by Homer
Then they fitted the yoke skillfully onto the well-polished wagon pole,
at the front end, and cast the ring over its peg,
and they bound the thong three times on each side to the nob, and then
secured it with a series of turns, and tucked the end under.
And carrying it from the storeroom they piled onto the polished wagon
the vast ransom for the head of Hector.
They yoked the mules, strong-footed, working in harness,
which in time before the Mysians gave as glorious gifts to Priam.
And for Priam they led under the yoke the horses that the old man,
keeping them for himself, tended at their well-polished manger.280
So the herald and Priam were having the animals yoked in the
high-roofed house, a flurry of thoughts in their minds.
And Hecuba with stricken heart drew near them,
carrying in her right hand in a cup of gold
wine that is sweet to the mind, so that they might set out after making libation.
She stood before the horses, and spoke to Priam and said his name:
“Here, pour an offering to Zeus the father, and pray that you come home,
back from the enemy men, since your heart drives you
to the ships, although I do not wish it.
Come, pray then to the son of Cronus of the black cloud290
on Ida, who looks down upon the whole of Troy,
and ask for a bird of omen, the swift messenger that for him
is most prized of birds and whose strength is greatest,
to fly to the right, so that you yourself, marking it with your eyes,
may go trusting in it to the ships of the Danaans of swift horses.
But if far-thundering Zeus does not send you his messenger,
I would surely not then urge or bid you,
go to the Argive ships, for all you are determined.”
Then answering her spoke godlike Priam:
“O my woman, I will not disobey what you demand;300
for it is good to raise ones hands to Zeus, that he might have mercy.”
He spoke, and the old man called on the handmaid attendant
to pour clean water on their hands; and the maid came up beside him
holding in her hands both a water bowl and pouring jug.
And after washing his hands Priam took the cup from his wife.
Then standing in the middle of his court he prayed, and poured a wine libation
as he looked toward the heavens, and lifting his voice he spoke:
“Father Zeus, ruling from Mount Ida, most glorious and greatest,
grant that I come as one welcomed to the shelter of Achilles and that he pity me.
And send a bird, your swift messenger, which for you yourself310
is most prized of birds and whose strength is greatest,
to fly to the right, so that I myself, marking it with my eyes,
may go trusting in it to the ships of the Danaans of swift horses.”
So he spoke in prayer, and Zeus all-devising heard him,
and he sent at once an eagle, the surest omen of winged birds,
the dusky hunter men call the darkly-spangled one.
As wide as the door of a lofty room is made
in the house of a wealthy man, strong-fitted with bolts,
so wide were its wings on either side; and it appeared to them
on the right as it swept through the city. And seeing it they320
rejoiced, and the spirit in the breasts of all was lifted.
Then in haste the old man mounted his polished chariot,
and drove out of the gateway and echoing colonnade.
In front, drawing the four wheeled wagon, went the mules,
which skillful Idaios the herald was driving; then the horses behind,
which the old man as he guided urged with his whip swiftly on
through the city. And all his dear ones followed with him
lamenting greatly, as if he were going to his death.
Then when they descended from the city and reached the plain,
the rest, turning back, returned to Ilion,330
the sons and the husbands of his daughters; but the two men did not escape the notice
of far-thundering Zeus as they came into view upon the plain, and he pitied the old man as he saw him
and swiftly spoke to Hermes his dear son:
“Hermes, it pleases you beyond all other gods
to act as man’s companion, and you listen to whomever you will;
go now, and lead Priam to the hollow ships of the Achaeans
in such a way that none of the other Danaans sees him,
no one notices, until he arrives at the shelter of the son of Peleus.”
So he spoke; nor did the messenger, the Slayer of Argos, disobey.
Straightway he bound beneath his feet his splendid sandals340
immortal, golden, which carried him over the water
and over the boundless earth with the breath of the wind;
he took up his wand, with which he charms the eyes
of whichever men he wishes, and rouses them again when they have slumbered;
and taking this in his hands the mighty Slayer of Argos flew away.
Swiftly he arrived at Troy and at the Hellespont;
then he set out in the likeness of a noble youth
with his first beard, which is when early manhood is most graceful.
And when Priam and Idaios had driven beyond the great burial mound of Ilos,
then they brought the mules and horses to a stand at the river,350
so they could drink; for dusk by now had come upon the earth.
And as he looked, the herald caught sight of Hermes
drawing close from nearby, and raising his voice he spoke to Priam:
“Take care, son of Dardanos; there is need for a cautious mind.
I see a man, and I think we two will soon be torn to pieces.
Come, let us flee with the horses, or if not
let us take hold of his knees and beg, in the hope that he have mercy.”
