Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  “Finally, he brings forth Achilles, who was in fact already slain, and has him do battle with the Trojans. But his arms are not at hand but are in Hector’s possession — for here Homer did permit one truth to escape his lips — and so he says that Thetis brought from heaven the arms made by Hephaestus, letting Achilles in this way, forsooth, rout the Trojans single-handed — a ridiculous conception, wherein Homer has ignored all the other Achaeans as though not a single man were available. And having once given himself the liberty of making this misrepresentation, he went on to distort the entire story. At this point he makes the gods fight with one another, thus virtually acknowledging his utter disregard for the truth.

  [107] πάνυ δὲ ἀσθενῶς καὶ ἀπιθάνως τὴν ἀριστείαν διελθών, ὁτὲ μὲνποταμῷ μαχόμενον αὐτόν, ὁτὲ δὲ ἀπειλοῦντα Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ διώκοντα αὐτόν: ἐξ ὧν ἁπάντων ἰδεῖν ἔστι τὴν ἀπορίαν αὐτοῦ σχεδόν: οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς ἀληθέσιν οὕτως ἀπίθανος οὐδὲ ἀηδής: μόλις ποτὲ τῶν Τρώων εἰς τὴν πόλιν φευγόντων, τὸν Ἕκτορα πεποίηκε πρὸ τοῦ τείχους ἀνδρειότατα ὑπομένοντα αὐτὸν καὶ μήτε τῷ πατρὶδεομένῳ μήτε τῇ μητρὶ πειθόμενον, ἔπειτα φεύγοντα κύκλῳ τῆς [p. 143] πόλεως, ἐξὸν εἰσελθεῖν, καὶ τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, τάχιστον ἀνθρώπων ἀεί ποτε ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ λεγόμενον, οὐ δυνάμενον καταλαβεῖν.

  [107] Moreover, he recounts Achilles’ heroic deeds in a manner very weak and unconvincing. Now the hero is fighting with a river, now threatening Apollo and pursuing him, the entire narrative at this point showing how well-nigh desperate the poet was. For when he is telling the truth, he is not so unconvincing or dull. Once when the Trojans were hard bestead to withdraw safely into the city, Homer has represented the splendid heroism with which Hector awaited Achilles outside the city walls, deaf to the prayers of father and mother. Then he circles the city in flight when he might have entered it, and Achilles is unable to catch him, though he is always represented by Homer as the swiftest of men.

  [108] τοὺς δὲ Ἀχαιοὺς ὁρᾶν ἅπαντας ὥσπερ ἐπὶ θέαν παρόντας καὶ μηδένα βοηθεῖν τῷ Ἀχιλλεῖ, τοιαῦτα πεπονθότας ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἕκτορος καὶ μισοῦντας αὐτόν, ὥστε καὶ νεκρὸν τιτρώσκειν. ἔπειτα Δηίφοβον ἐξελθόντα τοῦ τείχους, μᾶλλον δὲ Ἀθηνᾶν παραλογίσασθαι αὐτόν, εἰκασθεῖσαν Δηιφόβῳ, καὶ τὸ δόρυ κλέψαι τὸ τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἐν τῇ μάχῃ, οὐδὲ ὅπως ἀποκτείνῃ τὸν Ἕκτορα εὑρίσκων, τρόπον τινὰ ἰλιγγιῶν περὶ τὸ ψεῦδος καὶ τῷ ὄντι ὡς ἐν ὀνείρατι μάχην διηγούμενος. μάλιστα γοῦν προσέοικε τοῖς ἀτόποις ἐνυπνίοις τὰ περὶ τὴν μάχην ἐκείνην.

  [108] Meanwhile all the Achaeans were looking on as if attending a show, and none rendered Achilles any help after all they had suffered at Hector’s hands and though they so hated him that they afterwards even wounded his dead body. Then he makes Deïphobus come forth from the walls — or, rather, Athena in his guise — and deceive Hector and steal his spear from him in the duel, the poet being at his wits’ end how to despatch Hector, and dazed as it were by his falsehood, so that he actually describes the fight as if in a dream. At any rate the account of that struggle bears the closest resemblance to a nightmare.

  [109] εἰς τοῦτο δὲ προελθὼν ἀπεῖπε λοιπόν, οὐκ ἔχων ὅ,τι χρήσηται τῇ ποιήσει καὶ τοῖς ψεύσμασι δυσχεραίνων ἀγῶνά τινα προσθεὶς ἐπιτάφιον, καὶ τοῦτο πάνυ γελοίως, καὶ τὴν Πριάμου βασιλέως εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἄφιξιν παρὰ τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, μηδενὸς αἰσθομένου τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, καὶ τὰ λύτρα τοῦ Ἕκτορος. καὶ οὔτε τὴν τοῦ Μέμνονος βοήθειαν οὔτε τὴν τῶν Ἀμαζόνων, οὕτως θαυμαστὰ καὶ μεγάλα, ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν, οὔτε τὸν τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως θάνατον οὔτε τὴν ἅλωσιν τῆς Τροίας.

