Iliad

Thus did they make their moan throughout the city, while the Achaeans when they reached the Hellespont went back every man to his own ship. But Achilles would not let the Myrmidons go, and spoke to his brave comrades saying, "Myrmidons, famed horsemen and my own trusted friends, not yet, I say, let us unyoke, but with horse and chariot draw near to the body and mourn Patroklos, in due honor to the dead. When we have had full comfort of lamentation we will unyoke our horses and take supper all of us here."

ὣς οἳ μὲν στενάχοντο κατὰ πτόλιν· αὐτὰρ Ἀχαιοὶ

ἐπεὶ δὴ νῆάς τε καὶ Ἑλλήσποντον ἵκοντο,

οἳ μὲν ἄρʼ ἐσκίδναντο ἑὴν ἐπὶ νῆα ἕκαστος,

Μυρμιδόνας δʼ οὐκ εἴα ἀποσκίδνασθαι Ἀχιλλεύς,

ἀλλʼ ὅ γε οἷς ἑτάροισι φιλοπτολέμοισι μετηύδα·

Μυρμιδόνες ταχύπωλοι ἐμοὶ ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι

μὴ δή πω ὑπʼ ὄχεσφι λυώμεθα μώνυχας ἵππους,

ἀλλʼ αὐτοῖς ἵπποισι καὶ ἅρμασιν ἆσσον ἰόντες

Πάτροκλον κλαίωμεν· ὃ γὰρ γέρας ἐστὶ θανόντων.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κʼ ὀλοοῖο τεταρπώμεσθα γόοιο,

ἵππους λυσάμενοι δορπήσομεν ἐνθάδε πάντες.

On this they all joined in a cry of wailing and Achilles led them in their lament. Thrice did they drive their chariots all sorrowing round the body, and Thetis stirred within them a still deeper yearning. The sands of the seashore and the men's armor were wet with their weeping, so great a minister of fear was he whom they had lost. Chief in all their mourning was the son of Peleus: he laid his bloodstained hand on the breast of his friend. "Fare well," he cried, "Patroklos, even in the house of Hades. I will now do all that I erewhile promised you; I will drag Hektor hither and let dogs devour him raw; twelve noble sons of Trojans will I also slay before your pyre to avenge you."

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ᾤμωξαν ἀολλέες, ἦρχε δʼ Ἀχιλλεύς.

οἳ δὲ τρὶς περὶ νεκρὸν ἐΰτριχας ἤλασαν ἵππους

μυρόμενοι· μετὰ δέ σφι Θέτις γόου ἵμερον ὦρσε.

δεύοντο ψάμαθοι, δεύοντο δὲ τεύχεα φωτῶν

δάκρυσι· τοῖον γὰρ πόθεον μήστωρα φόβοιο.

τοῖσι δὲ Πηλεΐδης ἁδινοῦ ἐξῆρχε γόοιο

χεῖρας ἐπʼ ἀνδροφόνους θέμενος στήθεσσιν ἑταίρου·

χαῖρέ μοι ὦ Πάτροκλε καὶ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισι·

πάντα γὰρ ἤδη τοι τελέω τὰ πάροιθεν ὑπέστην

Ἕκτορα δεῦρʼ ἐρύσας δώσειν κυσὶν ὠμὰ δάσασθαι,

δώδεκα δὲ προπάροιθε πυρῆς ἀποδειροτομήσειν

Τρώων ἀγλαὰ τέκνα σέθεν κταμένοιο χολωθείς.

As he spoke he treated the body of noble Hektor with contumely, laying it at full length in the dust beside the bier of Patroklos. The others then put off every man his armor, took the horses from their chariots, and seated themselves in great multitude by the ship of the fleet descendant of Aiakos,

ἦ ῥα καὶ Ἕκτορα δῖον ἀεικέα μήδετο ἔργα

πρηνέα πὰρ λεχέεσσι Μενοιτιάδαο τανύσσας

ἐν κονίῃς· οἳ δʼ ἔντεʼ ἀφωπλίζοντο ἕκαστος

χάλκεα μαρμαίροντα, λύον δʼ ὑψηχέας ἵππους,

κὰδ δʼ ἷζον παρὰ νηῒ ποδώκεος Αἰακίδαο

who thereon feasted them with an abundant funeral banquet. Many a goodly ox, with many a sheep and bleating goat did they butcher and cut up; many a tusked boar moreover, fat and well-fed, did they singe and set to roast in the flames of Hephaistos; and rivulets of blood flowed all round the place where the body was lying.

μυρίοι· αὐτὰρ ὃ τοῖσι τάφον μενοεικέα δαίνυ.

πολλοὶ μὲν βόες ἀργοὶ ὀρέχθεον ἀμφὶ σιδήρῳ

σφαζόμενοι, πολλοὶ δʼ ὄϊες καὶ μηκάδες αἶγες·

πολλοὶ δʼ ἀργιόδοντες ὕες θαλέθοντες ἀλοιφῇ

εὑόμενοι τανύοντο διὰ φλογὸς Ἡφαίστοιο·

πάντῃ δʼ ἀμφὶ νέκυν κοτυλήρυτον ἔρρεεν αἷμα.

Then the princes of the Achaeans took the son of Peleus to Agamemnon, but hardly could they persuade him to come with them, so wroth was he for the death of his comrade. As soon as they reached Agamemnon's tent they told the serving-men to set a large tripod over the fire in case they might persuade the son of Peleus ‘to wash the clotted gore from this body, but he denied them sternly, and swore it with a solemn oath, saying, "Nay, by King Zeus, first and mightiest of all gods, it is not right [ themis ] that water should touch my body, till I have laid Patroklos on the flames, have built him a tomb [ sêma ], and shaved my head - for so long as I live no such second sorrow [ akhos ] shall ever draw nigh me. Now, therefore, let us do all that this sad festival demands, but at break of day, King Agamemnon, bid your men bring wood, and provide all else that the dead may duly take into the realm of darkness; the fire shall thus burn him out of our sight the sooner, and the people shall turn again to their own labors."

αὐτὰρ τόν γε ἄνακτα ποδώκεα Πηλεΐωνα

εἰς Ἀγαμέμνονα δῖον ἄγον βασιλῆες Ἀχαιῶν

σπουδῇ παρπεπιθόντες ἑταίρου χωόμενον κῆρ.

οἳ δʼ ὅτε δὴ κλισίην Ἀγαμέμνονος ἷξον ἰόντες,

αὐτίκα κηρύκεσσι λιγυφθόγγοισι κέλευσαν

ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν, εἰ πεπίθοιεν

Πηλεΐδην λούσασθαι ἄπο βρότον αἱματόεντα.

αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ ἠρνεῖτο στερεῶς, ἐπὶ δʼ ὅρκον ὄμοσσεν·

οὐ μὰ Ζῆνʼ, ὅς τίς τε θεῶν ὕπατος καὶ ἄριστος,

οὐ θέμις ἐστὶ λοετρὰ καρήατος ἆσσον ἱκέσθαι

πρίν γʼ ἐνὶ Πάτροκλον θέμεναι πυρὶ σῆμά τε χεῦαι

κείρασθαί τε κόμην, ἐπεὶ οὔ μʼ ἔτι δεύτερον ὧδε

ἵξετʼ ἄχος κραδίην ὄφρα ζωοῖσι μετείω.

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι νῦν μὲν στυγερῇ πειθώμεθα δαιτί·

ἠῶθεν δʼ ὄτρυνον ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγάμεμνον

ὕλην τʼ ἀξέμεναι παρά τε σχεῖν ὅσσʼ ἐπιεικὲς

νεκρὸν ἔχοντα νέεσθαι ὑπὸ ζόφον ἠερόεντα,

ὄφρʼ ἤτοι τοῦτον μὲν ἐπιφλέγῃ ἀκάματον πῦρ

θᾶσσον ἀπʼ ὀφθαλμῶν, λαοὶ δʼ ἐπὶ ἔργα τράπωνται.

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. They made haste to prepare the meal, they ate, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the others went to their rest each in his own tent, but the son of Peleus lay grieving among his Myrmidons by the shore of the sounding sea, in an open place where the waves came surging in one after another. Here a very deep slumber took hold upon him and eased the burden of his sorrows, for his limbs were weary with chasing Hektor round windy Ilion . Presently the sad spirit [ psukhê ] of Patroklos drew near him, like what he had been in stature, voice, and the light of his beaming eyes, clad, too, as he had been clad in life. The spirit hovered over his head and said-

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ἄρα τοῦ μάλα μὲν κλύον ἠδὲ πίθοντο.

ἐσσυμένως δʼ ἄρα δόρπον ἐφοπλίσσαντες ἕκαστοι

δαίνυντʼ, οὐδέ τι θυμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,

οἳ μὲν κακκείοντες ἔβαν κλισίην δὲ ἕκαστος,

Πηλεΐδης δʼ ἐπὶ θινὶ πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης

κεῖτο βαρὺ στενάχων πολέσιν μετὰ Μυρμιδόνεσσιν

ἐν καθαρῷ, ὅθι κύματʼ ἐπʼ ἠϊόνος κλύζεσκον·

εὖτε τὸν ὕπνος ἔμαρπτε λύων μελεδήματα θυμοῦ

νήδυμος ἀμφιχυθείς· μάλα γὰρ κάμε φαίδιμα γυῖα

Ἕκτορʼ ἐπαΐσσων προτὶ Ἴλιον ἠνεμόεσσαν·

ἦλθε δʼ ἐπὶ ψυχὴ Πατροκλῆος δειλοῖο

πάντʼ αὐτῷ μέγεθός τε καὶ ὄμματα κάλʼ ἐϊκυῖα

καὶ φωνήν, καὶ τοῖα περὶ χροῒ εἵματα ἕστο·

στῆ δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·

"You sleep, Achilles, and have forgotten me; you loved me living, but now that I am dead you think for me no further. Bury me with all speed that I may pass the gates of Hades; the ghosts [ psukhai ], vain shadows of men that can labor no more, drive me away from them; they will not yet suffer me to join those that are beyond the river, and I wander all desolate by the wide gates of the house of Hades. Give me now your hand I pray you, for when you have once given me my dues of fire, never shall I again come forth out of the house of Hades. Nevermore shall we sit apart and take sweet counsel among the living; the cruel fate which was my birth-right has yawned its wide jaws around me - nay, you too Achilles, peer of gods, are doomed to die beneath the wall of the noble Trojans.

εὕδεις, αὐτὰρ ἐμεῖο λελασμένος ἔπλευ Ἀχιλλεῦ.

οὐ μέν μευ ζώοντος ἀκήδεις, ἀλλὰ θανόντος·

θάπτέ με ὅττι τάχιστα πύλας Ἀΐδαο περήσω.

τῆλέ με εἴργουσι ψυχαὶ εἴδωλα καμόντων,

οὐδέ μέ πω μίσγεσθαι ὑπὲρ ποταμοῖο ἐῶσιν,

ἀλλʼ αὔτως ἀλάλημαι ἀνʼ εὐρυπυλὲς Ἄϊδος δῶ.

καί μοι δὸς τὴν χεῖρʼ· ὀλοφύρομαι, οὐ γὰρ ἔτʼ αὖτις

νίσομαι ἐξ Ἀΐδαο, ἐπήν με πυρὸς λελάχητε.

οὐ μὲν γὰρ ζωοί γε φίλων ἀπάνευθεν ἑταίρων

βουλὰς ἑζόμενοι βουλεύσομεν, ἀλλʼ ἐμὲ μὲν κὴρ

ἀμφέχανε στυγερή, ἥ περ λάχε γιγνόμενόν περ·

καὶ δὲ σοὶ αὐτῷ μοῖρα, θεοῖς ἐπιείκελʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ,

τείχει ὕπο Τρώων εὐηφενέων ἀπολέσθαι.

