Chapter 41

Thus having spoken, he drew his sharp sword, which hung below his loins, both huge and strong, and, with collected might, rushed forward, like a lofty-soaring eagle, which swoops to the plain through the gloomy clouds, about to snatch either a tender lamb, or a timid hare; thus Hector rushed forward, brandishing his sharp sword. Achilles also rushed on, and filled his soul with fierce rage. He sheltered his breast in front with his shield, beautiful, curiously wrought and nodded with his shining helmet, four-coned; but the beautiful golden tufts, which Vulcan had diffused in great abundance round the cone, were shaken. As the star Hesperus, which is placed the brightest star in heaven, 707 proceeds amongst other stars in the unseasonable time of night, so it shone from the well-sharpened spear which Achilles, designing mischief to noble Hector, brandished in his right hand, eyeing his fair person, where it would best yield. But the beautiful brazen armour, of which he had despoiled great Patroclus, having slain him, covered the rest of his body so much; yet did there appear [a part] where the collar-bones separate the neck from the shoulders, and where the destruction of life is most speedy. There noble Achilles, eager, drove into him with the spear, and the point went out quite through his tender neck. However the ash, heavy with brass, did not cut away the windpipe, so that, answering in words, he could address him. But he fell in the dust, and noble Achilles vaunted over him:

“Hector, thou didst once suppose, when spoiling Patroclus, that thou be safe, nor dreaded me, being absent. Fool! for I apart, a much braver avenger of him, was left behind at the hollow ships, I who have relaxed thy knees. The dogs, indeed, and birds shall dishonourably tear thee, but the Greeks shall perform his funeral rites.”

But him crest-tossing Hector, growing languid, then addressed:

“I supplicate thee by thy soul, thy knees, thy parents, suffer not the dogs to tear me at the ships of the Greeks; but do thou indeed receive brass in abundance, and gold, which my father and venerable mother will give thee; and send my body home, that the Trojans and wives of the Trojans may make me, dead, partaker of a funeral pyre.” 708

Footnote 707: (return) Milton, P.L. v. 166:—

“Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, If better thou belong not to the dawn.”

Footnote 708: (return) Cf. Æn. x. 903; xii. 930, sqq.

But him swift-footed Achilles, sternly regarding, addressed;

“Dog, supplicate me not by my knees, nor by my parents; for would that my might and mind in any manner urge me myself, tearing thy raw flesh to pieces, to devour it, such things hast thou done to me. So that there is not any one who can drive away the dogs from thy head, not even if they should place ten-fold and twenty-times such ransoms, bringing them hither, and even promise others; not even if Dardanian Priam should wish to compensate for thee with gold: 709 not even thus shall thy venerable mother lament [thee] whom she has borne, having laid thee upon a bier, but dogs and fowl shall entirely tear thee in pieces.”

But him crest-tossing Hector, dying, addressed:

“Surely well knowing thee, I foresaw this, nor was I destined to persuade thee; for truly within thee there is an iron soul. Reflect now, lest to thee I be some cause of the wrath of the gods, on that day when Paris and Phœbus Apollo 710 shall kill thee, though being brave, at the Scæan gates.”

As he spoke thus, the end of death overshadowed him; and his soul flying from his limbs, descended to Hades, bewailing its destiny, relinquishing vigour and youth. But him, although dead, noble Achilles addressed:

“Die: but I will then receive my fate whensoever Jove may please to accomplish it, 711 and the other immortal gods.”

He spoke, and plucked the spear from the corpse; and then laid it aside, but he spoiled the bloody armour from his shoulders. But the other sons of the Greeks ran round, who also admired the stature and wondrous form, of Hector; 712 nor did any stand by without inflicting a wound. And thus would some one say, looking to his neighbour: “Oh, strange! surely Hector is now much more gentle to be touched, than when he burned the ships with glowing fire.”

Footnote 709: (return) _I.e._ to give thy weight in gold. Theognis, 77: ιστὸς ἀνὴρ χρυσοῦ τε καὶ άργύρου άντερύσασθαι Ἄξιος.

Footnote 710: (return) Grote, vol. i. p. 406, observes: “After routing the Trojans, and chasing them into the town, Achilles was slain near the Skæan gate by an arrow from the quiver of Paris, directed under the unerring auspices of Apollo,” referring to Soph. Phil. 334; Virg. Æn. vi. 56.

