The Iliad (Trans. Caroline Alexander)

by Homer

  the hollow-eyed helmet resounded as it fell on the ground.530

  Meriones swiftly swooping like a vulture

  wrenched the heavy spear from the top of his arm,

  and withdrew back into the band of his companions. But Polites,

  brother of Deïphobos, reaching both arms about his brother’s waist,

  led him back from the grievous fighting, until he reached his swift

  horses, who behind the line of battle and the fighting

  stood waiting for him, holding their charioteer and patterned chariot;

  and they carried him to the city groaning heavily,

  in his distress; and blood poured from his new-wounded arm.

  And the rest fought on, with quenchless cry of battle rising.540

  Aeneas rushing at Kaletor’s son Aphareus

  struck him in the throat with his sharp spear as he was turned toward him;

  his head lolled to one side, back fell his shield

  and helmet; and death which shatters the spirit seeped around him.

  Antilochus, eyeing Thoön as he turned away,

  charged and stabbed him and severed the whole vein

  that runs the length of the back to reach the neck;

  he severed the whole of it away, and the other dropped on his back

  in the dust, spreading both arms wide to his dear companions.

  Antilochos rushing up stripped the armor from his shoulders,550

  glancing about him; Trojans standing round from every side

  stabbed his broad all-gleaming shield; but they could not

  get within it even to scratch with pitiless bronze the tender skin

  of Antilochos, for earth-shaking Poseidon fiercely

  protected Nestor’s son, even amid the multitude of blows.

  Never was he clear of his enemies, but kept wheeling

  among them; nor did he hold his spear still, but it was ever

  shaken, brandished, and with all his heart he aimed

  to make a spearcast or attack at close quarters.

  But Antilochos did not escape the notice of Adamas as he took aim through the fighting throng,560

  he the son of Asios, who struck the middle of his shield with sharp bronze,

  attacking from close at hand; but dark-haired Poseidon,

  grudging him Antilochos’ life, deprived his spear of power.

  Half of it remained in the shield of Antilochos,

  like a fire-hardened spike, and half hung to the ground;

  and Adamas withdrew into the band of his companions, shunning death.

  But following after, Meriones struck Adamas as he was departing with his spear

  between genitals and navel, where more than anywhere

  wounds in war are grievous hard for pitiful mortal men.

  There the spear stuck; and with the spear inside him570

  he gasped his last, like a wild ox that in the mountains herdsmen

  have hobbled with twisted rope and drive by force against its will;

  so wounded by the blow he gasped his last, albeit for a short time, not long at all,

  until the warrior Meriones, looming close, dragged the spear back

  from his flesh; and then darkness covered over his eyes.

  And Helenos smote Deïpyros at close quarters on the temple with his

  great Thracian sword, and smashed away his crested helmet.

  Struck off, it fell on the ground, and one of the Achaeans

  took possession of it where it rolled among the feet of the fighting men;

  and down over his eyes black night covered Deïpyros.580

  Then grief seized the son of Atreus, Menelaos of the war cry,

  and he approached menacing the warrior lord Helenos,

  shaking his sharp spear; but Helenos raised the grip of his bow.

  At the same moment both men let fly—one aimed

  with his ash-wood spear, the other with an arrow from his bowstring.

  The son of Priam struck Menelaos in the chest with his arrow,

  in the hollow of his breastplate—but the bitter arrow flew back;

  as when across a great threshing floor black-skinned beans and chickpeas

  rebound away from the broad winnowing-fan

  thrown by the whistling wind and the draft of the winnower’s swing,590

  so from the breastplate of glorious Menelaos

  rebounding hard, the bitter arrow flew to a distance.

  But the son of Atreus, Menelaos of the war cry,

  struck Helenos on the hand with which he held his polished bow; and

  straight through

  his hand into the bow he drove the bronze spear.

  And Helenos shrank into the band of his companions, shunning death,

  dangling his hand by his side; and trailing the ash-wood spear.

  And great-hearted Agenor pulled it from his hand,

  which he bound with sheep’s fleece skillfully twisted

  that his retainers kept for him, the shepherd of his people, to make a sling.600

  Then Peisandros came straight at glorious Menelaos;

  but an evil fate led him to the moment of his death,

  to be broken by you, Menelaos, in dread combat.

  And when they had advanced almost upon each other,

  the son of Atreus threw and missed, and his spear was turned aside;

  but Peisandros stabbed the shield of glorious Menelaos;

  nor was he able to drive his bronze spear through,

  for the broad shield stopped it, and the spear was snapped

  at the socket. And at this the son of Atreus rejoiced in his heart and

  hoped for victory, and drawing his silver-studded sword610

  he sprang for Peisandros; but behind the cover of his shield Peisandros grasped

  his splendid axe, well wrought in bronze, set on a handle of long, well-polished

  olive-wood; and at the same moment they bludgeoned one another.

