by Homer
I know now the son of Cronus of his will grants me
victory and glory, and grants to the Danaans their destruction.
Fools, who contrived these walls,
feeble things, not worth the thought; they will not ward off my strength;
and the horses easily will leap the ditch they dug.
And when I should come beside their hollow ships,180
let someone remember to bring blazing fire,
so that I may torch the ships with fire, and kill them,
the Argives by their ships, stupefied by the smoke.”
So speaking he urged and called to his horses:
“Xanthos and you Podargos, and Aithon and shining Lampos,
now repay me for your care, the great abundance that
Andromache daughter of great-hearted Eëtion
has placed before you of honey-hearted wheat,
and wine she mixed for you to drink, whenever you wished—
to you before even me, though I boast to be her strong young husband!190
Follow on, make haste, so we can seize
Nestor’s shield, the fame of which goes up to heaven,
all gold, grips and body,
and seize from the shoulders of horse-breaking Diomedes
his elaborate breastplate, which Hephaestus toiled to make.
If we should take these two things, I think the Achaeans
this very night might embark in their swift ships.”
So he spoke, vaunting; and lady Hera was angered,
and started on her throne, shaking great Olympus,
and she addressed the great god Poseidon:200
“O me, Earth-Shaker, wide-ranging in might, does not your
heart in your very breast feel for the Danaans who are dying?
They bring gifts for you up into Helike, and Aigai too,
many of them and pleasing; you used to wish them victory.
If only we were willing, we who aid the Danaans,
to thrust the Trojans back and check far-thundering Zeus,
then he would be sorry sitting there alone on Ida.”
Then greatly troubled the lord Earth-Shaker addressed her:
“Hera, reckless in speech, what kind of word have you spoken?
I would not wish for the rest of us fight210
with Zeus the son of Cronus, since he is far the stronger.”
So they argued such things with one another;
as for the Achaeans, all the space beyond the ships bounded by wall and ditch
was full of both shield-bearing men and horses,
packed in together; and equal to swift Ares was he who packed them—
Hector, son of Priam, at that time when Zeus gave glory to him.
And now he would have torched the well-balanced ships with burning fire,
if lady Hera had not put in Agamemnon’s mind,
as he was hastening about, that with all speed he must rally the Achaeans.
He went beside the shelters and the ships of the Achaeans220
holding his great shimmering cape in his massive hand,
and took his stand upon Odysseus’ dark, great-bellied ship,
which was in the middle, so he could be heard in both directions,223
and with a piercing voice he shouted so as to be heard by the Danaans:227
“For shame, Argives, cowardly disgraces, admirable only in appearance!
Where went our boasts, that time we said we were preeminent,
those boasts you once declaimed in Lemnos, vaunting idly,230
as you consumed quantities of straight-horned cattle meat,
drinking bowls up to the brim with wine,
that each of you would stand up against one hundred, two hundred Trojans
in war? And now we are not the equal of one,
of Hector, who will very soon torch our ships with burning fire.
Father Zeus, did you before strike blind any other powerful king
with such delusions, and strip him of his great glory?
Not ever, at any time, I say, did I pass by your splendid altars
in my many-benched ships, coming here on this ruinous journey,
but on every one I burned the fat of oxen and their thighbones,240
eager as I was to sack well-walled Troy.
But, Zeus—this prayer at least accomplish for me;
at least let us ourselves escape and get away,
do not let the Achaeans be broken like this by Trojans.”
So he spoke, and as he shed tears, Zeus the father pitied him.
And he bowed his head in promise that the men would be saved and would not perish.
And straightway he sent an eagle, the surest omen of winged birds,
grasping in its talons a fawn, the young of a swift deer;
and down by Zeus’ splendid altar it cast the fawn,
where the Achaeans were wont to perform sacrifice to Zeus who speaks all omens.250
And when the men then saw the bird had come from Zeus,
they sprang the more against the Trojans, and recollected their fighting spirit.
Then not one of the Danaans, many though there were,
could boast he held his swift horses ahead of the son of Tydeus,
to drive beyond the ditch and take up the fight, man-to-man,
for Diomedes was first by far to kill a Trojan leader,
Agelaos son of Phradmon. He had turned his horses to flight,
and Diomedes fixed his spear in his back as he turned about,
between the shoulders, and drove it through his chest.
He fell from his chariot, and his armor clashed upon him.260
After Diomedes came the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaos,
and after them the two Aiantes, wrapped in fierce courage,
and after them Idomeneus and the henchman of Idomeneus
Meriones, equal to the man-slaughtering war god Enyalios,
and after them Eurypylos, the splendid son of Euaimon;
and Teucer came ninth, bending his back-curved bow,
and took his stand beneath the shield of Telamonian Ajax.
