Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 23 Sep 2011 08:12 and updated at 23 Sep 2011 08:12
ILIAD NOUN
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 | Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him. |
ild.08 | And Jove answered, "To morrow morning, Juno, if you choose to do so, you will see the son of Saturn destroying large numbers of the Argives, for fierce Hector shall not cease fighting till he has roused the son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire straits at their ships sterns about the body of Patroclus. |
ild.09 | He was alone with Patroclus, who sat opposite to him and said nothing, waiting till he should cease singing. |
ild.09 | Achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still in his hand, and Patroclus, when he saw the strangers, rose also. |
ild.09 | With this he led them forward, and bade them sit on seats covered with purple rugs; then he said to Patroclus who was close by him, Son" of Menoetius, set a larger bowl upon the table, mix less water with the wine, and give every man his cup, for these are very dear friends, who are now under my roof. |
ild.09 | Patroclus did as his comrade bade him; he set the chopping block in front of the fire, and on it he laid the loin of a Sheep, the loin also of a Goat, and the chine of a fat hog. |
ild.09 | Then Achilles took his seat facing Ulysses against the opposite wall, and bade his comrade Patroclus offer sacrifice to the Gods; so he cast the offerings into the fire, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them. |
ild.09 | On this she nodded quietly to Patroclus as a sign that he was to prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take their leave. |
ild.09 | But Patroclus told his men and the maid servants to make ready a comfortable bed for Phoenix; they therefore did so with Sheepskins, a rug, and a sheet of fine linen. |
ild.09 | Patroclus lay on the other side of the room, and with him fair Iphis whom Achilles had given him when he took Scyros the city of Enyeus. |
ild.11 | He called from the ship to his comrade Patroclus, who heard him in the tent and came out looking like Mars himself here indeed was the beginning of the ill that presently befell him. |
ild.11 | "Why," said he, Achilles" do you call me? what do you what do you want with me?" And Achilles answered, "Noble son of Menoetius, man after my own heart, I take it that I shall now have the Achaeans praying at my knees, for they are in great straits; go, Patroclus, and ask Nestor who is that he is bearing away wounded from the field; from his back I should say it was Machaon son of Aesculapius, but I could not see his face for the Horses went by me at full speed. |
ild.11 | Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him, and set off running by the ships and tents of the Achaeans. |
ild.11 | When they had done so and had thus quenched their thirst, they fell talking with one another, and at this moment Patroclus appeared at the door. |
ild.11 | When the old man saw him he sprang from his seat, seized his hand, led him into the tent, and bade him take his place among them; but Patroclus stood where he was and said, "Noble sir, I may not stay, you cannot persuade me to come in; he that sent me is not one to be trifled with, and he bade me ask who the wounded man was whom you were bearing away from the field. |
ild.11 | With these words he moved the heart of Patroclus, who set off running by the line of the ships to Achilles, descendant of Aeacus. |
ild.11 | Wounded Eurypylus made answer, "Noble Patroclus, there is no hope left for the Achaeans but they will perish at their ships. |
ild.15 | Achilles will then send his comrade Patroclus into battle, and Hector will kill him in front of Ilius after he has slain many warriors, and among them my own noble son Sarpedon. |
ild.15 | Achilles will kill Hector to avenge Patroclus, and from that time I will bring it about that the Achaeans shall persistently drive the Trojans back till they fulfil the counsels of Minerva and take Ilius. |
ild.15 | Now Patroclus, so long as the Achaeans and Trojans were fighting about the wall, but were not yet within it and at the ships, remained sitting in the tent of good Eurypylus, entertaining him with his conversation and spreading herbs over his wound to ease his pain. |
ild.16 | Then Patroclus drew near to Achilles with tears welling from his eyes, as from some spring whose crystal stream falls over the ledges of a high precipice. |
ild.16 | When Achilles saw him thus weeping he was sorry for him and said, "Why, Patroclus, do you stand there weeping like some silly child that comes running to her mother, and begs to be taken up and carried she catches hold of her mother s dress to stay her though she is in a hurry, and looks tearfully up until her mother carries her even such tears, Patroclus, are you now shedding. |
