The Iliad (Trans. Caroline Alexander)

by Homer

  after him Meriones drew his lot; and last in his turn

  the son of Tydeus, far the best of them, drew to drive his horses.

  All in a line they took position, and Achilles pointed out the turning place

  in the distance on the level plain; he had set as lookout

  godlike Phoinix, his father’s attendant,360

  so that he might observe the running and make a true report.

  Together they all raised their whips above their horses,

  and shook their reins and shouted with urgent words;

  and straightway the horses set out across the plain,

  far from the ships; beneath their chests the rising dust

  hung like a cloud or whirling storm,

  and their manes flowed along with the gusts of the wind.

  And now the chariots skimmed close to the nourishing earth,

  now again they would fly in midair; but their drivers

  stood firm in their chariot cars, the heart of each beating hard370

  as he strained for victory. Each man called to his horses;

  and they flew on raising dust across the plain.

  But when the swift horses were completing the last stretch of the course

  back toward the gray salt sea, then was each man’s prowess

  displayed; now the horses ran full stretch; at once

  the swift-footed mares of Eumelos, Pheres’ grandson, shot ahead,

  and after them raced Diomedes’ stallions,

  Trojan horses, nor were they far behind at all, but so close

  they seemed ever on the point of mounting Eumelos’ very chariot,

  and the back and broad shoulders of Eumelos himself380

  were hot with their breath; so with their heads leaning over him, the horses flew on.

  And now would Diomedes have driven past or made a dead heat,

  had not Phoebus Apollo become angered with Tydeus’ son,

  and struck the shining whip from his hands.

  The tears flowed from Diomedes’ eyes in rage,

  as he watched the mares of Eumelos advancing far ahead,

  while his own horses were slowed, running without a whip.

  But Apollo’s cheating of the son of Tydeus did not escape

  Athena, and at once she rushed after the shepherd of the people,

  and gave him his whip, and placed furious strength in his horses;390

  then in rage she made after the son of Admetos;

  the goddess smashed the horses’ yoke, his steeds

  bolted the track to either side, and the yoke-pole was bent to the ground;

  Eumelos himself was spun from his chariot beside the wheel.

  All around his elbow he was torn, all around his mouth and nose,

  his forehead smashed above the brows; his eyes

  filled with tears, and his strong full voice was checked.

  And the son of Tydeus, veering aside, drove on his single-hoofed horses,

  bounding far ahead of the others; for Athena had cast

  furious strength within his horses, and to him she gave glory.400

  And after him came fair-haired Menelaos.

  But Antilochos called to his father’s horses:

  “Get on, you two as well; stretch as fast as you can.

  I am not ordering you to challenge them—

  the horses of the brilliant son of Tydeus, to whom Athena

  has now granted speed and given glory—

  but catch the horses of the son of Atreus, quickly,

  do not be left behind, lest Aithe, who is female,

  pour disgrace upon you both. Why are you left behind, brave ones?

  For I declare this, and it will surely be accomplished;410

  there will be no care for you two from Nestor shepherd of the people,

  but he will straightway kill you both with his sharp bronze sword,

  if for your slackness we carry the lesser prize.

  Come, stick with them and make all speed you can;

  I will think of a way and contrive things

  to slip past where the track narrows—he will not escape me!”

  So he spoke; and in fear before their master’s threats

  they ran the harder in pursuit in a burst of speed. And soon

  steadfast Antilochos spied the narrowing of the hollowed track;

  there was a fissure in the ground, where gathered storm water420

  had broken off part of the track, and hollowed the land all round.

  Here Menelaos drove, avoiding running the chariots together;

  but Antilochos, veering, held his single-hoofed horses

  off the track and, swerving a little, gave pursuit.

  And Atreus’ son became afraid and shouted out to Antilochos:

  “Antilochos, you are driving recklessly; come, check your horses—

  for the road looks narrow, it will soon be broader for you to pass—

  check them, lest you harm us both as you hit me with your chariot!”

  So he spoke; but Antilochos drove yet the harder

  urging with his whip, as if he did not hear.430

  As far as the range of a discus that a young man

  hurls from the shoulder, making trial of his youthful strength,

  for so far did the two teams race neck and neck together; then the son of Atreus’ mares

  dropped behind; for by choice Menelaos slackened his driving,

  lest the single-hoofed horses crash on the track

  and upset the strong-bound chariots, and the men

  fall in the dust as they pressed for victory.

  And rebuking him, fair-haired Menelaos cried:

  “Antilochos, no other man is more dangerous than you!

  Go to damnation—we Achaeans falsely said that you had sense!440

  But you will never bear off the prize like this without swearing to an oath.”

  So speaking, he urged and called to his horses:

  “Do not hold back on me now, nor stand about for all your hearts are grieving;

  their feet and knees will tire

  before yours do; for they have been robbed of their youthful vigor.”