Footnote 711: (return) “I have conversed with some men who rejoiced in the death or calamity of others, and accounted it as a judgment upon them for being on the other side, and against them in the contention: but within the revolution of a few months, the same man met with a more uneasy and unhandsome death; which when I saw, I wept, and was afraid; for I knew that it must be so with all men; for we also die, and end our quarrels and contentions by passing to a final sentence.”—Taylor, Holy Dying, i. p. 305, ed. Bohn.

Footnote 712: (return) Herodot. ix. 25: Ὁ δὲ νεκρὸς ἔην θέης ἄξιος μεγάθεος εἵνεκα κα κάλλεος.

Thus would some one say, and, standing by, would wound him. But swift-footed Achilles, after he had despoiled him, standing amongst the Greeks, spoke winged words:

“O friends, leaders and princes of the Greeks, since the gods have granted us to subdue this hero, he who did as many mischiefs, as did not all the others together; come! let us make trial round the city with our arms, that we may learn concerning the Trojans, what mind they have; whether they are about to desert the citadel, he being slain, or intend to remain, Hector being no more. But why does my mind within me deliberate these things? Patroclus lies at the ships, an unwept, unburied corse; and him I shall never forget, as long as I am amongst the living, and my dear knees move for me; and though they forget the dead in Hades, yet will I remember my beloved comrade even there. But come now, ye youths of the Greeks, singing a pæan, 713 let us return to the hollow ships, and let us bring him; we bear back great glory: we have slain noble Hector, whom the Trojans, throughout the city, worshipped as a god.”

He spoke, and was meditating unseemly deeds against noble Hector. He perforated the tendons of both his feet behind, from the heel to the instep, and fastened in them leather thongs, and bound him from the chariot; but left his head to be trailed along. Then ascending his chariot, and taking up the splendid armour, he lashed (the horses) to go on, and they, not unwilling, flew. But the dust arose from him while trailed along, and his azure locks around approached [the ground], 714 and his entire head, once graceful, lay in the dust; for Jupiter had then granted to his enemies, to dishonour him in his own father-land. Thus indeed his whole head was defiled with dust; but his mother plucked out her hair, and cast away her shining veil, and wept very loudly, having beheld her son. And his dear father groaned piteously, and all the people around were occupied in wailing and lamentation through the city; and it was very like to this, as if all Ilium, from its summit, were smouldering in fire. With difficulty indeed did the people detain the old man, indignant with grief anxious to rush out from the Dardanian gates: for rolling in the mud, he was supplicating all, addressing each man by name:

Footnote 713: (return) “This hymn consisted in a repetition, cf. v. 393, 4, which Quintus Smyrnæus has imitated in Ιδ. 117, and Abronius Silo translated ap. _Senec. Suas_. c. 2. The most ancient hymn of this kind on record is that in the first book of Samuel, xviii. 7.”—Kennedy.

Footnote 714: (return) Supply οὔδει or κονίη.

“Desist, my friends, and permit me alone, grieved as I am, going out of the city, to approach the ships of the Greeks. I will supplicate this reckless, violent man, if perchance he may respect my time of life, and have compassion on my old age; for such is his father Peleus to him, he who begat and nurtured him a destruction to the Trojans; but particularly to me above all has he caused sorrows. For so many blooming youths has he slain to me, for all of whom I do not lament so much, although grieved, as for this one, Hector, keen grief for whom will bear me down even into Hades. 715 Would that he had died in my hands; for thus we should have been satisfied, weeping and lamenting, both his unhappy mother who bore him, and I myself.” Thus he spoke, weeping, but the citizens also groaned. But among the Trojan dames, Hecuba began her continued lamentation:

Footnote 715: (return) “Then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.” —Genes, xlii. 38

“O my son, why do wretched I live, having suffered grievous things, thou being dead? Thou who by night and day wast my boast throughout the town, and an advantage to the Trojan men and women throughout the city, who received thee as a god. For assuredly thou wast a very great glory to them when alive now, on the contrary, death and fate possess thee.”

Thus she spoke, weeping; but the wife of Hector had not yet learned anything: no certain messenger going, informed her that her husband had remained without the gates; but she was weaving a web in a retired part of her lofty house; double, splendid, and was spreading on it various painted works. 716 And she had ordered her fair-haired attendants through the palace, to place a large tripod on the fire, that there might be a warm bath for Hector, returning from the battle. Foolish! nor knew she that, far away from baths, azure-eyed Minerva had subdued him by the hands of Achilles. But she heard the shriek and wailing from the tower, and her limbs were shaken, and the shuttle fell from her to the ground; and immediately she addressed her fair-haired attendants:

Footnote 716: (return) οικίλματα is similarly used in vi. 294.