ild.16 | Then, O knight Patroclus, with a deep sigh you answered, Achilles", son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans, do not be angry, but I weep for the disaster that has now befallen the Argives. |
ild.16 | Achilles was deeply moved and answered, "What, noble Patroclus, are you saying? I know no prophesyings which I am heeding, nor has my mother told me anything from the mouth of Jove, but I am cut to the very heart that one of my own rank should dare to rob me because he is more powerful than I am. |
ild.16 | But even so, Patroclus, fall upon them and save the fleet, lest the Trojans fire it and prevent us from being able to return. |
ild.16 | The fire was now flaring about the ship s stern, whereon Achilles smote his two thighs and said to Patroclus, "Up, noble knight, for I see the glare of hostile fire at our fleet; up, lest they destroy our ships, and there be no way by which we may retreat. |
ild.16 | As he spoke Patroclus put on his armour. |
ild.16 | The third company was led by Pisander son of Maemalus, the finest spearman among all the Myrmidons next to Achilles own comrade Patroclus. |
ild.16 | In front of them all two men put on their armour Patroclus and Automedon two men, with but one mind to lead the Myrmidons. |
ild.16 | He granted that Patroclus should thrust back war and battle from the ships, but refused to let him come safely out of the fight. |
ild.16 | Meanwhile the armed band that was about Patroclus marched on till they sprang high in hope upon the Trojans. |
ild.16 | Patroclus called out to his men at the top of his voice, Myrmidons", followers of Achilles son of Peleus, be men my friends, fight with might and with main, that we may win glory for the son of Peleus, who is far the foremost man at the ships of the Argives he, and his close fighting followers. |
ild.16 | Patroclus first aimed a spear into the middle of the press where men were packed most closely, by the stern of the ship of Protesilaus. |
ild.16 | He hit Pyraechmes who had led his Paeonian Horsemen from the Amydon and the broad waters of the river Axius; the spear struck him on the right shoulder, and with a groan he fell backwards in the dust; on this his men were thrown into confusion, for by killing their leader, who was the finest soldier among them, Patroclus struck panic into them all. |
ild.16 | Patroclus gave chase, calling impetuously on the Danaans and full of fury against the Trojans, who, being now no longer in a body, filled all the ways with their cries of panic and rout; the air was darkened with the clouds of dust they raised, and the Horses strained every nerve in their flight from the tents and ships towards the city. |
ild.16 | Patroclus kept on heading his Horses wherever he saw most men flying in confusion, cheering on his men the while. |
ild.16 | Chariots were being smashed in all directions, and many a man came tumbling down from his own car to fall beneath the wheels of that of Patroclus, whose immortal steeds, given by the Gods to Peleus, sprang over the trench at a bound as they sped onward. |
ild.16 | Patroclus now cut off the battalions that were nearest to him and drove them back to the ships. |
ild.16 | Patroclus went up to him and drove a spear into his right jaw; he thus hooked him by the teeth and the spear pulled him over the rim of his car, as one who sits at the end of some jutting rock and draws a strong fish out of the sea with a hook and a line even so with his spear did he pull Thestor all gaping from his Chariot; he then threw him down on his face and he died while falling. |
ild.16 | Now when Sarpedon saw his comrades, men who wore ungirdled tunics, being overcome by Patroclus son of Menoetius, he rebuked the Lycians saying. |
ild.16 | He sprang from his Chariot as he spoke, and Patroclus, when he saw this, leaped on to the ground also. |
ild.16 | The son of scheming Saturn looked down upon them in pity and said to Juno who was his wife and sister, "Alas, that it should be the lot of Sarpedon whom I love so dearly to perish by the hand of Patroclus. |
ild.16 | If, however, you are fond of him and pity him, let him indeed fall by the hand of Patroclus, but as soon as the life is gone out of him, send Death and sweet Sleep to bear him off the field and take him to the broad lands of Lycia, where his brothers and his kinsmen will bury him with mound and pillar, in due honour to the dead. |
ild.16 | The sire of Gods and men assented, but he shed a rain of blood upon the earth in honour of his son whom Patroclus was about to kill on the rich plain of Troy far from his home. |