  [109] “When he reached this point, Homer gave up, not knowing how to continue his work and being dissatisfied with his falsehoods. He merely added some sort of funeral games, a perfectly ridiculous thing, then the arrival of king Priam in the Greek camp at the tent of Achilles without the knowledge of any of the Achaeans, and the ransom of Hector. But of the help which Memnon and the Amazons brought, great and splendid episodes though they were, not a word did he venture to speak, nor of the death of Achilles, nor of the capture of Troy.

  [110] οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπέμεινεν οἶμαι πάλαι τεθνηκότα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα ποιεῖν πάλιν ἀναιρούμενον, οὐδὲ νικῶντας τοὺς ἡττηθέντας καὶ φεύγοντας, οὐδὲ τὴν κρατήσασαν πόλιν, ταύτην πορθουμένην. οἱ δὲ ὕστερον ἅτε ἐξηπατημένοι καὶ τοῦ ψεύδους ἰσχύοντος ἤδη θαρροῦντες ἔγραφον. τὰ δὲ πράγματα οὕτως ἔσχεν.

  [110] Homer, methinks, did not have the heart to depict Achilles, who had long been dead, as being slain again, or the defeated and routed as victorious, or this conquering city as being sacked. Then later writers, because they were deceived and the falsehood was now generally accepted, henceforth wrote without misgiving. But the actual course of events was as I have given it.

  [111] Ἀχιλλέως τελευτήσαντος ὑπὸ Ἕκτορος ἐν τῇ βοηθείᾳ τῶν νεῶν, οἱ μὲν Τρῶες, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον, ἐπηυλίσθησαν ἐγγὺς τῶν νεῶν, ὡς φυλάξοντες τοὺς Ἀχαιούς: ὑπώπτευον γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἀποδράσεσθαι τῆς νυκτός: ὁ δὲ Ἕκτωρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν παρά τε τοὺς γονέας καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα, χαίρων τοῖς πεπραγμένοις, ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατεύματος καταλιπὼν Πάριν.

  [111] “Now when Achilles, in his defence of the ships, had been slain by Hector, the Trojans, just as they had done before, bivouacked hard by the ships in order to keep watch on the Achaeans, who they suspected would flee during the night. But Hector, rejoicing in his success, withdrew into the city to be with his parents and wife, leaving Paris in command of the forces.

  [112] ὁ δ᾽ αὐτός τε καὶ τῶν Τρώων τὸ πλῆθος ἐκάθευδεν, ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν κεκοπωμένους καὶ μηδὲν προσδεχομένους κακόν, ἔτι δὲ παντελοῦς εὐπραγίας οὔσης. ἐν τούτῳ δὴ Ἀγαμέμνων μετὰ Νέστορος καὶ Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Διομήδους βουλευσάμενος [p. 144] σιωπῇ καθείλκυσαν τῶν νεῶν τὰς πολλάς, ὁρῶντες ὅτι καὶ τῇ προτεραίᾳ μικροῦ διεφθάρησαν, ὡς μηδὲ φυγὴν ἔτι εἶναι, καὶ μέρος οὐκ ὀλίγον ἦν ἐμπεπρησμένον αὐτῶν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μία ναῦς ἡ Πρωτεσιλάου: ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες ἀπέπλευσαν εἰς τὴν Χερρόνησον, τῶν αἰχμαλώτων πολλὰ καταλιπόντες καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὐκ ὀλίγα κτημάτων.

  [112] He with the host of the Trojans lay down to rest, as was natural, since they were exhausted and suspected no evil and, moreover, had been completely successful. B
ut meanwhile, after Agamemnon had taken counsel with Nestor, Odysseus, and Diomede, they quietly launched the majority of the ships, realizing that on the preceding day they had come near being destroyed, so even flight would not again be possible; and in fact a considerable part of the fleet had fallen prey to the flames, not merely the one ship of Protesilaus. Having launched their ships, therefore, they sailed off to the Chersonese, leaving behind many of their prisoners and a good deal of their other property.

