In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his scatter’d force conjoins 560
In close array, and forms the deep’ning lines.
Not with more ease the skilful shepherd swain
Collects his flock from thousands on the plain.
The King of Kings, majestically tall,
Towers o’er his armies, and outshines them all: 565
Like some proud bull that round the pastures leads
His subject-herds, the monarch of the meads.
Great as the Gods th’ exalted Chief was seen,
His strength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien;
Jove o’er his eyes celestial glories spread, 570
And dawning conquest play’d around his head.
Say, Virgins, seated round the throne divine,
All-knowing Goddesses! immortal Nine!
Since earth’s wide regions, Heav’n’s unmeasured height,
And Hell’s abyss, hide nothing from your sight 575
(We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below,
But guess by rumour, and but boast we know),
Oh say what heroes, fired by thirst of fame,
Or urged by wrongs, to Troy’s destruction came?
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues, 580
A throat of brass, and adamantine lungs;
Daughters of Jove, assist! inspired by you,
The mighty labour dauntless I pursue:
What crowded armies, from what climes, they bring,
Their names, their numbers, and their Chiefs, I sing. 585
The hardy warriors whom Bœotia bred,
Peneleus, Leitus, Prothoënor led:
With these Arcesilaus and Clonius stand,
Equal in arms, and equal in command.
These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields, 590
And Eteon’s hills, and Hyrie’s wat’ry fields,
And Schœnos, Scolos, Græa near the main,
And Mycalessia’s ample piny plain.
Those who in Peteon or Ilesion dwell,
Or Harma, where Apollo’s prophet fell; 595
Heleon and Hyle, which the springs o’erflow;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low;
Or in the meads of Haliartus stray,
Or Thespia, sacred to the God of Day.
Onchestus, Neptune’s celebrated groves; 600
Copæ, and Thisbè, famed for silver doves,
For flocks Erythræ, Glissa for the vine;
Platæa green, and Nisa the divine.
And they whom Thebes’ well-built walls enclose,
Where Myde, Eutresis, Coronè rose; 605
And Arne rich, with purple harvests crown’d;
And Anthedon, Bœotia’s utmost bound.
Full fifty ships they send, and each conveys
Twice sixty warriors thro’ the foaming seas.
To these succeed Asplendon’s martial train, 610
Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule th’ undaunted throng,
Iälmen and Ascalaphus the strong,
Sons of Astyoche, the heav’nly Fair,
Whose virgin charms subdued the God of War 615
(In Actor’s court as she retired to rest,
The strength of Mars the blushing maid compress’d):
Their troops in thirty sable vessels sweep,
With equal oars, the hoarse-resounding deep.
The Phocians next in forty barks repair, 620
Epistrophus and Schedius head the war;
From those rich regions where Cephissus leads
His silver current thro’ the flowery meads;
From Panopea, Chrysa the divine,
Where Anemoria’s stately turrets shine, 625
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cyparissus stood,
And fair Lilæa views the rising flood.
These, ranged in order on the floating tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Bœotians’ side.
Fierce Ajax led the Locrian squadrons on, 630
Ajax the less, Oïleus’ valiant son;
Skill’d to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in pursuit, and active in the fight.
Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend,
Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send; 635
Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe’s bands;
And those who dwell where pleasing Augia stands,
And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Tarphe’s sylvan seats reside;
In forty vessels cut the yielding tide. 640
Eubœa next her martial sons prepares,
And sends the brave Abantes to the wars;
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis’ walls, and strong Eretria;
Th’ Isteian fields for gen’rous vines renown’d, 645
The fair Carystos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o’erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighb’ring main,
Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air: 650
But with portended spears, in fighting fields,
Pierce the tough corselets and the brazen shields.
Twice twenty ships transport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.
Full fifty more from Athens stem the main, 655
Led by Menestheus thro’ the liquid plain
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus sway’d,
That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodfull earth. 660
Him Pallas placed amidst her wealthy fane,
Ador’d with sacrifice and oxen slain;
Where as the years revolve her altars blaze,
And all the tribes resound the Goddess’ praise).
No Chief like thee, Menestheus! Greece could yield, 665
To marshal armies in the dusty field,
Th’ extended wings of battle to display,
Or close th’ embodied host in firm array.
Nestor alone, improv’d by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise. 670
With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;
In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force.