“Come hither, let two follow me, that I may see what deeds have been done. I heard the voice of my venerable mother-in-law, and to myself the heart within my breast leaps up to my mouth, and the limbs under me are benumbed. Surely some evil is now near the sons of Priam. O that the word may be [far] from my ear! I dread lest brave Achilles, having already cut off noble Hector alone from the city, may drive him towards the plain, and even now have made him desist from the fatal valour which possessed him; for he never remained among the throng of warriors, but leaped out far before, yielding in his valour to none.”

Thus having spoken, she rushed through the palace like unto one deranged, greatly palpitating in heart; and her attendants went along with her. But when she reached the tower and the crowd of men, she stood looking round over the wall, and beheld him dragged before the city; but the fleet steeds drew him ruthlessly towards the ships of the Greeks. Then gloomy night veiled her over her eyes, and she fell backwards, and breathed out her soul in a swoon. But from her head fell the beautiful head-gear, the garland, the net, and the twisted fillet, and the veil which golden Venus had given to her on that day when crest-tossing Hector led her from the palace of Eëtion, after he had presented many marriage-gifts. Around her in great numbers stood her sisters-in-law and sisters, who supported her amongst them, seized with stupor unto death. 717 But when she again revived, and her soul was collected in her breast, sobbing at intervals, she spoke among the Trojan dames:

Footnote 717: (return) See Kennedy: ὥστε is to be understood before ἀπολέσθαι.

“Hector, O wretched me! then we were both born to a like fate, thou indeed in Troy, in the mansion of Priam, but I in Thebe, beneath woody Placus, in the palace of Eëtion; who, himself ill-fated, reared me, ill-fated, being yet a little child;—would that he had not begotten me! Now, however, thou goest to the mansions of Hades beneath the recesses of the earth, but leavest me, in hateful grief, a widow in the dwelling; and thy boy, yet such an infant, to whom thou and I unfortunate gave birth; nor wilt thou be an advantage to him, O Hector, for thou art dead; nor he to thee. For even if he shall escape the mournful war of the Greeks, still will labour and hardship ever be to him hereafter; for others will deprive him of his fields by changing the landmarks. But the bereaving day renders a boy destitute of his contemporaries; he is ever dejected, and his cheeks are bedewed with tears. The boy in want shall go to the companions of his father, pulling one by the cloak, another by the tunic; and some of these pitying, shall present him with a very small cup; and he shall moisten his lips, but not wet his palate. Him also some one, enjoying both [parents], 718 shall push away from the banquet, striking him with his hands, and reviling him with reproaches: ‘A murrain on thee! even thy father feasts not with us.’ Then shall the boy Astyanax return weeping to his widowed mother,—he who formerly, indeed, upon the knees of his own father, ate marrow alone, and the rich fat of sheep; but when sleep came upon him, and he ceased childishly crying, used to sleep on couches in the arms of a nurse, in a soft bed, full as to his heart with delicacies. But now, indeed, Astyanax, 719 whom the Trojans call by surname (because thou alone didst defend their gates and lofty walls for them), shall suffer many things, missing his dear father. But now shall the crawling worms devour thee, naked, at the curved ships, far away from thy parents, after the dogs shall have satiated themselves: but thy robes, fine and graceful, woven by the hands of women, lie in thy palaces. Truly all these will I consume with burning fire, being of no use to thee, for thou wilt not lie on them; but let them be a glory [to thee] before the Trojans and the Trojan dames.”

Thus she spoke, weeping, and the females also mourned.

Footnote 718: (return) Ἀμφιθαλὴς παῖς ὸ ἀμφοτέρωθεν θάλλων, ἤγουν ᾦ ἄμφω οὶ γovεῖς περίεισι.

Footnote 719: (return) Playing on the signification of the name,—“king of the city.” This piece of twaddle has not been omitted by Plato in his ridiculous Cratylus.

BOOK THE TWENTY-THIRD.

ARGUMENT.

Achilles, admonished in a dream by the ghost of his friend, celebrates the funeral of Patroclus.

