Iliad

Thus the Trojans in the city, scared like fawns, wiped the sweat from off them and drank to quench their thirst, leaning against the goodly battlements, while the Achaeans with their shields laid upon their shoulders drew close up to the walls. But stern fate bade Hektor stay where he was before Ilion and the Scaean gates. Then Phoebus Apollo spoke to the son of Peleus saying, "Why, son of Peleus, do you, who are but man, give chase to me who am immortal? Have you not yet found out that it is a god whom you pursue so furiously? You did not inflict struggles [ ponos ] on the Trojans whom you had routed, and now they are within their walls, while you have been decoyed hither away from them. Me you cannot kill, for death can take no hold upon me."

ὣς οἳ μὲν κατὰ ἄστυ πεφυζότες ἠΰτε νεβροὶ

ἱδρῶ ἀπεψύχοντο πίον τʼ ἀκέοντό τε δίψαν

κεκλιμένοι καλῇσιν ἐπάλξεσιν· αὐτὰρ Ἀχαιοὶ

τείχεος ἆσσον ἴσαν σάκεʼ ὤμοισι κλίναντες.

Ἕκτορα δʼ αὐτοῦ μεῖναι ὀλοιὴ μοῖρα πέδησεν

Ἰλίου προπάροιθε πυλάων τε Σκαιάων.

αὐτὰρ Πηλείωνα προσηύδα Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων·

τίπτέ με Πηλέος υἱὲ ποσὶν ταχέεσσι διώκεις

αὐτὸς θνητὸς ἐὼν θεὸν ἄμβροτον; οὐδέ νύ πώ με

ἔγνως ὡς θεός εἰμι, σὺ δʼ ἀσπερχὲς μενεαίνεις.

ἦ νύ τοι οὔ τι μέλει Τρώων πόνος, οὓς ἐφόβησας,

οἳ δή τοι εἰς ἄστυ ἄλεν, σὺ δὲ δεῦρο λιάσθης.

οὐ μέν με κτενέεις, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι μόρσιμός εἰμι.

Achilles was greatly angered and said, "You have baulked me, Far-Darter, most malicious of all gods, and have drawn me away from the wall, where many another man would have bitten the dust ere he got within Ilion ; you have robbed me of great glory and have saved the Trojans at no risk to yourself, for you have nothing to fear, but I would indeed have my revenge if it were in my power to do so."

τὸν δὲ μέγʼ ὀχθήσας προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

ἔβλαψάς μʼ ἑκάεργε θεῶν ὀλοώτατε πάντων

ἐνθάδε νῦν τρέψας ἀπὸ τείχεος· ἦ κʼ ἔτι πολλοὶ

γαῖαν ὀδὰξ εἷλον πρὶν Ἴλιον εἰσαφικέσθαι.

νῦν δʼ ἐμὲ μὲν μέγα κῦδος ἀφείλεο, τοὺς δὲ σάωσας

ῥηϊδίως, ἐπεὶ οὔ τι τίσιν γʼ ἔδεισας ὀπίσσω.

ἦ σʼ ἂν τισαίμην, εἴ μοι δύναμίς γε παρείη.

On this, with fell intent he made towards the city, and as the winning horse in a chariot race strains every nerve when he is flying over the plain, even so fast and furiously did the limbs of Achilles bear him onwards. King Priam was first to note him as he scoured the plain, all radiant as the star which men call Orion's Hound, and whose

ὣς εἰπὼν προτὶ ἄστυ μέγα φρονέων ἐβεβήκει,

σευάμενος ὥς θʼ ἵππος ἀεθλοφόρος σὺν ὄχεσφιν,

ὅς ῥά τε ῥεῖα θέῃσι τιταινόμενος πεδίοιο·

ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς λαιψηρὰ πόδας καὶ γούνατʼ ἐνώμα.

τὸν δʼ ὃ γέρων Πρίαμος πρῶτος ἴδεν ὀφθαλμοῖσι

παμφαίνονθʼ ὥς τʼ ἀστέρʼ ἐπεσσύμενον πεδίοιο,

ὅς ῥά τʼ ὀπώρης εἶσιν, ἀρίζηλοι δέ οἱ αὐγαὶ

φαίνονται πολλοῖσι μετʼ ἀστράσι νυκτὸς ἀμολγῷ,

ὅν τε κύνʼ Ὠρίωνος ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσι.

beams blaze forth in time of harvest more brilliantly than those of any other that shines by night; brightest of them all though he be, he yet sends an ill sign [ sêma ] for mortals, for he brings fire and fever in his train - even so did Achilles' armor gleam on his breast as he sped onwards. Priam raised a cry and beat his head with his hands as he lifted them up and shouted out to his dear son, imploring him to return; but Hektor still stayed before the gates, for his heart was set upon doing battle with Achilles. The old man reached out his arms towards him and bade him for pity's sake come within the walls. "Hektor," he cried, "my son, stay not to face this man alone and unsupported, or you will meet death at the hands of the son of Peleus, for he is mightier than you. Monster that he is; would indeed that the gods loved him no better than I do, for so, dogs and vultures would soon devour him as he lay stretched on earth, and a load of grief [ akhos ] would be lifted from my heart, for many a brave son has he reft from me, either by killing them or selling them away in the islands that are beyond the sea: even now I miss two sons from among the Trojans who have thronged within the city, Lykaon and Polydoros, whom Laothoe peeress among women bore me. Should they be still alive and in the hands of the Achaeans, we will ransom them with gold and bronze, of which we have store, for the old man Altes endowed his daughter richly; but if they are already dead and in the house of Hades, sorrow will it be to us two who were their parents; albeit the grief of others will be more short-lived unless you too perish at the hands of Achilles. Come, then, my son, within the city, to be the guardian of Trojan men and Trojan women, or you will both lose your own life and afford a mighty triumph to the son of Peleus. Have pity also on your unhappy father while life yet remains to him - on me, whom the son of Kronos will destroy by a terrible doom on the threshold of old age, after I have seen my sons slain and my daughters haled away as captives, my bridal chambers pillaged,

λαμπρότατος μὲν ὅ γʼ ἐστί, κακὸν δέ τε σῆμα τέτυκται,

καί τε φέρει πολλὸν πυρετὸν δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν·

ὣς τοῦ χαλκὸς ἔλαμπε περὶ στήθεσσι θέοντος.

ᾤμωξεν δʼ ὃ γέρων, κεφαλὴν δʼ ὅ γε κόψατο χερσὶν

ὑψόσʼ ἀνασχόμενος, μέγα δʼ οἰμώξας ἐγεγώνει

λισσόμενος φίλον υἱόν· ὃ δὲ προπάροιθε πυλάων

ἑστήκει ἄμοτον μεμαὼς Ἀχιλῆϊ μάχεσθαι·

τὸν δʼ ὃ γέρων ἐλεεινὰ προσηύδα χεῖρας ὀρεγνύς·

Ἕκτορ μή μοι μίμνε φίλον τέκος ἀνέρα τοῦτον

οἶος ἄνευθʼ ἄλλων, ἵνα μὴ τάχα πότμον ἐπίσπῃς

Πηλεΐωνι δαμείς, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερός ἐστι

σχέτλιος· αἴθε θεοῖσι φίλος τοσσόνδε γένοιτο

ὅσσον ἐμοί· τάχα κέν ἑ κύνες καὶ γῦπες ἔδοιεν

κείμενον· ἦ κέ μοι αἰνὸν ἀπὸ πραπίδων ἄχος ἔλθοι·

ὅς μʼ υἱῶν πολλῶν τε καὶ ἐσθλῶν εὖνιν ἔθηκε

κτείνων καὶ περνὰς νήσων ἔπι τηλεδαπάων.

καὶ γὰρ νῦν δύο παῖδε Λυκάονα καὶ Πολύδωρον

οὐ δύναμαι ἰδέειν Τρώων εἰς ἄστυ ἀλέντων,

τούς μοι Λαοθόη τέκετο κρείουσα γυναικῶν.

ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν ζώουσι μετὰ στρατῷ, ἦ τʼ ἂν ἔπειτα

χαλκοῦ τε χρυσοῦ τʼ ἀπολυσόμεθʼ, ἔστι γὰρ ἔνδον·

πολλὰ γὰρ ὤπασε παιδὶ γέρων ὀνομάκλυτος Ἄλτης.

εἰ δʼ ἤδη τεθνᾶσι καὶ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισιν,

ἄλγος ἐμῷ θυμῷ καὶ μητέρι τοὶ τεκόμεσθα·

λαοῖσιν δʼ ἄλλοισι μινυνθαδιώτερον ἄλγος

ἔσσεται, ἢν μὴ καὶ σὺ θάνῃς Ἀχιλῆϊ δαμασθείς.

ἀλλʼ εἰσέρχεο τεῖχος ἐμὸν τέκος, ὄφρα σαώσῃς

Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάς, μὴ δὲ μέγα κῦδος ὀρέξῃς

Πηλεΐδῃ, αὐτὸς δὲ φίλης αἰῶνος ἀμερθῇς.