"One prayer more will I make you, if you will grant it; let not my bones be laid apart from yours, Achilles, but with them; even as we were brought up together in your own home, what time Menoitios brought me to you as a child from Opoeis because by a sad spite I had killed the son of Amphidamas - not of set purpose, but in childish quarrel over the dice. The horseman Peleus took me into his house, entreated me kindly, and named me to be your squire [ therapôn ]; therefore let our bones lie in but a single urn, the two-handled golden vase given to you by your mother."

ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω καὶ ἐφήσομαι αἴ κε πίθηαι·

μὴ ἐμὰ σῶν ἀπάνευθε τιθήμεναι ὀστέʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ,

ἀλλʼ ὁμοῦ ὡς ἐτράφημεν ἐν ὑμετέροισι δόμοισιν,

εὖτέ με τυτθὸν ἐόντα Μενοίτιος ἐξ Ὀπόεντος

ἤγαγεν ὑμέτερόνδʼ ἀνδροκτασίης ὕπο λυγρῆς,

ἤματι τῷ ὅτε παῖδα κατέκτανον Ἀμφιδάμαντος

νήπιος οὐκ ἐθέλων ἀμφʼ ἀστραγάλοισι χολωθείς·

ἔνθά με δεξάμενος ἐν δώμασιν ἱππότα Πηλεὺς

ἔτραφέ τʼ ἐνδυκέως καὶ σὸν θεράποντʼ ὀνόμηνεν·

ὣς δὲ καὶ ὀστέα νῶϊν ὁμὴ σορὸς ἀμφικαλύπτοι

χρύσεος ἀμφιφορεύς, τόν τοι πόρε πότνια μήτηρ.

And Achilles answered, "Why, true heart, are you come hither to lay these charges upon me? will of my own self do all as you have bidden me. Draw closer to me, let us once more throw our arms around one another, and find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows."

τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

τίπτέ μοι ἠθείη κεφαλὴ δεῦρʼ εἰλήλουθας

καί μοι ταῦτα ἕκαστʼ ἐπιτέλλεαι; αὐτὰρ ἐγώ τοι

πάντα μάλʼ ἐκτελέω καὶ πείσομαι ὡς σὺ κελεύεις.

ἀλλά μοι ἆσσον στῆθι· μίνυνθά περ ἀμφιβαλόντε

ἀλλήλους ὀλοοῖο τεταρπώμεσθα γόοιο.

He opened his arms towards him as he spoke and would have clasped him in them, but there was nothing, and the spirit [ psukhê ] vanished as a vapor, gibbering and whining into the earth. Achilles sprang to his feet, smote his two hands, and made lamentation saying, "Of a truth even in the house of Hades there are ghosts [ psukhai ] and phantoms that have no life in them;

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ὠρέξατο χερσὶ φίλῃσιν

οὐδʼ ἔλαβε· ψυχὴ δὲ κατὰ χθονὸς ἠΰτε καπνὸς

ᾤχετο τετριγυῖα· ταφὼν δʼ ἀνόρουσεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

χερσί τε συμπλατάγησεν, ἔπος δʼ ὀλοφυδνὸν ἔειπεν·

ὢ πόποι ἦ ῥά τίς ἐστι καὶ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισι

ψυχὴ καὶ εἴδωλον, ἀτὰρ φρένες οὐκ ἔνι πάμπαν·

all night long the sad spirit [ psukhê ] of Patroklos has hovered over head making piteous moan, telling me what I am to do for him, and looking wondrously like himself."

παννυχίη γάρ μοι Πατροκλῆος δειλοῖο

ψυχὴ ἐφεστήκει γοόωσά τε μυρομένη τε,

καί μοι ἕκαστʼ ἐπέτελλεν, ἔϊκτο δὲ θέσκελον αὐτῷ.

Thus did he speak and his words set them all weeping and mourning about the poor dumb dead, till rosy-fingered morn appeared. Then King Agamemnon sent men and mules from all parts of the camp, to bring wood, and Meriones, squire [ therapôn ] to Idomeneus, was in charge over them. They went out with woodmen's axes and strong ropes in their hands, and before them went the mules. Up hill and down dale did they go, by straight ways and crooked, and when they reached the heights of many-fountained Ida, they laid their axes to the roots of many a tall branching oak that came thundering down as they felled it. They split the trees and bound them behind the mules, which then wended their way as they best could through the thick brushwood on to the plain. All who had been cutting wood bore logs, for so Meriones squire [ therapôn ] to Idomeneus had bidden them, and they threw them down in a line upon the seashore at the place where Achilles would make a mighty monument for Patroklos and for himself.

ὣς φάτο, τοῖσι δὲ πᾶσιν ὑφʼ ἵμερον ὦρσε γόοιο·

μυρομένοισι δὲ τοῖσι φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠὼς

ἀμφὶ νέκυν ἐλεεινόν. ἀτὰρ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων

οὐρῆάς τʼ ὄτρυνε καὶ ἀνέρας ἀξέμεν ὕλην

πάντοθεν ἐκ κλισιῶν· ἐπὶ δʼ ἀνὴρ ἐσθλὸς ὀρώρει

Μηριόνης θεράπων ἀγαπήνορος Ἰδομενῆος.

οἳ δʼ ἴσαν ὑλοτόμους πελέκεας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες

σειράς τʼ εὐπλέκτους· πρὸ δʼ ἄρʼ οὐρῆες κίον αὐτῶν.

πολλὰ δʼ ἄναντα κάταντα πάραντά τε δόχμιά τʼ ἦλθον·

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ κνημοὺς προσέβαν πολυπίδακος Ἴδης,

αὐτίκʼ ἄρα δρῦς ὑψικόμους ταναήκεϊ χαλκῷ

τάμνον ἐπειγόμενοι· ταὶ δὲ μεγάλα κτυπέουσαι

πῖπτον· τὰς μὲν ἔπειτα διαπλήσσοντες Ἀχαιοὶ

ἔκδεον ἡμιόνων· ταὶ δὲ χθόνα ποσσὶ δατεῦντο

ἐλδόμεναι πεδίοιο διὰ ῥωπήϊα πυκνά.

πάντες δʼ ὑλοτόμοι φιτροὺς φέρον· ὡς γὰρ ἀνώγει

Μηριόνης θεράπων ἀγαπήνορος Ἰδομενῆος.

κὰδ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ ἀκτῆς βάλλον ἐπισχερώ, ἔνθʼ ἄρʼ Ἀχιλλεὺς

φράσσατο Πατρόκλῳ μέγα ἠρίον ἠδὲ οἷ αὐτῷ.

When they had thrown down their great logs of wood over the whole ground, they stayed all of them where they were, but Achilles ordered his brave Myrmidons to gird on their armor, and to yoke each man his horses; they therefore rose, girded on their armor and mounted each his chariot - they and their charioteers with them. The chariots went before, and they that were on foot followed as a cloud in their tens of thousands after. In the midst of them his comrades bore Patroklos and covered him with the locks of their hair which they cut off and threw upon his body. Last came Achilles with his head bowed for sorrow, so noble a comrade was he taking to the house of Hades.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πάντῃ παρακάββαλον ἄσπετον ὕλην

ἥατʼ ἄρʼ αὖθι μένοντες ἀολλέες. αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

αὐτίκα Μυρμιδόνεσσι φιλοπτολέμοισι κέλευσε

χαλκὸν ζώννυσθαι, ζεῦξαι δʼ ὑπʼ ὄχεσφιν ἕκαστον

ἵππους· οἳ δʼ ὄρνυντο καὶ ἐν τεύχεσσιν ἔδυνον,

ἂν δʼ ἔβαν ἐν δίφροισι παραιβάται ἡνίοχοί τε,

πρόσθε μὲν ἱππῆες, μετὰ δὲ νέφος εἵπετο πεζῶν

μυρίοι· ἐν δὲ μέσοισι φέρον Πάτροκλον ἑταῖροι.

θριξὶ δὲ πάντα νέκυν καταείνυσαν, ἃς ἐπέβαλλον

κειρόμενοι· ὄπιθεν δὲ κάρη ἔχε δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἀχνύμενος· ἕταρον γὰρ ἀμύμονα πέμπʼ Ἄϊδος δέ.

When they came to the place of which Achilles had told them they laid the body down and built up the wood. Achilles then bethought him of another matter. He went a space away from the pyre, and cut off the yellow lock which he had let grow for the river Spercheios. He looked all sorrowfully out upon the dark sea [ pontos ], and said, "Spercheios, in vain did my father Peleus vow to you that when I returned home to my loved native land I should cut off this lock and offer you a holy hecatomb; fifty she-goats was I to sacrifice to you there at your springs, where is your grove and your altar fragrant with burnt-offerings. Thus did my father vow, but you have not fulfilled the thinking [ noos ] of his prayer; now, therefore, that I shall see my home no more, I give this lock as a keepsake to the hero Patroklos."

οἳ δʼ ὅτε χῶρον ἵκανον ὅθί σφισι πέφραδʼ Ἀχιλλεὺς

κάτθεσαν, αἶψα δέ οἱ μενοεικέα νήεον ὕλην.

ἔνθʼ αὖτʼ ἄλλʼ ἐνόησε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·

στὰς ἀπάνευθε πυρῆς ξανθὴν ἀπεκείρατο χαίτην,

τήν ῥα Σπερχειῷ ποταμῷ τρέφε τηλεθόωσαν·

ὀχθήσας δʼ ἄρα εἶπεν ἰδὼν ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον·

Σπερχείʼ ἄλλως σοί γε πατὴρ ἠρήσατο Πηλεὺς

κεῖσέ με νοστήσαντα φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν

σοί τε κόμην κερέειν ῥέξειν θʼ ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην,

πεντήκοντα δʼ ἔνορχα παρʼ αὐτόθι μῆλʼ ἱερεύσειν

ἐς πηγάς, ὅθι τοι τέμενος βωμός τε θυήεις.

ὣς ἠρᾶθʼ ὃ γέρων, σὺ δέ οἱ νόον οὐκ ἐτέλεσσας.

νῦν δʼ ἐπεὶ οὐ νέομαί γε φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν

Πατρόκλῳ ἥρωϊ κόμην ὀπάσαιμι φέρεσθαι.

As he spoke he placed the lock in the hands of his dear comrade, and all who stood by were filled with yearning and lamentation. The sun would have gone down upon their mourning had not Achilles presently said to Agamemnon, "Son of Atreus, for it is to you that the people will give ear, there is a time to mourn and a time to cease from mourning; bid the people now leave the pyre and set about getting their dinners: we, to whom the dead is dearest, will see to what is wanted here, and let the other princes also stay by me."

ὣς εἰπὼν ἐν χερσὶ κόμην ἑτάροιο φίλοιο

θῆκεν, τοῖσι δὲ πᾶσιν ὑφʼ ἵμερον ὦρσε γόοιο.

καί νύ κʼ ὀδυρομένοισιν ἔδυ φάος ἠελίοιο

εἰ μὴ Ἀχιλλεὺς αἶψʼ Ἀγαμέμνονι εἶπε παραστάς·

Ἀτρεΐδη, σοὶ γάρ τε μάλιστά γε λαὸς Ἀχαιῶν

πείσονται μύθοισι, γόοιο μὲν ἔστι καὶ ἆσαι,

νῦν δʼ ἀπὸ πυρκαϊῆς σκέδασον καὶ δεῖπνον ἄνωχθι

ὅπλεσθαι· τάδε δʼ ἀμφὶ πονησόμεθʼ οἷσι μάλιστα

κήδεός ἐστι νέκυς· παρὰ δʼ οἵ τʼ ἀγοὶ ἄμμι μενόντων.

