by Homer
or if, already now, the gods will defeat me beneath the hands of the Achaeans.”
So speaking, Hector of the shimmering helm departed;
and quickly he reached his well-established home.370
But he did not find white-armed Andromache in his halls,
for she with her child and fair-robed attendant
had taken her stand upon the tower, weeping and shedding tears.
And when Hector did not find his blameless wife,
he paused upon the threshold as he was going, and spoke among the servants:
“Come, maids, and tell me clearly;
where has white-armed Andromache gone from the hall?
To some house of my sisters, or of my brothers’ fair-robed wives,
or has she set out for the temple of Athena, where the other
Trojan women with lovely hair propitiate the dread goddess?”380
And in turn his ready housekeeper addressed him:
“Hector, since you strongly bid me speak the truth,
it is not to some house of your sisters, or of your brothers’ fair-robed wives,
nor has she set out for the temple of Athena, where the other
Trojan women with lovely hair propitiate the dread goddess,
but she has gone to the great tower of Ilion, because she heard
the Trojans are worn down, and that Achaean strength is great,
by now she has arrived at the tower in urgent haste
like a madwoman; the nurse with her carries the baby.”
The housekeeper spoke, and Hector ran from the house390
back the same way through the well-built streets.
When he arrived at the Scaean gates, having crossed the great city,
there where he intended to pass through to the plain,
there his worthy wife came to meet him, running,
Andromache, daughter of great-hearted Eëtion—
Eëtion, who once lived below wooded Plakos,
in Thebes below Mount Plakos, ruling the Cilician men;
his daughter was held as wife by bronze-armored Hector.
She met him then, and her attendant came with her,
the child held against her breast, tender-hearted, just a baby,400
the cherished only child of Hector, beautiful like a star,
whom Hector used to call Scamandrios, but all others
Astyanax, lord of the city; for his father alone protected Ilion.
And looking at his child in silence, Hector smiled,
but Andromache came and stood close to him shedding tears
and clung to him with her hand and spoke to him and said his name:
“Inhuman one, your strength will destroy you, and you take no pity
on the child and young one, or on me who have no future, who will soon be
bereft of you; the Achaeans will soon kill you,
the whole of them rushing in attack. And for me it would be better410
with you lost to go down beneath the earth; for no other
comfort will there be hereafter, when you meet your fate,
but grief. I have no father or lady mother;
it was godlike Achilles who slew my father,
when he sacked the well-established town of the Cilicians,
high-gated Thebes, and killed Eëtion;
yet he did not strip his body, for in his heart he thought it shameful,
but he cremated him with his decorated war-gear,
and heaped a burial mound over. And around it elms were grown
by nymphs of the mountains, daughters of Zeus who wields the aegis.420
And they who were my seven brothers in our halls,
they all on a single day entered the house of Hades;
all of them swift-footed godlike Achilles slew
as they watched over their shambling cattle and white sheep.
And my mother, who was queen under wooded Plakos,
when he led her here with the rest of his plunder,
he set her free again, accepting untold ransom;
and, in the hall of her father, Artemis who showers arrows struck her down.
Hector, so you are father to me, and honored mother,
and my brother, and you are my strong husband.430
So have pity now and stay here by the ramparts,
do not make your child fatherless, your wife a widow.
Station your men by the wild fig tree, where the city is
easiest to scale and the walls can be overrun.
Three times they came there and tested it, the best men
with the two Aiantes and illustrious Idomeneus,
and with the sons of Atreus and Tydeus’ daring son;
perhaps some seer, well skilled, told them of it,
or it was their own spirit that urged and compelled them.”
And great Hector of the shimmering helm answered her:440
“Surely, all these things concern me too, my wife; but greatly
I would dread what they would think, the Trojans and the Trojan women with their trailing robes,
if like a coward I should shirk away from fighting.
My spirit does not allow me, for I have learned to be brave
always and to fight among the front rank of Trojans,
winning great glory for my father, and for me.
But I know this well in my mind and in my heart;
there will some time be a day when holy Ilion is destroyed,
and Priam and the people of Priam of the fine ash-spear;
But it is not the coming suffering of the Trojans that so much distresses me,450
nor of Hecuba herself, nor of lord Priam,
nor of my many and brave brothers who
will fall in dust at the hands of enemy men,
so much as distress for you, when some bronze-armored Achaean
leads you off in tears, taking away your day of freedom.
And in Argos you will work the loom for another woman,
and carry water from the spring of Messeïs or Hypereia
time and again under compulsion, and necessity will lie harsh upon you.
And one day someone seeing you shedding tears may say:
‘This is the wife of Hector, who used to be best of the horse-breaking Trojans460
in waging battle, at that time when men fought round Ilion.’