  [113] ἅμα δὲ τῆ ἡμέρᾳ φανεροῦ γενομένου τοῦ πράγματος, ὁ μὲν Ἕκτωρ ἠγανάκτει καὶ βαρέως ἔφερε καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἐλοιδόρει: τοὺς γὰρ πολεμίους αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ἀφεῖναι: τὰς δὲ σκηνὰς ἐνέπρησαν οἱ Τρῶες καὶ διήρπαζον τὰ καταλειφθέντα. τοῖς δὲ Ἀχαιοῖς ἐν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ βουλευομένοις: οὐ γὰρ εἶχον οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα ναυτικὸν ἕτοιμον, ὥστε διαβαίνειν ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς: ἐδόκει μὲν ἀπιέναι πᾶσι, πολλοῦ πλήθους ἀπολωλότος καὶ τῶν ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν: κίνδυνος δὲ ἦν μὴ ναῦς ποιησάμενοι παραχρῆμα ἐπιπλεύσωσιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα.

  [113] “In the morning when the fact became evident, Hector was filled with angry indignation and upbraided Paris for letting the enemy escape out of his hands. The Trojans then burned the huts and plundered what had been left behind, while the Achaeans, after taking counsel from their position of safety — for Hector and his people had no fleet in hand in which to cross over to attack them — unanimously decided to withdraw, since they had lost many of their people and their bravest warriors. There was the danger, however, that the Trojans might build themselves ships and sail at once against Greece.

  [114] διὰ τοῦτο οὖν ἀναγκαῖον ἦν μένειν ὥσπερ κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς λῃστεύοντας, εἴ πως τῷ Πάριδι κάμνοντι διαλλάξειαν αὑτοὺς καὶ πρὸς φιλίαν πράξαντες ἀπελθεῖν. ὡς δὲ ἔκριναν ταῦτα, καὶ ἐποίουν πέραν μένοντες. κἀνταῦθα τοῖς Τρωσὶν ἐπῆλθον ἐκ μὲν Αἰθιοπίας Μέμνων, αἱ δὲ Ἀμαζόνες ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου βοηθοὶ καὶ ἄλλο πλῆθος ἐπικούρων, ὡς εὐτυχοῦντας ἐπυνθάνοντο τὸν Πρίαμον καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα καὶ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ὅσον οὔπω διεφθαρμένους πάντας, οἱ μέν τινες κατ᾽ εὔνοιαν, οἱ δὲ καὶ φόβῳ τῆς δυνάμεως: οὐ γὰρ τοῖς ἡττημένοις οὐδὲ τοῖς κακῶς πράττουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς νικῶσι καὶ τοῖς περιγενομένοις ἀπάντων πάντες ἐθέλουσι βοηθεῖν.

  [114] They were therefore obliged to remain and live by plundering as at first, in the hope of making peace with Paris when he became wearied, and departing after establishing friendly relations. They did as they had decided and remained across the water.

  “At this juncture Memnon came from Ethiopia to aid the Trojans, and the Amazons from Pontus, as well as other allies in great numbers when they learned that Priam and Hector were successful and that the Achaeans now were all but utterly destroyed. Some came out of friendship, others fearing the power of Troy, since it is not those who have met with defeat or are in sore straits but those who have conquered and overcome all their enemies that everyone is eager to help.

  [115] μετεπέμψαντο δὲ καὶ οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ παρ᾽ αὑτῶν εἴ τινα ἐδύναντο ὠφέλειαν: τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἔξωθεν οὐδὲν οὐδεὶς ἔτι προσεῖχεν αὐτοῖς: ἀλλὰ Νεοπτόλεμόν τε τὸν Ἀχιλλέως κομιδῇ νέον ὄντα καὶ Φιλοκτήτην ὑπεροφθέντα πρότερον διὰ τὴν νόσον, καὶ τοιαύτας βοηθείας οἴκοθεν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἀπόρους. ὧν ἀφικομένων μικρὸν ἀναπνεύσαντες πάλιν διέπλευσαν εἰς τὴν Τροίαν, καὶ περιεβάλοντο τεῖχος ἕτερον πολὺ ἔλαττον, οὐκ ἐν ᾧ πρότερον τόπῳ παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὑψηλὸν αὐτοῦ καταλαβόντες. [p. 145]

  [115] The Achaeans also sent for whatever reinforcements they had at home, for no one outside of Greece any longer paid any heed whatsoever to them. Thus it was that Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, came although he was still very young, and Philoctetes, hitherto neglected because of his ailment, and other equally poor and feeble recruits from home. Upon their arrival the Achaeans having revived their strength, recrossed to Troy, and threw up another much smaller wall, not in the same place as previously along the shore, but on the higher part of it, which they seized.

