Agamemnon

Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 21 Sep 2011 12:08 and updated at 21 Sep 2011 12:08

ILIAD NOUN

ild.01 On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away.
ild.01 And Achilles answered, "Fear not, but speak as it is borne in upon you from heaven, for by Apollo, Calchas, to whom you pray, and whose oracles you reveal to us, not a Danaan at our ships shall lay his hand upon you, while I yet live to look upon the face of the earth no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who is by far the foremost of the Achaeans.
ild.01 "The God," he said, "is angry neither about vow nor Hecatomb, but for his priest s sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he would not free his daughter nor take a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon us, and will yet send others.
ild.01 He will not deliver the Danaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has restored the girl without fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy Hecatomb to Chryse.
ild.01 With these words he sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger.
ild.01 Then Agamemnon said, Achilles", valiant though you be, you shall not thus outwit me.
ild.01 And Agamemnon answered, "Fly if you will, I shall make you no prayers to stay you.
ild.01 "Why are you here," said he, "daughter of aegis bearing Jove? To see the pride of Agamemnon, son of Atreus? Let me tell you and it shall surely be he shall pay for this insolence with his life.
ild.01 Therefore, Agamemnon, though you be strong, take not this girl away, for the sons of the Achaeans have already given her to Achilles; and you, Achilles, strive not further with the king, for no man who by the grace of Jove wields a sceptre has like honour with Agamemnon.
ild.01 You are strong, and have a Goddess for your mother; but Agamemnon is stronger than you, for he has more people under him.
ild.01 And Agamemnon answered, Sir", all that you have said is true, but this fellow must needs become our lord and master: he must be lord of all, king of all, and captain of all, and this shall hardly be.
ild.01 The son of Peleus went back to his tents and ships with the son of Menoetius and his company, while Agamemnon drew a vessel into the water and chose a crew of Twenty oarsmen.
ild.01 But Agamemnon did not forget the threat that he had made Achilles, and called his trusty messengers and squires Talthybius and Eurybates.
ild.01 They stood fearfully and reverently before him, and never a word did they speak, but he knew them and said, "Welcome, heralds, messengers of Gods and men; draw near; my quarrel is not with you but with Agamemnon who has sent you for the girl Briseis.
ild.01 Therefore, Patroclus, bring her and give her to them, but let them be witnesses by the blessed Gods, by mortal men, and by the fierceness of Agamemnon s anger, that if ever again there be need of me to save the people from ruin, they shall seek and they shall not find.
ild.01 Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how to look before and after that the Achaeans may fight by their ships in safety.
ild.01 Agamemnon, son of Atreus, has done me dishonour, and has robbed me of my prize by force.
ild.01 The sons of the Achaeans shared it duly among themselves, and chose lovely Chryseis as the meed of Agamemnon; but Chryses, priest of Apollo, came to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo, wreathed with a suppliant s wreath, and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus who were their chiefs.
ild.01 "On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away.
ild.01 Let the Achaeans be hemmed in at the sterns of their ships, and perish on the sea shore, that they may reap what joy they may of their king, and that Agamemnon may rue his blindness in offering insult to the foremost of the Achaeans.
ild.01 Chryses"," said he, King" Agamemnon has sent me to bring you back your child, and to offer sacrifice to Apollo on behalf of the Danaans, that we may propitiate the God, who has now brought sorrow upon the Argives.
ild.01 King Agamemnon has dishonoured him by taking his prize and keeping her.
ild.02 In the end he deemed it would be best to send a lying dream to King Agamemnon; so he called one to him and said to it, "Lying Dream, go to the ships of the Achaeans, into the tent of Agamemnon, and say to him word to word as I now bid you.
ild.02 It sought Agamemnon son of Atreus and found him in his tent, wrapped in a profound slumber.
ild.02 It hovered over his head in the likeness of Nestor, son of Neleus, whom Agamemnon honoured above all his councillors, and said:
ild.02 The Goddess Dawn now wended her way to vast Olympus that she might herald day to Jove and to the other immortals, and Agamemnon sent the criers round to call the people in assembly; so they called them and the people gathered thereon.