So one day someone may speak; and for you the pain will be new again,
bereft of such a husband to ward off the day of slavery.
But may the heaped earth cover me over dead
before I ever hear your cry as you are dragged away.”
So speaking, shining Hector reached out for his son;
but the child turned away, back to the breast of his fair-belted nurse,
crying, frightened at the sight of his own father,
struck with terror seeing the bronze helmet and crest of horsehair,
nodding dreadfully, as he thought, from the topmost of the helmet.470
They burst out laughing, his dear father and lady mother.
At once shining Hector lifted the helmet from his head,
and placed it, gleaming, on the earth;
then he rocked his beloved son in his arms and kissed him,
and prayed aloud to Zeus and to the other gods:
“Zeus, and you other gods, grant now that this child too,
my son, will become, even as I am, conspicuous among Trojans,
likewise skilled in courage, and rule Ilion in strength.
And one day may someone say of him, ‘this man is far better than his father’
as he returns from war, and may he bear back bloodstained spoils of armor,480
having killed an enemy man, and his mother’s heart rejoice.”
So speaking he placed in the hands of his beloved wife
his son; and she took him to her perfumed breast,
laughing as she cried. And her husband took pity, watching,
and with his hand he caressed her and spoke to her and said her name:
“Foolish one, do not, I beg you, distress your heart too much.
No man against fate will hurl me to Hades;
for no man, I think, escapes destiny,
not the cowardly, nor the brave, once he is born.
But go to the house and tend to your work,490
to your loom and distaff, and direct your handmaids
to ply their work; war is the concern of men,
all men, and me most of all, who live in Ilion.”
So speaking, shining Hector took up his helmet
crested with horsehair; and his beloved wife went home,
turning to look back all the while, letting the full tears fall.
Soon she reached the well-established home
of man-slaying Hector, and inside found her many
handmaids; and she stirred all of them to lamentation.
They lamented Hector in his own house while he was yet alive;500
for they did not think that he would come home again,
returned from war, escaping the might and hands of the Achaeans.
Nor did Paris linger in his high-roofed house,
but when he had put on his glorious armor, elaborate in bronze,
then he sped through the city, confident in the swiftness of his feet.
As when a horse confined to a stall, fed on barley at the manger,
breaking his tether runs with pounding feet across the plain,
to immerse himself in the fair-flowing waters of his accustomed river,
triumphant, and he holds his head high, his mane
streaming about his shoulders; emboldened by his beauty,510
his knees bear him lightly to the pasture and places horses love;
so Paris, son of Priam, from the heights of Pergamos
set out radiant in his armor like the sun,
laughing out loud, his swift feet carrying him. Quickly
he found shining Hector, his brother, as he was about
to turn from the place where he had spoken fondly with his wife.
Godlike Alexandros addressed him first:
“Elder brother of mine, to be sure I have delayed you as you hurried
by my tarrying, I did not come in proper time, as you were urging.”
Answering him spoke Hector of the shimmering helm:520
“Strange one, no man who is fair
could slight your work in battle, since you are brave;
but you hang back by choice and are not willing. And for that I
grieve deep in my heart, when I hear insults about you
from the Trojans, who suffer much hardship on your account.
But let us go. We will redress these matters later, if ever Zeus
grants us to dedicate in our halls a feast bowl of freedom
to the heavenly gods who live forever,
after driving out of Troy the strong-greaved Achaeans.”
7.ILIÁDOS H
So speaking, shining Hector exploded through the city gates,
and with him went his brother Alexandros; and in their hearts
both hungered to do battle and wage war.
As a god grants to yearning sailors
a fair wind, when they labor at their well-worn oars
flogging the sea, and their limbs with fatigue are weak beneath them,
so now the two appeared to the yearning Trojans.
There they each slew a man, Alexandros the son of lord Areïthoös,
Menesthios, who dwelt in Arne, he whom Areïthoös
of the battle mace and ox-eyed Phylomedousa bore;10
and Hector struck Eïoneus with his sharp spear
on the neck below his bronze-wrought helmet rim, and unstrung his limbs.
And Glaukos the son of Hippolochos, leader of Lycian men,
struck Iphinoös son of Dexios with his spear in the midst of mighty combat,
on the shoulder, as he was springing for
his swift mares; he fell from his chariot to the ground, the strength of his limbs undone.
But when the gleaming eyed-goddess Athena perceived them
destroying the Argives in mighty combat,
she went, shooting down from the heights of Olympus
into holy Ilion. Watching from the height of Pergamos,20
Apollo started up to face her, and he plotted victory for the Trojans;
and the two met up beside the oak tree.
Lord Apollo the son of Zeus addressed her first:
“Why do you come this time in eagerness, daughter of great Zeus,
down from Olympus, why does that great spirit of yours impel you?