  [116] τῶν δὲ νεῶν αἱ μέν τινες ὑφώρμουν ὑπὸ τὸ τεῖχος, αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ πέραν ἔμενον: ἅτε γὰρ οὐδεμίαν ἐλπίδα ἔχοντες κρατήσειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁμολογιῶν δεόμενοι, καθάπερ εἶπον, οὐ βεβαίως ἐπολέμουν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀμφιβόλως τρόπον τινὰ καὶ πρὸς ἀπόπλουν μᾶλλον τὴν γνώμην ἔχοντες. ἐνέδραις οὖν ὡς τὸ πολὺ καὶ καταδρομαῖς ἐχρῶντο. καὶ ποτε μάχης ἰσχυροτέρας γενομένης, βιαζομένων αὐτῶν τὸ φρούριον ἐξελεῖν, Αἴας τε ὑπὸ Ἕκτορος ἀποθνήσκει καὶ Ἀντίλοχος ὑπὸ τοῦ Μέμνονος πρὸ τοῦ πατρός:

  [116] Some of the ships lay at anchor close to this rampart, others remained across the water. For since the Greeks had no hope of winning but wished to make terms, as I have said, they did not prosecute the war vigorously, but in a somewhat half-hearted way and with their minds set rather upon returning home.

  “They resorted to ambush, therefore, and guerilla warfare for the most part; but on one occasion, when an unusually fierce struggle arose over an attempt of the Trojans to raze their stronghold, Ajax was slain by Hector, and Antilochus, while defending his father, by Memnon.

  [117] ἐτρώθη δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Μέμνων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀντιλόχου, καὶ ἀποκομιζόμενος τραυματίας τελευτᾷ κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν. συνέβη δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς εὐημερῆσαι τότε ὡς οὐ πρότερον. ὅ τε γὰρ Μέμνων μέγα ἀξίωμα ἔχων ἐτρώθη καιρίως, τήν τε Ἀμαζόνα ἀπέκτεινε Νεοπτόλεμος καταδραμοῦσαν ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς ἰταμώτερον καὶ πειρωμένην ἐμπρῆσαι, μαχόμενος ἐκ τῆς νεὼς ναυμάχῳ δόρατι, καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος ἀποθνῄσκει Φιλοκτήτῃ διατοξευόμενος.

  [117] But Memnon too was wounded by Antilochus and died while being carried off the field. Then too it was that the Achaeans enjoyed a period of success as never before. For not only was Memnon, who was held in great esteem, wounded mortally but the Amazon also, who flung herself upon the ships with unusual ferocity and tried to fire them, was killed by Neoptolemus, who fought from his ship with a naval pike; and Paris was slain, pierced by Philoctetes’ arrow.

  [118] ἦν οὖν ἀθυμία καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Τρωσίν, εἰ μηδέποτε παύσονται τοῦ πολέμου μηδὲ ἔσται μηδὲν αὐτοῖς πλέον νικῶσιν. ὅ τε Πρίαμος ἄλλος ἐγεγόνει μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτήν, σφόδρα ἀνιαθεὶς καὶ φοβούμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἕκτορος. πολὺ δὲ φαυλότερον ἔσ�
�ε τὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν Ἀντιλόχου τε καὶ Αἴαντος τεθνηκότων: ὥστε πέμπουσι περὶ συμβάσεων, φάσκοντες ἀπιέναι γενομένης εἰρήνης καὶ ὅρκων ὀμοσθέντων μηκέτι στρατεύσειν μήτε αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν μήτε ἐκείνους ἐπὶ τὸ Ἄργος.

  [118] Thus the Trojans in turn were disheartened and wondered whether they ever would be rid of the war or any advantage would redound to them through victory. Priam too was a changed man after the death of Paris, through his deep grief for him and his fear for Hector, while the deaths of Antilochus and Ajax left the Achaeans in a much weaker condition. The result was that they sent an embassy offering to withdraw as soon as peace was made and oaths taken that the one people would not invade Asia nor the other, Argos.

  [119] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὁ μὲν Ἕκτωρ ἀντέλεγε: πολὺ γὰρ εἶναι κρείττους καὶ τὸ ἐπιτείχισμα ἔφη κατὰ κράτος αἱρήσειν: μάλιστα δὲ ἐχαλέπαινε τῇ Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτῇ. δεομένου δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὸ γῆρας τὸ αὑτοῦ λέγοντος καὶ τῶν παίδων τὸν θάνατον, τοῦ τε ἄλλου πλήθους ἀπηλλάχθαι βουλομένου, τὰς μὲν διαλύσεις συνεχώρησεν: ἠξίου δὲ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς τά τε χρήματα διαλῦσαι τὰ δαπανηθέντα εἰς τὸν πόλεμον καὶ δίκην τινὰ ὑποσχεῖν, ὅτι μηθὲν ἀδικηθέντες ἐστρατεύσαντο, καὶ τήν τε χώραν διέφθειραν πολλοῖς ἔτεσι καὶ ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ἄλλους τε καὶ Ἀλέξανδρον, οὐδὲν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ παθόντες, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι κρείττων ἐνομίσθη [p. 146] κατὰ μνηστείαν καὶ γυναῖκα ἔλαβεν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος τῶν κυρίων