ild.16 | When they were now come close to one another Patroclus struck Thrasydemus, the brave squire of Sarpedon, in the lower part of the belly, and killed him. |
ild.16 | Sarpedon then aimed a spear at Patroclus and missed him, but he struck the Horse Pedasus in the right shoulder, and it screamed aloud as it lay, groaning in the dust until the life went out of it. |
ild.16 | Sarpedon now took a second aim at Patroclus, and again missed him, the point of the spear passed over his left shoulder without hitting him. |
ild.16 | Patroclus then aimed in his turn, and the spear sped not from his hand in vain, for he hit Sarpedon just where the midriff surrounds the ever beating heart. |
ild.16 | As when a Lion springs with a bound upon a herd of Cattle and fastens on a great black Bull which dies bellowing in its clutches even so did the leader of the Lycian warriors struggle in death as he fell by the hand of Patroclus. |
ild.16 | Patroclus planted his heel on his breast and drew the spear from his body, whereon his senses came out along with it, and he drew out both spear point and Sarpedon s soul at the same time. |
ild.16 | Sarpedon leader of the Lycian warriors has fallen he who was at once the right and might of Lycia; Mars has laid him low by the spear of Patroclus. |
ild.16 | Led by Hector, who was infuriated by the fall of Sarpedon, they made instantly for the Danaans with all their might, while the undaunted spirit of Patroclus son of Menoetius cheered on the Achaeans. |
ild.16 | Patroclus was enraged by the death of his comrade, and sped through the front ranks as swiftly as a hawk that swoops down on a flock of daws or starlings. |
ild.16 | Even so swiftly, O noble knight Patroclus, did you make straight for the Lycians and Trojans to avenge your comrade. |
ild.16 | Men swarmed about the body, as flies that buzz round the full milk pails in spring when they are brimming with milk even so did they gather round Sarpedon; nor did Jove turn his keen eyes away for one moment from the fight, but kept looking at it all the time, for he was settling how best to kill Patroclus, and considering whether Hector should be allowed to end him now in the fight round the body of Sarpedon, and strip him of his armour, or whether he should let him give yet further trouble to the Trojans. |
ild.16 | Meanwhile Patroclus, with many a shout to his Horses and to Automedon, pursued the Trojans and Lycians in the pride and foolishness of his heart. |
ild.16 | Had he but obeyed the bidding of the son of Peleus, he would have, escaped death and have been scatheless; but the counsels of Jove pass man s understanding; he will put even a brave man to flight and snatch victory from his grasp, or again he will set him on to fight, as he now did when he put a high spirit into the heart of Patroclus. |
ild.16 | Who then first, and who last, was slain by you, O Patroclus, when the Gods had now called you to meet your doom? First Adrestus, Autonous, Echeclus, Perimus the son of Megas, Epistor and Melanippus; after these he killed Elasus, Mulius, and Pylartes. |
ild.16 | The sons of the Achaeans would now have taken Troy by the hands of Patroclus, for his spear flew in all directions, had not Phoebus Apollo taken his stand upon the wall to defeat his purpose and to aid the Trojans. |
ild.16 | Thrice did Patroclus charge at an angle of the high wall, and thrice did Apollo beat him back, striking his shield with his own immortal hands. |
ild.16 | When Patroclus was coming on like a God for yet a fourth time, Apollo shouted to him with an awful voice and said, "Draw back, noble Patroclus, it is not your lot to sack the city of the Trojan chieftains, nor yet will it be that of Achilles who is a far better man than you are. |
ild.16 | On hearing this, Patroclus withdrew to some distance and avoided the anger of Apollo. |
ild.16 | Drive straight towards Patroclus, if so be that Apollo may grant you a triumph over him, and you may rull him. |
ild.16 | Hector let the other Danaans alone and killed no man, but drove straight at Patroclus. |
ild.16 | Patroclus then sprang from his Chariot to the ground, with a spear in his left hand, and in his right a jagged stone as large as his hand could hold. |
ild.16 | Over him did you then vaunt, O knight Patroclus, saying, Bless" my heart, how active he is, and how well he dives. |
ild.16 | As he spoke he flung himself on Cebriones with the spring, as it were, of a Lion that while attacking a stockyard is himself struck in the chest, and his courage is his own bane even so furiously, O Patroclus, did you then spring upon Cebriones. |