πρὸς δʼ ἐμὲ τὸν δύστηνον ἔτι φρονέοντʼ ἐλέησον

δύσμορον, ὅν ῥα πατὴρ Κρονίδης ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ

αἴσῃ ἐν ἀργαλέῃ φθίσει κακὰ πόλλʼ ἐπιδόντα

υἷάς τʼ ὀλλυμένους ἑλκηθείσας τε θύγατρας,

καὶ θαλάμους κεραϊζομένους, καὶ νήπια τέκνα

little children dashed to earth amid the rage of battle, and my sons' wives dragged away by the cruel hands of the Achaeans; in the end fierce hounds will tear me in pieces at my own gates after some one has beaten the life out of my body with sword or spear-hounds that I myself reared and fed at my own table to guard my gates, but who will yet lap my blood and then lie all distraught at my doors. When a young man falls by the sword in battle, he may lie where he is and there is nothing unseemly; let what will be seen, all is honorable in death, but when an old man is slain there is nothing in this world more pitiable than that dogs should defile his gray hair and beard and all that men hide for shame [ aidôs ]."

βαλλόμενα προτὶ γαίῃ ἐν αἰνῇ δηϊοτῆτι,

ἑλκομένας τε νυοὺς ὀλοῇς ὑπὸ χερσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.

αὐτὸν δʼ ἂν πύματόν με κύνες πρώτῃσι θύρῃσιν

ὠμησταὶ ἐρύουσιν, ἐπεί κέ τις ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ

τύψας ἠὲ βαλὼν ῥεθέων ἐκ θυμὸν ἕληται,

οὓς τρέφον ἐν μεγάροισι τραπεζῆας θυραωρούς,

οἵ κʼ ἐμὸν αἷμα πιόντες ἀλύσσοντες περὶ θυμῷ

κείσοντʼ ἐν προθύροισι. νέῳ δέ τε πάντʼ ἐπέοικεν

ἄρηϊ κταμένῳ δεδαϊγμένῳ ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ

κεῖσθαι· πάντα δὲ καλὰ θανόντι περ ὅττι φανήῃ·

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ πολιόν τε κάρη πολιόν τε γένειον

αἰδῶ τʼ αἰσχύνωσι κύνες κταμένοιο γέροντος,

τοῦτο δὴ οἴκτιστον πέλεται δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν.

The old man tore his gray hair as he spoke, but he moved not the heart of Hektor. His mother hard by wept and moaned aloud as she bared her bosom and pointed to the breast which had suckled him. "Hektor," she cried, weeping bitterly the while, "Hektor, my son, spurn not this breast, but have pity upon me too: if I have ever given you comfort from my own bosom, think on it now, dear son, and come within the wall to protect us from this man; stand not without to meet him. Should the wretch kill you, neither I nor your richly dowered wife shall ever weep, dear offshoot of myself, over the bed on which you lie, for dogs will devour you at the ships of the Achaeans." Thus did the two with many tears implore their son, but they moved not the heart of Hektor, and he stood his ground awaiting huge Achilles as he drew nearer towards him. As serpent in its den upon the mountains, full fed with deadly poisons, waits for the approach of man - he is filled with fury and his eyes glare terribly as he goes writhing round his den - even so Hektor leaned his shield against a tower that jutted out from the wall and stood where he was, undaunted.

ἦ ῥʼ ὃ γέρων, πολιὰς δʼ ἄρʼ ἀνὰ τρίχας ἕλκετο χερσὶ

τίλλων ἐκ κεφαλῆς· οὐδʼ Ἕκτορι θυμὸν ἔπειθε.

μήτηρ δʼ αὖθʼ ἑτέρωθεν ὀδύρετο δάκρυ χέουσα

κόλπον ἀνιεμένη, ἑτέρηφι δὲ μαζὸν ἀνέσχε·

καί μιν δάκρυ χέουσʼ ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

Ἕκτορ τέκνον ἐμὸν τάδε τʼ αἴδεο καί μʼ ἐλέησον

αὐτήν, εἴ ποτέ τοι λαθικηδέα μαζὸν ἐπέσχον·

τῶν μνῆσαι φίλε τέκνον ἄμυνε δὲ δήϊον ἄνδρα

τείχεος ἐντὸς ἐών, μὴ δὲ πρόμος ἵστασο τούτῳ

σχέτλιος· εἴ περ γάρ σε κατακτάνῃ, οὔ σʼ ἔτʼ ἔγωγε

κλαύσομαι ἐν λεχέεσσι φίλον θάλος, ὃν τέκον αὐτή,

οὐδʼ ἄλοχος πολύδωρος· ἄνευθε δέ σε μέγα νῶϊν

Ἀργείων παρὰ νηυσὶ κύνες ταχέες κατέδονται.

ὣς τώ γε κλαίοντε προσαυδήτην φίλον υἱὸν

πολλὰ λισσομένω· οὐδʼ Ἕκτορι θυμὸν ἔπειθον,

ἀλλʼ ὅ γε μίμνʼ Ἀχιλῆα πελώριον ἆσσον ἰόντα.

ὡς δὲ δράκων ἐπὶ χειῇ ὀρέστερος ἄνδρα μένῃσι

βεβρωκὼς κακὰ φάρμακʼ, ἔδυ δέ τέ μιν χόλος αἰνός,

σμερδαλέον δὲ δέδορκεν ἑλισσόμενος περὶ χειῇ·

ὣς Ἕκτωρ ἄσβεστον ἔχων μένος οὐχ ὑπεχώρει

πύργῳ ἔπι προὔχοντι φαεινὴν ἀσπίδʼ ἐρείσας·

ὀχθήσας δʼ ἄρα εἶπε πρὸς ὃν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν·

"Alas," said he to himself in the heaviness of his heart, "if I go within the gates, Polydamas will be the first to heap reproach upon me, for it was he that urged me to lead the Trojans back to the city on that awful night when Achilles again came forth against us. I would not listen, but it would have been indeed better if I had done so. Now that my folly has destroyed the host, I dare not look Trojan men and Trojan women in the face, lest a worse man should say, ‘Hektor has ruined us by his self-confidence.’ Surely it would be better for me to return after having fought Achilles and slain him, or to die gloriously here before the city. What, again, if were to lay down my shield and helmet, lean my spear against the wall and go straight up to noble Achilles? What if I were to promise to give up Helen, who was the fountainhead of all this war, and all the treasure that Alexander brought with him in his ships to Troy , aye, and to let the Achaeans divide the half of everything that the city contains among themselves? I might make the Trojans, by the mouths of their princes, take a solemn oath that they would hide nothing, but would divide into two shares all that is within the city - but why argue with myself in this way? Were I to go up to him he would show me no kind of mercy; he would kill me then and there as easily as though I were a woman, when I had off my armor. There is no parleying with him from some rock or oak tree as young men and maidens prattle with one another. Better fight him at once, and learn to which of us Zeus will grant victory."

ὤ μοι ἐγών, εἰ μέν κε πύλας καὶ τείχεα δύω,

Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει,

ὅς μʼ ἐκέλευε Τρωσὶ ποτὶ πτόλιν ἡγήσασθαι

νύχθʼ ὕπο τήνδʼ ὀλοὴν ὅτε τʼ ὤρετο δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οὐ πιθόμην· ἦ τʼ ἂν πολὺ κέρδιον ἦεν.

νῦν δʼ ἐπεὶ ὤλεσα λαὸν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ἐμῇσιν,

αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους,

μή ποτέ τις εἴπῃσι κακώτερος ἄλλος ἐμεῖο·

Ἕκτωρ ἧφι βίηφι πιθήσας ὤλεσε λαόν.

ὣς ἐρέουσιν· ἐμοὶ δὲ τότʼ ἂν πολὺ κέρδιον εἴη

ἄντην ἢ Ἀχιλῆα κατακτείναντα νέεσθαι,

ἠέ κεν αὐτῷ ὀλέσθαι ἐϋκλειῶς πρὸ πόληος.

εἰ δέ κεν ἀσπίδα μὲν καταθείομαι ὀμφαλόεσσαν

καὶ κόρυθα βριαρήν, δόρυ δὲ πρὸς τεῖχος ἐρείσας

αὐτὸς ἰὼν Ἀχιλῆος ἀμύμονος ἀντίος ἔλθω

καί οἱ ὑπόσχωμαι Ἑλένην καὶ κτήμαθʼ ἅμʼ αὐτῇ,

πάντα μάλʼ ὅσσά τʼ Ἀλέξανδρος κοίλῃς ἐνὶ νηυσὶν

ἠγάγετο Τροίηνδʼ, ἥ τʼ ἔπλετο νείκεος ἀρχή,

δωσέμεν Ἀτρεΐδῃσιν ἄγειν, ἅμα δʼ ἀμφὶς Ἀχαιοῖς

ἄλλʼ ἀποδάσσεσθαι ὅσα τε πτόλις ἥδε κέκευθε·

Τρωσὶν δʼ αὖ μετόπισθε γερούσιον ὅρκον ἕλωμαι

μή τι κατακρύψειν, ἀλλʼ ἄνδιχα πάντα δάσασθαι

κτῆσιν ὅσην πτολίεθρον ἐπήρατον ἐντὸς ἐέργει·

ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός;

μή μιν ἐγὼ μὲν ἵκωμαι ἰών, ὃ δέ μʼ οὐκ ἐλεήσει

οὐδέ τί μʼ αἰδέσεται, κτενέει δέ με γυμνὸν ἐόντα

αὔτως ὥς τε γυναῖκα, ἐπεί κʼ ἀπὸ τεύχεα δύω.

οὐ μέν πως νῦν ἔστιν ἀπὸ δρυὸς οὐδʼ ἀπὸ πέτρης

τῷ ὀαριζέμεναι, ἅ τε παρθένος ἠΐθεός τε

παρθένος ἠΐθεός τʼ ὀαρίζετον ἀλλήλοιιν.

