Roll’d the large orbs of her majestic eyes,
And thus return’d: ‘Austere Saturnius, say,
From whence this wrath, or who controls thy sway? 715
Thy boundless will, for me, remains in force,
And all thy counsels take the destin’d course.
But ‘t is for Greece I fear: for late was seen
In close consult the Silver-footed Queen.
Jove to his Thetis nothing could deny, 720
Nor was the signal vain that shook the sky.
What fatal favour has the Goddess won,
To grace her fierce inexorable son?
Perhaps in Grecian blood to drench the plain,
And glut his vengeance with my people slain.’ 725
Then thus the God: ‘Oh restless fate of pride,
That strives to learn what Heav’n resolves to hide;
Vain is the search, presumptuous and abhorr’d,
Anxious to thee, and odious to thy Lord.
Let this suffice: th’ immutable decree 730
No force can shake: what is, that ought to be.
Goddess, submit, nor dare our will withstand,
But dread the power of this avenging hand;
Th’ united strength of all the Gods above
In vain resist th’ omnipotence of Jove.’ 735
The Thund’rer spoke, nor durst the Queen reply;
A rev’rend horror silenced all the sky.
The feast disturb’d, with sorrow Vulcan saw
His mother menaced, and the Gods in awe;
Peace at his heart, and pleasure his design, 740
Thus interposed the architect divine:
‘The wretched quarrels of the mortal state
Are far unworthy, Gods! of your debate:
Let men their days in senseless strife employ,
We, in eternal peace, and constant joy. 745
Thou, Goddess-mother, with our sire comply,
Nor break the sacred union of the sky:
Lest, rous’d to rage, he shake the blest abodes,
Launch the red lightning, and dethrone the Gods.
If you submit, the Thund’rer stands appeas’d; 750
The gracious Power is willing to be pleas’d.’
Thus Vulcan spoke; and, rising with a bound,
The double bowl with sparkling nectar crown’d,
Which held to Juno in a cheerful way,
‘Goddess’ (he cried), ‘be patient and obey. 755
Dear as you are, if Jove his arm extend,
I can but grieve, unable to defend.
What God so daring in your aid to move,
Or lift his hand against the force of Jove?
Once in your cause I felt his matchless might, 760
Hurl’d headlong downward from th’ ethereal height;
Toss’d all the day in rapid circles round;
Nor, till the sun descended, touch’d the ground:
Breathless I fell, in giddy motion lost;
The Sinthians rais’d me on the Lemnian coast.’ 765
He said, and to her hands the goblet heav’d,
Which, with a smile, the white-arm’d Queen receiv’d.
Then to the rest he fill’d; and, in his turn,
Each to his lips applied the nectar’d urn.
Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies, 770
And unextinguish’d laughter shakes the skies.
Thus the blest Gods the genial day prolong,
In feasts ambrosial, and celestial song.
Apollo tuned the lyre; the Muses round
With voice alternate aid the silver sound. 775
Meantime the radiant sun, to mortal sight
Descending swift, roll’d down the rapid light.
Then to their starry domes the Gods depart,
The shining monuments of Vulcan’s art:
Jove on his couch reclin’d his awful head, 780
And Juno slumber’d on the golden bed.
Iliad Book II. The Trial of the Army and Catalogue of the Forces
THE ARGUMENT
Jupiter, in pursuance of the request of Thetis, sends a deceitful vision to Agamemnon, persuading him to lead the army to battle; in order to make the Greeks sensible of their want of Achilles. The general, who is deluded with the hopes of taking Troy without his assistance, but fears the army was discouraged by his absence and the late plague, as well as by length of time, contrives to make trial of their disposition by a stratagem. He first communicates his design to the Princes in council, that he would propose a return to the soldiers, and that they should put a stop to them if the proposal was embraced. Then he assembles the whole host, and upon moving for a return to Greece, they unanimously agree to it, and run to prepare the ships. They are detained by the management of Ulysses, who chastises the insolence of Thersites. The assembly is recalled, several speeches made on the occasion, and at length the advice of Nestor followed, which was to make a general muster of the troops, and to divide them into their several nations, before they proceeded to battle. This gives occasion to the poet to enumerate all the forces of the Greeks and Trojans, in a large catalogue.
The time employed in this book consists not entirely of one day. The scene lies in the Grecian camp and upon the seashore; toward the end it removes to Troy.
NOW pleasing sleep had seal’d each mortal eye,
Stretch’d in the tents the Grecian leaders lie,
Th’ immortal slumber’d on their thrones above;
All but the ever-wakeful eyes of Jove.
To honour Thetis’ son he bends his care, 5
And plunge the Greeks in all the woes of war:
Then bids an empty Phantom rise to sight,
And thus commands the Vision of the night:
‘Fly hence, deluding Dream! and, light as air,
To Agamemnon’s ample tent repair. 10
Bid him in arms draw forth th’ embattled train,
Lead all his Grecians to the dusty plain.
