The Iliad.pdf

The Iliad

Homer

(Translated by Samuel Butler)

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The Iliad

BOOK I

Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus,

that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a

brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many

a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were

the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the

son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out

with one another.

And which of the gods was it that set them on to

quarrel? It was the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry

with the king and sent a pestilence upon the host to

plague the people, because the son of Atreus had

dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had come to

the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had

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.

‘Sons of Atreus,’ he cried, ‘and all other Achaeans, may

the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city

of Priam, and to reach your homes in safety; but free my

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daughter, and accept a ransom for her, in reverence to

Apollo, son of Jove.’

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. ‘Old man,’ said he, ‘let

me not find you tarrying about our ships, nor yet coming

hereafter. Your sceptre of the god and your wreath shall

profit you nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old

in my house at Argos far from her own home, busying

herself with her loom and visiting my couch; so go, and

do not provoke me or it shall be the worse for you.’

The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word he

spoke, but went by the shore of the sounding sea and

prayed apart to King Apollo whom lovely Leto had borne.

‘Hear me,’ he cried, ‘O god of the silver bow, that

protectest Chryse and holy Cilla and rulest Tenedos with

thy might, hear me oh thou of Sminthe. If I have ever

decked your temple with garlands, or burned your thigh-

bones in fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer, and let your

arrows avenge these my tears upon the Danaans.’

Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He

came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with

his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows

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rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him.

He sat himself down away from the ships with a face as

dark as night, and his silver bow rang death as he shot his

arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their mules and

their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the

people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead

were burning.

For nine whole days he shot his arrows among the

people, but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in

assembly—moved thereto by Juno, who saw the Achaeans

in their death-throes and had compassion upon them.

Then, when they were got together, he rose and spoke

among them.

‘Son of Atreus,’ said he, ‘I deem that we should now

turn roving home if we would escape destruction, for we

are being cut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us

ask some priest or prophet, or some reader of dreams (for

dreams, too, are of Jove) who can tell us why Phoebus

Apollo is so angry, and say whether it is for some vow that

we have broken, or hecatomb that we have not offered,

and whether he will accept the savour of lambs and goats

without blemish, so as to take away the plague from us.’

With these words he sat down, and Calchas son of

Thestor, wisest of augurs, who knew things past present

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and to come, rose to speak. He it was who had guided the

Achaeans with their fleet to Ilius, through the

prophesyings with which Phoebus Apollo had inspired

him. With all sincerity and goodwill he addressed them

thus:—

‘Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about

the anger of King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but

consider first and swear that you will stand by me heartily

in word and deed, for I know that I shall offend one who

rules the Argives with might, to whom all the Achaeans

are in subjection. A plain man cannot stand against the

anger of a king, who if he swallow his displeasure now,

will yet nurse revenge till he has wreaked it. Consider,

therefore, whether or no you will protect me.’

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.’

Thereon the seer spoke boldly. ‘The god,’ he said, ‘is

angry neither about vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest’s

sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he

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