ild.02 With this he led the way from the assembly, and the other sceptred kings rose with him in obedience to the word of Agamemnon; but the people pressed forward to hear.
ild.02 Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his sceptre.
ild.02 Atreus, when he died, left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his turn left it to be borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all Argos and of the isles.
ild.02 With these words he moved the hearts of the multitude, so many of them as knew not the cunning counsel of Agamemnon.
ild.02 His servant Eurybates, a man of Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, whereon Ulysses went straight up to Agamemnon and received from him his ancestral, imperishable staff.
ild.02 You do not yet know the full mind of Agamemnon; he was sounding us, and ere long will visit the Achaeans with his displeasure.
ild.02 Achilles and Ulysses hated him worst of all, for it was with them that he was most wont to wrangle; now, however, with a shrill squeaky voice he began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon.
ild.02 Agamemnon"," he cried, "what ails you now, and what more do you want? Your tents are filled with Bronze and with fair Women, for whenever we take a town we give you the pick of them.
ild.02 How dare you gibe at Agamemnon because the Danaans have awarded him so many prizes? I tell you, therefore and it shall surely be that if I again catch you talking such nonsense, I will either forfeit my own head and be no more called father of Telemachus, or I will take you, strip you stark naked, and whip you out of the assembly till you go blubbering back to the ships.
ild.02 King" Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for making you a by word among all mankind.
ild.02 Divide your men, Agamemnon, into their several tribes and clans, that clans and tribes may stand by and help one another.
ild.02 And Agamemnon answered, Nestor", you have again outdone the sons of the Achaeans in counsel.
ild.02 Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat Five year old Bull to the mighty son of Saturn, and invited the princes and elders of his host.
ild.02 They stood round the Bull with the barley meal in their hands, and Agamemnon prayed, saying, Jove", most glorious, supreme, that dwellest in heaven, and ridest upon the storm cloud, grant that the sun may not go down, nor the night fall, till the palace of Priam is laid low, and its gates are consumed with fire.
ild.02 King" Agamemnon," said he, "let us not stay talking here, nor be slack in the work that heaven has put into our hands.
ild.02 Thus did he speak, and Agamemnon heeded his words.
ild.02 The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the fight began, drafting them out as easily as Goat herds draft their flocks when they have got mixed while feeding; and among them went King Agamemnon, with a head and face like Jove the lord of thunder, a waist like Mars, and a chest like that of Neptune.
ild.02 Those who held the strong city of Mycenae, rich Corinth and Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where Adrastus reigned of old; Hyperesia, high Gonoessa, and Pellene; Aegium and all the coast land round about Helice; these sent a hundred ships under the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus.
ild.02 And those that dwelt in Lacedaemon, lying low among the hills, Pharis, Sparta, with Messe the haunt of doves; Bryseae, Augeae, Amyclae, and Helos upon the sea; Laas, moreover, and Oetylus; these were led by Menelaus of the loud battle cry, brother to Agamemnon, and of them there were Sixty ships, drawn up apart from the others.
ild.02 Many Arcadians, good soldiers, came in each one of them, but Agamemnon found them the ships in which to cross the sea, for they were not a people that occupied their business upon the waters.
ild.02 Of the men, Ajax, son of Telamon, was much the foremost so long as Achilles anger lasted, for Achilles excelled him greatly and he had also better Horses; but Achilles was now holding aloof at his ships by reason of his quarrel with Agamemnon, and his people passed their time upon the sea shore, throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark, and in archery.
ild.03 When Hector heard this he was glad, and went about among the Trojan ranks holding his spear by the middle to keep them back, and they all sat down at his bidding: but the Achaeans still aimed at him with stones and arrows, till Agamemnon shouted to them saying, "Hold, Argives, shoot not, sons of the Achaeans; Hector desires to speak.
ild.03 Hector sent two messengers to the city to bring the lambs and to bid Priam come, while Agamemnon told Talthybius to fetch the other lamb from the ships, and he did as Agamemnon had said.
ild.03 As for your question, the hero of whom you ask is Agamemnon, son of Atreus, a good king and a brave soldier, brother in law as surely as that he lives, to my abhorred and miserable self.