Declare, ev’n now ‘t is given him to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the Gods with Fate contend, 15
At Juno’s suit the heav’nly factions end.
Destruction hangs o’er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th’ impending fall.’
Swift as the word the vain Illusion fled,
Descends, and hovers o’er Atrides’ head; 20
Clothed in the figure of the Pylian sage,
Renown’d for wisdom, and revered for age;
Around his temples spreads his golden wing,
And thus the flatt’ring Dream deceives the King:
‘Canst thou, with all a Monarch’s cares oppress’d, 25
O Atreus’ son! canst thou indulge thy rest?
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose. 30
Monarch, awake! ‘t is Jove’s command I bear,
Thou and thy glory claim his heav’nly care.
In just array draw forth th’ embattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dusty plain;
Ev’n now, O King! ‘t is given thee to destroy 35
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the Gods with Fate contend,
At Juno’s suit the heav’nly factions end.
Destruction hangs o’er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th’ impending fall, 40
Awake, but, waking, this advice approve,
And trust the vision that descends from Jove.’
The Phantom said; then vanish’d from his sight,
Resolves to air, and mixes with the night.
A thousand schemes the Monarch’s mind employ; 45
Elate in thought, he sacks untaken Troy;
Vain as he was, and to the fut
ure blind;
Nor saw what Jove and secret Fate design’d;
What mighty toils to either host remain,
What scenes of grief, and numbers of the slain! 50
Eager he rises, and in fancy hears
The voice celestial murm’ring in his ears.
First on his limbs a slender vest he drew,
Around him next the regal mantle threw,
Th’ embroider’d sandals on his feet were tied; 55
The starry falchion glitter’d at his side:
And last his arm the massy sceptre loads,
Unstain’d, immortal, and the gift of Gods.
Now rosy Morn ascends the court of Jove,
Lifts up her light, and opens day above. 60
The King dispatch’d his heralds with commands
To range the camp and summon all the bands:
The gath’ring hosts the Monarch’s word obey;
While to the fleet Atrides bends his way.
In his black ship the Pylian Prince he found; 65
There calls a senate of the peers around:
Th’ assembly placed, the King of Men express’d
The counsels lab’ring in his artful breast:
‘Friends and confed’rates! with attentive ear
Receive my words, and credit what you hear. 70
Late as I slumber’d in the shades of night,
A Dream divine appear’d before my sight;
Whose visionary form like Nestor came,
The same in habit, and in mien the same.
The heav’nly Phantom hover’d o’er my head, 75
And, “Dost thou sleep, O Atreus’ son?” (he said)
“Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose. 80
Monarch, awake! ‘t is Jove’s command I bear,
Thou and thy glory claim his heav’nly care;
In just array draw forth th’ embattled train,
And lead the Grecians to the dusty plain.
Ev’n now, O King! ‘t is giv’n thee to destroy 85
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the Gods with Fate contend,
At Juno’s suit the heav’nly factions end.
Destruction hangs o’er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th’ impending fall. 90
This hear observant, and the Gods obey!”
The Vision spoke, and pass’d in air away.
Now, valiant chiefs! since Heav’n itself alarms,
Unite, and rouse the sons of Greece to arms.
But first, with caution, try what yet they dare, 95
Worn with nine years of unsuccessful war.
To move the troops to measure back the main,
Be mine; and yours the province to detain.’
He spoke, and sat; when Nestor rising said
(Nestor, whom Pylos’ sandy realms obey’d): 100
‘Princes of Greece, your faithful ears incline,
Nor doubt the Vision of the Powers divine;
Sent by great Jove to him who rules the host,
Forbid it, Heav’n! this warning should be lost!
Then let us haste, obey the God’s alarms, 105
And join to rouse the sons of Greece to arms.’
Thus spoke the sage: the Kings without delay
Dissolve the council, and their Chief obey:
The sceptred rulers lead; the foll’wing host,
Pour’d forth by thousands, darkens all the coast. 110
As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees
Clust’ring in heaps on heaps the driving bees,
Rolling and black’ning, swarms succeeding swarms
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms;
Dusky they spread, a close-embodied crowd, 115
And o’er the vale descends the living cloud.
So, from the tents and ships, a length’ning train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o’ershades the plain;
Along the region runs a deaf’ning sound;
Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground. 120
Fame flies before, the messenger of Jove,
And shining soars, and claps her wings above.
Nine sacred heralds now proclaiming loud
The Monarch’s will, suspend the list’ning crowd.
Soon as the throngs in order ranged appear, 125
And fainter murmurs died upon the ear,
The King of Kings his awful figure raised;
High in his hand the golden sceptre blazed:
The golden sceptre, of celestial frame,
By Vulcan form’d, from Jove to Hermes came: 130
To Pelops he th’ immortal gift resign’d;
Th’ immortal gift great Pelops left behind,
In Atreus’ hand, which not with Atreus ends,
To rich Thyestes next the prize descends;
And now, the mark of Agamemnon’s reign, 135
Subjects all Argos, and controls the main.