There Ajax would move his shield away, and the warrior
would look sharply out, then, shooting his arrow, when
he struck someone in the throng, who fell dead on the spot,270
he went back, like a child to his mother’s embrace, ducking
to the protection of Ajax, who would shelter him with his shining shield.
Then who was the first of the Trojans blameless Teucer killed?
Orsilochos was first and Ormenos and Ophelestes,
Daitor and Chromios and godlike Lykophontes,
and the son of Polyaimon, Amopaon, and Melanippos.276
And seeing him the lord of men, Agamemnon rejoiced278
as Teucer with his powerful bow destroyed ranks of the Trojans,
and Agamemnon went and stood beside him and spoke a word to him:280
“Teucer, dear man, son of Telamon, leader of men,
strike just so, if you would be a shining light to the Danaans
and to your father Telamon, who raised you when you were little
and, illegitimate though you were, cared for you in his own house.
You will transport him to glory, although he is far away.
And I will say outright to you, and thus it will be accomplished:
if Zeus who wields the aegis and Athena grant me
to sack the well-built city of Ilion,
to you first, after myself, I will place a prize of honor in your hands,
either a tripod, or two horses with their own chariot,290
or a woman, who will enter into your shared bed.”
And answering, blameless Teucer addressed him:
“Most lordly son of Atreus, why do you urge me when I myself
am already eager? Never, as far as my strength holds, do I let up,
but from the time we pushed the Troj
ans back to Ilion,
from that time, lying in wait with my bow, I have been killing men.
Eight long-barbed arrows have I shot,
and all have fixed in the flesh of vigorous men, swift in fight;
but this mad dog I cannot hit.”
He spoke, and let loose another arrow from his bowstring300
straight at Hector, and his heart strained to hit him;
but he missed him, and struck instead blameless Gorgythion
in the chest with his arrow, Priam’s worthy son,
whom his mother bore, she who was taken as wife from the town of Aisyme,
beautiful Kastianeira like to a goddess in figure;
his head hung to one side like a garden poppy
made heavy with seed and the showers of spring;
so his head drooped, weighed down by his helmet.
Teucer let loose another arrow from his bowstring
straight at Hector, and his heart strained to hit him;310
but he missed even this time, for Apollo thwarted him,
and it was Archeptolemos, Hector’s bold charioteer,
he struck in the chest beside his breast as he rushed to the fighting;
he fell from the chariot, the swift-footed horses started,
and there his soul and strength were undone.
Dreadful grief closed over Hector’s heart for his charioteer;
but he let him lie, grieving though he was for his companion,
and summoned Kebriones, his brother, who was nearby,
to take the horses’ reins; and when he heard he did not disobey.
Hector leapt from his gleaming chariot to the ground320
crying a dreadful cry; and took a stone in his hand,
and made straight for Teucer, his heart urgent to strike.
And Teucer had taken from his quiver a piercing arrow,
and placed it on the bowstring; but as he was drawing back the bowstring to his shoulder,
Hector of the shimmering helm struck him, there where the collarbone separates
the neck and the chest, and where is most fatal,
there, Hector struck with a jagged stone as Teucer aimed at him,
and broke the string; Teucer’s hand went numb at the wrist,
and falling on his knees, he remained there, and dropped the bow from his hand.
And Ajax was not careless of his brother’s falling,330
but running stood astride and put his shield to cover him.
Then getting their shoulders under him, two faithful comrades,
Mekisteus the son of Echios and godlike Alastor,
bore him, groaning heavily, to the hollow ships.
And once again the Olympian aroused courage in the Trojans;
and straight across the deep ditch they thrust the Achaeans.
And Hector went among the front ranks exulting in his strength;
as when a dog seizes a wild boar or lion
from behind as he pursues with his swift feet,
snatching at the flanks and hindquarters and watching closely for it to turn,340
so Hector pressed hard upon the long-haired Achaeans,
killing always the hindmost man; and they fled.
But when they passed through the palisade and ditch
in flight, many were broken at the hands of the Trojans,
and the rest were checked beside the chariots, and there stood their ground,
calling out to one another and lifting their hands
to all the gods, each man crying aloud in prayer.
And Hector wheeled right and left his horses with their splendid manes,
his eyes like the Gorgon’s or the eyes of Ares, ruinous to mortals.
And seeing them Hera the goddess of the white arms felt pity,350
and she at once addressed Athena with winged words:
“Alas, daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis, are we no longer
to care for the dying Danaans, at this their last hour,
they who filling their measure of evil destiny will perish
by the storm of one man’s force? For he rages beyond endurance,
this Hector son of Priam, and he commits much evil.”