  So he spoke; and in fear before their master’s rebuke

  the horses ran the harder in pursuit, and soon closed on the others.

  And the Argives sitting in assembly were watching for

  the horses, which were flying in a cloud of dust across the plain.

  Idomeneus, commander of the Cretans, marked them first;450

  for he sat outside the assembly, higher up, on a place where he could see all round.

  And hearing a driver in the distance urging his horses,

  he recognized him, and made out the horse conspicuous in the lead,

  who was almost completely chestnut, but on his forehead

  was a white blaze, circular like the moon.

  Then Idomeneus stood up and spoke his word among the Argives:

  “O friends, leaders and counselors of the Argives,

  do I alone discern the horses, or do you too?

  Other horses seem to me to be in front,

  and some other charioteer appears; somewhere out there the mares460

  came to grief upon the plain, they who going out were strongest;

  for those I saw racing first around the turn,

  I can see nowhere now, though my eyes are looking everywhere

  across the Trojan plain as I keep watching;

  perhaps the reins escaped the charioteer and he was not able

  to hold them well around the post, and did not complete the turn.

  I suspect he fell out there and smashed his chariot,

  and the mares swerved off course, when frenzy seized them.

  But stand and see for yourselves; for I do not

  make them out well, but the man who leads seems to me to be470

  Aetolian by birth, and rules among the Argives—

  the son of horse-breaking Tydeus, p
owerful Diomedes.”

  But Ajax, swift son of Oïleus, reviled him scornfully:

  “Idomeneus, why do you always bluster? The high-stepping mares still

  race far away over the vast plain.

  You are not the youngest of the Argives,

  nor do the eyes in your head see the sharpest.

  Always you bluster with your words; there is no need for you

  to be a windy speaker; other better men are here.

  The same horses are at the front that were before,480

  the mares of Eumelos, and he it is who drives them.”

  Then in anger the Cretan commander spoke against him:

  “Ajax, best in abuse, bad in counsel, and in all else

  inferior to the Argives, because your mind is unyielding—

  come now, let us wager a tripod, or a cauldron,

  and let us both make Agamemnon son of Atreus the judge,

  as to which horses are first, so that you may learn when you pay the penalty.”

  So he spoke; and immediately swift Ajax son of Oïleus rose up

  in anger to retort with hard words.

  And now would the strife between them both have gone still further,490

  had not Achilles himself risen and spoken a word:

  “No longer now exchange hard words,

  Ajax and Idomeneus, evil words, since it is not becoming;

  you would censure another man doing such things.

  But take your seats in the assembly and watch for

  the horses; soon they will arrive here

  as they press for victory; then you will each know

  which Argive horses are second, which are first.”

  So he spoke; and the son of Tydeus soon came racing,

  ever driving with a whip stroke from the shoulder, and his horses’500

  feet were lifted high as they sped along the course;

  and always the gritty dust spattered the charioteer,

  and the chariot plated with gold and tin

  ran on the heels of the swift-footed horses; nor was there much

  of a wheel track in the shallow dust

  behind; and the horses, pressing hard, flew on.

  Diomedes brought them to a stand in the middle of the assembly,

  profuse sweat poured from the horses’ necks and chests to the ground;

  and he leapt down from his gleaming chariot,

  and leaned his whip against the yoke. Strong Sthenelos510

  lost no time, and was quick to collect the prize,

  and gave the woman to their high-hearted companions to lead away

  and the handled tripod for them to carry; then he unyoked the horses.

  Antilochos, grandson of Neleus, drove his horses after him,

  outstripping Menelaos by cunning, and not by speed;

  even so Menelaos held his fast horses to follow close.

  As far from the wheel as stands a horse who pulls his master

  as he strains across the plain with his chariot—

  and the tip of his tail just touches the wheel behind,

  because he runs so close, nor is there much520

  space between, when he races over the great plain—

  by so much was Menelaos left behind by blameless Antilochos;

  although at first behind by as much as a discus throw,

  he had swiftly gained on him, for the noble fighting spirit

  of Agamemnon’s mare, Aithe of the lovely mane, had surged.

  And if the running had been yet farther for them both,

  then would Menelaos have overtaken him, nor would there have been dispute.

  Meriones, noble attendant of Idomeneus,

  was left behind by glorious Menelaos by as much as a spear is thrown;

  for his fair-maned horses were the slowest,530

  and he himself the weakest chariot driver in the race.

  And the son of Admetos came last of them all,

  dragging his splendid chariot, driving his horses before him.

  And seeing him, swift-footed godlike Achilles had pity,

  and standing up he spoke winged words to the Argive assembly:

  “The best man at driving single-hoofed horses came last.

  Come, let us give him, as is fitting, a prize

  for second place; and the first prizes let the son of Tydeus bear away.”

  So he spoke; and all the men expressed approval, as he urged.