  Peisandros struck the ridge of the other’s horsehair-crested helmet

  on the very peak below the crest, but Meneleaos struck Peisandros on the brow as he drew near,

  over the base of the nose; the bones cracked, and his two eyes

  dropped to the ground by his feet, bloodied, in the dust.

  He fell, curled in pain. And Menelaos placing his foot upon his chest

  stripped the dead man’s armor and spoke in exultation:

  “This is the way you will leave the ships of the Danaans of swift horses,620

  you Trojans of reckless deeds, never sated with dread battle.

  Nor are you deficient in other outrage and insult,

  with which you insulted me, cowardly bitches, nor do you at all fear

  in your heart the harsh wrath of far-thundering Zeus,

  protector of hospitality, who in days to come will sack utterly your high city;

  you who went away taking my lawful wife and my many possessions

  against decency, when you had been treated hospitably by her;

  now, this time, it was on our seagoing ships you were set

  to hurl deadly fire, and to kill Achaean warriors.

  But you will be checked somewhere, for all your rushing haste for war.630

  Father Zeus—for you, they say, surpass the wisdom of all other

  men and gods; yet all these matters are your doing—

  how you favor indecent men—

  the Trojans, whose spirit is ever reckless, nor can they

  have enough of the din of all-leveling war!

  There is satiety in all things, even sleep and even love,

  and in sweet song and blameless dance;

  surely a man hopes for satisfaction from those things more than

  from war. But the Trojans are insatiate of battle.”

  So speaking blameless Menelaos stripped the bloody armor640

  from the corpse and gave it to his comrades,

  and he going back again
took his place among the frontline fighters.

  But then there sprang at him King Pylaimenes’ son

  Harpalion, who followerd his beloved father to take part in the fight

  at Troy, nor did he again reach his fatherland;

  Harpalion stabbed the shield of the son of Atreus in the middle,

  at close quarters with his spear; but he was not able to drive his bronze spear through,

  and withdrew back into the band of his companions shunning death,

  darting glances all around him, lest someone graze him with their spear.

  But as he was departing Meriones let fly an arrow tipped with bronze,650

  and struck him on the right buttock; and the arrow

  made its way straight on through beneath the bone, down through the bladder.

  Sitting there, in the arms of his beloved companions,

  breathing his life forth, like a worm he lay outstretched

  upon the ground; and the dark blood flowed forth, and soaked the earth.

  And the great-hearted Paphlagonians attended upon him,

  and setting him in a chariot they led him to sacred Ilion

  grieving. And among them went his father pouring tears;

  nor was there any recompense for his son’s dying.

  But Paris was greatly angered in his heart that he was killed;660

  for he used to be his guest friend among the many Paphlagonians;

  and angered for his sake he let fly a bronze-tipped arrow.

  And there was a certain Euchenor, the son of the seer Polyidos,

  a rich man and a brave man, who had his home in Corinth,

  and who embarked upon his ship well knowing his deadly fate;

  for many times the old man, brave Polyidos, told him

  that he would waste away with painful disease in his own halls,

  or be broken under Trojan hands among the ships of the Achaeans.

  Thus he chose to avoid both the Achaeans’ harsh fine for deserters

  and hateful disease, so that his spirit not endure such sufferings.670

  This was the man Paris struck under the jaw and ear; in an instant his spirit

  was gone from his limbs, and the hateful darkness took him.

  So they fought like blazing fire.

  And Hector beloved of Zeus had not heard, nor did he know

  that on the left of the ships his people were being killed

  by the Argives—and an Achaean victory would soon have

  come about; for such a one as the earth-holding Shaker of the Earth

  rallied the Argives, and defended them too with his own strength.

  But Hector held steady to where he first attacked the gates and wall

  after shattering the close-set ranks of Danaan spearmen.680

  There the ships of Ajax and Protesilaos were

  drawn up on the shore of the gray salt sea; and above these

  the wall stood lowest; there more than anywhere

  the men and even horses were the most formidable in the fighting.

  And there the Boeotians and Ionians with their trailing robes,

  the Locrians and Phthians and the glorious Epeans

  with difficulty held him from the ships as he sprang forward—they were not able

  to force brilliant flamelike Hector from them—

  nor could the Athenians’ chosen men, among whom

  Menestheus the son of Peteos was leader, and with him followed 690

  Pheidas and Stichios and goodly Bias; and the leaders of the Epeans

  were Meges the son of Phyleus and Amphion and Drakios;

  and at the head of the Phthians were steadfast Medon and Podarkes.

  Now Medon was the bastard son of godlike Oïleus,

  and a brother of Ajax, but he was living

  in Phylake, away from his fatherland, having killed a man there,

  the kinsman of his stepmother Eriopis, she whom Oïleus married;

  but Podarkes was the child of Iphiklos, son of Phylakos.