So he spoke; and the old man’s mind was in turmoil, and he was dreadfully afraid,
and the hair stood up on his bent limbs,
and he stood stupefied. But the Runner himself drawing near360
and taking the old man’s hand, inquired of him and addressed him:
“Whither, father, do you guide your mules and horses so
through the ambrosial night, when other mortal men are sleeping?
Do you have no fear of the Achaeans, who breathe fury,
hostile men and your enemy, who are near?
If any one of them should see you leading so much treasure
through the black fast-moving night, what then would be your plan?
You yourself are not young, and this man who attends you is too old
for driving men away, who might step forth in violence.
But I will do nothing to harm you, and will keep any other man370
from you who would; for I liken you to my own father.”
Then old Priam, like a god, answered him:
“These things are much as you say, dear child.
But still one of the gods has surely stretched his hands above me,
who sent such a lucky wayfarer as you to fall in with me,
for such is your build and wonderful beauty,
and you have good sense in your mind; yours are blessed parents.”
Then in turn the messenger and Slayer of Argos addressed him:
“Yes, all these things, old man, you rightly say.
But come and tell me this and relate it exactly;380
either you are sending away somewhere your many fine possessions
to men in other lands, so that they stay there safe for you,
or you are all abandoning sacred Ilion
in fear; for such a man, t
he best, has fallen,
your son; for he held nothing back in fight with the Achaeans.”
Then old Priam, like a god, answered him:
“Who are you, my good friend, and who are your parents?
How well you tell the fate of my unhappy son.”
Then in turn the messenger and Slayer of Argos addressed him:
“You test me, old man, when you ask of brilliant Hector.390
The man whom many times I saw with my own eyes
in battle where men win glory, and when he drove the Argives
to the ships and kept killing them as he slashed with his sharp bronze sword.
We stood by looking on in wonder; for Achilles
did not permit us to join the fight, being angered with the son of Atreus.
For I am a companion-in-arms of Achilles, and the same well-made ship brought us both.
I come from the Myrmidons, and my father is Polyktor.
He is a wealthy man, but he is old now, just as you;
He has six sons, and I am his seventh;
having shaken lots among us, it fell to me to follow here.400
And now I have come to the plain from the ships; for at dawn
the dark-eyed Achaeans will deploy for battle round the city.
For these men have grown impatient sitting around, nor can the
Achaean kings restrain them in their eagerness for war.”
Then old Priam, like a god, answered him:
“If you are a companion of Peleus’ son Achilles,
come and tell me the whole truth,
whether my son is still by the ships, or whether Achilles
has cut him limb from limb and already thrown him to his dogs.”
Then in turn the messenger and Slayer of Argos addressed him:410
“O old man, the dogs have not eaten him at all, nor the birds,
but he lies there still beside Achilles’ ship
among the shelters, just as he was. It is now the twelfth day
he has been lying, and his body has not decayed at all, nor have the worms
gnawed at him, which consume men slain in battle.
It is true Achilles drags him heedlessly around the tomb
of his companion, when the bright dawn shows forth,
but does not disfigure him; you yourself would wonder at this, going there,
how he lies fresh like the dew, and he is wholly cleansed of blood,
there is no stain anywhere; all the wounds have closed together,420
all the wounds that he was struck; for many men drove their bronze weapons into him.
So do the blessed gods care for your noble son
although he is dead, since he was very dear to their hearts.”
So he spoke; and the old man rejoiced, and answered with a word:
“O child, surely it is a good thing to give the immortals
their proper gifts, since never did my son—if ever he was—
forget in his halls the gods who hold Olympus;
they remembered in turn these offerings even in his fated death.
But come and accept this beautiful two-handled cup from me,
and give me your protection, and with the gods escort me,430
until I come to the shelter of the son of Peleus.”
Then in turn the messenger and Slayer of Argos addressed him:
“You make trial of my youth, old man, but you will not persuade me,
who bid me accept your gifts behind Achilles’ back.
I fear him and in my heart I shrink
to rob him, lest something evil befall me later.
But with all kindness I would be your escort even should we go all the way
to famous Argos, whether by swift ship, or accompanying you on foot;
and no man would fight with you, making light of your escort.”
He spoke and springing onto the horse-drawn chariot the Runner440
swiftly took the whip and reins into his hands,
and breathed a brave spirit into the mules and horses.
And when they reached the fortifications of the ships and the ditch—
the watch guards were just beginning to busy themselves with their meals—
then the messenger Argeïphontes poured sleep upon them
all, and straightway opened the gates and pushed back the bolts,
and led in Priam and the glorious gifts upon the wagon.