Thus they indeed were mourning through the city; but the Greeks, as soon as they reached the ships and the Hellespont, were separated each to his own ship. But Achilles did not permit the Myrmidons to be dispersed, but he spoke amongst his warlike companions [thus]:

“Ye swift-horsed Myrmidons, comrades dear to me, let us not yet loose the solid-hoofed steeds from under our chariots, but with the very horses and chariots, going near, let us bewail Patroclus; for this is the honour of the dead. But when we have indulged 720 sad lamentation, unyoking our steeds, we will all sup here.”

Thus he spoke; but they mourned in a body; and Achilles led the way. Thrice they drove their fair-maned steeds around the body, 721 grieving; and among them Thetis kindled a longing for lamentation. Moistened were the sands, and moistened were the arms of the men with tears; for so brave a master of the flight they longed. But among them the son of Peleus led the abundant lamentation, laying his man-slaughtering hands upon the breast of his companion:

Footnote 720: (return) Excellently paraphrased by Gaza: Ἐπειδὰν δὲ τοῦ ὄλεθρίου θρήνου ἀπολαύσωμεν. Ernesti well observes that τεταρπώμεσθα implies “delight mingled with satiety.”

Footnote 721: (return) This was a frequent rite at funerals. Cf. Apollon. Rh. i. 1059; Virg. Æn. xi. 188, sqq.; Heliodor. Ethiop. iii. p. 136: Ἐπειδὴ τὸ μνῆμα τοῦ Νεοπτολέμου περιεστοιχήσατο ἡ πομπὴ, καὶ τρίτον οἱ ἔφηβοι τὴν ἵππον περιήλασαν, λολύξαν μὲν αἱ γυναῖκες, λάλαξαν δὲ οἱ ἄνδρες. Among the Romans this rite was called _decursio_. Cf. Liv. xxv. 17: Tacit. Ann. ii. 7; Sueton. Claud. § i. According to Plutarch, Alexander the Great performed the same honours at the tomb of Achilles, that Achilles had bestowed upon the manes of his friend Patroclus. See also Bernart on Stat. Theb. vi. 217.

“Hail! O Patroclus, even in the dwellings of Hades; for now shall I accomplish all those things which formerly I promised, that having dragged Hector hither, I would give him to the dogs to be devoured raw; and that before thy pile I would cut the necks of twelve illustrious sons of the Trojans, enraged on account of thee slain.”

He spoke, and meditated unworthy deeds against noble Hector, having stretched him prone in the dust before the bier of Menœtiades; but they each stripped off his brazen, glittering armour, and unyoked their high-sounding steeds. They sat also in crowds at the ship of swift-footed Æacides; but he afforded to them an agreeable funeral feast. 722 Many white bulls 723 were stretched around by the axe, having their throats cut, and many sheep and bleating goats. Many white-tusked swine also, abounding in fat, were extended for roasting in the flame of Vulcan; and on every side around the dead body flowed abundant blood. But the chiefs of the Greeks led the king, the swift-footed son of Peleus, to noble Agamemnon, hardly persuading him enraged at heart on account of his companion. But when advancing they reached the tent of Agamemnon, he straightway ordered the clear-voiced heralds to place a large tripod on the fire, if he could persuade the son of Peleus to wash away the bloody gore. But he sternly refused, and besides swore an oath: 724

Footnote 722: (return) Τάφος· τὸ γινόμενον περίδειπνον ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν κατοιχομένων τιμῇ.—Hesych.

Footnote 723: (return) On these funeral sacrifices, see Comm. on Æn. xi. l. c.; and Lomeier de Lustrationibus, § xxxi.

Footnote 724: (return) Buttm. Lexil. p. 436, after insisting strongly on the _personification_ of Ὅρκος, observes on this passage: “I see no reason why we should not suppose that in the poet’s mind Jupiter was put in opposition to ὅρκον, exactly in the same sense as ὄρκος is actually found in opposition to Ζεύς in Pindar, Pyth. iv. 297. Κάρτερος ὅρκος ἄμμι μάρτυς ἔστω Ζεὺς ὁ γενέθλιος άμφοτέροις. Further, the expressions μέγας όρκος, κάρτερος ὅρκος suit much better the idea of the witness or pledge of the oath, than they do the oath itself.”

