by Homer
Rising to their feet, the men set to work, scattering toward the ships,
and made their smoking fires besides the shelters, and took their meal.
And each man offered sacrifice to one or another of the ever-living gods,400
praying to escape death and battle’s tumult.
Then the lord of men Agamemnon sacrificed an ox,
rich with fat, five years of age, to the almighty son of Cronus,
and summoned the senior nobles from the whole Achaean force.
Nestor first of all, and lord Idomeneus,
then the two Aiantes and the son of Tydeus, Diomedes,
and then sixth, Odysseus, like Zeus in wiles;
Menelaos of the war cry came of his own accord.
For his heart perceived how his brother labored.
They stood around the ox and scattered sacrificial barley,410
and praying for them lord Agamemnon spoke:
“Zeus most glorious, mightiest, you of the dark clouds, dwelling in heaven—
let not the sun go down or darkness descend upon us
until I have hurled headlong Priam’s smoke-blackened palace,
enflamed its gates with deadly fire,
and rent from Hector’s breast his tunic
slashed with bronze; while in droves around him his companions,
headlong in the dust, bite the earth between their teeth.”
So he spoke. But the son of Cronus did not grant him this,
but accepted his sacrifice, and multiplied the unwished hardship.420
Then when they had prayed and thrown the scattering barley before them,
they first drew back the head of the sacrificial animal and cut its throat
and flayed it,
and cut out the thigh bones and covered them over with fat
they had made into double folds, and placed raw flesh upon them;
and these they then roasted on spits of stripped wood,
and spitting the entrails they held them over the fire of Hephaestus.
Then when the thighbones had been consumed by fire and they had tasted the entrails,
they cut up the other parts and pierced them through on spits
and roasted them with care, and then drew off all the pieces.
And when they had ceased their work and prepared their meal,430
they feasted, nor did any man’s appetite lack his due portion.
And when they had put away desire for drinking and eating,
then Nestor the Gerenian horseman began a speech:
“Most glorious son of Atreus, lord of men Agamemnon,
let us no longer talk about these things, nor yet longer
delay our task, which god has handed us.
Come, let the heralds of the bronze-clad Achaeans
make proclamation and assemble the people by the ships,
and let us go together as we are throughout the broad army of the Achaeans,
so that we may more swiftly bring about the piercing war.”440
So he spoke and lord of men Agamemnon did not disobey,
but at once commanded the clear-voiced heralds
to summon the long-haired Achaeans to war.
They made their summons and the men were swiftly assembled;
and around the son of Atreus the kings cherished by Zeus
hastened about marshaling them, and with them went gleaming-eyed Athena,
holding the stormy aegis—revered, ageless and deathless,
a hundred tassels of solid gold floated from it,
each intricately woven, each worth a hundred oxen;
with this she darted and flashed through the host of Achaeans,450
and she stoked the strength in each man’s heart, urging him to go,
to fight on without respite and do battle;
and suddenly war became sweeter to them than going home
in hollow ships to their beloved fatherland.
As when obliterating fire rages through an immense forest
on the mountain height, and from afar the flare shows forth,
so the gleam from the sublime bronze of marching men
glinting through the clear sky reached heaven.
These, as great flocks of winged birds,
of geese or cranes or long-necked swans,460
in the Asian meadow amid the waters of the river Cayster,
flying hither and thither exulting in their wings,
ever settling, one before the other, with ringing cries, and the meadow resounds—
so the many tribes of men from the ships and shelters
poured forth onto the plain of Scamander; and the earth
thundered terribly beneath their feet and beneath the horses.
They took position in the flowering meadow of Scamander,
thousands of them, as many as there are leaves and flowers in springtime,
as the many swarms of incessant flies
that flit about a shepherd’s stall470
in spring, when milk splashes the pail,
so the long-haired Achaeans took their stand against the Trojans
on the plain, urgent to shatter them.
As goat-herding men easily separate
wide-ranging herds of goats when they are mingled in pasture,
so the leaders marshaled the men here and there
to go into combat, and with them was lord Agamemnon—
his eyes and head like Zeus who hurls the thunderbolt,
his girth like Ares, his chest like Poseidon’s.
As when an ox stands out from all others in the herd,480
a bull who is preeminent among the gathered cattle,
so did Zeus on that day render the son of Atreus
conspicuous amid the multitude, outstanding among warriors.
Tell me now, Muses, who have your homes on Olympus—
for you are goddesses, and ever-present, and know all things,
and we hear only rumor, nor do we know anything—
who were the leaders and captains of the Danaans.
As for the multitude, I could not describe nor tell their names,
not if I had ten tongues, and ten mouths,
or a voice that never tired, and the spirit in me were as bronze;490
not unless the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who wields the aegis,
should remember all who came beneath the walls of Ilion.
Yet the leaders of ships I will recite, and the ships themselves, from start to finish.