When King Agamemnon heard this he dismissed the people to their ships, but those who were about the dead heaped up wood and built a pyre a hundred feet this way and that; then they laid the dead all sorrowfully upon the top of it. They flayed and dressed many fat sheep and oxen before the pyre, and Achilles took fat from all of them and wrapped the body therein from head to foot, heaping the flayed carcasses all round it. Against the bier he leaned two-handled jars of honey and unguents; four proud horses did he then cast upon the pyre, groaning the while he did so. The dead hero had had house-dogs; two of them did Achilles slay and threw upon the pyre; he also put twelve brave sons of noble Trojans to the sword and laid them with the rest, for he was full of bitterness and fury.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τό γʼ ἄκουσεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων,

αὐτίκα λαὸν μὲν σκέδασεν κατὰ νῆας ἐΐσας,

κηδεμόνες δὲ παρʼ αὖθι μένον καὶ νήεον ὕλην,

ποίησαν δὲ πυρὴν ἑκατόμπεδον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,

ἐν δὲ πυρῇ ὑπάτῃ νεκρὸν θέσαν ἀχνύμενοι κῆρ.

πολλὰ δὲ ἴφια μῆλα καὶ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς

πρόσθε πυρῆς ἔδερόν τε καὶ ἄμφεπον· ἐκ δʼ ἄρα πάντων

δημὸν ἑλὼν ἐκάλυψε νέκυν μεγάθυμος Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἐς πόδας ἐκ κεφαλῆς, περὶ δὲ δρατὰ σώματα νήει.

ἐν δʼ ἐτίθει μέλιτος καὶ ἀλείφατος ἀμφιφορῆας

πρὸς λέχεα κλίνων· πίσυρας δʼ ἐριαύχενας ἵππους

ἐσσυμένως ἐνέβαλλε πυρῇ μεγάλα στεναχίζων.

ἐννέα τῷ γε ἄνακτι τραπεζῆες κύνες ἦσαν,

καὶ μὲν τῶν ἐνέβαλλε πυρῇ δύο δειροτομήσας,

δώδεκα δὲ Τρώων μεγαθύμων υἱέας ἐσθλοὺς

χαλκῷ δηϊόων· κακὰ δὲ φρεσὶ μήδετο ἔργα·

Then he committed all to the resistless and devouring might of the fire; he groaned aloud and called on his dead comrade by name. "Fare well," he cried, "Patroklos, even in the house of Hades; I am now doing all that I have promised you. Twelve brave sons of noble Trojans shall the flames consume along with yourself, but dogs, not fire, shall devour the flesh of Hektor son of Priam."

ἐν δὲ πυρὸς μένος ἧκε σιδήρεον ὄφρα νέμοιτο.

ᾤμωξέν τʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα, φίλον δʼ ὀνόμηνεν ἑταῖρον·

χαῖρέ μοι ὦ Πάτροκλε καὶ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισι·

πάντα γὰρ ἤδη τοι τελέω τὰ πάροιθεν ὑπέστην,

δώδεκα μὲν Τρώων μεγαθύμων υἱέας ἐσθλοὺς

τοὺς ἅμα σοὶ πάντας πῦρ ἐσθίει· Ἕκτορα δʼ οὔ τι

δώσω Πριαμίδην πυρὶ δαπτέμεν, ἀλλὰ κύνεσσιν.

Thus did he vaunt, but the dogs came not about the body of Hektor, for Zeus' daughter Aphrodite kept them off him night and day, and anointed him with ambrosial oil of roses that his flesh might not be torn when Achilles was dragging him about. Phoebus Apollo moreover sent a dark cloud from heaven to earth, which gave shade to the whole place where Hektor lay, that the heat of the sun might not parch his body.

ὣς φάτʼ ἀπειλήσας· τὸν δʼ οὐ κύνες ἀμφεπένοντο,

ἀλλὰ κύνας μὲν ἄλαλκε Διὸς θυγάτηρ Ἀφροδίτη

ἤματα καὶ νύκτας, ῥοδόεντι δὲ χρῖεν ἐλαίῳ

ἀμβροσίῳ, ἵνα μή μιν ἀποδρύφοι ἑλκυστάζων.

τῷ δʼ ἐπὶ κυάνεον νέφος ἤγαγε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων

οὐρανόθεν πεδίον δέ, κάλυψε δὲ χῶρον ἅπαντα

ὅσσον ἐπεῖχε νέκυς, μὴ πρὶν μένος ἠελίοιο

σκήλειʼ ἀμφὶ περὶ χρόα ἴνεσιν ἠδὲ μέλεσσιν.

οὐδὲ πυρὴ Πατρόκλου ἐκαίετο τεθνηῶτος·

Now the pyre about dead Patroklos would not kindle. Achilles therefore bethought him of another matter; he went apart and prayed to the two winds Boreas and Zephyros vowing them goodly offerings. He made them many drink-offerings from the golden cup and besought them to come and help him that the wood might make haste to kindle and the dead bodies be consumed. Fleet Iris heard him praying and started off to fetch the winds. They were holding high feast in the house of boisterous Zephyros when Iris came running up to the stone threshold of the house and stood there, but as soon as they set eyes on her they all came towards her and each of them called her to him, but Iris would not sit down. "I cannot stay," she said, "I must go back to the streams of Okeanos and the land of the Ethiopians who are offering hecatombs to the immortals, and I would have my share; but Achilles prays that Boreas and shrill Zephyros will come to him, and he vows them goodly offerings; he would have you blow upon the pyre of Patroklos for whom all the Achaeans are lamenting."

ἔνθʼ αὖτʼ ἀλλʼ ἐνόησε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·

στὰς ἀπάνευθε πυρῆς δοιοῖς ἠρᾶτʼ ἀνέμοισι

Βορέῃ καὶ Ζεφύρῳ, καὶ ὑπίσχετο ἱερὰ καλά·

πολλὰ δὲ καὶ σπένδων χρυσέῳ δέπαϊ λιτάνευεν

ἐλθέμεν, ὄφρα τάχιστα πυρὶ φλεγεθοίατο νεκροί,

ὕλη τε σεύαιτο καήμεναι. ὦκα δὲ Ἶρις

ἀράων ἀΐουσα μετάγγελος ἦλθʼ ἀνέμοισιν.

οἳ μὲν ἄρα Ζεφύροιο δυσαέος ἀθρόοι ἔνδον

εἰλαπίνην δαίνυντο· θέουσα δὲ Ἶρις ἐπέστη

βηλῷ ἔπι λιθέῳ· τοὶ δʼ ὡς ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσι

πάντες ἀνήϊξαν, κάλεόν τέ μιν εἰς ἓ ἕκαστος·

ἣ δʼ αὖθʼ ἕζεσθαι μὲν ἀνήνατο, εἶπε δὲ μῦθον·

οὐχ ἕδος· εἶμι γὰρ αὖτις ἐπʼ Ὠκεανοῖο ῥέεθρα

Αἰθιόπων ἐς γαῖαν, ὅθι ῥέζουσʼ ἑκατόμβας

ἀθανάτοις, ἵνα δὴ καὶ ἐγὼ μεταδαίσομαι ἱρῶν.

ἀλλʼ Ἀχιλεὺς Βορέην ἠδὲ Ζέφυρον κελαδεινὸν

ἐλθεῖν ἀρᾶται, καὶ ὑπίσχεται ἱερὰ καλά,

ὄφρα πυρὴν ὄρσητε καήμεναι, ᾗ ἔνι κεῖται

Πάτροκλος, τὸν πάντες ἀναστενάχουσιν Ἀχαιοί.

With this she left them, and the two winds rose with a cry that rent the air and swept the clouds before them. They blew on and on until they came to the sea [ pontos ], and the waves rose high beneath them, but when they reached Troy they fell upon the pyre till the mighty flames roared under the blast that they blew. All night long did they blow hard and beat upon the fire, and all night long did Achilles grasp his double cup, drawing wine from a mixing-bowl of gold, and calling upon the spirit [ psukhê ] of dead Patroklos as he poured it upon the ground until the earth was drenched. As a father mourns when he is burning the bones of his bridegroom son whose death has wrung the hearts of his parents, even so did Achilles mourn while burning the body of his comrade, pacing round the bier with piteous groaning and lamentation.

ἣ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς εἰποῦσʼ ἀπεβήσετο, τοὶ δʼ ὀρέοντο

ἠχῇ θεσπεσίῃ νέφεα κλονέοντε πάροιθεν.

αἶψα δὲ πόντον ἵκανον ἀήμεναι, ὦρτο δὲ κῦμα

πνοιῇ ὕπο λιγυρῇ· Τροίην δʼ ἐρίβωλον ἱκέσθην,

ἐν δὲ πυρῇ πεσέτην, μέγα δʼ ἴαχε θεσπιδαὲς πῦρ.

παννύχιοι δʼ ἄρα τοί γε πυρῆς ἄμυδις φλόγʼ ἔβαλλον

φυσῶντες λιγέως· ὃ δὲ πάννυχος ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς

χρυσέου ἐκ κρητῆρος ἑλὼν δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον

οἶνον ἀφυσσόμενος χαμάδις χέε, δεῦε δὲ γαῖαν

ψυχὴν κικλήσκων Πατροκλῆος δειλοῖο.

ὡς δὲ πατὴρ οὗ παιδὸς ὀδύρεται ὀστέα καίων

νυμφίου, ὅς τε θανὼν δειλοὺς ἀκάχησε τοκῆας,

ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς ἑτάροιο ὀδύρετο ὀστέα καίων,

ἑρπύζων παρὰ πυρκαϊὴν ἁδινὰ στεναχίζων.

At length as the Morning Star was beginning to herald the light which saffron-mantled Dawn was soon to suffuse over the sea, the flames fell and the fire began to die. The winds then went home beyond the Thracian sea [ pontos ], which roared and boiled as they swept over it. The son of Peleus now turned away from the pyre and lay down, overcome with toil, till he fell into a sweet slumber. Presently they who were about the son of Atreus drew near in a body, and roused him with the noise and tramp of their coming. He sat upright and said, "Son of Atreus, and all other princes of the Achaeans, first pour red wine everywhere upon the fire and quench it; let us then gather the bones of Patroklos son of Menoitios, singling them out with care; they are easily found, for they lie in the middle of the pyre, while all else, both men and horses, has been thrown in a heap and burned at the outer edge. We will lay the bones in a golden urn, in two layers of fat, against the time when I shall myself go down into the house of Hades. As for the barrow, labor not to raise a great one now, but such as is reasonable. Afterwards, let those Achaeans who may be left at the ships when I am gone, build it both broad and high."

ἦμος δʼ ἑωσφόρος εἶσι φόως ἐρέων ἐπὶ γαῖαν,

ὅν τε μέτα κροκόπεπλος ὑπεὶρ ἅλα κίδναται ἠώς,

τῆμος πυρκαϊὴ ἐμαραίνετο, παύσατο δὲ φλόξ.

οἳ δʼ ἄνεμοι πάλιν αὖτις ἔβαν οἶκον δὲ νέεσθαι

Θρηΐκιον κατὰ πόντον· ὃ δʼ ἔστενεν οἴδματι θύων.

Πηλεΐδης δʼ ἀπὸ πυρκαϊῆς ἑτέρωσε λιασθεὶς

κλίνθη κεκμηώς, ἐπὶ δὲ γλυκὺς ὕπνος ὄρουσεν·

οἳ δʼ ἀμφʼ Ἀτρεΐωνα ἀολλέες ἠγερέθοντο·

τῶν μιν ἐπερχομένων ὅμαδος καὶ δοῦπος ἔγειρεν,

ἕζετο δʼ ὀρθωθεὶς καί σφεας πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·

Ἀτρεΐδη τε καὶ ἄλλοι ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν,

πρῶτον μὲν κατὰ πυρκαϊὴν σβέσατʼ αἴθοπι οἴνῳ

πᾶσαν, ὁπόσσον ἐπέσχε πυρὸς μένος· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

ὀστέα Πατρόκλοιο Μενοιτιάδαο λέγωμεν

εὖ διαγιγνώσκοντες· ἀριφραδέα δὲ τέτυκται·

ἐν μέσσῃ γὰρ ἔκειτο πυρῇ, τοὶ δʼ ἄλλοι ἄνευθεν

ἐσχατιῇ καίοντʼ ἐπιμὶξ ἵπποι τε καὶ ἄνδρες.

καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν χρυσέῃ φιάλῃ καὶ δίπλακι δημῷ

θείομεν, εἰς ὅ κεν αὐτὸς ἐγὼν Ἄϊδι κεύθωμαι.