Next move to war the gen’rous Argive train 675
From high Trœzene, and Maseta’s plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the main:
Whom strong Tirynthe’s lofty walls surround,
And Epidaure with viny harvests crown’d:
And where fair Asinen and Hermion shew 680
Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
These by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,
But Chief Tydides bore the sov’reign sway;
In fourscore barks they plough the wat’ry way. 685
The proud Mycene arms her martial powers,
Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers,
Fair Aræthyrea, Ornia’s fruitful plain,
And Ægion, and Adrastus’ ancient reign;
And those who dwell along the sandy shore, 690
And where Pellene yields her fleecy store,
Where Helice and Hyperesia lie,
And Gonoëssa’s spires salute the sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred vessels in long order stand, 695
And crowded nations wait his dread command.
High on the deck the King of men appears,
And his refulgent arms in triumph wears;
Proud of his host, unrivall’d in his reign,
In s
ilent pomp he moves along the main. 700
His brother follows, and to vengeance warms
The hardy Spartans, exercised in arms:
Phares and Brysia’s valiant troops, and those
Whom Lacedæmon’s lofty hills enclose:
Or Messe’s towers for silver doves renown’d, 705
Amyclæ, Laäs, Augia’s happy ground,
And those whom Œtylos’ low walls contain,
And Helos on the margin of the main:
These o’er the bending ocean, Helen’s cause
In sixty ships with Menelaus draws: 710
Eager and loud, from man to man he flies,
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes;
While, vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair one’s grief, and sees her falling tears.
In ninety sail, from Pylos’ sandy coast, 715
Nestor the sage conducts his chosen host:
From Amphigenia’s ever-fruitful land;
Where Æpy high, and little Pteleon stand:
Where beauteous Arene her structures shows,
And Thryon’s walls Alpheüs’ streams enclose: 720
And Dorion, famed for Thamyris’ disgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful race,
Till, vain of mortal’s empty praise, he strove
To match the seed of cloud-compelling Jove!
Too daring bard! whose unsuccessful pride 725
Th’ immortal Muses in their art defied.
Th’ avenging Muses of the light of day
Deprived his eyes, and snatch’d his voice away;
No more his heav’nly voice was heard to sing;
His hand no more awaked the silver string. 730
Where under high Cyllenè, crown’d with wood,
The shaded tomb of old Æpytus stood;
From Ripè, Stratie, Tegea’s bord’ring towns,
The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs,
Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove; 735
And Stymphelus with her surrounding grove,
Parrhasia, on her snowy cliffs reclin’d,
And high Enispè shook by wintry wind,
And fair Mantinea’s ever-pleasing site;
In sixty sail th’ Arcadian bands unite. 740
Bold Agapenor, glorious at their head
(Ancæus’ son), the mighty squadron led.
Their ships, supplied by Agamemnon’s care,
Thro’ roaring seas the wond’ring warriors bear;
The first to battle on th’ appointed plain, 745
But new to all the dangers of the main.
Those, where fair Elis and Buprasium join;
Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrsinus confine,
And bounded there, where o’er the valleys rose
Th’ Olenian rock; and where Alisium flows; 750
Beneath four Chiefs (a numerous army) came:
The strength and glory of th’ Epean name.
In sep’rate squadrons these their train divide,
Each leads ten vessels thro’ the yielding tide.
One was Amphimachus, and Thalpius one; 755
(Eurytus’ this, and that Teätus’ son):
Diores sprung from Amarynceus’ line;
And great Polyxenus, of force divine.
But those who view fair Elis o’er the seas
From the blest islands of th’ Echinades, 760
In forty vessels under Meges move,
Begot by Phyleus, the belov’d of Jove.
To strong Dulichium from his sire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.
Ulysses follow’d thro’ the wat’ry road, 765
A Chief, in wisdom equal to a God.
With those whom Cephallenia’s isle enclosed,
Or till their fields along the coast opposed;
Or where fair Ithaca o’erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods, 770
Where Ægilipa’s rugged sides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
These, in twelve galleys with vermillion prores,
Beneath his conduct sought the Phrygian shores.
Thoas came next, Andræmon’s valiant son, 775
From Pleuron’s walls and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylenè, and th’ Olenian steep,
And Chalcis, beaten by the rolling deep.
He led the warriors from th’ Ætolian shore,
For now the sons of Œneus were no more! 780
The glories of the mighty race were fled!
Œneus himself, and Meleager dead!
To Thoas’ care now trust the martial train:
His forty vessels follow thro’ the main.
Next eighty barks the Cretan King commands, 785
Of Gnossus, Lyctus, and Gortyna’s bands,
And those who dwell where Rhytion’s domes arise,
Or white Lycastus glitters to the skies,
Or where by Phæstus silver Jardan runs;
Crete’s hundred cities pour forth all her sons. 790
These march’d, Idomeneus, beneath thy care,
And Merion, dreadful as the God of War.
Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules,
Led nine swift vessels thro’ the foamy seas;
From Rhodes, with everlasting sunshine bright, 795
Jalyssus, Lindus and Camirus white.
His captive mother fierce Alcides bore
From Ephyr’s walls, and Sellè’s winding shore,
Where mighty towns in ruins spread the plain,
And saw their blooming warriors early slain. 800
The hero, when to manly years he grew,
Alcides’ uncle, old Licymnius, slew;
For this constrain’d to quit his native place,
And shun the vengeance of th’ Herculean race,
A fleet he built, and with a numerous train 805
Of willing exiles, wander’d o’er the main;
Where, many seas and many suff’rings past,
On happy Rhodes the Chief arrived at last:
There in three tribes divides his native band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign land; 810
Increas’d and prosper’d in their new abodes
By mighty Jove, the sire of men and Gods;
With joy they saw the growing empire rise,
And showers of wealth descending from the skies.
Three ships with Nireus sought the Trojan shore, 815
Nireus, whom Aglaë to Charopus bore,
Nireus, in faultless shape, and blooming grace,
The loveliest youth of all the Grecian race;
Pelides only match’d his early charms;
But few his troops, and small his strength in arms. 820
Next thirty galleys cleave the liquid plain,
Of those Calydnæ’s sea-girt isles contain;
With them the youth of Nisyrus repair,
Casus the strong, and Crapathus the fair;
Cos, where Eurypylus possess’d the sway, 825
Till great Alcides made the realms obey:
These Antiphus and bold Phidippus bring,
Sprung from the God by Thessalus the King.
Now, Muse, recount Pelasgic Argos’ powers,
From Alos, Alopè, and Trechin’s towers; 830
From Phthia’s spacious vales; and Hella, bless’d
With female beauty far beyond the rest.
Full fifty ships beneath Achilles’ care
Th’ Achaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear;
Thessalians all, tho’ various in their name, 835
The same their nation, and their Chief the same.
But now inglorious, stretch’d along the shore,
They hear the brazen voice of war no more;
No more the foe they face in dire array:
Close in his fleet their angry leader lay; 840
Since fair Briseïs from his arms was torn,
The noblest spoil from sack’d Lyrnessus borne,
Then, when the Chief the Theban walls o’erthrew,
And the bold sons of great Evenus slew.
There mourn’d Achilles, plunged in depth of care, 845
But soon to rise in slaughter, blood, and war.
To these the youth of Phylacè succeed,
Itona, famous for her fleecy breed,
And grassy Pteleon deck’d with cheerful greens,
The bowers of Ceres, and the sylvan scenes, 850
Sweet Pyrrhasus, with blooming flowerets crown’d,
And Antron’s wat’ry dens, and cavern’d ground.
These own’d as Chief Protesilas the brave,
Who now lay silent in the gloomy grave:
The first who boldly touch’d the Trojan shore, 855
And dyed a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore;
There lies, far distant from his native plain;
Unfinish’d his proud palaces remain,
And his sad consort beats her breast in vain.
His troops in forty ships Podarces led, 860
Iphiclus’ son, and brother to the dead;
Nor he unworthy to command the host;
Yet still they mourn’d their ancient leader lost.
The men who Glaphyra’s fair soil partake,
Where hills encircle Bœbe’s lowly lake, 865
Where Pheræ hears the neighb’ring waters fall,
Or proud Iolcus lifts her airy wall,
In ten black ships embark’d for Ilion’s shore,
With bold Eumelus, whom Alcestè bore:
All Pelias’ race Alcestè far outshined, 870
The grace and glory of the beauteous kind.
The troops Methonè or Thaumacia yields,
Olizon’s rocks, or Melibœa’s fields,
With Philoctetes sail’d, whose matchless art
From the tough bow directs the feather’d dart. 875
Seven were his ships: each vessel fifty row,
Skill’d in his science of the dart and bow.
But he lay raging on the Lemnian ground;
A pois’nous Hydra gave the burning wound;
There groan’d the Chief in agonizing pain, 880
Whom Greece at length shall wish, nor wish in vain.
His forces Medon led from Lemnos’ shore,
Oïleus’ son, whom beauteous Rhena bore.
Th’ Œchalian race, in those high towers contain’d,
Where once Eurytus in proud triumph reign’d, 885
Or where her humbler turrets Tricca rears,
Or where Ithomè, rough with rocks, appears;
In thirty sail the sparkling waves divide,
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To these his skill their Parent-god imparts, 890
Divine professors of the healing arts.
The bold Ormenian and Asterian bands
In forty barks Eurypylus commands,
Alexander Pope - Delphi Poets Series Page 67