Of the Boeotians, Peneleos and Leïtos were leaders,
and Arkesilaos, Prothoënor and Klonios;
those who dwelt in Hyria and in rocky Aulis,
in Schoinos and Skolos and the spurred mountains of Eteonos,
in Thespeia and Graia and Mykalessos with its wide places for dancing,
those who dwelt around Harma and Eilesion and Erythrai,
those who held Eleon and Hyle and Peteon,500
Okalea and Medeon, a well-established city,
Kopai and Eutresis and Thisbe of the many doves,
those who held Koroneia and grassy Haliartos,
those who held Plataia and those who dwelt in Glisas,
those who held Lower Thebes, a well-established city,
and holy Onchestos, the splendid grove of Poseidon;
those who held Arne rich in grapes, and Mideia,
and Nisa the holy and furthest Anthedon—
of these there went fifty ships, and each there embarked
one hundred and twenty young men of Boeotia.510
Those who dwelt in Aspledon and Minyan Orchomenos,
of these were Askalaphos and Ialmenos leaders, sons both of Ares,
whom Astyoche bore in the house of Aktor, the son of Azeus—
a shy maiden, who entered the upstairs chamber
with mighty Ares; and in secret he lay with her;
of these there sailed thirty hollow ships.
Then Schedios and
Epistrophos led the Phocians,
sons of Iphitos, the son of great-hearted Naubolos;
these held Kyparissos and rocky Pytho,
and sacred Krisa and Daulis and Panopeus,520
and those dwelling round Hyampolis and Anemoreia,
those who lived by the shining river Kephisos,
and those who held Lilaia by the fountains of Kephisos;
forty black ships followed with these leaders.
They marshaled the ranks of Phocians,
stationed them under arms on the left, hard by the Boeotians.
Of Locrians, swift Ajax, son of Oïleus, was leader—
the lesser Ajax, not so great as Telamon’s son Ajax,
but lesser by far; for he was a small man, and his breastplate of linen,
yet in work of spear he excelled all Achaeans and Hellenes—530
they who dwelt in Kynos and Opoeis and Kalliaros
and in Bessa and Skarphe and also lovely Augeiai
and in Tarphe and Thronion and round the streams of Boagrios—
with him there followed forty black ships
of Locrians, those who dwell beyond holy Euboea.
Those who held Euboea, the Abantes who breathe fury,
Chalcis and Eretria and Histiaia rich in grapes,
and Kerinthos by the sea and the steep city of Dion,
those who held Karystos and those who dwelt in Styra—
of these Elephenor was leader, companion of Ares,540
the son of Chalkodon, lord of the great-hearted Abantes;
the swift Abantes followed with him, their hair grown long behind,
spearmen straining with out-held spears
to shatter the breastplates round the breasts of their enemies;
and with him there followed forty black ships.
And then those who held Athens, a well-built city,
realm of great-hearted Erechtheus, whom once Athena
Zeus’ daughter reared—Erechtheus born of the grain-giving fields—
and established him in Athens, in her own rich temple,
where Athenian youths with bulls and rams550
supplicate him through the turning years;
of these Menestheus was leader, son of Peteos.
There was not any man born his equal on earth
at marshaling horses and shield-bearing men;
Nestor only rivaled him; for in age he was older.
And with him there followed fifty black ships.
From Salamis, Ajax led twelve ships,
and arrayed them where the ranks of Athenians were stationed.
Those who held Argos and walled Tiryns,
and Hermione and Asine enfolding its deep bay,560
Troizen and Eïonai and Epidauros rich in vines,
those who held Aegina and Mases, sons of the Achaeans—
of these Diomedes of the war cry was leader,
and Sthenelos, the beloved son of glorious Kapaneus.
With them Euryalos went as a third, a man like the gods,
the son of lord Mekisteus, from the line of Talaos,
all these Diomedes of the war cry led;
and with them there followed eighty black ships.
Those who held Mycenae, the well-built city,
and prosperous Corinth and well-built Kleonai570
and they who dwelt in Orneai and lovely Araithyria
and Sikyon, where Adrestos first ruled as king,
and those who held Hyperesia and sheer Gonoëssa
and Pellene, and those who dwelt round Aigion
throughout all Aigialos and around broad Helike—
of their hundred ships was lord Agamemnon leader,
Atreus’ son. And with him followed by far the most men
and the best; he himself was clad in blinding bronze,
triumphant, conspicuous among all warriors,
because he was best—since he led by far the most men.580
Those who held Lacedaemon, set low in ravines,
and Pharis and Sparta and Messe haunted by doves,
and those who dwelt in Bryseiai and lovely Augeiai,
and those who held Amyklai and Helos, the seaside city,
those who held Laas and those who dwelt round Oitylos,
of these his brother Menelaos of the war cry
led sixty ships; they were stationed apart,
and he came emboldened by ardor,
driving them to battle; above all his heart desired
to exact requital for the struggle and groaning over Helen.590
Those who dwelt in Pylos and lovely Arene,
and Thryon, where Alpheus is crossed, and well-built Aipu,
and those who lived in Kyparisseïs and Amphigeneia,
and Pteleos and Helos and Dorion, where the Muses
accosted Thamyris, the Thracian, and put an end to his singing
as he came from Oichalia and Oichalian Eurytos—
for boasting he declared he would prove winner should the Muses themselves
sing against him, the daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis;
stung with anger, they paralyzed him, took away
his divine gift of song, and caused him to forget his lyre-playing—600
of these Nestor the Gerenian horseman was leader;
of these there sailed ninety hollow ships.