ild.03 The old man next looked upon Ulysses; "Tell me," he said, "who is that other, shorter by a head than Agamemnon, but broader across the chest and shoulders? His armour is laid upon the ground, and he stalks in front of the ranks as it were some great woolly ram ordering his ewes.
ild.03 Agamemnon and Ulysses both rose to meet them.
ild.03 Then Agamemnon, king of men, spoke, saying, "Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians, and allies.
ild.04 When King Agamemnon saw the blood flowing from the wound he was afraid, and so was brave Menelaus himself till he saw that the barbs of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow head to the shaft were still outside the wound.
ild.04 Then he took heart, but Agamemnon heaved a deep sigh as he held Menelaus s hand in his own, and his comrades made moan in concert.
ild.04 Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb and say, Ever thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance; he brought his army in vain; he is gone home to his own land with empty ships, and has left Menelaus behind him.
ild.04 And Agamemnon answered, "I trust, dear Menelaus, that it may be even so, but the surgeon shall examine your wound and lay herbs upon it to relieve your pain.
ild.04 Presently he found standing amid the brave warriors who had followed him from Tricca; thereon he went up to him and said, Son" of Aesculapius, King Agamemnon says you are to come and see Menelaus immediately.
ild.04 You would not have then found Agamemnon asleep nor cowardly and unwilling to fight, but eager rather for the fray.
ild.04 Agamemnon was glad when he saw him, and spoke him fairly.
ild.04 Glad was King Agamemnon when he saw them.
ild.04 Thus did the old man charge them, for he had been in many a fight, and King Agamemnon was glad.
ild.04 Agamemnon went his way rejoicing, and presently found Menestheus, son of Peteos, tarrying in his place, and with him were the Athenians loud of tongue in battle.
ild.04 When he saw this Agamemnon rebuked them and said, Son" of Peteos, and you other, steeped in cunning, heart of guile, why stand you here cowering and waiting on others? You two should be of all men foremost when there is hard fighting to be done, for you are ever foremost to accept my invitation when we councillors of the Achaeans are holding feast.
ild.04 When Agamemnon saw that Ulysses was angry, he smiled pleasantly at him and withdrew his words.
ild.04 Diomed made no answer, for he was shamed by the rebuke of Agamemnon; but the son of Capaneus took up his words and said, Son" of Atreus, tell no lies, for you can speak truth if you will.
ild.04 It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge the Achaeans forward, for the glory will be his if we take the city, and his the shame if we are vanquished.
ild.05 First King Agamemnon flung mighty Odius, captain of the Halizoni, from his Chariot.
ild.05 The spear of Agamemnon caught him on the broad of his back, just as he was turning in flight; it struck him between the shoulders and went right through his chest, and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground.
ild.05 The spear of King Agamemnon struck his shield and went right through it, for the shield stayed it not.
ild.05 These, when they grew up, went to Ilius with the Argive fleet in the cause of Menelaus and Agamemnon sons of Atreus, and there they both of them fell.
ild.06 Ablerus fell by the spear of Nestor s son Antilochus, and Agamemnon, king of men, killed Elatus who dwelt in Pedasus by the banks of the river Satnioeis.
ild.06 Thus did he plead, and Menelaus was for yielding and giving him to a squire to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running up to him and rebuked him.
ild.06 Menelaus, therefore, thrust Adrestus from him, whereon King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell: then the son of Atreus planted his foot upon his breast to draw his spear from the body.
ild.07 Agamemnon also bade the Achaeans be seated.
ild.07 King Agamemnon caught him by the right hand and said, Menelaus", you are mad; a truce to this folly.
ild.07 Foremost of all uprose King Agamemnon, and after him brave Diomed the son of Tydeus.
ild.07 Thus he spoke, and when each of them had marked his lot, and had thrown it into the helmet of Agamemnon son of Atreus, the people lifted their hands in prayer, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of heaven, Father" Jove, grant that the lot fall on Ajax, or on the son of Tydeus, or upon the king of rich Mycene himself.
ild.07 He now abides at the ships in anger with Agamemnon shepherd of his people, but there are many of us who are well able to face you; therefore begin the fight.
ild.07 On the other side the Achaeans brought Ajax elated with victory to Agamemnon.