And when they came before the towering quarters of the son of Peleus—
which the Myrmidons had built for their lord,
cutting logs of fir, and thatched it above450
after gathering bristling reeds from the meadow;
and all around it they built for their lord a great courtyard
with close-set stakes; a single bolt made of fir secured its door,
a bolt that three Achaean men would drive shut,
and three men would draw the great bolt back from its door,
three other men, but Achilles would drive it shut even on his own—
there Hermes the Runner opened it for the old man,
and brought inside the illustrious gifts for the swift-footed son of Peleus.
He descended from behind the horses to the ground and spoke:
“Old sir, I, a divine god, came to your aid;460
I am Hermes; for my father sent me to accompany you as escort.
Yet I shall be quick to go back, nor will I enter into Achilles’ sight;
for it would be cause for anger
should a mortal man entertain a god in this way, face-to-face.
But you go in and take hold of the knees of the son of Peleus;
and make your prayer in the name of his father and his mother of the lovely hair and his son, so that you stir his heart.”
Thus speaking, Hermes departed for high Olympus.
And Priam leapt from behind his horses to the ground,
and left Idaios there; and he remained470
guarding the mules and horses. The old man went straight toward the quarters,
where Achilles beloved of Zeus would always sit, and found him
inside; his companions were sitting apart; two alone,
the warrior Automedon and Alkimos, companion of Ares,
were busy by him. He had just finished his meal,
eating and drinking, and the table still lay beside him.
Unseen by these men great Priam entered, then standing close
with his arms he clasped Achilles’ knees and kissed the
terrible man-slaughtering hands, which had killed his many sons.
As when madness closes tight upon a man who after killing someone480
in his own land, arrives in the country of others,
at a rich man’s house, and wonder grips those looking on,
so Achilles looked in wonder at godlike Priam,
and the others in wonder, too, looked each toward the other.
And in supplication Priam addressed him:
“Remember your father, godlike Achilles,
The same age as I, on the ruinous threshold of old age.
And perhaps those who dwell around surround him and
bear hard upon him, nor is there anyone to ward off harm and destruction.
Yet surely when he hears you are living490
he rejoices in his heart and hopes for all his days
to see his beloved son returning from Troy.
But I am fated utterly, since I sired the best sons
in broad Troy, but I say not one of them is left.
Fifty were my sons, when the sons of the Achaeans came;
nineteen were born to me from the womb of the same mother,
and the rest the women in my palace bore to me.
Of these furious Ares has made slack the knees of many;
he who alone was left to me, he alone protected our city and those inside it,
him it was you lately killed as he fought to defend his country,500
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Hector. And for his sake I come now to the ships of the Achaeans
to win his release from you, and I bear an untold ransom.
Revere the gods, Achilles, and have pity upon me,
remembering your father; for I am yet more pitiful,
and have endured such things as no other mortal man upon the earth,
drawing to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son.”
So he spoke; and he stirred in the other a yearning to weep for his own father,
and taking hold of his hand he gently pushed the old man away.
And the two remembered, the one weeping without cessation for
man-slaughtering Hector as he lay curled before Achilles’ feet,510
and Achilles wept for his own father, and then again for
Patroclus; and the sound of their lament was raised throughout the hall.
But when godlike Achilles had taken his fill of lamentation
and the yearning had gone from his breast and very limbs,
he rose suddenly from his seat, and raised the old man by the hand,
pitying his gray head and gray beard,
and lifting his voice he addressed him with winged word:
“Poor soul, surely you have endured much evil in your heart.
How did you dare to go to the Achaean ships alone,
into the sight of a man who killed your many and your noble520
sons? Your heart is iron.
But come and seat yourself upon the chair, and let us leave these sorrows
lying undisturbed within our hearts, grieving though we are;
for there is no profit in grief that numbs the heart.
For thus have the gods spun the thread of destiny for wretched mortals,
that we live in sorrow; and they themselves are free from care.
For two urns lie stored on the floor of Zeus
full of such gifts as he gives, one of evil, the other of good.
Should Zeus who delights in thunder bestow mixed lots upon a man,
he will sometimes meet with evil, another time with good;530
but should he give to a man only from the urn of woe, he renders him the object of abuse,
and grinding distress drives him across the shining earth,
and he roams, esteemed by neither gods nor mortals.
Thus to Peleus too the gods gave shining gifts
from his birth; for he surpassed all men
in happiness and wealth, and was lord of the Myrmidons,
and to him, mortal though he was, they gave a goddess as his wife;
but to even him god gave evil, since
in his halls was born no line of lordly sons,
but he begot a single all-untimely child; nor do I care for him540