Those who held Arcadia under sheer Mount Kyllene,
by the tomb of Aipytos, where men fight at close quarters,
those who dwelt in Pheneos and Orchomenos, with its flocks,
and in Rhipe and Stratia and windswept Enispe,
and held Tegea and lovely Mantineia,
who held Stymphalos and dwelt in Parrhasia—
lord Agapenor, son of Ankaios, was leader
of their sixty ships; and in each ship went many610
men of Arcadia, well skilled in warfare;
Agamemnon, lord of men, gave them
well-benched ships to cross a sea as dark as wine,
the son of Atreus himself, since the work of the sea was of no concern
to them.
Then those who lived in Bouprasion and shining Elis,
all that is bounded by Hyrmine and the borders of Myrsinos,
and the rock of Olen and Alesion—
of these were there four leaders, and with each
there followed ten swift ships, with many Epeans on board.
Of these Amphimachos and Thalpios were two leaders,620
sons of Aktor’s line, one by Kteatos and one by Eurytos;
powerful Diores was also their leader, son of Amarynkeus;
and godlike Polyxeinos was their fourth leader
son of lord Agasthenes, who was son of Augeias.
Those from Doulichion and from Echinai, sacred
islands that lie across the sea facing Elis—
of these Meges was leader, equal to Ares,
son of Phyleus—Phyleus, begot him, driver of horses, beloved of Zeus,
who angered at his father in time past departed to settle Doulichion;
and with him there followed forty black ships.630
Then Odysseus led the high-hearted Kephallenians,
and those who held Ithaca and Neritos of fluttering leaves,
and those who dwelt in Krokyleia and rugged Aigilips,
those who held Zakynthos and those who dwelt around Samos,
those who held the mainland and those who dwelt about the facing shore;
of these Odysseus was leader, Zeus’ match in wisdom;
and with him there followed twelve scarlet-prowed ships.
Thoas, son of Andraimon, led the Aetolians,
those who dwelt in Pleuron and Olenos and Pylene,
and Chalkis near the sea and rocky Calydon;640
for the sons of great-hearted Oineus were no longer alive,
nor did Oineus himself live, and fair-haired Meleager had died,
so to Thoas was charged the rule of all the Aetol
ians;
and with him there followed forty black ships.
Of the Cretans was spear-famed Idomeneus leader,
those who held Knossos and high-walled Gortyn,
Lyktos and Miletos and gleaming Lykastos
and Phaistos and Rhytion, a well-settled city,
and those others who dwelt around Crete of the hundred cities.
Of these Idomeneus the famed spearman was leader650
and Meriones, equal to Enyalios, the murderous war.
And with them there followed eighty black ships.
Tlepolemos, son of Heracles, a good man and great,
led nine ships from Rhodes with noble Rhodians,
those who dwelt about Rhodes marshaled into three states,
from Lindos and Ialysos and gleaming Kameiros;
of these Tlepolemos, famed spearman, was leader,
whom Astyocheia bore to strong Heracles,
she whom he led out of Ephyra, from the river Selleïs,
after sacking many cities of Zeus-cherished young warriors.660
Then when Tlepolemos came of age in the well-built palace,
he soon killed his father’s dearly loved uncle,
a man already grown old, Likymnios, companion of Ares.
Quickly he fitted out ships, gathering a great band of followers,
and left, fleeing over the deep sea; for other
sons and grandsons of strong Heracles threatened him.
He came to Rhodes after wandering, after suffering misfortunes;
and they settled in three companies according to tribe, and were favored
by Zeus, who is lord of gods and of men,
and on them the son of Cronus bestowed marvelous wealth.670
Nireus from Syme led three balanced ships,
Nireus, son of his mother Aglaïa and lord Charopos,
Nireus, the most beautiful man to come beneath Ilion
of all the Danaans, after blameless Achilles,
but he was weak and few men followed with him.
Then those who held Nisyros and Karpathos and Kasos,
and Cos, the city of Eurypylos, and the Kalydnian islands,
these both Pheidippos and Antiphos ruled,
the two sons of lord Thessalos, son of Heracles;
of these there sailed thirty hollow ships.680
Now too all those who dwelt in Pelasgian Argos,
those who dwelt in Alos and Alope and those dwelling in Trachis,
those who held Phthia and Hellas of beautiful women—
those called Myrmidons and Hellenes and Achaeans;
their fifty ships were led by Achilles.
But these paid no heed to grievous war;
for there was no man to lead them to the ranks of battle;