βέλτερον αὖτʼ ἔριδι ξυνελαυνέμεν ὅττι τάχιστα·

εἴδομεν ὁπποτέρῳ κεν Ὀλύμπιος εὖχος ὀρέξῃ.

Thus did he stand and ponder, but Achilles came up to him as it were Ares himself, plumed lord of battle. From his right shoulder he brandished his terrible spear of Pelian ash, and the bronze gleamed around him like flashing fire or the rays of the rising sun. Fear fell upon Hektor as he beheld him, and he dared not stay longer where he was but fled in dismay from before the gates, while Achilles darted after him at his utmost speed. As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, swoops down upon some cowering dove - the dove flies before him but the

ὣς ὅρμαινε μένων, ὃ δέ οἱ σχεδὸν ἦλθεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἶσος Ἐνυαλίῳ κορυθάϊκι πτολεμιστῇ

σείων Πηλιάδα μελίην κατὰ δεξιὸν ὦμον

δεινήν· ἀμφὶ δὲ χαλκὸς ἐλάμπετο εἴκελος αὐγῇ

ἢ πυρὸς αἰθομένου ἢ ἠελίου ἀνιόντος.

Ἕκτορα δʼ, ὡς ἐνόησεν, ἕλε τρόμος· οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔτʼ ἔτλη

αὖθι μένειν, ὀπίσω δὲ πύλας λίπε, βῆ δὲ φοβηθείς·

Πηλεΐδης δʼ ἐπόρουσε ποσὶ κραιπνοῖσι πεποιθώς.

ἠΰτε κίρκος ὄρεσφιν ἐλαφρότατος πετεηνῶν

ῥηϊδίως οἴμησε μετὰ τρήρωνα πέλειαν,

falcon with a shrill scream follows close after, resolved to have her - even so did Achilles make straight for Hektor with all his might, while Hektor fled under the Trojan wall as fast as his limbs could take him.

ἣ δέ θʼ ὕπαιθα φοβεῖται, ὃ δʼ ἐγγύθεν ὀξὺ λεληκὼς

ταρφέʼ ἐπαΐσσει, ἑλέειν τέ ἑ θυμὸς ἀνώγει·

ὣς ἄρʼ ὅ γʼ ἐμμεμαὼς ἰθὺς πέτετο, τρέσε δʼ Ἕκτωρ

τεῖχος ὕπο Τρώων, λαιψηρὰ δὲ γούνατʼ ἐνώμα.

On they flew along the wagon-road that ran hard by under the wall, past the lookout station, and past the weather-beaten wild fig-tree, till they came to two fair springs which feed the river Skamandros. One of these two springs is warm, and steam rises from it as smoke from a burning fire, but the other even in summer is as cold as hail or snow, or the ice that forms on water. Here, hard by the springs, are the goodly washing-troughs of stone, where in the time of peace before the coming of the Achaeans the wives and fair daughters of the Trojans used to wash their clothes. Past these did they flee, the one in front and the other giving chase behind him: good was the man that fled,

οἳ δὲ παρὰ σκοπιὴν καὶ ἐρινεὸν ἠνεμόεντα

τείχεος αἰὲν ὑπʼ ἐκ κατʼ ἀμαξιτὸν ἐσσεύοντο,

κρουνὼ δʼ ἵκανον καλλιρρόω· ἔνθα δὲ πηγαὶ

δοιαὶ ἀναΐσσουσι Σκαμάνδρου δινήεντος.

ἣ μὲν γάρ θʼ ὕδατι λιαρῷ ῥέει, ἀμφὶ δὲ καπνὸς

γίγνεται ἐξ αὐτῆς ὡς εἰ πυρὸς αἰθομένοιο·

ἣ δʼ ἑτέρη θέρεϊ προρέει ἐϊκυῖα χαλάζῃ,

ἢ χιόνι ψυχρῇ ἢ ἐξ ὕδατος κρυστάλλῳ.

ἔνθα δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτάων πλυνοὶ εὐρέες ἐγγὺς ἔασι

καλοὶ λαΐνεοι, ὅθι εἵματα σιγαλόεντα

πλύνεσκον Τρώων ἄλοχοι καλαί τε θύγατρες

τὸ πρὶν ἐπʼ εἰρήνης πρὶν ἐλθεῖν υἷας Ἀχαιῶν.

τῇ ῥα παραδραμέτην φεύγων ὃ δʼ ὄπισθε διώκων·

but better far was he that followed after, and swiftly indeed did they run, for the prize was no mere beast for sacrifice or bullock's hide, as it might be for a common foot-race, but they ran for the life [ psukhê ] of Hektor. As horses in a chariot race speed round the turning-posts when they are running for some great prize [ athlon ] - a tripod or woman - at the games in honor of some dead hero, so did these two run full speed three times round the city of Priam. All the gods watched them, and the sire of gods and men was the first to speak.

πρόσθε μὲν ἐσθλὸς ἔφευγε, δίωκε δέ μιν μέγʼ ἀμείνων

καρπαλίμως, ἐπεὶ οὐχ ἱερήϊον οὐδὲ βοείην

ἀρνύσθην, ἅ τε ποσσὶν ἀέθλια γίγνεται ἀνδρῶν,

ἀλλὰ περὶ ψυχῆς θέον Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο.

ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἀεθλοφόροι περὶ τέρματα μώνυχες ἵπποι

ῥίμφα μάλα τρωχῶσι· τὸ δὲ μέγα κεῖται ἄεθλον

ἢ τρίπος ἠὲ γυνὴ ἀνδρὸς κατατεθνηῶτος·

ὣς τὼ τρὶς Πριάμοιο πόλιν πέρι δινηθήτην

καρπαλίμοισι πόδεσσι· θεοὶ δʼ ἐς πάντες ὁρῶντο·

τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

"Alas," said he, "my eyes behold a man who is dear to me being pursued round the walls of Troy ; my heart is full of pity for Hektor, who has burned the thigh-bones of many a heifer in my honor, at one while on the of many-valleyed Ida, and again on the citadel of Troy ; and now I see noble Achilles in full pursuit of him round the city of Priam. What say you? Consider among yourselves and decide whether we shall now save him or let him fall, valiant though he be, before Achilles, son of Peleus."

ὢ πόποι ἦ φίλον ἄνδρα διωκόμενον περὶ τεῖχος

ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ὁρῶμαι· ἐμὸν δʼ ὀλοφύρεται ἦτορ

Ἕκτορος, ὅς μοι πολλὰ βοῶν ἐπὶ μηρίʼ ἔκηεν

Ἴδης ἐν κορυφῇσι πολυπτύχου, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὖτε

ἐν πόλει ἀκροτάτῃ· νῦν αὖτέ ἑ δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἄστυ πέρι Πριάμοιο ποσὶν ταχέεσσι διώκει.

ἀλλʼ ἄγετε φράζεσθε θεοὶ καὶ μητιάασθε

ἠέ μιν ἐκ θανάτοιο σαώσομεν, ἦέ μιν ἤδη

Πηλεΐδῃ Ἀχιλῆϊ δαμάσσομεν ἐσθλὸν ἐόντα.

Then Athena said, "Father, wielder of the lightning, lord of cloud and storm, what mean you? Would you pluck this mortal whose doom has long been decreed out of the jaws of death? Do as you will, but we others shall not be of a mind with you." And Zeus answered, "My child, Trito-born, take heart. I did not speak in full earnest, and I will let you have your way. Do as your thinking [ noos ] tells you, without letting up, without hindrance."

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

ὦ πάτερ ἀργικέραυνε κελαινεφὲς οἷον ἔειπες·

ἄνδρα θνητὸν ἐόντα πάλαι πεπρωμένον αἴσῃ

ἂψ ἐθέλεις θανάτοιο δυσηχέος ἐξαναλῦσαι;

ἔρδʼ· ἀτὰρ οὔ τοι πάντες ἐπαινέομεν θεοὶ ἄλλοι.

τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

θάρσει Τριτογένεια φίλον τέκος· οὔ νύ τι θυμῷ

πρόφρονι μυθέομαι, ἐθέλω δέ τοι ἤπιος εἶναι·

ἔρξον ὅπῃ δή τοι νόος ἔπλετο, μὴ δʼ ἔτʼ ἐρώει.

Thus did he urge Athena who was already eager, and down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus .

ὣς εἰπὼν ὄτρυνε πάρος μεμαυῖαν Ἀθήνην·

βῆ δὲ κατʼ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων ἀΐξασα.

Achilles was still in full pursuit of Hektor, as a hound chasing a fawn which he has started from its covert on the mountains, and hunts through glade and thicket. The fawn may try to elude him by crouching under cover of a bush, but he will scent her out and follow her up until he gets her - even so there was no escape for Hektor from the fleet son of Peleus. Whenever he made a set to get near the Dardanian gates and under the walls, that his people might help him by showering down weapons from above, Achilles would gain on him and head him back towards the plain, keeping himself always on the city side. As a man in a dream who fails to lay hands upon another whom he is pursuing - the one cannot escape nor the other overtake - even so neither could Achilles come up with Hektor, nor Hektor break away from Achilles; nevertheless he might even yet have escaped death had not the time come when Apollo, who thus far had sustained his strength and nerved his running, was now no longer to stay by him. Achilles made signs to the Achaean host, and shook his head to show that no man was to aim a dart at Hektor, lest another might win the glory of having hit him and he might himself come in second. Then, at last, as they were nearing the fountains for the fourth time, the father of all balanced his golden scales and placed a doom in each of them, one for Achilles and the other for Hektor. As he held the scales by the middle, the doom of Hektor fell down deep into the house of Hades - and then Phoebus Apollo left him. Thereon Athena went close up to the son of Peleus and said, "Noble Achilles, favored of heaven, I think in my mind [ noos ] we two shall surely take back to the ships a triumph for the Achaeans by slaying Hektor, for all his lust of battle. Do what Apollo may as he lies groveling before his father, aegis-bearing Zeus, Hektor cannot escape us longer. Stay here and take breath, while I go up to him and persuade him to make a stand and fight you."