ild.07 When they reached the quarters of the son of Atreus, Agamemnon sacrificed for them a Five year old Bull in honour of Jove the son of Saturn.
ild.07 When they had done all this and had prepared the feast, they ate it, and every man had his full and equal share, so that all were satisfied, and King Agamemnon gave Ajax some slices cut lengthways down the loin, as a mark of special honour.
ild.07 At daybreak let Idaeus go to the ships, and tell Agamemnon and Menelaus sons of Atreus the saying of Alexandrus through whom this quarrel has come about; and let him also be instant with them that they now cease fighting till we burn our dead; hereafter we will fight anew, till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or to the other.
ild.07 He found the Danaans, servants of Mars, in council at the stern of Agamemnon s ship, and took his place in the midst of them.
ild.07 The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause at the words that Diomed had spoken, and thereon King Agamemnon said to Idaeus, Idaeus", you have heard the answer the Achaeans make you and I with them.
ild.07 The son of Jason freighted them with Ten thousand measures of wine, which he sent specially to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus.
ild.08 Idomeneus dared not stay nor yet Agamemnon, nor did the two Ajaxes, servants of Mars, hold their ground.
ild.08 He would even have set fire to the ships and burned them, had not Queen Juno put it into the mind of Agamemnon, to bestir himself and to encourage the Achaeans.
ild.08 After him came Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus, the two Ajaxes clothed in valour as with a garment, Idomeneus and his companion in arms Meriones, peer of murderous Mars, and Eurypylus the brave son of Euaemon.
ild.08 these in turn did he lay low upon the earth, and King Agamemnon was glad when he saw him making havoc of the Trojans with his mighty bow.
ild.09 Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract on the side of some sheer cliff; and thus, with many a heavy sigh he spoke to the Achaeans.
ild.09 You are still young you might be the youngest of my own children still you have spoken wisely and have counselled the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion; nevertheless I am older than you and I will tell you every" thing; therefore let no man, not even King Agamemnon, disregard my saying, for he that foments civil discord is a clanless, hearthless outlaw.
ild.09 "With yourself, most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, will I both begin my speech and end it, for you are king over much people.
ild.09 And King Agamemnon answered, Sir", you have reproved my folly justly.
ild.09 Then Nestor answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon.
ild.09 Men servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving every man his drink offering; then, when they had made their offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded, the envoys set out from the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus; and Nestor, looking first to one and then to another, but most especially at Ulysses, was instant with them that they should prevail with the noble son of Peleus.
ild.09 "Hail," said he, Achilles", we have had no scant of good cheer, neither in the tent of Agamemnon, nor yet here; there has been plenty to eat and drink, but our thought turns upon no such matter.
ild.09 "My good friend, when your father Peleus sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon, did he not charge you saying, Son, Minerva and Juno will make you strong if they choose, but check your high temper, for the better part is in goodwill.
ild.09 Agamemnon will make you great amends if you will forgive him; listen, and I will tell you what he has said in his tent that he will give you.
ild.09 Rich indeed both in land and Gold is he who has as many prizes as these Horses have won for Agamemnon.
ild.09 Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice, and Iphianassa; you may take the one of your choice, freely and without gifts of wooing, to the house of Peleus; he will add such dower to boot as no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give you Seven well established cities, Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire where there is grass; holy Pheras and the rich meadows of Anthea; Aepea also, and the vine clad slopes of Pedasus, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy Pylos.
ild.09 I will be appeased neither by Agamemnon son of Atreus nor by any other of the Danaans, for I see that I have no thanks for all my fighting.
ild.09 With my ships I have taken Twelve cities, and Eleven round about Troy have I stormed with my men by land; I took great store of wealth from every one of them, but I gave all up to Agamemnon son of Atreus.
ild.09 Agamemnon has taken her from me; he has played me false; I know him; let him tempt me no further, for he shall not move me.
ild.09 They all held their peace, dismayed at the sternness with which he had denied them, till presently the old knight Phoenix in his great fear for the ships of the Achaeans, burst into tears and said, "Noble Achilles, if you are now minded to return, and in the fierceness of your anger will do nothing to save the ships from burning, how, my son, can I remain here without you? Your father Peleus bade me go with you when he sent you as a mere lad from Phthia to Agamemnon.