τύμβον δʼ οὐ μάλα πολλὸν ἐγὼ πονέεσθαι ἄνωγα,

ἀλλʼ ἐπιεικέα τοῖον· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἀχαιοὶ

εὐρύν θʼ ὑψηλόν τε τιθήμεναι, οἵ κεν ἐμεῖο

δεύτεροι ἐν νήεσσι πολυκλήϊσι λίπησθε.

Thus he spoke and they obeyed the word of the son of Peleus. First they poured red wine upon the thick layer of ashes and quenched the fire. With many tears they singled out the whitened bones of their loved comrade and laid them within a golden urn in two layers of fat: they then covered the urn with a linen cloth and took it inside the tent. They marked off the circle where the tomb [ sêma ] should be, made a foundation for it about the pyre, and forthwith heaped up the earth. When they had thus raised a mound [ sêma ] they were going away, but Achilles stayed the people and made them sit in assembly [ agôn ]. He brought prizes from the ships - cauldrons, tripods, horses and mules, noble oxen, women with fair girdles, and swart iron.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ἐπίθοντο ποδώκεϊ Πηλεΐωνι.

πρῶτον μὲν κατὰ πυρκαϊὴν σβέσαν αἴθοπι οἴνῳ

ὅσσον ἐπὶ φλὸξ ἦλθε, βαθεῖα δὲ κάππεσε τέφρη·

κλαίοντες δʼ ἑτάροιο ἐνηέος ὀστέα λευκὰ

ἄλλεγον ἐς χρυσέην φιάλην καὶ δίπλακα δημόν,

ἐν κλισίῃσι δὲ θέντες ἑανῷ λιτὶ κάλυψαν·

τορνώσαντο δὲ σῆμα θεμείλιά τε προβάλοντο

ἀμφὶ πυρήν· εἶθαρ δὲ χυτὴν ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἔχευαν,

χεύαντες δὲ τὸ σῆμα πάλιν κίον. αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς

αὐτοῦ λαὸν ἔρυκε καὶ ἵζανεν εὐρὺν ἀγῶνα,

νηῶν δʼ ἔκφερʼ ἄεθλα λέβητάς τε τρίποδάς τε

ἵππους θʼ ἡμιόνους τε βοῶν τʼ ἴφθιμα κάρηνα,

ἠδὲ γυναῖκας ἐϋζώνους πολιόν τε σίδηρον.

The first prize he offered was for the chariot races - a woman skilled in all useful arts, and a three-legged cauldron that had ears for handles, and would hold twenty-two measures. This was for the man who came in first. For the second there was a six-year old mare, unbroken, and in foal to a he-ass; the third was to have a goodly cauldron that had never yet been on the fire; it was still bright as when it left the maker, and would hold four measures. The fourth prize was two talents of gold, and the fifth a two-handled urn as yet unsoiled by smoke. Then he stood up and spoke among the Argives saying-

ἱππεῦσιν μὲν πρῶτα ποδώκεσιν ἀγλάʼ ἄεθλα

θῆκε γυναῖκα ἄγεσθαι ἀμύμονα ἔργα ἰδυῖαν

καὶ τρίποδʼ ὠτώεντα δυωκαιεικοσίμετρον

τῷ πρώτῳ· ἀτὰρ αὖ τῷ δευτέρῳ ἵππον ἔθηκεν

ἑξέτεʼ ἀδμήτην βρέφος ἡμίονον κυέουσαν·

αὐτὰρ τῷ τριτάτῳ ἄπυρον κατέθηκε λέβητα

καλὸν τέσσαρα μέτρα κεχανδότα λευκὸν ἔτʼ αὔτως·

τῷ δὲ τετάρτῳ θῆκε δύω χρυσοῖο τάλαντα,

πέμπτῳ δʼ ἀμφίθετον φιάλην ἀπύρωτον ἔθηκε.

στῆ δʼ ὀρθὸς καὶ μῦθον ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἔειπεν·

"Son of Atreus, and all other Achaeans, these are the prizes that lie waiting the winners in the contest [ agôn ] of the chariot races. At any other time I should carry off the first prize and take it to my own tent; you know how much my steeds are better in excellence [ aretê ] than all others - for they are immortal; Poseidon gave them to my father Peleus, who in his turn gave them to myself; but I shall hold aloof, I and my steeds that have lost the glory [ kleos ] of their brave and kind driver, who many a time has washed them in clear water and anointed their manes with oil. See how they stand weeping here, with their manes trailing on the ground in the extremity of their sorrow. But do you others set yourselves in order throughout the host, whosoever has confidence in his horses and in the strength of his chariot."

Ἀτρεΐδη τε καὶ ἄλλοι ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοὶ

ἱππῆας τάδʼ ἄεθλα δεδεγμένα κεῖτʼ ἐν ἀγῶνι.

εἰ μὲν νῦν ἐπὶ ἄλλῳ ἀεθλεύοιμεν Ἀχαιοὶ

ἦ τʼ ἂν ἐγὼ τὰ πρῶτα λαβὼν κλισίην δὲ φεροίμην.

ἴστε γὰρ ὅσσον ἐμοὶ ἀρετῇ περιβάλλετον ἵπποι·

ἀθάνατοί τε γάρ εἰσι, Ποσειδάων δὲ πόρʼ αὐτοὺς

πατρὶ ἐμῷ Πηλῆϊ, ὃ δʼ αὖτʼ ἐμοὶ ἐγγυάλιξεν.

ἀλλʼ ἤτοι μὲν ἐγὼ μενέω καὶ μώνυχες ἵπποι·

τοίου γὰρ κλέος ἐσθλὸν ἀπώλεσαν ἡνιόχοιο

ἠπίου, ὅς σφωϊν μάλα πολλάκις ὑγρὸν ἔλαιον

χαιτάων κατέχευε λοέσσας ὕδατι λευκῷ.

τὸν τώ γʼ ἑσταότες πενθείετον, οὔδεϊ δέ σφι

χαῖται ἐρηρέδαται, τὼ δʼ ἕστατον ἀχνυμένω κῆρ.

ἄλλοι δὲ στέλλεσθε κατὰ στρατόν, ὅς τις Ἀχαιῶν

ἵπποισίν τε πέποιθε καὶ ἅρμασι κολλητοῖσιν.

Thus spoke the son of Peleus and the drivers of chariots bestirred themselves. First among them all uprose Eumelos, king of men, son of Admetos, a man excellent in horsemanship. Next to him rose mighty Diomedes son of Tydeus; he yoked the Trojan horses which he had taken from Aeneas, when Apollo bore him out of the fight. Next to him, yellow-haired Menelaos son of Atreus rose and yoked his fleet horses, Agamemnon's mare Aithe, and his own horse Podagros. The mare had been given to Agamemnon by Echepolos son of Anchises, that he might not have to follow him to Ilion , but might stay at home and take his ease; for Zeus had endowed him with great wealth and he lived in spacious Sicyon . This mare, all eager for the race, did Menelaos put under the yoke.

ὣς φάτο Πηλεΐδης, ταχέες δʼ ἱππῆες ἄγερθεν.

ὦρτο πολὺ πρῶτος μὲν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Εὔμηλος

Ἀδμήτου φίλος υἱός, ὃς ἱπποσύνῃ ἐκέκαστο·

τῷ δʼ ἐπὶ Τυδεΐδης ὦρτο κρατερὸς Διομήδης,

ἵππους δὲ Τρῳοὺς ὕπαγε ζυγόν, οὕς ποτʼ ἀπηύρα

Αἰνείαν, ἀτὰρ αὐτὸν ὑπεξεσάωσεν Ἀπόλλων.

τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ Ἀτρεΐδης ὦρτο ξανθὸς Μενέλαος

διογενής, ὑπὸ δὲ ζυγὸν ἤγαγεν ὠκέας ἵππους

Αἴθην τὴν Ἀγαμεμνονέην τὸν ἑόν τε Πόδαργον·

τὴν Ἀγαμέμνονι δῶκʼ Ἀγχισιάδης Ἐχέπωλος

δῶρʼ, ἵνα μή οἱ ἕποιθʼ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἠνεμόεσσαν,

ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ τέρποιτο μένων· μέγα γάρ οἱ ἔδωκε

Ζεὺς ἄφενος, ναῖεν δʼ ὅ γʼ ἐν εὐρυχόρῳ Σικυῶνι·

τὴν ὅ γʼ ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἦγε μέγα δρόμου ἰσχανόωσαν.

Fourth in order Antilokhos, son to noble Nestor son of Neleus, made ready his horses. These were bred in Pylos , and his father came up to him to give him good advice of which, however, he stood in but little need. "Antilokhos," said Nestor, "you are young, but Zeus and Poseidon have loved you well, and have made you an excellent horseman. I need not therefore say much by way of instruction. You are skillful at wheeling your horses round the post, but the horses themselves are very slow, and it is this that will, I fear, mar your chances. The other drivers know less than you do, but their horses are fleeter; therefore, my dear son, see if you cannot hit upon some artifice [ mêtis ] whereby you may insure that the prize shall not slip through your fingers. The woodsman does more by skill [ mêtis ] than by brute force [ biê ]; by skill [ mêtis ] the pilot guides his storm-tossed ship over the sea [ pontos ], and so by skill [ mêtis ] one driver can beat another. If a man go wide in rounding this way and that, whereas a man of craft [ kerdos ] may have worse horses, but he will keep them well in hand when he sees the turning-post [ terma ];

Ἀντίλοχος δὲ τέταρτος ἐΰτριχας ὁπλίσαθʼ ἵππους,

Νέστορος ἀγλαὸς υἱὸς ὑπερθύμοιο ἄνακτος

τοῦ Νηληϊάδαο· Πυλοιγενέες δέ οἱ ἵπποι

ὠκύποδες φέρον ἅρμα· πατὴρ δέ οἱ ἄγχι παραστὰς

μυθεῖτʼ εἰς ἀγαθὰ φρονέων νοέοντι καὶ αὐτῷ·

Ἀντίλοχʼ ἤτοι μέν σε νέον περ ἐόντʼ ἐφίλησαν

Ζεύς τε Ποσειδάων τε, καὶ ἱπποσύνας ἐδίδαξαν

παντοίας· τὼ καί σε διδασκέμεν οὔ τι μάλα χρεώ·

οἶσθα γὰρ εὖ περὶ τέρμαθʼ ἑλισσέμεν· ἀλλά τοι ἵπποι

βάρδιστοι θείειν· τώ τʼ οἴω λοίγιʼ ἔσεσθαι.

τῶν δʼ ἵπποι μὲν ἔασιν ἀφάρτεροι, οὐδὲ μὲν αὐτοὶ

πλείονα ἴσασιν σέθεν αὐτοῦ μητίσασθαι.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ σὺ φίλος μῆτιν ἐμβάλλεο θυμῷ

παντοίην, ἵνα μή σε παρεκπροφύγῃσιν ἄεθλα.

μήτι τοι δρυτόμος μέγʼ ἀμείνων ἠὲ βίηφι·

μήτι δʼ αὖτε κυβερνήτης ἐνὶ οἴνοπι πόντῳ

νῆα θοὴν ἰθύνει ἐρεχθομένην ἀνέμοισι·

μήτι δʼ ἡνίοχος περιγίγνεται ἡνιόχοιο.