Ἕκτορα δʼ ἀσπερχὲς κλονέων ἔφεπʼ ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς.

ὡς δʼ ὅτε νεβρὸν ὄρεσφι κύων ἐλάφοιο δίηται

ὄρσας ἐξ εὐνῆς διά τʼ ἄγκεα καὶ διὰ βήσσας·

τὸν δʼ εἴ πέρ τε λάθῃσι καταπτήξας ὑπὸ θάμνῳ,

ἀλλά τʼ ἀνιχνεύων θέει ἔμπεδον ὄφρά κεν εὕρῃ·

ὣς Ἕκτωρ οὐ λῆθε ποδώκεα Πηλεΐωνα.

ὁσσάκι δʼ ὁρμήσειε πυλάων Δαρδανιάων

ἀντίον ἀΐξασθαι ἐϋδμήτους ὑπὸ πύργους,

εἴ πως οἷ καθύπερθεν ἀλάλκοιεν βελέεσσι,

τοσσάκι μιν προπάροιθεν ἀποστρέψασκε παραφθὰς

πρὸς πεδίον· αὐτὸς δὲ ποτὶ πτόλιος πέτετʼ αἰεί.

ὡς δʼ ἐν ὀνείρῳ οὐ δύναται φεύγοντα διώκειν·

οὔτʼ ἄρʼ ὃ τὸν δύναται ὑποφεύγειν οὔθʼ ὃ διώκειν·

ὣς ὃ τὸν οὐ δύνατο μάρψαι ποσίν, οὐδʼ ὃς ἀλύξαι.

πῶς δέ κεν Ἕκτωρ κῆρας ὑπεξέφυγεν θανάτοιο,

εἰ μή οἱ πύματόν τε καὶ ὕστατον ἤντετʼ Ἀπόλλων

ἐγγύθεν, ὅς οἱ ἐπῶρσε μένος λαιψηρά τε γοῦνα;

λαοῖσιν δʼ ἀνένευε καρήατι δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

οὐδʼ ἔα ἱέμεναι ἐπὶ Ἕκτορι πικρὰ βέλεμνα,

μή τις κῦδος ἄροιτο βαλών, ὃ δὲ δεύτερος ἔλθοι.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τὸ τέταρτον ἐπὶ κρουνοὺς ἀφίκοντο,

καὶ τότε δὴ χρύσεια πατὴρ ἐτίταινε τάλαντα,

ἐν δʼ ἐτίθει δύο κῆρε τανηλεγέος θανάτοιο,

τὴν μὲν Ἀχιλλῆος, τὴν δʼ Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο,

ἕλκε δὲ μέσσα λαβών· ῥέπε δʼ Ἕκτορος αἴσιμον ἦμαρ,

ᾤχετο δʼ εἰς Ἀΐδαο, λίπεν δέ ἑ Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.

Πηλεΐωνα δʼ ἵκανε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,

ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱσταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

νῦν δὴ νῶι ἔολπα Διῒ φίλε φαίδιμʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ

οἴσεσθαι μέγα κῦδος Ἀχαιοῖσι προτὶ νῆας

Ἕκτορα δῃώσαντε μάχης ἄατόν περ ἐόντα.

οὔ οἱ νῦν ἔτι γʼ ἔστι πεφυγμένον ἄμμε γενέσθαι,

οὐδʼ εἴ κεν μάλα πολλὰ πάθοι ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων

προπροκυλινδόμενος πατρὸς Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.

ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν νῦν στῆθι καὶ ἄμπνυε, τόνδε δʼ ἐγώ τοι

οἰχομένη πεπιθήσω ἐναντίβιον μαχέσασθαι.

Thus spoke Athena. Achilles obeyed her gladly, and stood still, leaning on his bronze-pointed ashen spear, while Athena left him and went after Hektor in the form and with the voice of Deiphobos. She came close up to him and said, "Dear brother, I see you are hard pressed by Achilles who is chasing you at full speed round the city of Priam, let us await his onset and stand on our defense."

ὣς φάτʼ Ἀθηναίη, ὃ δʼ ἐπείθετο, χαῖρε δὲ θυμῷ,

στῆ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπὶ μελίης χαλκογλώχινος ἐρεισθείς.

ἣ δʼ ἄρα τὸν μὲν ἔλειπε, κιχήσατο δʼ Ἕκτορα δῖον

Δηϊφόβῳ ἐϊκυῖα δέμας καὶ ἀτειρέα φωνήν·

ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱσταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

ἠθεῖʼ ἦ μάλα δή σε βιάζεται ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἄστυ πέρι Πριάμοιο ποσὶν ταχέεσσι διώκων·

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ στέωμεν καὶ ἀλεξώμεσθα μένοντες.

And Hektor answered, "Deiphobos, you have always been dearest to me of all my brothers, children of Hecuba and Priam, but henceforth I shall rate you yet more highly, inasmuch as you have ventured outside the wall for my sake when all the others remain inside."

τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

Δηΐφοβʼ ἦ μέν μοι τὸ πάρος πολὺ φίλτατος ἦσθα

γνωτῶν οὓς Ἑκάβη ἠδὲ Πρίαμος τέκε παῖδας·

νῦν δʼ ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον νοέω φρεσὶ τιμήσασθαι,

ὃς ἔτλης ἐμεῦ εἵνεκʼ, ἐπεὶ ἴδες ὀφθαλμοῖσι,

τείχεος ἐξελθεῖν, ἄλλοι δʼ ἔντοσθε μένουσι.

Then Athena said, "Dear brother, my father and mother went down on their knees and implored me, as did all my comrades, to remain inside, so great a fear has fallen upon them all; but I was in an agony of grief when I beheld you; now, therefore, let us two make a stand and fight, and let there be no keeping our spears in reserve, that we may learn whether Achilles shall kill us and bear off our spoils to the ships, or whether he shall fall before you."

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

ἠθεῖʼ ἦ μὲν πολλὰ πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ

λίσσονθʼ ἑξείης γουνούμενοι, ἀμφὶ δʼ ἑταῖροι,

αὖθι μένειν· τοῖον γὰρ ὑποτρομέουσιν ἅπαντες·

ἀλλʼ ἐμὸς ἔνδοθι θυμὸς ἐτείρετο πένθεϊ λυγρῷ.

νῦν δʼ ἰθὺς μεμαῶτε μαχώμεθα, μὴ δέ τι δούρων

ἔστω φειδωλή, ἵνα εἴδομεν εἴ κεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

νῶϊ κατακτείνας ἔναρα βροτόεντα φέρηται

νῆας ἔπι γλαφυράς, ἦ κεν σῷ δουρὶ δαμήῃ.

Thus did Athena inveigle him by her cunning, and when the two were now close to one another great Hektor was first to speak. "I will no longer flee you, son of Peleus," said he, "as I have been doing hitherto. Three times have I fled round the mighty city of Priam, without daring to withstand you, but now, let me either slay or be slain, for I am in the mind to face you. Let us, then, give pledges to one another by our gods, who are the fittest witnesses and guardians of all covenants; let it be agreed between us that if Zeus grants me the longer stay and I take your life [ psukhê ], I am not to treat your dead body in any unseemly fashion, but when I have stripped you of your armor, I am to give up your body to the Achaeans. And do you likewise."

ὣς φαμένη καὶ κερδοσύνῃ ἡγήσατʼ Ἀθήνη·

οἳ δʼ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦσαν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοισιν ἰόντες,

τὸν πρότερος προσέειπε μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

οὔ σʼ ἔτι Πηλέος υἱὲ φοβήσομαι, ὡς τὸ πάρος περ

τρὶς περὶ ἄστυ μέγα Πριάμου δίον, οὐδέ ποτʼ ἔτλην

μεῖναι ἐπερχόμενον· νῦν αὖτέ με θυμὸς ἀνῆκε

στήμεναι ἀντία σεῖο· ἕλοιμί κεν ἤ κεν ἁλοίην.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δεῦρο θεοὺς ἐπιδώμεθα· τοὶ γὰρ ἄριστοι

μάρτυροι ἔσσονται καὶ ἐπίσκοποι ἁρμονιάων·

οὐ γὰρ ἐγώ σʼ ἔκπαγλον ἀεικιῶ, αἴ κεν ἐμοὶ Ζεὺς

δώῃ καμμονίην, σὴν δὲ ψυχὴν ἀφέλωμαι·

ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ ἄρ κέ σε συλήσω κλυτὰ τεύχεʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ

νεκρὸν Ἀχαιοῖσιν δώσω πάλιν· ὣς δὲ σὺ ῥέζειν.

Achilles glared at him and answered, "Fool, prate not to me about covenants. There can be no covenants between men and lions, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other out and out an through. Therefore there can be no understanding between you and me, nor may there be any covenants between us, till one or other shall fall and glut grim Ares with his life's blood. Be mindful of all your excellence [ aretê ]; you have need now to prove yourself indeed a bold warrior and fighter. You have no more chance, and Pallas Athena will forthwith vanquish you by my spear: you shall now pay me in full for the grief you have caused me on account of my comrades whom you have killed in battle."

τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

Ἕκτορ μή μοι ἄλαστε συνημοσύνας ἀγόρευε·

ὡς οὐκ ἔστι λέουσι καὶ ἀνδράσιν ὅρκια πιστά,

οὐδὲ λύκοι τε καὶ ἄρνες ὁμόφρονα θυμὸν ἔχουσιν,

ἀλλὰ κακὰ φρονέουσι διαμπερὲς ἀλλήλοισιν,

ὣς οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐμὲ καὶ σὲ φιλήμεναι, οὐδέ τι νῶϊν

ὅρκια ἔσσονται, πρίν γʼ ἢ ἕτερόν γε πεσόντα

αἵματος ἆσαι Ἄρηα ταλαύρινον πολεμιστήν.

παντοίης ἀρετῆς μιμνήσκεο· νῦν σε μάλα χρὴ

αἰχμητήν τʼ ἔμεναι καὶ θαρσαλέον πολεμιστήν.

οὔ τοι ἔτʼ ἔσθʼ ὑπάλυξις, ἄφαρ δέ σε Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη

ἔγχει ἐμῷ δαμάᾳ· νῦν δʼ ἀθρόα πάντʼ ἀποτίσεις

κήδεʼ ἐμῶν ἑτάρων οὓς ἔκτανες ἔγχεϊ θύων.

He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it. Hektor saw it coming and avoided it; he watched it and crouched down so that it flew over his head and stuck in the ground beyond; Athena then snatched it up and gave it back to Achilles without Hektor's seeing her; Hektor thereon said to the son of Peleus, "You have missed your aim, Achilles, peer of the gods, and Zeus has not yet revealed to you the hour of my doom, though you made sure that he had done so. You were a false-tongued liar when you deemed that I should forget my valor and quail before you. You shall not drive spear into the back of a runaway - drive it, should heaven so grant you power, drive it into me as I make straight towards you; and now for your own part avoid my spear if you can - would that you might receive the whole of it into your body; if you were once dead the Trojans would find the war an easier matter, for it is you who have harmed them most."

ἦ ῥα, καὶ ἀμπεπαλὼν προΐει δολιχόσκιον ἔγχος·

καὶ τὸ μὲν ἄντα ἰδὼν ἠλεύατο φαίδιμος Ἕκτωρ·

ἕζετο γὰρ προϊδών, τὸ δʼ ὑπέρπτατο χάλκεον ἔγχος,

ἐν γαίῃ δʼ ἐπάγη· ἀνὰ δʼ ἥρπασε Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη,

ἂψ δʼ Ἀχιλῆϊ δίδου, λάθε δʼ Ἕκτορα ποιμένα λαῶν.

Ἕκτωρ δὲ προσέειπεν ἀμύμονα Πηλεΐωνα·

ἤμβροτες, οὐδʼ ἄρα πώ τι θεοῖς ἐπιείκελʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ

ἐκ Διὸς ἠείδης τὸν ἐμὸν μόρον, ἦ τοι ἔφης γε·

ἀλλά τις ἀρτιεπὴς καὶ ἐπίκλοπος ἔπλεο μύθων,

ὄφρά σʼ ὑποδείσας μένεος ἀλκῆς τε λάθωμαι.

οὐ μέν μοι φεύγοντι μεταφρένῳ ἐν δόρυ πήξεις,

ἀλλʼ ἰθὺς μεμαῶτι διὰ στήθεσφιν ἔλασσον

εἴ τοι ἔδωκε θεός· νῦν αὖτʼ ἐμὸν ἔγχος ἄλευαι

χάλκεον· ὡς δή μιν σῷ ἐν χροῒ πᾶν κομίσαιο.

καί κεν ἐλαφρότερος πόλεμος Τρώεσσι γένοιτο

σεῖο καταφθιμένοιο· σὺ γάρ σφισι πῆμα μέγιστον.

He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it. His aim was true for he hit the middle of Achilles' shield, but the spear rebounded from it, and did not pierce it. Hektor was angry when he saw that the weapon had sped from his hand in vain, and stood there in dismay for he had no second spear. With a loud cry he called Deiphobos and asked him for one, but there was no man; then he saw the truth and said to himself, "Alas! the gods have lured me on to my destruction. I deemed that the hero Deiphobos was by my side, but he is within the wall, and Athena has inveigled me; death is now indeed exceedingly near at hand and there is no way out of it - for so Zeus and his son Apollo the far-darter have willed it, though heretofore they have been ever ready to protect me. My doom has come upon me; let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter."

ἦ ῥα, καὶ ἀμπεπαλὼν προΐει δολιχόσκιον ἔγχος,

καὶ βάλε Πηλεΐδαο μέσον σάκος οὐδʼ ἀφάμαρτε·

τῆλε δʼ ἀπεπλάγχθη σάκεος δόρυ· χώσατο δʼ Ἕκτωρ

ὅττί ῥά οἱ βέλος ὠκὺ ἐτώσιον ἔκφυγε χειρός,

στῆ δὲ κατηφήσας, οὐδʼ ἄλλʼ ἔχε μείλινον ἔγχος.

Δηΐφοβον δʼ ἐκάλει λευκάσπιδα μακρὸν ἀΰσας·

ᾔτεέ μιν δόρυ μακρόν· ὃ δʼ οὔ τί οἱ ἐγγύθεν ἦεν.

Ἕκτωρ δʼ ἔγνω ᾗσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φώνησέν τε·

ὢ πόποι ἦ μάλα δή με θεοὶ θάνατόνδε κάλεσσαν·

Δηΐφοβον γὰρ ἔγωγʼ ἐφάμην ἥρωα παρεῖναι·

ἀλλʼ ὃ μὲν ἐν τείχει, ἐμὲ δʼ ἐξαπάτησεν Ἀθήνη.

νῦν δὲ δὴ ἐγγύθι μοι θάνατος κακός, οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἄνευθεν,

οὐδʼ ἀλέη· ἦ γάρ ῥα πάλαι τό γε φίλτερον ἦεν

Ζηνί τε καὶ Διὸς υἷι ἑκηβόλῳ, οἵ με πάρος γε

πρόφρονες εἰρύατο· νῦν αὖτέ με μοῖρα κιχάνει.

μὴ μὰν ἀσπουδί γε καὶ ἀκλειῶς ἀπολοίμην,

ἀλλὰ μέγα ῥέξας τι καὶ ἐσσομένοισι πυθέσθαι.

As he spoke he drew the keen blade that hung so great and strong by his side, and gathering himself together be sprang on Achilles like a soaring eagle which swoops down from the clouds on to some lamb or timid hare - even so did Hektor brandish his sword and spring upon Achilles. Achilles mad with rage darted towards him, with his wondrous shield before his breast, and his gleaming helmet, made with four layers of metal, nodding fiercely forward. The thick tresses of gold with which Hephaistos had crested the helmet floated round it, and as the evening star that shines brighter than all others through the stillness of night, even such was the gleam of the spear which Achilles poised in his right hand, fraught with the death of noble Hektor. He eyed his fair flesh over and over to see where he could best wound it, but all was protected by the goodly armor of which Hektor had spoiled Patroklos after he had slain him, save only the throat where the collar-bones divide the neck from the shoulders, and this is the quickest place for the life-breath [ psukhê ] to escape: here then did Achilles strike him as he was coming on towards him, and the point of his spear went right through the fleshy part of the neck, but it did not sever his windpipe so that he could still speak. Hektor fell headlong, and Achilles vaunted over him saying, "Hektor, you deemed that you should come off scatheless when you were spoiling Patroklos, and recked not of myself who was not with him. Fool that you were: for I, his comrade, mightier far than he, was still left behind him at the ships, and now I have laid you low. The Achaeans shall give him all due funeral rites, while dogs and vultures shall work their will upon yourself."

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας εἰρύσσατο φάσγανον ὀξύ,

τό οἱ ὑπὸ λαπάρην τέτατο μέγα τε στιβαρόν τε,

οἴμησεν δὲ ἀλεὶς ὥς τʼ αἰετὸς ὑψιπετήεις,

ὅς τʼ εἶσιν πεδίον δὲ διὰ νεφέων ἐρεβεννῶν

ἁρπάξων ἢ ἄρνʼ ἀμαλὴν ἤ πτῶκα λαγωόν·

ὣς Ἕκτωρ οἴμησε τινάσσων φάσγανον ὀξύ.

ὁρμήθη δʼ Ἀχιλεύς, μένεος δʼ ἐμπλήσατο θυμὸν

ἀγρίου, πρόσθεν δὲ σάκος στέρνοιο κάλυψε

καλὸν δαιδάλεον, κόρυθι δʼ ἐπένευε φαεινῇ

τετραφάλῳ· καλαὶ δὲ περισσείοντο ἔθειραι

χρύσεαι, ἃς Ἥφαιστος ἵει λόφον ἀμφὶ θαμειάς.

οἷος δʼ ἀστὴρ εἶσι μετʼ ἀστράσι νυκτὸς ἀμολγῷ

ἕσπερος, ὃς κάλλιστος ἐν οὐρανῷ ἵσταται ἀστήρ,

ὣς αἰχμῆς ἀπέλαμπʼ εὐήκεος, ἣν ἄρʼ Ἀχιλλεὺς

πάλλεν δεξιτερῇ φρονέων κακὸν Ἕκτορι δίῳ,

εἰσορόων χρόα καλόν, ὅπῃ εἴξειε μάλιστα.