ild.09 King Agamemnon was the first to do so.
ild.09 Ulysses answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely angry than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts.
ild.09 They all held their peace, sitting for a long time silent and dejected, by reason of the sternness with which Achilles had refused them, till presently Diomed said, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, you ought not to have sued the son of Peleus nor offered him gifts.
ild.10 NOW the other princes of the Achaeans slept soundly the whole night through, but Agamemnon son of Atreus was troubled, so that he could get no rest.
ild.10 As when fair Juno s lord flashes his lightning in token of great rain or hail or snow when the snow flakes whiten the ground, or again as a sign that he will open the wide jaws of hungry war, even so did Agamemnon heave many a heavy sigh, for his soul trembled within him.
ild.10 And King Agamemnon answered, Menelaus", we both of us need shrewd counsel to save the Argives and our ships, for Jove has changed his mind, and inclines towards Hector s sacrifices rather than ours.
ild.10 Menelaus replied, "How do I take your meaning? Am I to stay with them and wait your coming, or shall I return here as soon as I have given your orders?" "Wait," answered King Agamemnon, "for there are so many paths about the camp that we might miss one another.
ild.10 He raised himself on his elbow and looked up at Agamemnon.
ild.10 And Agamemnon answered, Nestor", son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, it is I, Agamemnon son of Atreus, on whom Jove has laid labour and sorrow so long as there is breath in my body and my limbs carry me.
ild.10 Nestor replied, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, Jove will not do all for Hector that Hector thinks he will; he will have troubles yet in plenty if Achilles will lay aside his anger.
ild.10 And Agamemnon answered, Sir", you may sometimes blame him justly, for he is often remiss and unwilling to exert himself not indeed from sloth, nor yet heedlessness, but because he looks to me and expects me to take the lead.
ild.10 The two Ajaxes, servants of Mars, Meriones, and the son of Nestor all wanted to go, so did Menelaus son of Atreus; Ulysses also wished to go among the host of the Trojans, for he was ever full of daring, and thereon Agamemnon king of men spoke thus: "Diomed," said he, "son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, choose your comrade for yourself take the best man of those that have offered, for many would now go with you.
ild.10 I will go through the host from one end to the other till I come to the ship of Agamemnon, where I take it the princes of the Achaeans are now consulting whether they shall fight or fly.
ild.11 On his head Agamemnon set a helmet, with a peak before and behind, and four plumes of Horse hair that nodded menacingly above it; then he grasped two redoubtable Bronze shod spears, and the gleam of his armour shot from him as a flame into the firmament, while Juno and Minerva thundered in honour of the king of rich Mycene.
ild.11 Agamemnon led them on, and slew first Bienor, a leader of his people, and afterwards his comrade and Charioteer Oileus, who sprang from his Chariot and was coming full towards him; but Agamemnon struck him on the forehead with his spear; his Bronze visor was of no avail against the weapon, which pierced both Bronze and bone, so that his brains were battered in and he was killed in full fight.
ild.11 Agamemnon stripped their shirts from off them and left them with their breasts all bare to lie where they had fallen.
ild.11 Achilles had once taken both of them prisoners in the glades of Ida, and had bound them with fresh withes as they were shepherding, but he had taken a ransom for them; now, however, Agamemnon son of Atreus smote Isus in the chest above the nipple with his spear, while he struck Antiphus hard by the ear and threw him from his Chariot.
ild.11 Then King Agamemnon took the two sons of Antimachus, Pisander and brave Hippolochus.
ild.11 It was Antimachus who had been foremost in preventing Helen s being restored to Menelaus, for he was largely bribed by Alexandrus; and now Agamemnon took his two sons, both in the same Chariot, trying to bring their Horses to a stand for they had lost hold of the reins and the Horses were mad with fear.
ild.11 "If," said Agamemnon, "you are sons of Antimachus, who once at a council of Trojans proposed that Menelaus and Ulysses, who had come to you as envoys, should be killed and not suffered to return, you shall now pay for the foul iniquity of your father.
ild.11 Hippolochus fled, but him too did Agamemnon smite; he cut off his hands and his head which he sent rolling in among the crowd as though it were a ball.