ἀλλʼ ὃς μέν θʼ ἵπποισι καὶ ἅρμασιν οἷσι πεποιθὼς

ἀφραδέως ἐπὶ πολλὸν ἑλίσσεται ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,

ἵπποι δὲ πλανόωνται ἀνὰ δρόμον, οὐδὲ κατίσχει·

ὃς δέ κε κέρδεα εἰδῇ ἐλαύνων ἥσσονας ἵππους,

αἰεὶ τέρμʼ ὁρόων στρέφει ἐγγύθεν, οὐδέ ἑ λήθει

he knows the precise moment at which to pull the rein, and keeps his eye well on the man in front of him. I will give you this certain sign [ sêma ] which cannot escape your notice. There is a stump of a dead tree-oak or pine as it may be - some six feet above the ground, and not yet rotted away by rain; it stands at the fork of the road; it has two white stones set one on each side, and there is a clear course all round it. It may have been a tomb [ sêma ] of someone who died long ago, or it may have been used as a turning-post in days gone by; now, however, it has been fixed on by Achilles as the mark [ terma ] round which the chariots shall turn; hug it as close as you can, but as you stand in your chariot lean over a little to the left; urge on your right-hand horse with voice and lash, and give him a loose rein, but let the left-hand horse keep so close in, that the nave of your wheel shall almost graze the post; but mind the stone, or you will wound your horses and break your chariot in pieces, which would be sport for others but confusion for yourself. Therefore, my dear son, mind well what you are about, for if you can be first to round the post there is no chance of any one giving you the go-by later, not even though you had Adrastos' horse Arion behind you horse which is of divine race - or those of Laomedon, which are the noblest in this country."

ὅππως τὸ πρῶτον τανύσῃ βοέοισιν ἱμᾶσιν,

ἀλλʼ ἔχει ἀσφαλέως καὶ τὸν προὔχοντα δοκεύει.

σῆμα δέ τοι ἐρέω μάλʼ ἀριφραδές, οὐδέ σε λήσει.

ἕστηκε ξύλον αὖον ὅσον τʼ ὄργυιʼ ὑπὲρ αἴης

ἢ δρυὸς ἢ πεύκης· τὸ μὲν οὐ καταπύθεται ὄμβρῳ,

λᾶε δὲ τοῦ ἑκάτερθεν ἐρηρέδαται δύο λευκὼ

ἐν ξυνοχῇσιν ὁδοῦ, λεῖος δʼ ἱππόδρομος ἀμφὶς

ἤ τευ σῆμα βροτοῖο πάλαι κατατεθνηῶτος,

ἢ τό γε νύσσα τέτυκτο ἐπὶ προτέρων ἀνθρώπων,

καὶ νῦν τέρματʼ ἔθηκε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

τῷ σὺ μάλʼ ἐγχρίμψας ἐλάαν σχεδὸν ἅρμα καὶ ἵππους,

αὐτὸς δὲ κλινθῆναι ἐϋπλέκτῳ ἐνὶ δίφρῳ

ἦκʼ ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ τοῖιν· ἀτὰρ τὸν δεξιὸν ἵππον

κένσαι ὁμοκλήσας, εἶξαί τέ οἱ ἡνία χερσίν.

ἐν νύσσῃ δέ τοι ἵππος ἀριστερὸς ἐγχριμφθήτω,

ὡς ἄν τοι πλήμνη γε δοάσσεται ἄκρον ἱκέσθαι

κύκλου ποιητοῖο· λίθου δʼ ἀλέασθαι ἐπαυρεῖν,

μή πως ἵππους τε τρώσῃς κατά θʼ ἅρματα ἄξῃς·

χάρμα δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοισιν, ἐλεγχείη δὲ σοὶ αὐτῷ

ἔσσεται· ἀλλὰ φίλος φρονέων πεφυλαγμένος εἶναι.

εἰ γάρ κʼ ἐν νύσσῃ γε παρεξελάσῃσθα διώκων,

οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅς κέ σʼ ἕλῃσι μετάλμενος οὐδὲ παρέλθῃ,

οὐδʼ εἴ κεν μετόπισθεν Ἀρίονα δῖον ἐλαύνοι

Ἀδρήστου ταχὺν ἵππον, ὃς ἐκ θεόφιν γένος ἦεν,

ἢ τοὺς Λαομέδοντος, οἳ ἐνθάδε γʼ ἔτραφεν ἐσθλοί.

When Nestor had made an end of counseling his son he sat down in his place, and fifth in order Meriones got ready his horses. They then all mounted their chariots and cast lots. - Achilles shook the helmet, and the lot of Antilokhos son of Nestor fell out first; next came that of King Eumelos, and after his, those of Menelaos son of Atreus and of Meriones. The last place fell to the lot of Diomedes son of Tydeus, who was the best man of them all. They took their places in line; Achilles showed them the turning-post round which they were to turn, some way off upon the plain; here he stationed his father's follower Phoenix as umpire, to note the running, and report truly.

ὣς εἰπὼν Νέστωρ Νηλήϊος ἂψ ἐνὶ χώρῃ

ἕζετʼ, ἐπεὶ ᾧ παιδὶ ἑκάστου πείρατʼ ἔειπε.

Μηριόνης δʼ ἄρα πέμπτος ἐΰτριχας ὁπλίσαθʼ ἵππους.

ἂν δʼ ἔβαν ἐς δίφρους, ἐν δὲ κλήρους ἐβάλοντο·

πάλλʼ Ἀχιλεύς, ἐκ δὲ κλῆρος θόρε Νεστορίδαο

Ἀντιλόχου· μετὰ τὸν δʼ ἔλαχε κρείων Εὔμηλος·

τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ Ἀτρεΐδης δουρὶ κλειτὸς Μενέλαος,

τῷ δʼ ἐπὶ Μηριόνης λάχʼ ἐλαυνέμεν· ὕστατος αὖτε

Τυδεΐδης ὄχʼ ἄριστος ἐὼν λάχʼ ἐλαυνέμεν ἵππους.

στὰν δὲ μεταστοιχί, σήμηνε δὲ τέρματʼ Ἀχιλλεὺς

τηλόθεν ἐν λείῳ πεδίῳ· παρὰ δὲ σκοπὸν εἷσεν

ἀντίθεον Φοίνικα ὀπάονα πατρὸς ἑοῖο,

At the same instant they all of them lashed their horses, struck them with the reins, and shouted at them with all their might. They flew full speed over the plain away from the ships, the dust rose from under them as it were a cloud or whirlwind, and their manes were all flying in the wind. At one moment the chariots seemed to touch the ground, and then again they bounded into the air; the drivers stood erect, and their hearts beat fast and furious in their lust of victory. Each kept calling on his horses, and the horses scoured the plain amid the clouds of dust that they raised.

ὡς μεμνέῳτο δρόμους καὶ ἀληθείην ἀποείποι.

οἳ δʼ ἅμα πάντες ἐφʼ ἵπποιιν μάστιγας ἄειραν,

πέπληγόν θʼ ἱμᾶσιν, ὁμόκλησάν τʼ ἐπέεσσιν

ἐσσυμένως· οἳ δʼ ὦκα διέπρησσον πεδίοιο

νόσφι νεῶν ταχέως· ὑπὸ δὲ στέρνοισι κονίη

ἵστατʼ ἀειρομένη ὥς τε νέφος ἠὲ θύελλα,

χαῖται δʼ ἐρρώοντο μετὰ πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.

ἅρματα δʼ ἄλλοτε μὲν χθονὶ πίλνατο πουλυβοτείρῃ,

ἄλλοτε δʼ ἀΐξασκε μετήορα· τοὶ δʼ ἐλατῆρες

ἕστασαν ἐν δίφροισι, πάτασσε δὲ θυμὸς ἑκάστου

νίκης ἱεμένων· κέκλοντο δὲ οἷσιν ἕκαστος

ἵπποις, οἳ δʼ ἐπέτοντο κονίοντες πεδίοιο.

It was when they were doing the last part of the course on their way back towards the sea that their pace was strained to the utmost and it was seen what each could do in striving [ aretê ] toward the prize. The horses of the descendant of Pheres now took the lead, and close behind them came the Trojan stallions of Diomedes. They seemed as if about to mount Eumelos' chariot, and he could feel their warm breath on his back and on his broad shoulders, for their heads were close to him as they flew over the course. Diomedes would have now passed him, or there would have been a dead heat, but Phoebus Apollo to spite him made him drop his whip. Tears of anger fell from his eyes as he saw the mares going on faster than ever, while his own horses lost ground through his having no whip. Athena saw the trick which Apollo had played the son of Tydeus, so she brought him his whip and put spirit into his horses; moreover she went after the son of Admetos in a rage and broke his yoke for him; the mares went one to one side the course, and the other to the other, and the pole was broken against the ground. Eumelos was thrown from his chariot close to the wheel; his elbows, mouth, and nostrils were all torn, and his forehead was bruised above his eyebrows; his eyes filled with tears and he could find no utterance. But the son of Tydeus turned his horses aside and shot far ahead, for Athena put fresh strength into them and covered Diomedes himself with glory.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ πύματον τέλεον δρόμον ὠκέες ἵπποι

ἂψ ἐφʼ ἁλὸς πολιῆς, τότε δὴ ἀρετή γε ἑκάστου

φαίνετʼ, ἄφαρ δʼ ἵπποισι τάθη δρόμος· ὦκα δʼ ἔπειτα

αἳ Φηρητιάδαο ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι.

τὰς δὲ μετʼ ἐξέφερον Διομήδεος ἄρσενες ἵπποι

Τρώϊοι, οὐδέ τι πολλὸν ἄνευθʼ ἔσαν, ἀλλὰ μάλʼ ἐγγύς·

αἰεὶ γὰρ δίφρου ἐπιβησομένοισιν ἐΐκτην,

πνοιῇ δʼ Εὐμήλοιο μετάφρενον εὐρέε τʼ ὤμω

θέρμετʼ· ἐπʼ αὐτῷ γὰρ κεφαλὰς καταθέντε πετέσθην.

καί νύ κεν ἢ παρέλασσʼ ἢ ἀμφήριστον ἔθηκεν,

εἰ μὴ Τυδέος υἷϊ κοτέσσατο Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,

ὅς ῥά οἱ ἐκ χειρῶν ἔβαλεν μάστιγα φαεινήν.

τοῖο δʼ ἀπʼ ὀφθαλμῶν χύτο δάκρυα χωομένοιο,

οὕνεκα τὰς μὲν ὅρα ἔτι καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἰούσας,

οἳ δέ οἱ ἐβλάφθησαν ἄνευ κέντροιο θέοντες.

οὐδʼ ἄρʼ Ἀθηναίην ἐλεφηράμενος λάθʼ Ἀπόλλων

Τυδεΐδην, μάλα δʼ ὦκα μετέσσυτο ποιμένα λαῶν,

δῶκε δέ οἱ μάστιγα, μένος δʼ ἵπποισιν ἐνῆκεν·

ἣ δὲ μετʼ Ἀδμήτου υἱὸν κοτέουσʼ ἐβεβήκει,

ἵππειον δέ οἱ ἦξε θεὰ ζυγόν· αἳ δέ οἱ ἵπποι

ἀμφὶς ὁδοῦ δραμέτην, ῥυμὸς δʼ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἐλύσθη.

αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκ δίφροιο παρὰ τροχὸν ἐξεκυλίσθη,

ἀγκῶνάς τε περιδρύφθη στόμα τε ῥῖνάς τε,

θρυλίχθη δὲ μέτωπον ἐπʼ ὀφρύσι· τὼ δέ οἱ ὄσσε

δακρυόφι πλῆσθεν, θαλερὴ δέ οἱ ἔσχετο φωνή.

Τυδεΐδης δὲ παρατρέψας ἔχε μώνυχας ἵππους,

πολλὸν τῶν ἄλλων ἐξάλμενος· ἐν γὰρ Ἀθήνη

ἵπποις ἧκε μένος καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ κῦδος ἔθηκε.

Menelaos son of Atreus came next behind him, but Antilokhos called to his father's horses. "On with you both," he cried, "and do your very utmost. I do not bid you try to beat the steeds of the son of Tydeus, for Athena has put running into them, and has covered Diomedes with glory; but you must overtake the horses of the son of Atreus and not be left behind, or Aethe who is so fleet will taunt you. Why, my good men, are you lagging? I tell you, and it shall surely be - Nestor will keep neither of you, but will put both of you to the sword, if we win any the worse a prize [ athlon ] through your carelessness, fly after them at your utmost speed; I will hit on a plan for passing them in a narrow part of the way, and it shall not fail me."

τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ Ἀτρεΐδης εἶχε ξανθὸς Μενέλαος.

Ἀντίλοχος δʼ ἵπποισιν ἐκέκλετο πατρὸς ἑοῖο·

ἔμβητον καὶ σφῶϊ· τιταίνετον ὅττι τάχιστα.

ἤτοι μὲν κείνοισιν ἐριζέμεν οὔ τι κελεύω

Τυδεΐδεω ἵπποισι δαΐφρονος, οἷσιν Ἀθήνη

νῦν ὤρεξε τάχος καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ κῦδος ἔθηκεν·

ἵππους δʼ Ἀτρεΐδαο κιχάνετε, μὴ δὲ λίπησθον,

καρπαλίμως, μὴ σφῶϊν ἐλεγχείην καταχεύῃ

Αἴθη θῆλυς ἐοῦσα· τί ἢ λείπεσθε φέριστοι;

ὧδε γὰρ ἐξερέω, καὶ μὴν τετελεσμένον ἔσται·

οὐ σφῶϊν κομιδὴ παρὰ Νέστορι ποιμένι λαῶν

ἔσσεται, αὐτίκα δʼ ὔμμε κατακτενεῖ ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ,

αἴ κʼ ἀποκηδήσαντε φερώμεθα χεῖρον ἄεθλον.

ἀλλʼ ἐφομαρτεῖτον καὶ σπεύδετον ὅττι τάχιστα·

ταῦτα δʼ ἐγὼν αὐτὸς τεχνήσομαι ἠδὲ νοήσω

στεινωπῷ ἐν ὁδῷ παραδύμεναι, οὐδέ με λήσει.

They feared the rebuke of their master, and for a short space went quicker. Presently Antilokhos saw a narrow place where the road had sunk. The ground was broken, for the winter's rain had gathered and had worn the road so that the whole place was deepened. Menelaos was making towards it so as to get there first, for fear of a foul, but Antilokhos turned his horses out of the way, and followed him a little on one side. The son of Atreus was afraid and shouted out, "Antilokhos, you are driving recklessly; rein in your horses; the road is too narrow here, it will be wider soon, and you can pass me then; if you foul my chariot you may bring both of us to a mischief."

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δὲ ἄνακτος ὑποδείσαντες ὁμοκλὴν

μᾶλλον ἐπιδραμέτην ὀλίγον χρόνον· αἶψα δʼ ἔπειτα

στεῖνος ὁδοῦ κοίλης ἴδεν Ἀντίλοχος μενεχάρμης.

ῥωχμὸς ἔην γαίης, ᾗ χειμέριον ἀλὲν ὕδωρ

ἐξέρρηξεν ὁδοῖο, βάθυνε δὲ χῶρον ἅπαντα·

τῇ ῥʼ εἶχεν Μενέλαος ἁματροχιὰς ἀλεείνων.

Ἀντίλοχος δὲ παρατρέψας ἔχε μώνυχας ἵππους

ἐκτὸς ὁδοῦ, ὀλίγον δὲ παρακλίνας ἐδίωκεν.

Ἀτρεΐδης δʼ ἔδεισε καὶ Ἀντιλόχῳ ἐγεγώνει·

Ἀντίλοχʼ ἀφραδέως ἱππάζεαι, ἀλλʼ ἄνεχʼ ἵππους·

στεινωπὸς γὰρ ὁδός, τάχα δʼ εὐρυτέρη παρελάσσαι·

μή πως ἀμφοτέρους δηλήσεαι ἅρματι κύρσας.

But Antilokhos plied his whip, and drove faster, as though he had not heard him. They went side by side for about as far as a young man can hurl a disc from his shoulder when he is trying his strength, and then Menelaos' mares drew behind, for he left off driving for fear the horses should foul one another and upset the chariots; thus, while pressing on in quest of victory, they might both come headlong to the ground. Menelaos then upbraided Antilokhos and said, "There is no greater trickster living than you are; go, and bad luck go with you; the Achaeans say not well that you have understanding, and come what may you shall not bear away the prize [ athlon ] without sworn protest on my part."

ὣς ἔφατʼ, Ἀντίλοχος δʼ ἔτι καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἔλαυνε

κέντρῳ ἐπισπέρχων ὡς οὐκ ἀΐοντι ἐοικώς.

ὅσσα δὲ δίσκου οὖρα κατωμαδίοιο πέλονται,

ὅν τʼ αἰζηὸς ἀφῆκεν ἀνὴρ πειρώμενος ἥβης,

τόσσον ἐπιδραμέτην· αἳ δʼ ἠρώησαν ὀπίσσω

Ἀτρεΐδεω· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἑκὼν μεθέηκεν ἐλαύνειν

μή πως συγκύρσειαν ὁδῷ ἔνι μώνυχες ἵπποι,

δίφρους τʼ ἀνστρέψειαν ἐϋπλεκέας, κατὰ δʼ αὐτοὶ

ἐν κονίῃσι πέσοιεν ἐπειγόμενοι περὶ νίκης.

τὸν καὶ νεικείων προσέφη ξανθὸς Μενέλαος·

Ἀντίλοχʼ οὔ τις σεῖο βροτῶν ὀλοώτερος ἄλλος·

ἔρρʼ, ἐπεὶ οὔ σʼ ἔτυμόν γε φάμεν πεπνῦσθαι Ἀχαιοί.

ἀλλʼ οὐ μὰν οὐδʼ ὧς ἄτερ ὅρκου οἴσῃ ἄεθλον.

Then he called on his horses and said to them, "Keep your pace, and slacken not; the limbs of the other horses will weary sooner than yours, for they are neither of them young."

ὣς εἰπὼν ἵπποισιν ἐκέκλετο φώνησέν τε·

μή μοι ἐρύκεσθον μὴ δʼ ἕστατον ἀχνυμένω κῆρ.

φθήσονται τούτοισι πόδες καὶ γοῦνα καμόντα

ἢ ὑμῖν· ἄμφω γὰρ ἀτέμβονται νεότητος.

The horses feared the rebuke of their master, and went faster, so that they were soon nearly up with the others.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δὲ ἄνακτος ὑποδείσαντες ὁμοκλὴν

μᾶλλον ἐπιδραμέτην, τάχα δέ σφισιν ἄγχι γένοντο.

Meanwhile the Achaeans from their seats were watching how the horses went, as they scoured the plain amid clouds of their own dust. Idomeneus leader of the Cretans was first to make out the running, for he was not in the thick of the crowd, but stood on the most commanding part of the ground. The driver was a long way off from the assembly [ agôn ], but Idomeneus could hear him shouting, and could see the foremost horse quite plainly - a chestnut with a round white mark [ sêma ], like the moon, on its forehead. He stood up and said among the Argives, "My friends, princes and counselors of the Argives, can you see the running as well as I can? There seems to be another pair in front now, and another driver; those that led off at the start must have been disabled out on the plain. I saw them at first making their way round the turning-post, but now, though I search the plain of Troy , I cannot find them. Perhaps the reins fell from the driver's hand so that he lost command of his horses at the turning-post, and could not turn it. I suppose he must have been thrown out there, and broken his chariot, while his mares have left the course and gone off wildly in a panic. Come up and see for yourselves, I cannot make out for certain, but the driver seems an Aetolian by descent, ruler over the Argives, brave Diomedes the son of Tydeus."

Ἀργεῖοι δʼ ἐν ἀγῶνι καθήμενοι εἰσορόωντο

ἵππους· τοὶ δὲ πέτοντο κονίοντες πεδίοιο.

πρῶτος δʼ Ἰδομενεὺς Κρητῶν ἀγὸς ἐφράσαθʼ ἵππους·

ἧστο γὰρ ἐκτὸς ἀγῶνος ὑπέρτατος ἐν περιωπῇ·

τοῖο δʼ ἄνευθεν ἐόντος ὁμοκλητῆρος ἀκούσας

ἔγνω, φράσσατο δʼ ἵππον ἀριπρεπέα προὔχοντα,

ὃς τὸ μὲν ἄλλο τόσον φοῖνιξ ἦν, ἐν δὲ μετώπῳ

λευκὸν σῆμα τέτυκτο περίτροχον ἠΰτε μήνη.

στῆ δʼ ὀρθὸς καὶ μῦθον ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἔειπεν·

ὦ φίλοι Ἀργείων ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες

οἶος ἐγὼν ἵππους αὐγάζομαι ἦε καὶ ὑμεῖς;

ἄλλοι μοι δοκέουσι παροίτεροι ἔμμεναι ἵπποι,

ἄλλος δʼ ἡνίοχος ἰνδάλλεται· αἳ δέ που αὐτοῦ

ἔβλαβεν ἐν πεδίῳ, αἳ κεῖσέ γε φέρτεραι ἦσαν·

ἤτοι γὰρ τὰς πρῶτα ἴδον περὶ τέρμα βαλούσας,

νῦν δʼ οὔ πῃ δύναμαι ἰδέειν· πάντῃ δέ μοι ὄσσε

Τρωϊκὸν ἂμ πεδίον παπταίνετον εἰσορόωντι·

ἦε τὸν ἡνίοχον φύγον ἡνία, οὐδὲ δυνάσθη

εὖ σχεθέειν περὶ τέρμα καὶ οὐκ ἐτύχησεν ἑλίξας·

ἔνθά μιν ἐκπεσέειν ὀΐω σύν θʼ ἅρματα ἆξαι,

αἳ δʼ ἐξηρώησαν, ἐπεὶ μένος ἔλλαβε θυμόν.

ἀλλὰ ἴδεσθε καὶ ὔμμες ἀνασταδόν· οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε

εὖ διαγιγνώσκω· δοκέει δέ μοι ἔμμεναι ἀνὴρ

Αἰτωλὸς γενεήν, μετὰ δʼ Ἀργείοισιν ἀνάσσει

Τυδέος ἱπποδάμου υἱὸς κρατερὸς Διομήδης.

Ajax the son of Oileus took him up rudely and said, "Idomeneus, why should you be in such a hurry to tell us all about it, when the mares are still so far out upon the plain? You are none of the youngest, nor your eyes none of the sharpest, but you are always laying down the law.

τὸν δʼ αἰσχρῶς ἐνένιπεν Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς Αἴας·

Ἰδομενεῦ τί πάρος λαβρεύεαι; αἳ δέ τʼ ἄνευθεν

ἵπποι ἀερσίποδες πολέος πεδίοιο δίενται.

οὔτε νεώτατός ἐσσι μετʼ Ἀργείοισι τοσοῦτον,

οὔτέ τοι ὀξύτατον κεφαλῆς ἐκδέρκεται ὄσσε·

You have no right to do so, for there are better men here than you are. Eumelos' horses are in front now, as they always have been, and he is on the chariot holding the reins."

ἀλλʼ αἰεὶ μύθοις λαβρεύεαι· οὐδέ τί σε χρὴ

λαβραγόρην ἔμεναι· πάρα γὰρ καὶ ἀμείνονες ἄλλοι.

ἵπποι δʼ αὐταὶ ἔασι παροίτεραι, αἳ τὸ πάρος περ,

Εὐμήλου, ἐν δʼ αὐτὸς ἔχων εὔληρα βέβηκε.

The leader of the Cretans was angry, and answered, "Ajax, you are an excellent railer, but you have no judgment [ noos ], and are wanting in much else as well, for you have a vile temper. I will wager you a tripod or cauldron, and Agamemnon son of Atreus shall decide whose horses are first. You will then know to your cost."

τὸν δὲ χολωσάμενος Κρητῶν ἀγὸς ἀντίον ηὔδα·

Αἶαν νεῖκος ἄριστε κακοφραδὲς ἄλλά τε πάντα

δεύεαι Ἀργείων, ὅτι τοι νόος ἐστὶν ἀπηνής.

δεῦρό νυν ἢ τρίποδος περιδώμεθον ἠὲ λέβητος,

ἴστορα δʼ Ἀτρεΐδην Ἀγαμέμνονα θείομεν ἄμφω,

ὁππότεραι πρόσθʼ ἵπποι, ἵνα γνώῃς ἀποτίνων.