τοῦ δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τόσον μὲν ἔχε χρόα χάλκεα τεύχεα,

καλά, τὰ Πατρόκλοιο βίην ἐνάριξε κατακτάς·

φαίνετο δʼ ᾗ κληῗδες ἀπʼ ὤμων αὐχένʼ ἔχουσι,

λαυκανίην, ἵνα τε ψυχῆς ὤκιστος ὄλεθρος·

τῇ ῥʼ ἐπὶ οἷ μεμαῶτʼ ἔλασʼ ἔγχεϊ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

ἀντικρὺ δʼ ἁπαλοῖο διʼ αὐχένος ἤλυθʼ ἀκωκή·

οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἀπʼ ἀσφάραγον μελίη τάμε χαλκοβάρεια,

ὄφρά τί μιν προτιείποι ἀμειβόμενος ἐπέεσσιν.

ἤριπε δʼ ἐν κονίῃς· ὃ δʼ ἐπεύξατο δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·

Ἕκτορ ἀτάρ που ἔφης Πατροκλῆʼ ἐξεναρίζων

σῶς ἔσσεσθʼ, ἐμὲ δʼ οὐδὲν ὀπίζεο νόσφιν ἐόντα,

νήπιε· τοῖο δʼ ἄνευθεν ἀοσσητὴρ μέγʼ ἀμείνων

νηυσὶν ἔπι γλαφυρῇσιν ἐγὼ μετόπισθε λελείμμην,

ὅς τοι γούνατʼ ἔλυσα· σὲ μὲν κύνες ἠδʼ οἰωνοὶ

ἑλκήσουσʼ ἀϊκῶς, τὸν δὲ κτεριοῦσιν Ἀχαιοί.

τὸν δʼ ὀλιγοδρανέων προσέφη κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

Then Hektor said, as the life-breath [ psukhê ] ebbed out of him, "I pray you by your life and knees, and by your parents, let not dogs devour me at the ships of the Achaeans, but accept the rich treasure of gold and bronze which my father and mother will offer you, and send my body home, that the Trojans and their wives may give me my dues of fire when I am dead."

λίσσομʼ ὑπὲρ ψυχῆς καὶ γούνων σῶν τε τοκήων,

μή με ἔα παρὰ νηυσὶ κύνας καταδάψαι Ἀχαιῶν,

ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν χαλκόν τε ἅλις χρυσόν τε δέδεξο,

δῶρα τά τοι δώσουσι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ,

σῶμα δὲ οἴκαδʼ ἐμὸν δόμεναι πάλιν, ὄφρα πυρός με

Τρῶες καὶ Τρώων ἄλοχοι λελάχωσι θανόντα.

Achilles glared at him and answered, "Dog, talk not to me neither of knees nor parents; would that I could be as sure of being able to cut your flesh into pieces and eat it raw, for the ill have done me, as I am that nothing shall save you from the dogs - it shall not be, though they bring ten or twenty-fold ransom and weigh it out for me on the spot, with promise of yet more hereafter. Though Priam son of Dardanos should bid them offer me your weight in gold, even so your mother shall never lay you out and make lament over the son she bore, but dogs and vultures shall eat you utterly up."

τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς·

μή με κύον γούνων γουνάζεο μὴ δὲ τοκήων·

αἲ γάρ πως αὐτόν με μένος καὶ θυμὸς ἀνήη

ὤμʼ ἀποταμνόμενον κρέα ἔδμεναι, οἷα ἔοργας,

ὡς οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὃς σῆς γε κύνας κεφαλῆς ἀπαλάλκοι,

οὐδʼ εἴ κεν δεκάκις τε καὶ εἰκοσινήριτʼ ἄποινα

στήσωσʼ ἐνθάδʼ ἄγοντες, ὑπόσχωνται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα,

οὐδʼ εἴ κέν σʼ αὐτὸν χρυσῷ ἐρύσασθαι ἀνώγοι

Δαρδανίδης Πρίαμος· οὐδʼ ὧς σέ γε πότνια μήτηρ

ἐνθεμένη λεχέεσσι γοήσεται ὃν τέκεν αὐτή,

ἀλλὰ κύνες τε καὶ οἰωνοὶ κατὰ πάντα δάσονται.

Hektor with his dying breath then said, "I know you what you are, and was sure that I should not move you, for your heart is hard as iron; look to it that I bring not heaven's anger upon you on the day when Paris and Phoebus Apollo, valiant though you be, shall slay you at the Scaean gates."

τὸν δὲ καταθνῄσκων προσέφη κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

ἦ σʼ εὖ γιγνώσκων προτιόσσομαι, οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔμελλον

πείσειν· ἦ γὰρ σοί γε σιδήρεος ἐν φρεσὶ θυμός.

φράζεο νῦν, μή τοί τι θεῶν μήνιμα γένωμαι

ἤματι τῷ ὅτε κέν σε Πάρις καὶ Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων

ἐσθλὸν ἐόντʼ ὀλέσωσιν ἐνὶ Σκαιῇσι πύλῃσιν.

When he had thus said the shrouds of death's final outcome [ telos ] enfolded him, whereon his life-breath [ psukhê ] went out of him and flew down to the house of Hades, lamenting its sad fate that it should enjoy youth and strength no longer. But Achilles said, speaking to the dead body, "Die; for my part I will accept my fate whensoever Zeus and the other gods see fit to send it."

ὣς ἄρα μιν εἰπόντα τέλος θανάτοιο κάλυψε,

ψυχὴ δʼ ἐκ ῥεθέων πταμένη Ἄϊδος δὲ βεβήκει

ὃν πότμον γοόωσα λιποῦσʼ ἀνδροτῆτα καὶ ἥβην.

τὸν καὶ τεθνηῶτα προσηύδα δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·

τέθναθι· κῆρα δʼ ἐγὼ τότε δέξομαι ὁππότε κεν δὴ

Ζεὺς ἐθέλῃ τελέσαι ἠδʼ ἀθάνατοι θεοὶ ἄλλοι.

As he spoke he drew his spear from the body and set it on one side; then he stripped the blood-stained armor from Hektor's shoulders while the other Achaeans came running up to view his wondrous strength and beauty; and no one came near him without giving him a fresh wound. Then would one turn to his neighbor and say, "It is easier to handle Hektor now than when he was flinging fire on to our ships" and as he spoke he would thrust his spear into him anew.

ἦ ῥα, καὶ ἐκ νεκροῖο ἐρύσσατο χάλκεον ἔγχος,

καὶ τό γʼ ἄνευθεν ἔθηχʼ, ὃ δʼ ἀπʼ ὤμων τεύχεʼ ἐσύλα

αἱματόεντʼ· ἄλλοι δὲ περίδραμον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν,

οἳ καὶ θηήσαντο φυὴν καὶ εἶδος ἀγητὸν

Ἕκτορος· οὐδʼ ἄρα οἵ τις ἀνουτητί γε παρέστη.

ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν ἰδὼν ἐς πλησίον ἄλλον·

ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δὴ μαλακώτερος ἀμφαφάασθαι

Ἕκτωρ ἢ ὅτε νῆας ἐνέπρησεν πυρὶ κηλέῳ.

ὣς ἄρα τις εἴπεσκε καὶ οὐτήσασκε παραστάς.

When Achilles had done spoiling Hektor of his armor, he stood among the Argives and said, "My friends, princes and counselors of the Argives, now that heaven has granted us to overcome this man, who has done us more hurt than all the others together, consider whether we should not attack the city in force,

τὸν δʼ ἐπεὶ ἐξενάριξε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

στὰς ἐν Ἀχαιοῖσιν ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευεν·

ὦ φίλοι Ἀργείων ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες

ἐπεὶ δὴ τόνδʼ ἄνδρα θεοὶ δαμάσασθαι ἔδωκαν,

ὃς κακὰ πόλλʼ ἔρρεξεν ὅσʼ οὐ σύμπαντες οἱ ἄλλοι,

and discover in what mind [ noos ] the Trojans may be. We should thus learn whether they will desert their city now that Hektor has fallen, or will still hold out even though he is no longer living. But why argue with myself in this way, while Patroklos is still lying at the ships unburied, and unmourned - he Whom I can never forget so long as I am alive and my strength fails not? Though men forget their dead when once they are within the house of Hades, yet not even there will I forget the comrade whom I have lost. Now, therefore, Achaean youths, let us raise the song of victory and go back to the ships taking this man along with us; for we have achieved a mighty triumph and have slain noble Hektor to whom the Trojans prayed throughout their city as though he were a god."

εἰ δʼ ἄγετʼ ἀμφὶ πόλιν σὺν τεύχεσι πειρηθῶμεν,

ὄφρά κʼ ἔτι γνῶμεν Τρώων νόον ὅν τινʼ ἔχουσιν,

ἢ καταλείψουσιν πόλιν ἄκρην τοῦδε πεσόντος,

ἦε μένειν μεμάασι καὶ Ἕκτορος οὐκέτʼ ἐόντος.

ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός;

κεῖται πὰρ νήεσσι νέκυς ἄκλαυτος ἄθαπτος

Πάτροκλος· τοῦ δʼ οὐκ ἐπιλήσομαι, ὄφρʼ ἂν ἔγωγε

ζωοῖσιν μετέω καί μοι φίλα γούνατʼ ὀρώρῃ·

εἰ δὲ θανόντων περ καταλήθοντʼ εἰν Ἀΐδαο

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ κεῖθι φίλου μεμνήσομʼ ἑταίρου.