ild.11 King Agamemnon followed after, ever slaying them and cheering on the Achaeans.
ild.11 As when some mighty forest is all ablaze the eddying gusts whirl fire in all directions till the thickets shrivel and are consumed before the blast of the flame even so fell the heads of the flying Trojans before Agamemnon son of Atreus, and many a noble pair of steeds drew an empty Chariot along the highways of war, for lack of drivers who were lying on the plain, more useful now to Vultures than to their wives.
ild.11 Meanwhile the Trojans kept on flying over the middle of the plain like a herd cows maddened with fright when a Lion has attacked them in the dead of night he springs on one of them, seizes her neck in the grip of his strong teeth and then laps up her blood and gorges himself upon her entrails even so did King Agamemnon son of Atreus pursue the foe, ever slaughtering the hindmost as they fled pell mell before him.
ild.11 "Go," said he, "fleet Iris, and speak thus to Hector say that so long as he sees Agamemnon heading his men and making havoc of the Trojan ranks, he is to keep aloof and bid the others bear the brunt of the battle, but when Agamemnon is wounded either by spear or arrow, and takes to his Chariot, then will I vouchsafe him strength to slay till he reach the ships and night falls at the going down of the sun.
ild.11 Then she said, Hector" son of Priam, peer of Gods in counsel, father Jove has sent me to bear you this message so long as you see Agamemnon heading his men and making havoc of the Trojan ranks, you are to keep aloof and bid the others bear the brunt of the battle, but when Agamemnon is wounded either by spear or arrow, and takes to his Chariot, then will Jove vouchsafe you strength to slay till you reach the ships, and till night falls at the going down of the sun.
ild.11 The battle was now in array and they stood face to face with one another, Agamemnon ever pressing forward in his eagerness to be ahead of all others.
ild.11 Tell me now ye Muses that dwell in the mansions of Olympus, who, whether of the Trojans or of their allies, was first to face Agamemnon? It was Iphidamas son of Antenor, a man both brave and of great stature, who was brought up in fertile Thrace the mother of Sheep.
ild.11 He it was that naw met Agamemnon son of Atreus.
ild.11 When they were close up with one another, the son of Atreus missed his aim, and Iphidamas hit him on the girdle below the cuirass and then flung himself upon him, trusting to his strength of arm; the girdle, however, was not pierced, nor nearly so, for the point of the spear struck against the Silver and was turned aside as though it had been lead: King Agamemnon caught it from his hand, and drew it towards him with the fury of a Lion; he then drew his sword, and killed Iphidamas by striking him on the neck.
ild.11 Agamemnon son of Atreus then despoiled him, and carried off his armour into the host of the Achaeans.
ild.11 Unseen by Agamemnon he got beside him, spear in hand, and wounded him in the middle of his arm below the elbow, the point of the spear going right through the arm.
ild.11 Agamemnon was convulsed with pain, but still not even for this did he leave off struggling and fighting, but grasped his spear that flew as fleet as the wind, and sprang upon Coon who was trying to drag off the body of his brother his father s son by the foot, and was crying for help to all the bravest of his comrades; but Agamemnon struck him with a Bronze shod spear and killed him as he was dragging the dead body through the press of men under cover of his shield: he then cut off his head, standing over the body of Iphidamas.
ild.11 As long as the blood still welled warm from his wound Agamemnon went about attacking the ranks of the enemy with spear and sword and with great handfuls of stone, but when the blood had ceased to flow and the wound grew dry, the pain became great.
ild.11 When Hector saw Agamemnon quit the field, he shouted to the Trojans and Lycians saying, Trojans", Lycians, and Dardanian warriors, be men, my friends, and acquit yourselves in battle bravely; their best man has left them, and Jove has vouchsafed me a great triumph; charge the foe with your Chariots that.
ild.11 And Nestor answered, "Why should Achilles care to know how many of the Achaeans may be wounded? He recks not of the dismay that reigns in our host; our most valiant chieftains lie disabled, brave Diomed son of Tydeus is wounded; so are Ulysses and Agamemnon; Eurypylus has been hit with an arrow in the thigh, and I have just been bringing this man from the field he too wounded with an arrow; nevertheless Achilles, so valiant though he be, cares not and knows no ruth.