Is it perhaps to give the Danaans victory, reversing the tide of battle?
Since you do not pity at all the Trojans who are being destroyed.
But if you would be persuaded by me, it would be far better;
Let us now halt the war and the fighting
this day; later, let them fight again, until they learn firsthand the fated end30
of Ilion, since thus has it been dear to the heart
of you immortal ladies, to destroy utterly this town.”
In turn the gleaming-eyed goddess Athena addressed him:
“Let it be so, you who shoot from afar; for it was with the same things in mind I too
came from Olympus among the Trojans and Achaeans.
But come, how do you intend to halt this war of mortal men?”
And lord Apollo son of Zeus spoke to her again:
“Let us rouse the strong spirit of Hector, breaker of horses,
to see if he will challenge any of the Danaans
to fight man-to-man, face-to-face, in dread combat,40
then they, the bronze-greaved Achaeans, grudging him honor
will send out one man alone to do battle with shining Hector.”
So he spoke, nor was the gleaming-eyed goddess Athena unpersuaded.
Then Helenos, beloved son of Priam, inferred in his heart
their plan, the plan that was pleasing to the scheming gods.
Making his way to Hector, he stood beside him and spoke a word:
“Hector son of Priam, you who are equal to Zeus in counsel,
will you now be persuaded by me? For I am your brother.
Have all the other Trojans seated and all the Achaeans,
and yourself, you challenge whoever is best of the Achaeans50
to fight man-to-man, face-to-face, in dread combat.
For it is not yet your destiny to die and meet fate;
for so I heard the very word of the ever-living gods.”
So he spoke; and Hector rejoiced greatly hearing his word,
and going into the midst of the Trojans he restrained the battle lines,
taking hold of his spear by the middle; and they all sat down.
And Agamemnon seated the strong-greaved Achaeans,
and Athena and Apollo of the silver bow
crouched down, like birds, like vultures,
on the towering oak tree of their father Zeus, who wields the aegis, 60
delighting in the spectacle of men. Ranks of them, pressed close, were seated,
bristling with shields and helmets and spears.
As the ruffling of the West Wind spreads across the open sea
when the wind is first roused, and the sea grows dark beneath it,
so rank on rank of Achaeans and Trojans were settled
on the plain. And Hector spoke between both sides:
“Hear me, Trojans and strong-greaved Achaeans,
while I speak those things the spirit in my breast urges.
The son of Cronus seated on high has not fulfilled our oaths,
but is minded to decree evil for both sides,70
until that time either you take Troy with its fine walls,
or yourselves are broken beside your seagoing ships.
Since among you are the best of a
ll Achaeans,
he of you whose spirit stirs to fight me,
let him come forth from all of you as champion against great Hector.
This I declare, and may Zeus be our witness;
if he should slay me with tapered point of bronze,
stripping my armor, let him bear this to the hollow ships,
but give my body to be borne home again, so that
the Trojans and the wives of Trojans may give to me when I have died my portion of the fire;80
but if I should slay him, and Apollo gives the right to vaunt to me,
stripping his armor, I will carry it to sacred Ilion
and hang it on the temple of Apollo who shoots from afar,
but the dead body I will give back to the well-benched ships,
so that the long-haired Achaeans may give him due burial,
and heap a commemorative mound for him beside the broad Hellespont.
And one day someone even of generations to come will say,
as he sails in a ship with its many oars upon a sea as dark as wine:
‘This is the memorial of a man who died long ago,
a man whom, fighting his best, shining Hector slew in days of old.’90
So someone will speak one day, and my glory will never die.”
So he spoke, and all the men were hushed in silence;
they were ashamed to refuse, but afraid to accept.
At length Menelaos rose up and addressed them;
reproaching them with abuse, he groaned mightily in spirit:
“Oh me! braggarts, Achaean women no longer men of Achaea;
to be sure this will be a most dreadful disgrace,
if no one of the Danaans goes now to face Hector.
May you all turn to earth and water
who sit here, each of you, spiritless, of no account—100
I myself will arm against this man; the strings of victory
are held above among the immortal gods.”
Then so speaking he donned his splendid armor.
And there, Menelaos, would have appeared the end of your life
at the hands of Hector, since he was far the stronger,
had not the Achaean kings, starting up, grabbed at you;
And the son of Atreus himself wide-ruling Agamemnon
took hold of his right hand, and spoke to him and said his name:
“You play the fool, Menelaos, god-cherished, there is no need
of such madness from you. Restrain yourself, distressed though you be,110
nor from rivalry seek to fight with a better man,
with Hector the son of Priam, whom even other men dread.
Even Achilles shuddered to encounter this man