Iliad

"Such was I among my peers, as surely as ever was, but Achilles is for keeping all his valor [ aretê ] for himself; bitterly will he rue it hereafter when the host is being cut to pieces. My good friend, did not Menoitios charge you thus, on the day when he sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon? Odysseus and I were in the house, inside, and heard all that he said to you; for we came to the fair house of Peleus while beating up recruits throughout all Achaea , and when we got there we found Menoitios and yourself, and Achilles with you. The old horseman Peleus was in the outer court, roasting the fat thigh-bones of a heifer to Zeus the lord of thunder; and he held a gold chalice in his hand from which he poured drink-offerings of wine over the burning sacrifice. You two were busy cutting up the heifer, and at that moment we stood at the gates, whereon Achilles sprang to his feet, led us by the hand into the house, placed us at table, and set before us such hospitable entertainment as is right [ themis ] for guests to expect.

IliadBook 11, Line 762Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 11

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