  And now he would have given Eumelos the mare, as the Achaeans approved,540

  had not Antilochos, son of great-hearted Nestor,

  rising to speak, answered Peleus’ son Achilles with a plea for justice:

  “O Achilles, I will be greatly angered with you, if you fulfill

  your word; for you intend to take away my prize,

  thinking of this, that his chariot and fast horses came to harm,

  as did he himself, for all his skill. Well, he should have prayed

  to the immortal gods; then he would not have come last of all as he raced.

  But if you pity him and he is dear to your heart,

  you have much gold in your shelter, you have bronze

  and cattle, and you have slave girls and single-hoofed horses;550

  take from them and give him a greater prize, later

  or even right now, so the Achaeans will applaud you.

  But the mare I will not give; and let the man who wants try his luck

  for her and fight me with his hands.”

  So he spoke; and swift-footed godlike Achilles smiled,

  delighting in Antilochos, since he was his dear companion,

  and answering him he spoke winged words:

  “Antilochos, if you now bid me add something else from my store

  for Eumelos, so then I will accomplish this.

  I will give him the breastplate that I took from Asteropaios,560

  of bronze, an overlay of shining tin set in a circle

  about it; it will be worth much to him.”

  He spoke, and bade Automedon, his dear companion,

  carry it from his shelter; and he left and brought it to him.564

  But Menelaos also rose among them aggrieved at heart,566

  filled with furious anger for Antilochos; and into his hands the herald

  placed the speaker’s staff, and ordered the Argives

  to be silent. Then Menelaos, a man like a god, addressed them:

  “Antilochos, you who had good sense before, what have you done?570

  You have discredited my valor, thwarting my horses,

  hurling yours ahead, which were far inferior.

  Now come, Argive leaders and counselors,

  judge between us impartially, without favor to either,

  lest some one of the bronze-clad Argives ever say,

  ‘Menelaos after besting Antilochos with his lies

  went away leading the prize mare, because though his horses were far

  inferior, he himself was greater in rank and power.’

  Come now, I myself will propose judgment, and I think no other man

  of the Danaans will fault me; for this is fair.580

  Antilochos, god-cherished, come on now over here, as is right and proper,

  stand up before your horses and your chariot, take that supple whip

  in hand, with which you drove before;

  lay hold of your horses and swear by Poseidon, the earth-holding Shaker of the Earth,

  that you did not intentionally impede my chariot with your cunning trick.”

  Then in turn wise Antilochos gave him answer:

  “Hold off now; for I am indeed much younger than you,

  lord Menelaos, and you are older and more worthy.

  You know what sort of transgressions arise from a man who is young;

  his mind is more impetuous, and his judgment shallow.590

  So let your heart forbear; I will give the horse to you myself,

  the mare I won. And if you shou
ld ask for something greater as well

  from my store, then at once, without hesitation I would rather give it

  to you, god-cherished one, than for all my days

  fall from your heart’s favor and be culpable before the gods.”

  He spoke, and leading the horse, the son of great-hearted Nestor

  put her in Menelaos’ hands. And the heart of Menelaos

  melted, like dew about the grain

  of a ripening stand of corn, when the plowlands are bristling;

  so, Menelaos, your heart melted within your breast.600

  And speaking winged words he addressed the other:

  “Antilochos, although angered I will now

  yield to you, since you were neither wild nor witless

  before, and this time your youth won over your wits.

  But stay clear of trying this trick on your betters again.

  For any other of the Achaeans would not have prevailed on me so quickly;

  but you have already suffered much and toiled much

  because of me, you and your good father and brother, too.

  Therefore I yield to your petition, and I shall even return the mare,

  although she is mine, so that these men may know610

  that my heart was never arrogant or harsh.”

  He spoke, and gave the mare to Noëmon, the companion of Antilochos,

  to lead away; then he carried off the gleaming cauldron;

  and Meriones took up the two talents of gold

  in fourth place, as he had driven. And there remained the fifth prize,

  the two-handled jar; this Achilles gave to Nestor,

  carrying it through the Argive assembly, and coming up to him, he spoke:

  “Here now, old sir, and let this be your treasure,

  to be a remembrance of the funeral of Patroclus; for you will not again

  see him among the Argives; I give this prize to you620

  without contest; for you will not fight with your fists, nor will you wrestle,

  nor take part in the throwing of spears, nor race with your feet;

  for already hard age bears upon you.”

  So speaking he placed it in his hands; and Nestor received it rejoicing,

  and speaking winged words, he addressed him:

  “Truly, my son, you speak all these things properly:

  for my limbs are no longer steady on my feet, dear boy, nor do my arms

  nimbly shoot out from my shoulders, left and right!

  Would that I were young and my strength were steadfast,

  as that time when the Epeans buried lord Amarynkeus630

  at Bouprasion, and his sons laid on games for the king!

  There no man was my equal, not among the Epeans,