ild.11 My good friend, did not Menoetius charge you thus, on the day when he sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon? Ulysses 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 Menoetius and yourself, and Achilles with you.
ild.13 True, King Agamemnon son of Atreus is the cause of our disaster by having insulted the son of Peleus, still this is no reason why we should leave off fighting.
ild.14 As when there is a heavy swell upon the sea, but the waves are dumb they keep their eyes on the watch for the quarter whence the fierce winds may spring upon them, but they stay where they are and set neither this way nor that, till some particular wind sweeps down from heaven to determine them even so did the old man ponder whether to make for the crowd of Danaans, or go in search of Agamemnon.
ild.14 The wounded kings, the son of Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon son of Atreus, fell in Nestor as they were coming up from their ships for theirs were drawn up some way from where the fighting was going on, being on the shore itself inasmuch as they had been beached first, while the wall had been built behind the hindermost.
ild.14 Then King Agamemnon said to him, Nestor" son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, why have you left the battle to come hither? I fear that what dread Hector said will come true, when he vaunted among the Trojans saying that he would not return to Ilius till he had fired our ships and killed us; this is what he said, and now it is all coming true.
ild.14 And King Agamemnon answered, Nestor", if the Trojans are indeed fighting at the rear of our ships, and neither the wall nor the trench has served us over which the Danaans toiled so hard, and which they deemed would be an impregnable bulwark both for us and our fleet I see it must be the will of Jove that the Achaeans should perish ingloriously here, far from Argos.
ild.14 Agamemnon answered, Ulysses", your rebuke has stung me to the heart.
ild.14 Thus did he speak; whereon they did even as he had said and set out, King Agamemnon leading the way.
ild.14 He took Agamemnon s right hand in his own and said, Son" of Atreus, I take it Achilles is glad now that he sees the Achaeans routed and slain, for he is utterly without remorse may he come to a bad end and heaven confound him.
ild.14 The son of Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set the others in array, and went about everywhere effecting the exchanges of armour; the most valiant took the best armour, and gave the worse to the worse man.
ild.16 Brave Diomed son of Tydeus has been hit with a spear, while famed Ulysses and Agamemnon have received sword wounds; Eurypylus again has been struck with an arrow in the thigh; skilled apothecaries are attending to these heroes, and healing them of their wounds; are you still, O Achilles, so inexorable? May it never be my lot to nurse such a passion as you have done, to the baning of your own good name.
ild.16 The girl whom the sons of the Achaeans chose for me, whom I won as the fruit of my spear on having sacked a city her has King Agamemnon taken from me as though I were some common vagrant.
ild.16 And so it would have been, if only King Agamemnon had dealt fairly by me.
ild.16 The son of Atreus King Agamemnon will thus learn his folly in showing no respect to the bravest of the Achaeans.
ild.16 The ships rang again with the cry which the Achaeans raised, and when the Trojans saw the brave son of Menoetius and his squire all gleaming in their armour, they were daunted and their battalions were thrown into confusion, for they thought the fleet son of Peleus must now have put aside his anger, and have been reconciled to Agamemnon; every one, therefore, looked round about to see whither he might fly for safety.
ild.17 "My friends," he cried, "princes and counsellors of the Argives, all you who with Agamemnon and Menelaus drink at the public cost, and give orders each to his own people as Jove vouchsafes him power and glory, the fight is so thick about me that I cannot distinguish you severally; come on, therefore, every man unbidden, and think it shame that Patroclus should become meat and morsel for Trojan hounds.
ild.18 Even so has Agamemnon angered me.
ild.18 So long as this man was at enmity with Agamemnon the Achaeans were easier to deal with, and I would have gladly camped by the ships in the hope of taking them; but now I go in great fear of the fleet son of Peleus; he is so daring that he will never bide here on the plain whereon the Trojans and Achaeans fight with equal valour, but he will try to storm our city and carry off our Women.
ild.18 So long as he lives to look upon the light of the sun, he is in heaviness, and though I go to him I cannot help him; King Agamemnon has made him give up the maiden whom the sons of the Achaeans had awarded him, and he wastes with sorrow for her sake.