On this bright sceptre now the King reclin’d,
And artful thus pronounced the speech design’d;
‘Ye sons of Mars! partake your leader’s care,
Heroes of Greece, and brothers of the war! 140
Of partial Jove with justice I complain,
And heav’nly oracles believ’d in vain.
A safe return was promis’d to our toils,
Renown’d, triumphant, and enrich’d with spoils.
Now shameful flight alone can save the host, 145
Our blood, our treasure, and our glory lost.
So Jove decrees, resistless Lord of all!
At whose command whole empires rise or fall:
He shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towns and armies humbles to the dust. 150
What shame to Greece a fruitless war to wage,
Oh lasting shame in ev’ry future age!
Once great in arms, the common scorn we grow,
Repuls’d and baffled by a feeble foe.
So small their number, that, if wars were ceas’d, 155
And Greece triumphant held a gen’ral feast,
All rank’d by tens; whole decades, when they dine,
Must want a Trojan slave to pour the wine.
But other forces have our hopes o’erthrown,
And Troy prevails by armies not her own. 160
Now nine long years of mighty Jove are run,
Since first the labours of this war begun;
Our cordage torn, decay’d our vessels lie,
And scarce ensure the wretched power to fly.
Haste then, for ever leave the Trojan wall! 165
Our weeping wives, our tender children call;
Love, Duty, Safety, summon us away,
‘T is Nature’s voice, and Nature we obey.
Our shatter’d barks may yet transport us o’er,
Safe and inglorious, to our native shore. 170
Fly, Grecians, fly! your sails and oars employ,
And dream no more of Heav’n-defended Troy.’
His deep design unknown, the hosts approve
Atrides’ speech. The mighty numbers move.
So roll the billows to th’ Icarian shore, 175
From east and south when winds begin to roar,
Burst their dark mansions in the clouds, and sweep
The whitening surface of the ruffled deep:
And as on corn when western gusts descend,
Before the blast the lofty harvests bend; 180
Thus o’er the field the moving host appears,
With nodding plumes and groves of waving spears,
The gath’ring murmur spreads, their trampling feet
Beat the loose sands, and thicken to the fleet.
With long-resounding cries they urge the train 185
To fit the ships, and launch into the main.
They toil, they sweat, thick clouds of dust arise,
The doubling clamours echo thro’ the skies.
Ev’n then the Greeks had left the hostile plain,
And Fate decreed the fall of Troy in vain; 190
But Jove’s imperial Queen their flight survey’d,
And sighing thus bespoke the blue-eyed maid:
‘Shall then the Grecians fly? O dire disgrace!
And leave unpunish’d this perfidious race?
Shall Troy, shall Priam, and the adult’rous spouse, 195
In peace enjoy the fruits of broken vows?
And bravest chiefs, in Helen’s quarrel slain,
Lie unavenged on yon detested plain?
No: let my Greeks, unmov’d by vain alarms,
Once more refulgent shine in brazen arms. 200
Haste, Goddess, haste! the flying host detain,
Nor let one sail be hoisted on the main.’
Pallas obeys, and from Olympus’ height
Swift to the ships precipitates her flight;
Ulysses, first in public cares, she found, 205
For prudent counsel like the Gods renown’d;
Oppress’d with gen’rous grief the hero stood;
Nor drew his sable vessels to the flood.
‘And is it thus, divine Laërtes’ son!
Thus fly the Greeks?’ (the Martial Maid begun) 210
‘Thus to their country bear their own disgrace,
And Fame eternal leave to Priam’s race?
Shall beauteous Helen still remain unfreed,
Still unrevenged a thousand heroes bleed?
Haste, gen’rous Ithacus! prevent the shame, 215
Recall your armies, and your chiefs reclaim.
Your own resistless eloquence employ,
And to th’ immortals trust the fall of Troy.’
The voice divine confess’d the Warlike Maid,
Ulysses heard, nor uninspired obey’d: 220
Then, meeting first Atrides, from his hand
Receiv’d th’ imperial sceptre of command.
Thus graced, attention and respect to gain,
He runs, he flies thro’ all the Grecian train,
Each Prince of name, or Chief in arms approv’d, 225
He fired with praise, or with persuasion mov’d:
‘Warriors like you, with strength and wisdom blest,
By brave examples should confirm the rest.
The Monarch’s will not yet reveal’d appears;
He tries our courage, but resents our fears. 230
Th’ unwary Greeks his fury may provoke;
Not thus the King in secret council spoke.
Jove loves our Chief, from Jove his honour springs,
Beware! for dreadful is the wrath of Kings.’
But if a clam’rous vile plebeian rose, 235
Alexander Pope - Delphi Poets Series Page 65