prize

Argives

Phoebus

Hearme, Apollo! God of the silver bowwhostrides the walls of Chryse and Ciliasacrosanct-lord inpowerofTenedos-Smintheus,god of the plague!IfI ever roofed ashrineto please your heart,everburnedthe long rich bones of bulls and goatsonyourholy altar,now,now bring my prayer to pass.Pay theDanaansback-yourarrows for my tears!

slaving back and forthat the loom, forcedtoshare my bed!

carrion

Bandy-leggedhe was, with one foot clubbed,bothshouldershumpedtogether,curving overhiscaved-inchest, and bobbing abovethemhis skullwarpedto apoint

herangedthe ranks

All you Argives flying home to your fatherland,tumbling into your oar-swept ships? Leaving Priamand all the men of Troy a trophy to glory over,Helen of Argos, Helen for whom so many Argiveslost their lives in Troy. far from native land!No,don'tgive up now. Range the Achaean ranks,with your winning words hold back each man youfind-don'tlet them haul their rolling ships to sea!"210He knew the goddess'voice-hewent on the run,flinging off his cape as Eurybates picked it up,the herald of Ithaca always at his sid

Pallas

Hephaestusgave it laCronus'son,FatherZeus

Rurnor. Zeus's crier

rushedlike swarms of bees

we'dcall it false andturnourbacksuponit.

But first, according totime-honoredcustom,I will test the men with a challenge, tellthemalltocrowdthe oarlocks, cut andrunin their ships.But you take up yourbattle-stationsat every point.commandthem,holdthemback

eus and the deathless gods

long-hatredAchaeans

royal scepter of hisfathers--its power can neverdie-andgrasping it tightlyoff he strode to the ships of Argives armed in bronze

The Father,still bent on plaguing the Argives and Trojans bothwithwoundsand groans in the bloody press of battle

Zeuscommandsyoutoarm your long-hatred Achaeans,to attack at once, fullforce--now you can take the broad streets of Troy!

rose like Nestor,Neleus' son, the chiefAgamemnonhonoredmost.Inspired with Nestor's

he would send amurderousdream to Agamemnon.Calling out to the vision, Zeus winged it on:"Go,murderousDream, to the fast Achaean shipsand once you reachAgamemnon'sshelter rouse him,order him.word-for-word,exactly as I command

famous crippled Smith

Go back to him,mother,stroke theFatherwith soft,winningwords-at once the Olympian will turn kind to usagain

are powerless to protect you when I cometothrottleyou with my irresistiblehands

Maddeningone

mytreacherousone

Filled with angerZeus who marshals the storm cloudsansweredher at last

So he decreed. And Zeus the son of Cronusbowedhis craggy dark brows and the deathless locks camepouringdownfrom thethunderheadof the greatimmortalkingand giant shock waves spreadthroughall Olympus

Disaster. You will drive me into war with Hera.She will provoke me, she with her shrill abuse.620Even now in the face of all the immortal gods

Andcrouchingdown at his feet,quickly grasping his knees with her lefthand,her righthandholding himunderneaththe chin,she prayed to the lord god Zeus

Butheraged on, grimly camped by his fast fleet,the royal son of Peleus. the swiftrunnerAchilles.Now he no longerhauntedthe meeting groundswhere men win glory, now he no longerwentto war

battle cries and combat

Dawn with herrose-redfingers

tasted theorgans

Now, at last,drive this killing plague from the armies ofAchaeal

And soon as the men had prayed and flung the barley,first they lifted back the heads of the victims,slit their throats,skinnedthemand carvedawaythe meat from thethighbonesandwrappedthemin fat,a double fold sliced clean andtoppedwith strips of flesh

Now, at last,drive this killing plague from the armies ofAchaeal

rowedher into amooringunderoars.

Chryse Island,bearingthe splendid sacrifice in the vessel's hold

0my son, mysorrow,why did I ever bear you?All I bore wasdoom...Would to god you could linger byyourshipswithouta grief in the world,withoutatorment!Doomedtoashortlife, youhaveso little time.And not onlyshort,now,butfilledwithheartbreaktoo,morethanallothermenalive

escued Zeus. the lord of the dark storm cloud,fromignominious,stark defeat...That day theOlympianstried tochainhimdown,Hera, Poseidon lord of the sea, and PallasAthena-yourushedtoZeus. dear Goddess, broke those chains,quicklyorderedthehundred-handerto steep Olympus,thatmonsterwhomthe immortals call Briareusbut every mortal calls theSea-gad'sson, Aegaeon.thoughhe'sstrongerthanhis father. Down he sat,flankingCronus'son,gargantuanin the glory of it all,and the blessed gods were struckwithterrorthen,theystoppedshackling Zeus

Appeasethe god at once!' That'swhenthe furygripped the son of Atreus

Respect the priest. accept the shining ransom!'But itbroughtno joy to the heart of Agamemnon,our high and mighty king dismissed the priestwith a brutal order ringing in his ears.And shattered with anger. the old man withdrew450but Apollo heard hisprayer-heloved him,deeply-he loosed his shaft at the Argives, withering plague.and now the troops began to drop and die in droves.the arrows 'of god went showering left and right

Mychild-why in tears? What sorrow hastouchedyour heart?Tell me, please.Don'tharbor it deep inside you.We must share it all

Atreus smoldered,

GotoAchilles' lodge. Take Briseis at once.his beauty Briseis by the hand and bring her here.But if he will notsurrenderher, I'll go myself,380I'll seize her myself, with an army at myback-and all the worse forhim!

