranged
everywhere through the broad army of the Achaeans. But then a seer
possessed of good knowledge publicly declared to us the wishes of the god who works his will.
Straightway I led in urging that the god be appeased;
but then anger seized the son of Atreus, and suddenly rising to speak
he declared aloud a threat, which is now fulfilled.
For the dark-eyed Achaeans are sending the girl on a swift ship
to the town of Chryse, taking gifts for lord Apollo;390
just now the heralds set out from my shelter leading
the daughter of Briseus, whom the sons of the Achaeans gave to me.
But you, if you have the power, defend your son;
go to Olympus and petition Zeus, if ever in any way
in word or in deed you delighted the heart of Zeus.
For many times in the halls of my father I have heard you
boast when you said that from the dark-clouded son of Cronus,
alone among immortals, you warded off shameful destruction,
at that time when the other Olympians sought to bind him—
Hera and Poseidon and Pallas Athena;400
but you coming to him, goddess, released his bonds,
swiftly summoning to high Olympus the Hundred-Handed One,
whom the gods call Briareos the Strong—but all men call
Aigaion—he in turn is stronger than his father;
and this one seated himself beside the son of Cronus, rejoicing in his glory.
And the blessed gods trembled before him, and did no more binding.
Now remind Zeus of these things, seat yourself beside him and clasp his knees
and see if he might be willing to aid the Trojans,
and to pen the Achaeans around the sterns of their ships and the sea,
dying, so that all may have profit of their king,410
and he will know, Atreus’ son, wide-ruling Agamemnon,
his delusion, when he paid no honor to the best of the Achaeans.”
Then Thetis answered him, with tears flowing down:
“Ah me, my child, why did I, bitter in childbearing, raise you?
Would that you sat by your ships without tears, without pain,
for indeed your measure of life is so very small, not long at all.
And now you are at once short-lived and unlucky beyond all men;
so I bore you to an unworthy fate in my halls.
To speak your request to Zeus w
ho hurls the thunderbolt
I myself shall go to Olympus of the deep snow; perhaps he will heed me.420
But you stay now by your fast-running ships,
nurse your wrath at the Achaeans, and leave off the war entirely.
Zeus went yesterday to the river of Ocean among the blameless Aethiopians,
to attend a feast, and all the gods accompanied him.
On the twelfth day he will come back to Olympus,
and then at that time I will go for you to the bronze-floored house of Zeus,
and I will clasp his knees in supplication, and I think I will persuade him.”
Then speaking thus she went away and left him there,
angered in his heart on account of the fair-belted woman,
whom they were taking by force against his will. And Odysseus430
was drawing near the town of Chryse, bearing the sacred hecatomb.
When they had come inside the deep harbor,
they furled the sails, and placed them in the dark ship,
and deftly lowering the mast by the forestays, laid it in the mast-gallows,
and rowed her to her mooring under oars;
then they threw the anchor stones, and made fast the stern lines,
and themselves disembarked into the broken surf,
and disembarked the hecatomb for Apollo, who strikes from afar;
and Chryseïs disembarked from the seagoing ship.
Then leading her to the altar resourceful Odysseus440
placed her in her father’s hands and addressed him:
“O Chryses, Agamemnon, lord of men, dispatched me
to lead your child to you and to perform sacred hecatombs to Phoebus
on behalf of the Danaans, so that we might propitiate lord Apollo,
who has now sent sufferings, much lamented, upon the Argives.”
So speaking, he placed her in the priest’s arms, and he, rejoicing, received
his beloved daughter; and the men swiftly set up the splendid hecatomb for the god
in good order around the well-built altar,
then they washed their hands and took up the barley for scattering.
And Chryses prayed aloud for them, lifting his hands:450
“Hear me, thou of the silver bow, you who stand over Chryse
and Killa most holy, you whose might rules Tenedos,
surely once before this you heard me when I prayed;
honoring me you smote hard the host of the Achaeans.
Now, as once before, fulfill this wish for me;
now this time ward shameful destruction from the Danaans.”
Thus he spoke praying, and Phoebus Apollo heard him.
Then when they had prayed and thrown the scattering barley before them,