νῦν δʼ ἄγʼ ἀείδοντες παιήονα κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν

νηυσὶν ἔπι γλαφυρῇσι νεώμεθα, τόνδε δʼ ἄγωμεν.

ἠράμεθα μέγα κῦδος· ἐπέφνομεν Ἕκτορα δῖον,

ᾧ Τρῶες κατὰ ἄστυ θεῷ ὣς εὐχετόωντο.

On this he treated the body of Hektor with contumely: he pierced the sinews at the back of both his feet from heel to ankle and passed thongs of ox-hide through the slits he had made: thus he made the body fast to his chariot, letting the head trail upon the ground. Then when he had put the goodly armor on the chariot and had himself mounted, he lashed his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath. The dust rose from Hektor as he was being dragged along, his dark hair flew all abroad, and his head once so comely was laid low on earth, for Zeus had now delivered him into the hands of his foes to do him outrage in his own land.

ἦ ῥα, καὶ Ἕκτορα δῖον ἀεικέα μήδετο ἔργα.

ἀμφοτέρων μετόπισθε ποδῶν τέτρηνε τένοντε

ἐς σφυρὸν ἐκ πτέρνης, βοέους δʼ ἐξῆπτεν ἱμάντας,

ἐκ δίφροιο δʼ ἔδησε, κάρη δʼ ἕλκεσθαι ἔασεν·

ἐς δίφρον δʼ ἀναβὰς ἀνά τε κλυτὰ τεύχεʼ ἀείρας

μάστιξέν ῥʼ ἐλάαν, τὼ δʼ οὐκ ἀέκοντε πετέσθην.

τοῦ δʼ ἦν ἑλκομένοιο κονίσαλος, ἀμφὶ δὲ χαῖται

κυάνεαι πίτναντο, κάρη δʼ ἅπαν ἐν κονίῃσι

κεῖτο πάρος χαρίεν· τότε δὲ Ζεὺς δυσμενέεσσι

δῶκεν ἀεικίσσασθαι ἑῇ ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ.

Thus was the head of Hektor being dishonored in the dust. His mother tore her hair, and flung her veil from her with a loud cry as she looked upon her son. His father made piteous moan, and throughout the city the people fell to weeping and wailing. It was as though the whole of frowning Ilion was being smirched with fire. Hardly could the people hold Priam back in his hot haste to rush without the gates of the city. He groveled in the mire and besought them, calling each one of them by his name.

ὣς τοῦ μὲν κεκόνιτο κάρη ἅπαν· ἣ δέ νυ μήτηρ

τίλλε κόμην, ἀπὸ δὲ λιπαρὴν ἔρριψε καλύπτρην

τηλόσε, κώκυσεν δὲ μάλα μέγα παῖδʼ ἐσιδοῦσα·

ᾤμωξεν δʼ ἐλεεινὰ πατὴρ φίλος, ἀμφὶ δὲ λαοὶ

κωκυτῷ τʼ εἴχοντο καὶ οἰμωγῇ κατὰ ἄστυ.

τῷ δὲ μάλιστʼ ἄρʼ ἔην ἐναλίγκιον ὡς εἰ ἅπασα

Ἴλιος ὀφρυόεσσα πυρὶ σμύχοιτο κατʼ ἄκρης.

λαοὶ μέν ῥα γέροντα μόγις ἔχον ἀσχαλόωντα

ἐξελθεῖν μεμαῶτα πυλάων Δαρδανιάων.

πάντας δʼ ἐλλιτάνευε κυλινδόμενος κατὰ κόπρον,

ἐξονομακλήδην ὀνομάζων ἄνδρα ἕκαστον·

"Let be, my friends," he cried, "and for all your sorrow, suffer me to go single-handed to the ships of the Achaeans. Let me beseech this cruel and terrible man, if maybe he will respect the feeling of his fellow-men, and have compassion on my old age. His own father is even such another as myself - Peleus, who bred him and reared him to - be the bane of us Trojans, and of myself more than of all others. Many a son of mine has he slain in the flower of his youth, and yet, grieve for these as I may, I do so for one - Hektor - more than for them all, and the bitterness of my sorrow [ akhos ] will bring me down to the house of Hades. Would that he had died in my arms, for so both his ill-starred mother who bore him, and myself, should have had the comfort of weeping and mourning over him."

σχέσθε φίλοι, καί μʼ οἶον ἐάσατε κηδόμενοί περ

ἐξελθόντα πόληος ἱκέσθʼ ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν.

λίσσωμʼ ἀνέρα τοῦτον ἀτάσθαλον ὀβριμοεργόν,

ἤν πως ἡλικίην αἰδέσσεται ἠδʼ ἐλεήσῃ

γῆρας· καὶ δέ νυ τῷ γε πατὴρ τοιόσδε τέτυκται

Πηλεύς, ὅς μιν ἔτικτε καὶ ἔτρεφε πῆμα γενέσθαι

Τρωσί· μάλιστα δʼ ἐμοὶ περὶ πάντων ἄλγεʼ ἔθηκε.

τόσσους γάρ μοι παῖδας ἀπέκτανε τηλεθάοντας·

τῶν πάντων οὐ τόσσον ὀδύρομαι ἀχνύμενός περ

ὡς ἑνός, οὗ μʼ ἄχος ὀξὺ κατοίσεται Ἄϊδος εἴσω,

Ἕκτορος· ὡς ὄφελεν θανέειν ἐν χερσὶν ἐμῇσι·

τώ κε κορεσσάμεθα κλαίοντέ τε μυρομένω τε

μήτηρ θʼ, ἥ μιν ἔτικτε δυσάμμορος, ἠδʼ ἐγὼ αὐτός.

Thus did he speak with many tears, and all the people of the city joined in his lament. Hecuba then raised the cry of wailing among the Trojans. "Alas, my son," she cried, "what have I left to live for now that you are no more? Night and day did I glory in. you throughout the city, for you were a tower of strength to all in Troy , and both men and women alike hailed you as a god. So long as you lived you were their pride, but now death and destruction have fallen upon you."

ὣς ἔφατο κλαίων, ἐπὶ δὲ στενάχοντο πολῖται·

Τρῳῇσιν δʼ Ἑκάβη ἁδινοῦ ἐξῆρχε γόοιο·

τέκνον ἐγὼ δειλή· τί νυ βείομαι αἰνὰ παθοῦσα

σεῦ ἀποτεθνηῶτος; ὅ μοι νύκτάς τε καὶ ἦμαρ

εὐχωλὴ κατὰ ἄστυ πελέσκεο, πᾶσί τʼ ὄνειαρ

Τρωσί τε καὶ Τρῳῇσι κατὰ πτόλιν, οἵ σε θεὸν ὣς

δειδέχατʼ· ἦ γὰρ καί σφι μάλα μέγα κῦδος ἔησθα

ζωὸς ἐών· νῦν αὖ θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κιχάνει.

Hektor's wife had as yet heard nothing, for no one had come to tell her that her husband had remained without the gates. She was at her loom in an inner part of the house, weaving a double purple web, and embroidering it with many flowers. She told her maids to set a large tripod on the fire, so as to have a warm bath ready for Hektor when he came out of battle; poor woman, she knew not that he was now beyond the reach of baths, and that Athena had laid him low by the hands of Achilles. She heard the cry coming as from the wall, and trembled in every limb; the shuttle fell from her hands, and again she spoke to her waiting-women. "Two of you," she said, "come with me that I may learn what it is that has befallen; I heard the voice of my husband's honored mother;

ὣς ἔφατο κλαίουσʼ, ἄλοχος δʼ οὔ πώ τι πέπυστο

Ἕκτορος· οὐ γάρ οἵ τις ἐτήτυμος ἄγγελος ἐλθὼν

ἤγγειλʼ ὅττί ῥά οἱ πόσις ἔκτοθι μίμνε πυλάων,

ἀλλʼ ἥ γʼ ἱστὸν ὕφαινε μυχῷ δόμου ὑψηλοῖο

δίπλακα πορφυρέην, ἐν δὲ θρόνα ποικίλʼ ἔπασσε.

κέκλετο δʼ ἀμφιπόλοισιν ἐϋπλοκάμοις κατὰ δῶμα

ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν, ὄφρα πέλοιτο

Ἕκτορι θερμὰ λοετρὰ μάχης ἐκ νοστήσαντι

νηπίη, οὐδʼ ἐνόησεν ὅ μιν μάλα τῆλε λοετρῶν

χερσὶν Ἀχιλλῆος δάμασε γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη.

κωκυτοῦ δʼ ἤκουσε καὶ οἰμωγῆς ἀπὸ πύργου·

τῆς δʼ ἐλελίχθη γυῖα, χαμαὶ δέ οἱ ἔκπεσε κερκίς·

ἣ δʼ αὖτις δμῳῇσιν ἐϋπλοκάμοισι μετηύδα·

δεῦτε δύω μοι ἕπεσθον, ἴδωμʼ ὅτινʼ ἔργα τέτυκται.

my own heart beats as though it would come into my mouth and my limbs refuse to carry me; some great misfortune for Priam's children must be at hand. May I never live to hear it, but I greatly fear that Achilles has cut off the retreat of brave Hektor and has chased him on to the plain where he was singlehanded; I fear he may have put an end to the reckless daring which possessed my husband, who would never remain with the body of his men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valor."

αἰδοίης ἑκυρῆς ὀπὸς ἔκλυον, ἐν δʼ ἐμοὶ αὐτῇ

στήθεσι πάλλεται ἦτορ ἀνὰ στόμα, νέρθε δὲ γοῦνα

πήγνυται· ἐγγὺς δή τι κακὸν Πριάμοιο τέκεσσιν.