“No, by Jove, who is both the supreme and the best of gods, it is not lawful that ablutions should come near my head, before I place Patroclus on the pile, and have thrown up a mound, and shorn my hair; for not to such a degree will sorrow a second time invade my heart, whilst I am among the living. But nevertheless let us now yield to the loathsome banquet. But on the morrow, Ο king of men, Agamemnon, give orders to bring wood, and dispose it so as is proper that a dead body enjoying it, should descend beneath the obscure darkness; so that the indefatigable fire may consume him very quickly from our eyes, and the people may return to their occupations.”

Thus he spoke; but they indeed readily listened to him, and obeyed. Then they, each sedulously preparing supper, feasted; nor did their mind lack aught of an equal feast. But when they had dismissed the desire of food and drink, some departed in order to lie down, each to his tent. But the son of Peleus, on the contrary, amid his many Myrmidons, lay near the shore of the far-sounding sea, heavily moaning, in a clear spot, where the waves plashed against the shore; when sweet 725 sleep, diffused around, took possession of him, relaxing the cares of his mind; for he was very much fatigued as to his fair knees, chasing Hector at wind-swept Ilium. But to him came the spirit of wretched Patroclus, like unto him in all things, as to bulk, and beautiful eyes, and his voice; and like garments also were around his body; and he stood over his head, and addressed him:

“Sleepest thou, O Achilles, and art thou forgetful of me? Thou didst not indeed neglect me when alive, but [now that I am] dead. Bury me, that I may as soon as possible pass the gates of Hades. The spirits, the images of the deceased, 726 drive me far away, nor by any means permit me to be mingled with them beyond the river; but thus I do wander round the ample-gated dwelling of Hades. But give me thy hand, 727 I beseech thee, for I shall not again return from Hades after thou hast made me a partaker of the fire. For by no means shall we, being alive, sitting apart from our dear companions, deliberate counsels; but the hateful fate which befel me when born, has snatched me away. And to thyself also, O godlike Achilles, thy fate is to perish beneath the wall of the noble Trojans. But another thing I bid, and will command, O Achilles, if thou wilt obey, not to lay my bones apart from thine; but as we were nurtured together in thy palaces, when Menœtius led me from Opus, a little boy, to thy home, on account of a melancholy homicide, on that day when, imprudent, I slew the son of Amphidamas, not wishing it, enraged about the dice: 728 then Peleus received me in his abode, carefully reared me, and named me thy attendant. So may the same tomb contain our bones, the golden vase which thy venerable mother gave thee.”

Footnote 725: (return) On the epithet νήδνμος, cf. Buttm. p. 414, sqq.

Footnote 726: (return) Buttm. Lexil. p. 372, in a very interesting discussion, regards καμόντες as an euphemism, “by which the dead, whom we consider as still acting and feeling, and consequently as the objects of our kind offices, of which they are conscious, are represented as still living in another state, but deprived of their earthly powers.”

Footnote 727: (return) Virg. Æn. vi. 370: “Da dextram misero.”

Footnote 728: (return) See the Quaint remarks of Jeremy Taylor, Holy Living, p. 224, ed. Bohn.

But him swift-footed Achilles, answering, addressed:

“Why, O venerable friend, hast thou come to me, and commandest each of these things to me? Yet will I readily accomplish all these things for thee, and obey as thou commandest. But stand nearer to me, that embracing each other even for a little while, we may indulge in sad lamentation.”

Thus then having spoken, he stretched out with his friendly arms, nor caught him; 729 for the spirit went gibbering 730 beneath the earth, like smoke. Then Achilles sprang up astonished, and clapped together his hands, and spoke this doleful speech:

“Alas! there is indeed then, even in the dwellings of Hades, a certain spirit and image, but there is no body 731 in it at all; for all night the spirit of miserable Patroclus stood by me, groaning and lamenting, and enjoined to me each particular, and was wonderfully like unto himself.”

Footnote 729: (return) Cf. Georg. iv. 499; Æn. ii. 790, iv. 276; Lucan, iii. 34.

Footnote 730: (return) See Odyss. xxiv. sub init, where the same word is applied to the shades of the suitors of Penelope.

Footnote 731: (return) By φρένες we may understand the power of using reason and judgment, with Duport, Gnom. p. 128, and Jeremy Taylor, Holy Dying, p. 524, ed. Bohn. But ver. 100 seems to require the interpretation which I have followed; Clarke rendering it “præcordia.”