  These under arms at the head of the great-hearted Phthians

  fought alongside the Boeotians defending the ships.700

  And Ajax the swift son of Oïleus would never, not at all,

  take his stand apart from Telamonian Ajax, not even a little,

  but as in a fallow field two dark-faced oxen pull a sturdy plow,

  equal in spirit, and around the base of their horns

  heavy sweat streams forth—

  only the well-polished yoke keeps the two apart

  as they strain along the furrow, and reach the edge of the field—

  so the two men stood firm side by side with each other.

  And many men indeed, and noble men, followed the son of Telamon

  as companions, who relieved him of his shield,710

  whenever sweat and fatigue gripped his knees;

  but the great-hearted Locrians did not accompany the son of Oïleus;

  for they had not the strength to stand firm in close combat.

  They did not possess bronze-fitted helmets crested with horsehair,

  nor did they have well-rounded shields and ash-wood spears,

  but trusting in bows and in twisted woolen slings

  they had followed along to Ilion, and with these,

  volleying thick and fast, they shattered the ranks of Trojans.

  So now others in their elaborate war-gear fought at the front

  with the Trojans and Hector of the brazen helm,720

  while the Locrians were concealed as they volleyed from behind; and the Trojans forgot

  their will to fight, roiled by the arrows.

  Then would the Trojans shamefully have withdrawn

  from the ships and from the shelters to windswept Ilion,

  had not Poulydamas come up to address bold Hector:

  “Hector, it is impossible to guide you with words of persuasion.

  Because god gave you feats of war in abundance,

  do you therefore also seek to surpass others in skill of counsel?

  You cannot take for yourself all gifts together;

  god granted to one man feats of war,730

  to another skill in dance, to another the lyre and song,

  and in the breast of another far-thundering Zeus placed

  outstanding judgment, and many are the men who profit from it,

  since he saves many, and he himself knows this most of all.

  So then I will speak as it seems best to me.

  On all sides the circle of war blazes round you;

  the great-hearted Trojans—since they came over the wall

  some stand aloof and idle in their armor, others are doing battle

  as fewer men against greater numbers, having been dispersed among the ships.

  So draw back and summon all the best men here;740

  from this point we might devise a comprehensive plan—

  either we could fall upon the many-oared ships,

  if god should chose to give us strength, or thereafter

  we might depart from the ships unscathed. For indeed I

  fear lest the Achaeans pay back the debt of yesterday,

  since beside their ships there still remains a man insatiate

  of war, whom I think will not hold back much longer from the fighting.”

  So spoke Poulydamas and his words of caution found favor with Hector.

  At once he sprang from his chariot in his armor to the ground

  And lifting his voice addressed him with winged words:750

  “Poulydamas, you keep all the best men assembled here,

  and I am going over there and will meet the fighting.

  I will come back quickly, when I have well instructed them.”

  He spoke, and set out like a dazzling snow-clad mountain,

  shouting, and swept through the Trojans and their allies.

  All the rest hurried toward Poulydamas, the gracious son of Panthoös,

  since they h
eeded Hector’s words.

  But Hector made his way through the front ranks seeking

  Deïphobos and mighty lord Helenos

  and Adamas son of Asios and Asios son of Hyrtakos, in the hope that he would come upon them.760

  And he found them no longer unharmed, in no way unscathed,

  but some lay by the stern of the Achaean ships

  having lost their lives at Argive hands,

  others were inside the city wall wounded by spear and sword.

  At the left wing of this woeful battle he soon found

  Alexandros the godlike, husband of Helen of the lovely hair,

  encouraging his companions and stirring them on to battle.

  And standing close Hector addressed him with slighting words:

  “Accursed Paris, outstanding only in beauty, woman crazed, seducer,

  where is Deïphobos and mighty lord Helenos770

  and Adamas son of Asios and Asios son of Hyrtakos,

  where is Othryoneus? Now headlong the whole

  of lofty Ilion is destroyed; now is your own sheer destruction certain.”

  Then in turn Alexandros godlike in beauty answered him:

  “Hector, since it is your desire to blame the blameless—

  at another time before I may have held back more from fighting,

  but mother did not bear me to be an utter coward.

  For from the moment you stirred your comrades to do battle by the ships,

  from that time we remaining here have been fighting the Danaans

  without ceasing. Some companions have died, of those you ask;780

  only Deïphobos and mighty lord Helenos

  have left the field, wounded by long spears,

  both on the arm; the son of Cronus warded off their deaths.

  Now lead on, wherever your heart and spirit bid.

  We eagerly will follow with you, nor do I think

  we lack courage, as far as our strength goes;

  beyond his strength not even a zealous man can fight.”

  So speaking the warrior won over his brother’s heart;

  and setting out they went, where the fighting and outcry were greatest,

  around Kebriones and blameless Poulydamas,790

  Phalkes and Orthaios and godlike Polyphetes

  and Palmys and Askanios and Morys, sons of Hippotion,

  who had both come as reserves from rich-soiled Askania

  only the morning before, and now Zeus roused them to do battle.

  They went like a stormy blast of baneful wind

  that with the thunder of father Zeus descends to earth,

  and amid sublime uproar hits the ocean, where curl the endless