Then in turn the gleaming-eyed goddess Athena answered her:
“How I wish this man would lose his strength and spirit,
dying at the hands of the Argives in his own fatherland;
but my father rages in his unbalanced mind,360
hard-hearted, always wicked, thwarting my plans,
he remembers nothing of those times, when again and again
I kept on saving his son Heracles who was worn down by the trials set by Eurystheus.
The man kept calling out to heaven, but it was me Zeus
dispatched from heaven to his aid.
If I had known the things now in his bitter mind,
that time when Eurystheus sent Heracles off to the guarded gates of Hades,
to bring the hound of hateful Hades out of Erebus,
then he would not have escaped the steep plunging waters of the Styx.
And now he hates me, and he has brought to pass the plans of Thetis,370
who kissed his knees and took his chin in her hand,
imploring him to honor Achilles sacker of cities.
The time will yet come when he calls me again his dear gleaming-eyed girl.
But now ready for us the single-hoofed horses,
while I, entering into the house of Zeus who wields the aegis,
arm myself for war, so that I might see
whether Priam’s son Hector of the shimmering helm
rejoices when we two appear between the lines of battle,
or whether any of the Trojans will also sate the dogs and birds
with their fat and flesh, falling by the ships of the Achaeans.”380
So she spoke, nor did Hera goddess of the white arms disobey.
Departing, she got ready the gold-bridled horses,
she, elder of goddesses, daughter of great Cronus;
And Athena, daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis,
let fall her rippling robe upon her father’s floor,
elaborate with embroidery, which she herself had made and labored on with her own hands,
and putting on the cloak of Zeus who gathers clouds,
she armed herself for tearful war.
She made her way on foot toward the flame-bright chariot, and seized her spear
heavy, massive, powerful, with which she beats down the ranks of warrior390
men, with whom she, born of the mighty Father, might be angered.
And Hera with her whip swiftly touched the horses;
of their own accord the gates of heaven groaned, which are guarded by the Seasons,
to whom broad heaven and Olympus are entrusted,
to push back the thick-pressed clouds and also close them over.
There, through these, they held the goad-sped horses.
But when Zeus the father saw from Ida, his rage was extreme,
and he summoned Iris with her wings of gold to go as messenger:
“Come, swift Iris, set out and turn them back, do let them advance against me;
for it is not good that we should clash in war.400
For I say this outright and it will be accomplished;
I will lame their swift horses beneath their chariot,
and I will hurl them from their seat, and shatter the chariot;
and not in the turning of ten years
will the wounds be healed that my thunderbolt will fasten on them;
so will my gleaming-eyed girl know what it is to battle with her father!
Hera I do not blame so much, nor am I angered with her,
for it is always her way to thwart me, whatever I propose.”
So he spoke, and storm-footed Iris sprang up to take his message,
and set out from the peaks of Ida to high Olympus.410
And at the outer
gates of Olympus with its many folds,
she caught the two goddesses and checked them, and spoke to them the word of Zeus:
“Where do you two hasten? What mad plan is in your minds?
The son of Cronus does not permit you to defend the Argives!
For thus the son of Cronus threatens, and thus it will be accomplished:
he will lame the swift horses beneath your chariot,
and he will hurl you from your seat and shatter your chariot;
and not in the turning of ten years
will your wounds be healed that his thunderbolt will fasten on you;
so, gleaming-eyed one, you will know, what it is to battle with your father.420
Hera he does not blame so much, nor is he angered with her,
for it is always her way to thwart him, whatever he proposes.
But you are an intolerable, brazen dog if you truly
dare to raise your monstrous spear against the face of Zeus.”
She spoke, and so speaking swift-footed Iris departed;
and Hera addressed Athena with a word:
“O, dear daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis, I can no longer
allow us two to battle Zeus for the sake of mortals.
Let one of them perish, let another live,
as his luck may be. And let Zeus pondering those plans of his430
decide for Trojans and Danaans, as is his right.”
So speaking, she turned back the single-hoof horses;
and the Hours released the horses with their splendid manes for them,
and tethered them at their ambrosial mangers,
and the chariots they leaned against the gleaming inner walls.
And the goddesses seated themselves on divans of gold
among the other gods, stricken at their very hearts.
And from Ida, Zeus the father swiftly drove his well-wheeled chariot and horses
to Olympus, and arrived at the assembly of the gods.
And the illustrious Earth-Shaker released his horses for him,440
and placed the chariot on a stand, spreading a cover over.
And he himself, far-thundering Zeus, on a throne of gold took
his seat, and great Olympus shook beneath his feet.
And alone of all the gods, Athena and Hera stayed apart from
Zeus, nor did they speak a word to him, nor question him.
But in his mind he understood and he called to them:
“Why are you two so stricken, Hera and Athena?
You did not, I think, exhaust yourselves in battle where men win glory
destroying Trojans, on whom you have settled your terrible rancor.
Such is my might and my unassailable hands,450