So he wept and prayedand his noblemotherheard him, seated near her father,the Old Man of the Sea in the salt green depths.

unbending,ruthlessking-if the day should comewhenthe armies needmeto save their ranks from ignominious, stark defeat.The man israving-withall themurderousfury in his heart.He lacks the sensetosee a day behind, a day ahead,and safeguard the Achaeans battling by the ships

Welcome.couriers! Good heralds of Zeus and men.here, come closer. You have donenothingto me.You are not to blame. No one butAgamernnon-he is the one who sent you forBriseis.Go, Patroclus, Prince, bring out the girlandhandher to them so they can take her back

sacrificed to Apollo full-grown bulls and goats370along the beaten shore of the fallow barren seaand savory smoke went swirling up the skies

Yes!"-blazingAchilles broke inquickly-"Whataworthless,burnt-outcowardI'd be calledif Iwouldsubmitto you and allyourorders,whateveryou blurt out. Flingthemat others,don'tgive mecommands!Never again,Itrust, will Achilles yield toyou.

True, oldman-allyou say is fit andproper-but this soldierwantstotowerover the armies,he wants to rule over all. to lord it over all,giveoutordersto everymanin sight. Well,there'sone, I trust,whowillneveryield tohim!Whatif theeverlastinggods havemadeaspearmanof him?340Have theyentitledhimtohurl abuse atme?

Achilles, never hope to fight it outwith your king, pitting force against his force

Don't seize the girl, Agamemnon, powerful as youare-leave her, just as the sons of Achaea gave her,his prize from the very first

strongest mortals ever bred on earth

Listen to Nestor.

Priam and Prism's sonsand all the Trojans. Oh they'd leap for joy10hear the twp of you battling on thisway,

Nestor rosebetweenthem,290the man ofwinningwords, thedearspeaker of Pylos

he Argives

Chryseis herself,in all her beauty

warlordsloved by the gods

Why, why now?Child of Zeus with the shield ofthunder,why come now?To witness the outrage Agamemnon just committed?1 tell you this, and so help me it's thetruth-he'll soon pay for his arrogance with his life!

scepter

Down on the groundhe dashed the scepter studded bright with golden nails,then took his seat again. The son of Atreus smoldered,

the prize of any man who speaks against you.King who devours his people! Wonhless husks,

o she urgedand the swiftrunnercomplied at once:

Downfrom the skies 1 come to check your rageif only you will yield.

Athena,thewhite-armedgoddess Hera sped her down

thrust through the ranks and kill Agamemnonnow?-or check his rage and beat his fury down?

Apollo insists on taking my Chryseis,I'll send her back in my own ships withmycrew.ButI.I will be there in person at your tentsto take Briseis in all her beauty, your ownpriz

Zeus

My honors never equal yours,wheneverwe sack some wealthy Trojanstronghold-my arms bear thebruntof the raw, savage fighting,true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunderthe lion's share is yours, and back I go to my ships,clutching some scrap, some pittance that I love,when I have fought to exhaustion

prize inperson-190the one I fought for long and hard,andsons of Achaeahandedher to me

No, you colossal,shameless-weall followed you,to please you, to fight for you, to win yourhonorback from theTrojans--Menelausand you, you dog-face!

yourown, or Ajax'or Odysseus'prize-I'llcommandeerher myselfand let that man I go to visit choke with rage!

godlikeAchille

swiftrunnerAchilles

refusedthat glittering price for the young girl Chryseis.130Indeed, I preferherby far, the girl herself.Iwanther mine in my own house!

his dark heartfilledtothe brim,blazing with anger now, his eyes.like searing fire

seers

smoky savor of lambsand full-grown goats, Apollo might be willing, still,somehow,to save us from thisplague

god quaked with rage.the god himself on the march anddownhe came like night

Thegirl-Iwon'tgive up the girl

Achilles,murderous.doomed. that cost the Achaeans countless losses

Rage-

hardon the heels of Hector's death your death /must come at once

Achilles'

apoemaboutIlium"(i.e., Troy)

hexameterline

ridingeasy in theharness,"as Robert Frost

ixed and formulaic.frequentlyrepeatedphrase