ild.16 | As two Lions fight fiercely on some high mountain over the body of a stag that they have killed, even so did these two mighty warriors, Patroclus son of Menoetius and brave Hector, hack and hew at one another over the corpse of Cebriones. |
ild.16 | Hector would not let him go when he had once got him by the head, while Patroclus kept fast hold of his feet, and a fierce fight raged between the other Danaans and Trojans. |
ild.16 | Then Patroclus sprang like Mars with fierce intent and a terrific shout upon the Trojans, and thrice did he kill Nine men; but as he was coming on like a God for a time, then, O Patroclus, was the hour of your end approaching, for Phoebus fought you in fell earnest. |
ild.16 | Patroclus did not see him as he moved about in the crush, for he was enshrouded in thick darkness, and the God struck him from behind on his back and his broad shoulders with the flat of his hand, so that his eyes turned dizzy. |
ild.16 | The Bronze shod spear, so great and so strong, was broken in the hand of Patroclus, while his shield that covered him from head to foot fell to the ground as did also the band that held it, and Apollo undid the fastenings of his corslet. |
ild.16 | This man as soon as ever he had come up with his Chariot had dismounted Twenty men, so proficient was he in all the arts of war he it was, O knight Patroclus, that first drove a weapon into you, but he did not quite overpower you. |
ild.16 | Euphorbus then ran back into the crowd, after drawing his ashen spear out of the wound; he would not stand firm and wait for Patroclus, unarmed though he now was, to attack him; but Patroclus unnerved, alike by the blow the God had given him and by the spear wound, drew back under cover of his men in fear for his life. |
ild.16 | Patroclus"," said he, "you deemed that you should sack our city, rob our Trojan Women of their freedom, and carry them off in your ships to your own country. |
ild.16 | Poor wretch, Achilles with all his bravery availed you nothing; and yet I ween when you left him he charged you straitly saying, Come not back to the ships, knight Patroclus, till you have rent the bloodstained shirt of murderous Hector about his body. |
ild.16 | Then, as the life ebbed out of you, you answered, O knight Patroclus: Hector", vaunt as you will, for Jove the son of Saturn and Apollo have vouchsafed you victory; it is they who have vanquished me so easily, and they who have stripped the armour from my shoulders; had Twenty such men as you attacked me, all of them would have fallen before my spear. |
ild.16 | Dead though he was, Hector still spoke to him saying, Patroclus", why should you thus foretell my doom? Who knows but Achilles, son of lovely Thetis, may be smitten by my spear and die before me?" |
ild.17 | BRAVE Menelaus son of Atreus now came to know that Patroclus had fallen, and made his way through the front ranks clad in full armour to bestride him. |
ild.17 | As a Cow stands lowing over her first calf, even so did yellow haired Menelaus bestride Patroclus. |
ild.17 | I was first of the Trojans and their brave allies to drive my spear into Patroclus, let me, therefore, have my full glory among the Trojans, or I will take aim and kill you. |
ild.17 | Meanwhile Menelaus son of Atreus has bestridden the body of Patroclus and killed the noblest of the Trojans, Euphorbus son of Panthous, so that he can fight no more. |
ild.17 | When the son of Atreus heard him, he said to himself in his dismay, "Alas! what shall I do? I may not let the Trojans take the armour of Patroclus who has fallen fighting on my behalf, lest some Danaan who sees me should cry shame upon me. |
ild.17 | Yet, if I could find Ajax, the two of us would fight Hector and heaven too, if we might only save the body of Patroclus for Achilles son of Peleus. |
ild.17 | While he was thus in two minds, the Trojans came up to him with Hector at their head; he therefore drew back and left the body, turning about like some bearded Lion who is being chased by Dogs and men from a stockyard with spears and hue and cry, whereon he is daunted and slinks sulkily off even so did Menelaus son of Atreus turn and leave the body of Patroclus. |
ild.17 | He ran up to him and said, Ajax", my good friend, come with me at once to dead Patroclus, if so be that we may take the body to Achilles as for his armour, Hector already has it. |
ild.17 | Hector had stripped Patroclus of his armour, and was dragging him away to cut off his head and take the body to fling before the Dogs of Troy. |