Ajax son of Oileus was for making him an angry answer, and there would have been yet further brawling between them, had not Achilles risen in his place and said, "Cease your railing Ajax and Idomeneus; it is not you would be scandalized if you saw any one else do the like: sit down in the assembly [ agôn ] and keep your eyes on the horses; they are speeding towards the winning-post and will be here directly. You will then both of you know whose horses are first, and whose come after."

ὣς ἔφατʼ, ὄρνυτο δʼ αὐτίκʼ Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς Αἴας

χωόμενος χαλεποῖσιν ἀμείψασθαι ἐπέεσσι·

καί νύ κε δὴ προτέρω ἔτʼ ἔρις γένετʼ ἀμφοτέροισιν,

εἰ μὴ Ἀχιλλεὺς αὐτὸς ἀνίστατο καὶ φάτο μῦθον·

μηκέτι νῦν χαλεποῖσιν ἀμείβεσθον ἐπέεσσιν

Αἶαν Ἰδομενεῦ τε κακοῖς, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ ἔοικε.

καὶ δʼ ἄλλῳ νεμεσᾶτον ὅτις τοιαῦτά γε ῥέζοι.

ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς ἐν ἀγῶνι καθήμενοι εἰσοράασθε

ἵππους· οἳ δὲ τάχʼ αὐτοὶ ἐπειγόμενοι περὶ νίκης

ἐνθάδʼ ἐλεύσονται· τότε δὲ γνώσεσθε ἕκαστος

ἵππους Ἀργείων, οἳ δεύτεροι οἵ τε πάροιθεν.

ὣς φάτο, Τυδεΐδης δὲ μάλα σχεδὸν ἦλθε διώκων,

As he was speaking, the son of Tydeus came driving in, plying his whip lustily from his shoulder, and his horses stepping high as they flew over the course. The sand and grit rained thick on the driver, and the chariot inlaid with gold and tin ran close behind his fleet horses. There was little trace of wheel-marks in the fine dust, and the horses came flying in at their utmost speed. Diomedes stayed them in the middle of the assembly [ agôn ], and the sweat from their manes and chests fell in streams on to the ground. Forthwith he sprang from his goodly chariot, and leaned his whip against his horses' yoke; brave Sthenelos now lost no time, but at once brought on the prize [ athlon ], and gave the woman and the ear-handled cauldron to his comrades to take away. Then he unyoked the horses.

μάστι δʼ αἰὲν ἔλαυνε κατωμαδόν· οἳ δέ οἱ ἵπποι

ὑψόσʼ ἀειρέσθην ῥίμφα πρήσσοντε κέλευθον.

αἰεὶ δʼ ἡνίοχον κονίης ῥαθάμιγγες ἔβαλλον,

ἅρματα δὲ χρυσῷ πεπυκασμένα κασσιτέρῳ τε

ἵπποις ὠκυπόδεσσιν ἐπέτρεχον· οὐδέ τι πολλὴ

γίγνετʼ ἐπισσώτρων ἁρματροχιὴ κατόπισθεν

ἐν λεπτῇ κονίῃ· τὼ δὲ σπεύδοντε πετέσθην.

στῆ δὲ μέσῳ ἐν ἀγῶνι, πολὺς δʼ ἀνεκήκιεν ἱδρὼς

ἵππων ἔκ τε λόφων καὶ ἀπὸ στέρνοιο χαμᾶζε.

αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκ δίφροιο χαμαὶ θόρε παμφανόωντος,

κλῖνε δʼ ἄρα μάστιγα ποτὶ ζυγόν· οὐδὲ μάτησεν

ἴφθιμος Σθένελος, ἀλλʼ ἐσσυμένως λάβʼ ἄεθλον,

δῶκε δʼ ἄγειν ἑτάροισιν ὑπερθύμοισι γυναῖκα

καὶ τρίποδʼ ὠτώεντα φέρειν· ὃ δʼ ἔλυεν ὑφʼ ἵππους.

Next after him came in Antilokhos of the race of Neleus, who had passed Menelaos by craft [ kerdos ] and not by the fleetness of his horses; but even so Menelaos came in as close behind him as the wheel is to the horse that draws both the chariot and its master. The end hairs of a horse's tail touch the tire of the wheel, and there is never much space between wheel and horse when the chariot is going; Menelaos was no further than this behind Antilokhos, though at first he had been a full disc's throw behind him. He had soon caught him up again, for Agamemnon's mare Aethe kept pulling stronger and stronger, so that if the course had been longer he would have passed him, and there would not even have been a dead heat. Idomeneus' brave squire [ therapôn ] Meriones was about a spear's cast behind Menelaos. His horses were slowest of all in the contest [ agôn ], and he was the worst driver. Last of them all came the son of Admetos, dragging his chariot and driving his horses on in front. When Achilles saw him he was sorry, and stood up among the Argives saying, "The best man is coming in last. Let us give him a prize for it is reasonable. He shall have the second, but the first must go to the son of Tydeus."

τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ Ἀντίλοχος Νηλήϊος ἤλασεν ἵππους

κέρδεσιν, οὔ τι τάχει γε, παραφθάμενος Μενέλαον·

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧς Μενέλαος ἔχʼ ἐγγύθεν ὠκέας ἵππους.

ὅσσον δὲ τροχοῦ ἵππος ἀφίσταται, ὅς ῥα ἄνακτα

ἕλκῃσιν πεδίοιο τιταινόμενος σὺν ὄχεσφι·

τοῦ μέν τε ψαύουσιν ἐπισσώτρου τρίχες ἄκραι

οὐραῖαι· ὃ δέ τʼ ἄγχι μάλα τρέχει, οὐδέ τι πολλὴ

χώρη μεσσηγὺς πολέος πεδίοιο θέοντος·

τόσσον δὴ Μενέλαος ἀμύμονος Ἀντιλόχοιο

λείπετʼ· ἀτὰρ τὰ πρῶτα καὶ ἐς δίσκουρα λέλειπτο,

ἀλλά μιν αἶψα κίχανεν· ὀφέλλετο γὰρ μένος ἠῢ

ἵππου τῆς Ἀγαμεμνονέης καλλίτριχος Αἴθης·

εἰ δέ κʼ ἔτι προτέρω γένετο δρόμος ἀμφοτέροισι,

τώ κέν μιν παρέλασσʼ οὐδʼ ἀμφήριστον ἔθηκεν.

αὐτὰρ Μηριόνης θεράπων ἐῢς Ἰδομενῆος

λείπετʼ ἀγακλῆος Μενελάου δουρὸς ἐρωήν·

βάρδιστοι μὲν γάρ οἱ ἔσαν καλλίτριχες ἵπποι,

ἤκιστος δʼ ἦν αὐτὸς ἐλαυνέμεν ἅρμʼ ἐν ἀγῶνι.

υἱὸς δʼ Ἀδμήτοιο πανύστατος ἤλυθεν ἄλλων

ἕλκων ἅρματα καλὰ ἐλαύνων πρόσσοθεν ἵππους.

τὸν δὲ ἰδὼν ᾤκτειρε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

στὰς δʼ ἄρʼ ἐν Ἀργείοις ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευε·

λοῖσθος ἀνὴρ ὤριστος ἐλαύνει μώνυχας ἵππους·

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δή οἱ δῶμεν ἀέθλιον ὡς ἐπιεικὲς

δεύτερʼ· ἀτὰρ τὰ πρῶτα φερέσθω Τυδέος υἱός.

Thus did he speak and the others all of them applauded his saying, and were for doing as he had said, but Nestor's son Antilokhos stood up and claimed his rights from the son of Peleus. "Achilles," said he, "I shall take it much amiss if you do this thing; you would rob me of my prize [ athlon ], because you think Eumelos' chariot and horses were thrown out, and himself too, good man that he is. He should have prayed duly to the immortals; he would not have come in fast if he had done so. If you are sorry for him and so choose, you have much gold in your tents, with bronze, sheep, cattle, and horses. Take something from this store if you would have the Achaeans speak well of you, and give him a better prize [ athlon ] even than that which you have now offered; but I will not give up the mare, and he that will fight me for her, let him come on."

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἳ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἐπῄνεον ὡς ἐκέλευε.

καί νύ κέ οἱ πόρεν ἵππον, ἐπῄνησαν γὰρ Ἀχαιοί,

εἰ μὴ ἄρʼ Ἀντίλοχος μεγαθύμου Νέστορος υἱὸς

Πηλεΐδην Ἀχιλῆα δίκῃ ἠμείψατʼ ἀναστάς·

ὦ Ἀχιλεῦ μάλα τοι κεχολώσομαι αἴ κε τελέσσῃς

τοῦτο ἔπος· μέλλεις γὰρ ἀφαιρήσεσθαι ἄεθλον

τὰ φρονέων ὅτι οἱ βλάβεν ἅρματα καὶ ταχέʼ ἵππω

αὐτός τʼ ἐσθλὸς ἐών· ἀλλʼ ὤφελεν ἀθανάτοισιν

εὔχεσθαι· τό κεν οὔ τι πανύστατος ἦλθε διώκων.

εἰ δέ μιν οἰκτίρεις καί τοι φίλος ἔπλετο θυμῷ

ἔστί τοι ἐν κλισίῃ χρυσὸς πολύς, ἔστι δὲ χαλκὸς

καὶ πρόβατʼ, εἰσὶ δέ τοι δμῳαὶ καὶ μώνυχες ἵπποι·

τῶν οἱ ἔπειτʼ ἀνελὼν δόμεναι καὶ μεῖζον ἄεθλον

ἠὲ καὶ αὐτίκα νῦν, ἵνα σʼ αἰνήσωσιν Ἀχαιοί.

τὴν δʼ ἐγὼ οὐ δώσω· περὶ δʼ αὐτῆς πειρηθήτω

ἀνδρῶν ὅς κʼ ἐθέλῃσιν ἐμοὶ χείρεσσι μάχεσθαι.

Achilles smiled as he heard this, and was pleased with Antilokhos, who was one of his dearest comrades. So he said -

ὣς φάτο, μείδησεν δὲ ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

χαίρων Ἀντιλόχῳ, ὅτι οἱ φίλος ἦεν ἑταῖρος·

καί μιν ἀμειβόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

"Antilokhos, if you would have me find Eumelos another prize, I will give him the bronze breastplate with a rim of tin running all round it which I took from Asteropaios. It will be worth much money to him."

Ἀντίλοχʼ, εἰ μὲν δή με κελεύεις οἴκοθεν ἄλλο

Εὐμήλῳ ἐπιδοῦναι, ἐγὼ δέ κε καὶ τὸ τελέσσω.

δώσω οἱ θώρηκα, τὸν Ἀστεροπαῖον ἀπηύρων

χάλκεον, ᾧ πέρι χεῦμα φαεινοῦ κασσιτέροιο

ἀμφιδεδίνηται· πολέος δέ οἱ ἄξιος ἔσται.

He bade his comrade Automedon bring the breastplate from his tent, and he did so. Achilles then gave it over to Eumelos, who received it gladly.

ἦ ῥα, καὶ Αὐτομέδοντι φίλῳ ἐκέλευσεν ἑταίρῳ

οἰσέμεναι κλισίηθεν· ὃ δʼ ᾤχετο καί οἱ ἔνεικεν,

Εὐμήλῳ δʼ ἐν χερσὶ τίθει· ὃ δὲ δέξατο χαίρων.

But Menelaos got up in a rage, furiously angry with Antilokhos. An attendant placed his staff in his hands and bade the Argives keep silence: the hero then addressed them. "Antilokhos," said he, "what is this from you who have been so far blameless? You have shamed my excellence [ aretê ] and baulked my horses by flinging your own in front of them, though yours are much worse than mine are; therefore, O princes and counselors of the Argives, judge between us and show no favor, lest one of the Achaeans say, ‘Menelaos has got the mare through lying and corruption; his horses were far inferior to Antilokhos', but he is superior in excellence [ aretê ] and force [ biê ].’ Nay, I will determine the matter myself, and no man will blame me, for I shall do what is just. Come here, Antilokhos, and stand, as our custom [ themis ] is, whip in hand before your chariot and horses; lay your hand on your steeds, and swear by earth-encircling Poseidon that you did not purposely and guilefully get in the way of my horses."

