Verse
Iliad
Book 20, Line 241 by Samuel Butler (English)
"Such do I declare my blood and lineage, but as for valor [ aretê ], Zeus gives it or takes it as he will, for he is lord of all. And now let there be no more of this prating in mid-battle as though we were children. We could fling taunts without end at one another; a hundred-oared galley would not hold them. The tongue can run in every which direction and talk all wise; it can go here and there, and as a man says, so shall he be gainsaid. What is the use of our bandying hard like women who when they fall foul of one another go out and wrangle in the streets, one half true and the other lies, as rage inspires them? No words of yours shall turn me now that I am fain to fight- therefore let us make trial of one another with our spears."
IliadBook 20, Line 241Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 20
HomerProseID iliad-iliad-butler-en-prose-20-241