ild.17 | But Ajax came up with his shield like wall before him, on which Hector withdrew under shelter of his men, and sprang on to his Chariot, giving the armour over to the Trojans to take to the city, as a great trophy for himself; Ajax, therefore, covered the body of Patroclus with his broad shield and bestrode him; as a Lion stands over his whelps if hunters have come upon him in a forest when he is with his little ones in the pride and fierceness of his strength he draws his knit brows down till they cover his eyes even so did Ajax bestride the body of Patroclus, and by his side stood Menelaus son of Atreus, nursing great sorrow in his heart. |
ild.17 | If the Trojans had any of that daring fearless spirit which lays hold of men who are fighting for their country and harassing those who would attack it, we should soon bear off Patroclus into Ilius. |
ild.17 | Come hither then, my friend, stand by me and see indeed whether I shall play the coward the whole day through as you say, or whether I shall not stay some even of the boldest Danaans from fighting round the body of Patroclus. |
ild.17 | As he spoke he called loudly on the Trojans saying, Trojans", Lycians, and Dardanians, fighters in close combat, be men, my friends, and fight might and main, while I put on the goodly armour of Achilles, which I took when I killed Patroclus. |
ild.17 | Therefore turn, and charge at the foe, to stand or fall as is the game of war; whoever shall bring Patroclus, dead though he be, into the hands of the Trojans, and shall make Ajax give way before him, I will give him one half of the spoils while I keep the other. |
ild.17 | I am less concerned for the body of Patroclus, who will shortly become meat for the Dogs and Vultures of Troy, than for the safety of my own head and yours. |
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.17 | But the Achaeans did not lose it long, for Ajax, foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus alike in stature and prowess, quickly rallied them and made towards the front like a wild boar upon the mountains when he stands at bay in the forest glades and routs the hounds and lusty youths that have attacked him even so did Ajax son of Telamon passing easily in among the phalanxes of the Trojans, disperse those who had bestridden Patroclus and were most bent on winning glory by dragging him off to their city. |
ild.17 | His strength then failed him and he let Patroclus foot drop from his hand, as he fell full length dead upon the body; thus he died far from the fertile land of Larissa, and never repaid his parents the cost of bringing him up, for his life was cut short early by the spear of mighty Ajax. |
ild.17 | Therefore let us make for the Danaans, that it may go hard with them ere they bear away dead Patroclus to the ships. |
ild.17 | Asteropaeus flew forward to avenge him and attack the Danaans, but this might no longer be, inasmuch as those about Patroclus were well covered by their shields, and held their spears in front of them, for Ajax had given them strict orders that no man was either to give ground, or to stand out before the others, but all were to hold well together about the body and fight hand to hand. |
ild.17 | All the best of them were being worn out by the great weight of their armour, but the two valiant heroes, Thrasymedes and Antilochus, had not yet heard of the death of Patroclus, and believed him to be still alive and leading the van against the Trojans; they were keeping themselves in reserve against the death or rout of their own comrades, for so Nestor had ordered when he sent them from the ships into battle. |
ild.17 | Such fearful turmoil of men and Horses did Jove on that day ordain round the body of Patroclus. |
ild.17 | He had no idea, therefore, that Patroclus was dead, and deemed that he would return alive as soon as he had gone close up to the gates. |
ild.17 | Then would one say, "My friends, we can never again show our faces at the ships better, and greatly better, that earth should open and swallow us here in this place, than that we should let the Trojans have the triumph of bearing off Patroclus to their city. |
ild.17 | Automedon son of Diores answered, Alcimedon", there is no one else who can control and guide the immortal steeds so well as you can, save only Patroclus while he was alive peer of Gods in counsel. |
ild.17 | And now the fierce groanful fight again raged about Patroclus, for Minerva came down from heaven and roused its fury by the command of far seeing Jove, who had changed his mind and sent her to encourage the Danaans. |
ild.17 | Menelaus answered, Phoenix", my good old friend, may Minerva vouchsafe me strength and keep the darts from off me, for so shall I stand by Patroclus and defend him; his death has gone to my heart, but Hector is as a raging fire and deals his blows without ceasing, for Jove is now granting him a time of triumph. |