αἲ γὰρ ἀπʼ οὔατος εἴη ἐμεῦ ἔπος· ἀλλὰ μάλʼ αἰνῶς

δείδω μὴ δή μοι θρασὺν Ἕκτορα δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

μοῦνον ἀποτμήξας πόλιος πεδίον δὲ δίηται,

καὶ δή μιν καταπαύσῃ ἀγηνορίης ἀλεγεινῆς

ἥ μιν ἔχεσκʼ, ἐπεὶ οὔ ποτʼ ἐνὶ πληθυῖ μένεν ἀνδρῶν,

ἀλλὰ πολὺ προθέεσκε, τὸ ὃν μένος οὐδενὶ εἴκων.

Her heart beat fast, and as she spoke she flew from the house like a maniac, with her waiting-women following after. When she reached the battlements and the crowd of people, she stood looking out upon the wall, and saw Hektor being borne away in front of the city - the horses dragging him without heed or care over the ground towards the ships of the Achaeans. Her eyes were then shrouded as with the darkness of night and she fell fainting backwards, losing her life-breath [ psukhê ]. She tore the tiring from her head and flung it from her, the frontlet and net with its plaited band, and the veil which golden Aphrodite had given her on the day when Hektor took her with him from the house of Eetion, after having given countless gifts of wooing for her sake. Her husband's sisters and the wives of his brothers crowded round her and supported her, for she was fain to die in her distraction; when she again presently breathed and came to herself, she sobbed and made lament among the Trojans saying, ‘Woe is me, O Hektor; woe, indeed, that to share a common lot we were born, you at Troy in the house of Priam, and I at Thebes under the wooded mountain of Plakos in the house of Eetion who brought me up when I was a child - ill-starred sire of an ill-starred daughter - would that he had never begotten me. You are now going into the house of Hades under the secret places of the earth, and you leave me a sorrowing widow in your house. The child, of whom you and I are the unhappy parents, is as yet a mere infant. Now that you are gone, O Hektor, you can do nothing for him nor he for you.

ὣς φαμένη μεγάροιο διέσσυτο μαινάδι ἴση

παλλομένη κραδίην· ἅμα δʼ ἀμφίπολοι κίον αὐτῇ

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πύργόν τε καὶ ἀνδρῶν ἷξεν ὅμιλον

ἔστη παπτήνασʼ ἐπὶ τείχεϊ, τὸν δὲ νόησεν

ἑλκόμενον πρόσθεν πόλιος· ταχέες δέ μιν ἵπποι

ἕλκον ἀκηδέστως κοίλας ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν.

τὴν δὲ κατʼ ὀφθαλμῶν ἐρεβεννὴ νὺξ ἐκάλυψεν,

ἤριπε δʼ ἐξοπίσω, ἀπὸ δὲ ψυχὴν ἐκάπυσσε.

τῆλε δʼ ἀπὸ κρατὸς βάλε δέσματα σιγαλόεντα,

ἄμπυκα κεκρύφαλόν τε ἰδὲ πλεκτὴν ἀναδέσμην

κρήδεμνόν θʼ, ὅ ῥά οἱ δῶκε χρυσῆ Ἀφροδίτη

ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μιν κορυθαίολος ἠγάγεθʼ Ἕκτωρ

ἐκ δόμου Ἠετίωνος, ἐπεὶ πόρε μυρία ἕδνα.

ἀμφὶ δέ μιν γαλόῳ τε καὶ εἰνατέρες ἅλις ἔσταν,

αἵ ἑ μετὰ σφίσιν εἶχον ἀτυζομένην ἀπολέσθαι.

ἣ δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν ἔμπνυτο καὶ ἐς φρένα θυμὸς ἀγέρθη

ἀμβλήδην γοόωσα μετὰ Τρῳῇσιν ἔειπεν·

Ἕκτορ ἐγὼ δύστηνος· ἰῇ ἄρα γεινόμεθʼ αἴσῃ

ἀμφότεροι, σὺ μὲν ἐν Τροίῃ Πριάμου κατὰ δῶμα,

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ Θήβῃσιν ὑπὸ Πλάκῳ ὑληέσσῃ

ἐν δόμῳ Ἠετίωνος, ὅ μʼ ἔτρεφε τυτθὸν ἐοῦσαν

δύσμορος αἰνόμορον· ὡς μὴ ὤφελλε τεκέσθαι.

νῦν δὲ σὺ μὲν Ἀΐδαο δόμους ὑπὸ κεύθεσι γαίης

ἔρχεαι, αὐτὰρ ἐμὲ στυγερῷ ἐνὶ πένθεϊ λείπεις

χήρην ἐν μεγάροισι· πάϊς δʼ ἔτι νήπιος αὔτως,

ὃν τέκομεν σύ τʼ ἐγώ τε δυσάμμοροι· οὔτε σὺ τούτῳ

Even though he escape the horrors of this woeful war with the Achaeans, yet shall his life henceforth be one of labor [ ponos ] and sorrow, for others will seize his lands. The day that robs a child of his parents severs him from his own kind; his head is bowed, his cheeks are wet with tears, and he will go about destitute among the friends of his father, plucking one by the cloak and another by the shirt. Some one or other of these may so far pity him as to hold the cup for a moment towards him and let him moisten his lips, but he must not drink enough to wet the roof of his mouth; then one whose parents are alive will drive him from the table with blows and angry words. ‘Out with you,’ he will say, ‘you have no father here,’ and the child will go crying back to his widowed mother - he, Astyanax, who erewhile would sit upon his father's knees, and have none but the daintiest and choicest morsels set before him. When he had played till he was tired and went to sleep, he would lie in a bed, in the arms of his nurse, on a soft couch, knowing neither want nor care, whereas now that he has lost his father his lot will be full of hardship - he, whom the Trojans name Astyanax, because you, O Hektor, were the only defense of their gates and battlements. The wriggling writhing worms will now eat you at the ships, far from your parents, when the dogs have glutted themselves upon you. You will lie naked, although in your house you have fine and goodly raiment made by hands of women. This will I now burn; it is of no use to you, for you can never again wear it, and thus you will have glory [ kleos ] among the Trojans both men and women." In such wise did she cry aloud amid her tears, and the women joined in her lament.

ἔσσεαι Ἕκτορ ὄνειαρ ἐπεὶ θάνες, οὔτε σοὶ οὗτος.

ἤν περ γὰρ πόλεμόν γε φύγῃ πολύδακρυν Ἀχαιῶν,

αἰεί τοι τούτῳ γε πόνος καὶ κήδεʼ ὀπίσσω

ἔσσοντʼ· ἄλλοι γάρ οἱ ἀπουρίσσουσιν ἀρούρας.

ἦμαρ δʼ ὀρφανικὸν παναφήλικα παῖδα τίθησι·

πάντα δʼ ὑπεμνήμυκε, δεδάκρυνται δὲ παρειαί,

δευόμενος δέ τʼ ἄνεισι πάϊς ἐς πατρὸς ἑταίρους,

ἄλλον μὲν χλαίνης ἐρύων, ἄλλον δὲ χιτῶνος·

τῶν δʼ ἐλεησάντων κοτύλην τις τυτθὸν ἐπέσχε·

χείλεα μέν τʼ ἐδίηνʼ, ὑπερῴην δʼ οὐκ ἐδίηνε.

τὸν δὲ καὶ ἀμφιθαλὴς ἐκ δαιτύος ἐστυφέλιξε

χερσὶν πεπλήγων καὶ ὀνειδείοισιν ἐνίσσων·

ἔρρʼ οὕτως· οὐ σός γε πατὴρ μεταδαίνυται ἡμῖν.

δακρυόεις δέ τʼ ἄνεισι πάϊς ἐς μητέρα χήρην

Ἀστυάναξ, ὃς πρὶν μὲν ἑοῦ ἐπὶ γούνασι πατρὸς

μυελὸν οἶον ἔδεσκε καὶ οἰῶν πίονα δημόν·

αὐτὰρ ὅθʼ ὕπνος ἕλοι, παύσαιτό τε νηπιαχεύων,

εὕδεσκʼ ἐν λέκτροισιν ἐν ἀγκαλίδεσσι τιθήνης

εὐνῇ ἔνι μαλακῇ θαλέων ἐμπλησάμενος κῆρ·

νῦν δʼ ἂν πολλὰ πάθῃσι φίλου ἀπὸ πατρὸς ἁμαρτὼν

Ἀστυάναξ, ὃν Τρῶες ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν·

οἶος γάρ σφιν ἔρυσο πύλας καὶ τείχεα μακρά.

νῦν δὲ σὲ μὲν παρὰ νηυσὶ κορωνίσι νόσφι τοκήων

αἰόλαι εὐλαὶ ἔδονται, ἐπεί κε κύνες κορέσωνται

γυμνόν· ἀτάρ τοι εἵματʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι κέονται

λεπτά τε καὶ χαρίεντα τετυγμένα χερσὶ γυναικῶν.

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι τάδε πάντα καταφλέξω πυρὶ κηλέῳ

οὐδὲν σοί γʼ ὄφελος, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἐγκείσεαι αὐτοῖς,

ἀλλὰ πρὸς Τρώων καὶ Τρωϊάδων κλέος εἶναι.

ὣς ἔφατο κλαίουσʼ, ἐπὶ δὲ στενάχοντο γυναῖκες.