τοῖσι δὲ καὶ Μενέλαος ἀνίστατο θυμὸν ἀχεύων

Ἀντιλόχῳ ἄμοτον κεχολωμένος· ἐν δʼ ἄρα κῆρυξ

χειρὶ σκῆπτρον ἔθηκε, σιωπῆσαί τε κέλευσεν

Ἀργείους· ὃ δʼ ἔπειτα μετηύδα ἰσόθεος φώς·

Ἀντίλοχε πρόσθεν πεπνυμένε ποῖον ἔρεξας.

ᾔσχυνας μὲν ἐμὴν ἀρετήν, βλάψας δέ μοι ἵππους

τοὺς σοὺς πρόσθε βαλών, οἵ τοι πολὺ χείρονες ἦσαν.

ἀλλʼ ἄγετʼ Ἀργείων ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες

ἐς μέσον ἀμφοτέροισι δικάσσατε, μὴ δʼ ἐπʼ ἀρωγῇ,

μή ποτέ τις εἴπῃσιν Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων·

Ἀντίλοχον ψεύδεσσι βιησάμενος Μενέλαος

οἴχεται ἵππον ἄγων, ὅτι οἱ πολὺ χείρονες ἦσαν

ἵπποι, αὐτὸς δὲ κρείσσων ἀρετῇ τε βίῃ τε.

εἰ δʼ ἄγʼ ἐγὼν αὐτὸς δικάσω, καί μʼ οὔ τινά φημι

ἄλλον ἐπιπλήξειν Δαναῶν· ἰθεῖα γὰρ ἔσται.

Ἀντίλοχʼ εἰ δʼ ἄγε δεῦρο διοτρεφές, ἣ θέμις ἐστί,

στὰς ἵππων προπάροιθε καὶ ἅρματος, αὐτὰρ ἱμάσθλην

χερσὶν ἔχε ῥαδινήν, ᾗ περ τὸ πρόσθεν ἔλαυνες,

ἵππων ἁψάμενος γαιήοχον ἐννοσίγαιον

ὄμνυθι μὴ μὲν ἑκὼν τὸ ἐμὸν δόλῳ ἅρμα πεδῆσαι.

And Antilokhos answered, "Forgive me; I am much younger, King Menelaos, than you are; you stand higher than I do and are the better man of the two; you know how easily young men are betrayed into indiscretion; their tempers are more hasty and they have less judgment [ noos ]; make due allowances therefore, and bear with me; I will of my own accord give up the mare that I have won, and if you claim any further chattel from my own possessions, I would rather yield it to you, at once, than fall from your good graces henceforth, and do wrong in the eyes of daimones ."

τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Ἀντίλοχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·

ἄνσχεο νῦν· πολλὸν γὰρ ἔγωγε νεώτερός εἰμι

σεῖο ἄναξ Μενέλαε, σὺ δὲ πρότερος καὶ ἀρείων.

οἶσθʼ οἷαι νέου ἀνδρὸς ὑπερβασίαι τελέθουσι·

κραιπνότερος μὲν γάρ τε νόος, λεπτὴ δέ τε μῆτις.

τώ τοι ἐπιτλήτω κραδίη· ἵππον δέ τοι αὐτὸς

δώσω, τὴν ἀρόμην. εἰ καί νύ κεν οἴκοθεν ἄλλο

μεῖζον ἐπαιτήσειας, ἄφαρ κέ τοι αὐτίκα δοῦναι

βουλοίμην ἢ σοί γε διοτρεφὲς ἤματα πάντα

ἐκ θυμοῦ πεσέειν καὶ δαίμοσιν εἶναι ἀλιτρός.

The son of Nestor then took the mare and gave her over to Menelaos, whose anger was thus appeased; as when dew falls upon a field of ripening wheat, and the lands are bristling with the harvest - even so, O Menelaos, was your heart made glad within you. He turned to Antilokhos and said, "Now, Antilokhos, angry though I have been, I can give way to you of my own free will; you have never been headstrong nor ill-disposed hitherto, but this time your youth has got the better of your judgment [ noos ]; be careful how you outwit your betters in future; no one else could have brought me round so easily, but your good father, your brother, and yourself have all of you had infinite trouble on my behalf; I therefore yield to your entreaty, and will give up the mare to you, mine though it indeed be; the people will thus see that I am neither harsh nor vindictive."

ἦ ῥα καὶ ἵππον ἄγων μεγαθύμου Νέστορος υἱὸς

ἐν χείρεσσι τίθει Μενελάου· τοῖο δὲ θυμὸς

ἰάνθη ὡς εἴ τε περὶ σταχύεσσιν ἐέρση

ληΐου ἀλδήσκοντος, ὅτε φρίσσουσιν ἄρουραι·

ὣς ἄρα σοὶ Μενέλαε μετὰ φρεσὶ θυμὸς ἰάνθη.

καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

Ἀντίλοχε νῦν μέν τοι ἐγὼν ὑποείξομαι αὐτὸς

χωόμενος, ἐπεὶ οὔ τι παρήορος οὐδʼ ἀεσίφρων

ἦσθα πάρος· νῦν αὖτε νόον νίκησε νεοίη.

δεύτερον αὖτʼ ἀλέασθαι ἀμείνονας ἠπεροπεύειν.

οὐ γάρ κέν με τάχʼ ἄλλος ἀνὴρ παρέπεισεν Ἀχαιῶν.

ἀλλὰ σὺ γὰρ δὴ πολλὰ πάθες καὶ πολλὰ μόγησας

σός τε πατὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ ἀδελφεὸς εἵνεκʼ ἐμεῖο·

τώ τοι λισσομένῳ ἐπιπείσομαι, ἠδὲ καὶ ἵππον

δώσω ἐμήν περ ἐοῦσαν, ἵνα γνώωσι καὶ οἵδε

ὡς ἐμὸς οὔ ποτε θυμὸς ὑπερφίαλος καὶ ἀπηνής.

With this he gave the mare over to Antilokhos' comrade Noemon, and then took the cauldron. Meriones, who had come in fourth, carried off the two talents of gold, and the fifth prize [ athlon ], the two-handled urn, being unawarded, Achilles gave it to Nestor, going up to him in the assembly [ agôn ] of Argives and saying, "Take this, my good old friend, as an heirloom and memorial of the funeral of Patroklos - for you shall see him no more among the Argives. I give you this prize [ athlon ] though you cannot win one; you can now neither wrestle nor fight, and cannot enter for the javelin-match nor foot-races, for the hand of age has been laid heavily upon you."

ἦ ῥα, καὶ Ἀντιλόχοιο Νοήμονι δῶκεν ἑταίρῳ

ἵππον ἄγειν· ὃ δʼ ἔπειτα λέβηθʼ ἕλε παμφανόωντα.

Μηριόνης δʼ ἀνάειρε δύω χρυσοῖο τάλαντα

τέτρατος, ὡς ἔλασεν. πέμπτον δʼ ὑπελείπετʼ ἄεθλον,

ἀμφίθετος φιάλη· τὴν Νέστορι δῶκεν Ἀχιλλεὺς

Ἀργείων ἀνʼ ἀγῶνα φέρων, καὶ ἔειπε παραστάς·

τῆ νῦν, καὶ σοὶ τοῦτο γέρον κειμήλιον ἔστω

Πατρόκλοιο τάφου μνῆμʼ ἔμμεναι· οὐ γὰρ ἔτʼ αὐτὸν

ὄψῃ ἐν Ἀργείοισι· δίδωμι δέ τοι τόδʼ ἄεθλον

αὔτως· οὐ γὰρ πύξ γε μαχήσεαι, οὐδὲ παλαίσεις,

οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἀκοντιστὺν ἐσδύσεαι, οὐδὲ πόδεσσι

θεύσεαι· ἤδη γὰρ χαλεπὸν κατὰ γῆρας ἐπείγει.

So saying he gave the urn over to Nestor, who received it gladly and answered, "My son, all that you have said is true; there is no strength now in my legs and feet, nor can I hit out with my hands from either shoulder. Would that I were still young and strong as when the Epeans were burying King Amarynkeus in Bouprasion, and his sons offered prizes in his honor. There was then none that could vie with me neither of the Epeans nor the Pylians themselves nor the Aetolians. In boxing I overcame Klytomedes son of Enops, and in wrestling, Ankaios of Pleuron who had come forward against me. Iphiklos was a good runner,

ὣς εἰπὼν ἐν χερσὶ τίθει· ὃ δʼ ἐδέξατο χαίρων,

καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

ναὶ δὴ ταῦτά γε πάντα τέκος κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπες·

οὐ γὰρ ἔτʼ ἔμπεδα γυῖα φίλος πόδες, οὐδέ τι χεῖρες

ὤμων ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἐπαΐσσονται ἐλαφραί.

εἴθʼ ὣς ἡβώοιμι βίη τέ μοι ἔμπεδος εἴη

ὡς ὁπότε κρείοντʼ Ἀμαρυγκέα θάπτον Ἐπειοὶ

Βουπρασίῳ, παῖδες δʼ ἔθεσαν βασιλῆος ἄεθλα·

ἔνθʼ οὔ τίς μοι ὁμοῖος ἀνὴρ γένετʼ, οὔτʼ ἄρʼ Ἐπειῶν

οὔτʼ αὐτῶν Πυλίων οὔτʼ Αἰτωλῶν μεγαθύμων.

πὺξ μὲν ἐνίκησα Κλυτομήδεα Ἤνοπος υἱόν,

Ἀγκαῖον δὲ πάλῃ Πλευρώνιον, ὅς μοι ἀνέστη·

but I beat him, and threw farther with my spear than either Phyleus or Polydoros. In chariot-racing alone did the two sons of Aktor surpass me by crowding their horses in front of me, for they were angry at the way victory had gone, and at the greater part of the prizes remaining in the place in which they had been offered. They were twins, and the one kept on holding the reins, and holding the reins, while the other plied the whip. Such was I then, but now I must leave these matters to younger men; I must bow before the weight of years, but in those days I was eminent among heroes. And now, sir, go on with the funeral contests [ athloi ] in honor of your comrade: gladly do I accept this urn, and my heart rejoices that you do not forget me but are ever mindful of my goodwill towards you, and of the respect [ timê ] due to me from the Achaeans. For all which may the grace [ kharis ] of heaven be granted you in great abundance."

Ἴφικλον δὲ πόδεσσι παρέδραμον ἐσθλὸν ἐόντα,

δουρὶ δʼ ὑπειρέβαλον Φυλῆά τε καὶ Πολύδωρον.

οἴοισίν μʼ ἵπποισι παρήλασαν Ἀκτορίωνε

πλήθει πρόσθε βαλόντες ἀγασσάμενοι περὶ νίκης,

οὕνεκα δὴ τὰ μέγιστα παρʼ αὐτόθι λείπετʼ ἄεθλα.

οἳ δʼ ἄρʼ ἔσαν δίδυμοι· ὃ μὲν ἔμπεδον ἡνιόχευεν,

ἔμπεδον ἡνιόχευʼ, ὃ δʼ ἄρα μάστιγι κέλευεν.

ὥς ποτʼ ἔον· νῦν αὖτε νεώτεροι ἀντιοώντων

ἔργων τοιούτων· ἐμὲ δὲ χρὴ γήραϊ λυγρῷ

πείθεσθαι, τότε δʼ αὖτε μετέπρεπον ἡρώεσσιν.

ἀλλʼ ἴθι καὶ σὸν ἑταῖρον ἀέθλοισι κτερέϊζε.

τοῦτο δʼ ἐγὼ πρόφρων δέχομαι, χαίρει δέ μοι ἦτορ,

ὥς μευ ἀεὶ μέμνησαι ἐνηέος, οὐδέ σε λήθω,