ild.17 | Therefore she put strength into his knees and shoulders, and made him as bold as a fly, which, though driven off will yet come again and bite if it can, so dearly does it love man s blood even so bold as this did she make him as he stood over Patroclus and threw his spear. |
ild.17 | In his lust of meat he makes straight at them but in vain, for darts from strong hands assail him, and burning brands which daunt him for all his hunger, so in the morning he slinks sulkily away even so did Menelaus sorely against his will leave Patroclus, in great fear lest the Achaeans should be driven back in rout and let him fall into the hands of the foe. |
ild.17 | He charged Meriones and the two Ajaxes straitly saying, Ajaxes" and Meriones, leaders of the Argives, now indeed remember how good Patroclus was; he was ever courteous while alive, bear it in mind now that he is dead. |
ild.17 | Patroclus has fallen, who was the bravest of the Achaeans, and sorely will the Danaans miss him. |
ild.17 | Nor were you, O Menelaus, minded to succour his harassed comrades, when Antilochus had left the Pylians and greatly did they miss him but he sent them noble Thrasymedes, and himself went back to Patroclus. |
ild.17 | The battle raged round them like fierce flames that when once kindled spread like wildfire over a city, and the houses fall in the glare of its burning even such was the roar and tramp of men and Horses that pursued them as they bore Patroclus from the field. |
ild.17 | Or as Mules that put forth all their strength to draw some beam or great piece of ship s timber down a rough mountain track, and they pant and sweat as they, go even so did Menelaus and pant and sweat as they bore the body of Patroclus. |
ild.18 | Patroclus has fallen, and a fight is raging about his naked body for Hector holds his armour. |
ild.18 | The bondsWomen whom Achilles and Patroclus had taken captive screamed aloud for grief, beating their breasts, and with their limbs failing them for sorrow. |
ild.18 | Achilles groaned and answered, Mother", Olympian Jove has indeed vouchsafed me the fulfilment of my prayer, but what boots it to me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life? I have lost him; aye, and Hector when he had killed him stripped the wondrous armour, so glorious to behold, which the Gods gave to Peleus when they laid you in the couch of a mortal man. |
ild.18 | For now you shall have grief infinite by reason of the death of that son whom you can never welcome home nay, I will not live nor go about among mankind unless Hector fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patroclus son of Menoetius. |
ild.18 | What is there for me? Return to my own land I shall not, and I have brought no saving neither to Patroclus nor to my other comrades of whom so many have been slain by mighty Hector; I stay here by my ships a bootless burden upon the earth, I, who in fight have no peer among the Achaeans, though in council there are better than I. |
ild.18 | Thus, then, did her feet bear the Goddess to Olympus, and meanwhile the Achaeans were flying with loud cries before murderous Hector till they reached the ships and the Hellespont, and they could not draw the body of Mars s servant Patroclus out of reach of the weapons that were showered upon him, for Hector son of Priam with his host and Horsemen had again caught up to him like the flame of a fiery furnace; thrice did brave Hector seize him by the feet, striving with might and main to draw him away and calling loudly on the Trojans, and thrice did the two Ajaxes, clothed in valour as with a garment, beat him from off the body; but all undaunted he would now charge into the thick of the fight, and now again he would stand still and cry aloud, but he would give no ground. |
ild.18 | As upland shepherds that cannot chase some famished Lion from a carcase, even so could not the two Ajaxes scare Hector son of Priam from the body of Patroclus. |
ild.18 | She came secretly without the knowledge of Jove and of the other Gods, for Juno sent her, and when she had got close to him she said, "Up, son of Peleus, mightiest of all mankind; rescue Patroclus about whom this fearful fight is now raging by the ships. |
ild.18 | Up, then, and bide here no longer; shrink from the thought that Patroclus may become meat for the Dogs of Troy. |
ild.18 | My mother forbade me to arm till I should see her come, for she promised to bring me goodly armour from Vulcan; I know no man whose arms I can put on, save only the shield of Ajax son of Telamon, and he surely must be fighting in the front rank and wielding his spear about the body of dead Patroclus. |