ild.19 Call, therefore, the Achaean heroes in assembly; unsay your anger against Agamemnon; arm at once, and fight with might and main.
ild.19 Last of all came Agamemnon, king of men, he too wounded, for Coon son of Antenor had struck him with a spear in battle.
ild.19 Then Agamemnon spoke, rising in his place, and not going into the middle of the assembly.
ild.19 And Achilles answered, Son" of Atreus, king of men Agamemnon, you can give such gifts as you think proper, or you can withhold them: it is in your own hands.
ild.19 But a man can fight all day if he is full fed with meat and wine; his heart beats high, and his strength will stay till he has routed all his foes; therefore, send the people away and bid them prepare their meal; King Agamemnon will bring out the gifts in presence of the assembly, that all may see them and you may be satisfied.
ild.19 Moreover let him swear an oath before the Argives that he has never gone up into the couch of Briseis, nor been with her after the manner of men and Women; and do you, too, show yourself of a gracious mind; let Agamemnon entertain you in his tents with a feast of reconciliation, that so you may have had your dues in full.
ild.19 And King Agamemnon answered, Son" of Laertes, your words please me well, for throughout you have spoken wisely.
ild.19 Then said Achilles, Son" of Atreus, king of men Agamemnon, see to these matters at some other season, when there is breathing time and when I am calmer.
ild.19 When he had thus spoken he took with him the sons of Nestor, with Meges son of Phyleus, Thoas, Meriones, Lycomedes son of Creontes, and Melanippus, and went to the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus.
ild.19 The word was not sooner said than the deed was done: they brought out the Seven tripods which Agamemnon had promised, with the Twenty metal cauldrons and the Twelve Horses; they also brought the Women skilled in useful arts, Seven in number, with Briseis, which made eight.
ild.19 Agamemnon then rose, and Talthybius whose voice was like that of a God came to him with the boar.
ild.19 The other Achaeans sat where they were all silent and orderly to hear the king, and Agamemnon looked into the vault of heaven and prayed saying, "I call Jove the first and mightiest of all Gods to witness, I call also Earth and Sun and the Erinyes who dwell below and take vengeance on him who shall swear falsely, that I have laid no hand upon the girl Briseis, neither to take her to my bed nor otherwise, but that she has remained in my tents inviolate.
ild.23 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.
ild.23 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 Jove, first and mightiest of all Gods, it is not meet that water should touch my body, till I have laid Patroclus on the flames, have built him a barrow, and shaved my head for so long as I live no such second sorrow shall ever draw nigh me.
ild.23 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 labours.
ild.23 Then King Agamemnon sent men and Mules from all parts of the camp, to bring wood, and Meriones, squire to Idomeneus, was in charge over them.
ild.23 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.
ild.23 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.
ild.23 Next to him, yellow haired Menelaus son of Atreus rose and yoked his fleet Horses, Agamemnon s mare Aethe, and his own Horse Podargus.
ild.23 The mare had been given to Agamemnon by echepolus son of Anchises, that he might not have to follow him to Ilius, but might stay at home and take his ease; for Jove had endowed him with great wealth and he lived in spacious Sicyon.
ild.23 I will wager you a tripod or cauldron, and Agamemnon son of Atreus shall decide whose Horses are first.
ild.23 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.
ild.23 Then the son of Peleus brought in a spear and a cauldron that had never been on the fire; it was worth an ox, and was chased with a pattern of flowers; and those that throw the javelin stood up to wit the son of Atreus, king of men Agamemnon, and Meriones, stalwart squire of Idomeneus.
ild.23 King Agamemnon assented.
ild.24 Then Achilles said laughingly to Priam, "Dear sir, you shall lie outside, lest some counsellor of those who in due course keep coming to advise with me should see you here in the darkness of the flying night, and tell it to Agamemnon.
ild.24 You have paid a great ransom, and have received the body of your son; were you still alive and a prisoner the sons whom you have left at home would have to give three times as much to free you; and so it would be if Agamemnon and the other Achaeans were to know of your being here.

Arise Greece! from thy silent sleep, 2000 years long it is! Forget not, thy ancient culture, beautiful and marvelous it is!

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