ild.18 | The Achaeans to their great joy then drew Patroclus out of reach of the weapons, and laid him on a litter: his comrades stood mourning round him, and among them fleet Achilles who wept bitterly as he saw his true comrade lying dead upon his bier. |
ild.18 | They took their supper throughout the host, and meanwhile through the whole night the Achaeans mourned Patroclus, and the son of Peleus led them in their lament. |
ild.18 | Nevertheless, O Patroclus, now that I am left behind you, I will not bury you, till I have brought hither the head and armour of mighty Hector who has slain you. |
ild.18 | Then Achilles told his men to set a large tripod upon the fire that they might wash the clotted gore from off Patroclus. |
ild.18 | Thus all night long did the Myrmidons gather round Achilles to mourn Patroclus. |
ild.18 | Then the Trojans hemmed the Achaeans in at their ships sterns and would not let them come forth; the elders, therefore, of the Argives besought Achilles and offered him great treasure, whereon he refused to bring deliverance to them himself, but put his own armour on Patroclus and sent him into the fight with much people after him. |
ild.19 | She found her son fallen about the body of Patroclus and weeping bitterly. |
ild.19 | As she spoke she put strength and courage into his heart, and she then dropped ambrosia and red nectar into the wounds of Patroclus, that his body might suffer no change. |
ild.19 | As for me, Patroclus is lying dead in my tent, all hacked and hewn, with his feet to the door, and his comrades are mourning round him. |
ild.19 | Briseis, fair as Venus, when she saw the mangled body of Patroclus, flung herself upon it and cried aloud, tearing her breast, her neck, and her lovely face with both her hands. |
ild.19 | Beautiful as a Goddess she wept and said, Patroclus", dearest friend, when I went hence I left you living; I return, O prince, to find you dead; thus do fresh sorrows multiply upon me one after the other. |
ild.19 | I saw him to whom my father and mother married me, cut down before our city, and my three own dear brothers perished with him on the self same day; but you, Patroclus, even when Achilles slew my husband and sacked the city of noble Mynes, told me that I was not to weep, for you said you would make Achilles marry me, and take me back with him to Phthia, we should have a wedding feast among the Myrmidons. |
ild.19 | She wept as she spoke, and the Women joined in her lament making as though their tears were for Patroclus, but in truth each was weeping for her own sorrows. |
ild.19 | On this he sent the other princes away, save only the two sons of Atreus and Ulysses, Nestor, Idomeneus, and the knight Phoenix, who stayed behind and tried to comfort him in the bitterness of his sorrow: but he would not be comforted till he should have flung himself into the jaws of battle, and he fetched sigh on sigh, thinking ever of Patroclus. |
ild.19 | Then with a loud voice he chided with his father s Horses saying, Xanthus" and Balius, famed offspring of Podarge this time when we have done fighting be sure and bring your driver safely back to the host of the Achaeans, and do not leave him dead on the plain as you did Patroclus. |
ild.19 | Neither was it through any sloth or slackness on our part that the Trojans stripped Patroclus of his armour; it was the mighty God whom lovely Leto bore that slew him as he fought among the foremost, and vouchsafed a triumph to Hector. |
ild.21 | As when fish fly scared before a huge dolphin, and fill every nook and corner of some fair haven for he is sure to eat all he can catch even so did the Trojans cower under the banks of the mighty river, and when Achilles arms grew weary with killing them, he drew Twelve youths alive out of the water, to sacrifice in revenge for Patroclus son of Menoetius. |
ild.21 | Until Patroclus fell I preferred to give the Trojans quarter, and sold beyond the sea many of those whom I had taken alive; but now not a man shall live of those whom heaven delivers into my hands before the city of Ilius and of all Trojans it shall fare hardest with the sons of Priam. |
ild.21 | Why should you whine in this way? Patroclus fell, and he was a better man than you are. |
ild.21 | None the less miserably shall you perish till there is not a man of you but has paid in full for the death of Patroclus and the havoc you wrought among the Achaeans whom you have slain while I held aloof from battle. |
ild.22 | He eyed his fair flesh over and over to see where he could best wound it, but all was protected by the goodly armour of which Hector had spoiled Patroclus after he had slain him, save only the throat where the collar bones divide the neck from the shoulders, and this is a most deadly place: here then did Achilles strike him as he was coming on towards him, and the point of his spear went right through the fleshy part of the neck, but it did not sever his windpipe so that he could still speak. |
ild.22 | Hector fell headlong, and Achilles vaunted over him saying, Hector", you deemed that you should come off scatheless when you were spoiling Patroclus, and recked not of myself who was not with him. |
ild.22 | But why argue with myself in this way, while Patroclus is still lying at the ships unburied, and unmourned he Whom I can never forget so long as I am alive and my strength fails not? Though men forget their dead when once they are within the house of Hades, yet not even there will I forget the comrade whom I have lost. |
ild.23 | 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, forsooth, let us unyoke, but with Horse and Chariot draw near to the body and mourn Patroclus, in due honour to the dead. |
ild.23 | "Fare well," he cried, Patroclus", even in the house of Hades. |
ild.23 | As he spoke he treated the body of noble Hector with contumely, laying it at full length in the dust beside the bier of Patroclus. |
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 | Presently the sad spirit of Patroclus 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. |
ild.23 | 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 and phantoms that have no life in them; all night long the sad spirit of Patroclus has hovered over head making piteous moan, telling me what I am to do for him, and looking wondrously like himself. |
ild.23 | All who had been cutting Wood bore logs, for so Meriones squire 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 Patroclus and for himself. |
ild.23 | In the midst of them his comrades bore Patroclus and covered him with the locks of their hair which they cut off and threw upon his body. |
ild.23 | Thus did my father vow, but you have not fulfilled his prayer; now, therefore, that I shall see my home no more, I give this lock as a keepsake to the hero Patroclus. |
ild.23 | "Fare well," he cried, Patroclus", even in the house of Hades; I am now doing all that I have promised you. |
ild.23 | Now the pyre about dead Patroclus would not kindle. |
ild.23 | "I cannot stay," she said, "I must go back to the streams of Oceanus 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 Zephyrus will come to him, and he vows them goodly offerings; he would have you blow upon the pyre of Patroclus for whom all the Achaeans are lamenting. |
ild.23 | 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 of dead Patroclus as he poured it upon the ground until the earth was drenched. |
ild.23 | 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 Patroclus son of Menoetius, 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. |
ild.23 | Meriones, who had come in fourth, carried off the two talents of Gold, and the fifth prize, the two handled urn, being unawarded, Achilles gave it to Nestor, going up to him among the assembled Argives and saying, "Take this, my good old friend, as an heirloom and memorial of the funeral of Patroclus for you shall see him no more among the Argives. |
ild.23 | Eueneus son of jason had given it to Patroclus in ransom of Priam s son Lycaon, and Achilles now offered it as a prize in honour of his comrade to him who should be the swiftest runner. |
ild.23 | Thus did he pray, and Pallas Minerva heard his prayer; she made his hands and his feet feel light, and when the runners were at the point of pouncing upon the prize, Ajax, through Minerva s spite slipped upon some offal that was lying there from the Cattle which Achilles had slaughtered in honour of Patroclus, and his mouth and nostrils were all filled with Cow dung. |
ild.23 | Then the son of Peleus brought out the spear, helmet and shield that had been borne by Sarpedon, and were taken from him by Patroclus. |
ild.24 | This way and that did he turn as he yearned after the might and manfulness of Patroclus; he thought of all they had done together, and all they had gone through both on the field of battle and on the waves of the weary sea. |
ild.24 | Then the son of Peleus sprang like a Lion through the door of his house, not alone, but with him went his two squires Automedon and Alcimus who were closer to him than any others of his comrades now that Patroclus was no more. |
ild.24 | He cried aloud as he did so and called on the name of his dear comrade, "Be not angry with me, Patroclus," he said, "if you hear even in the house of Hades that I have given Hector to his father for a ransom. |
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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