The Iliad: Book 04 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGBHIJKLMNOIDMP QRSFTUFVEWNXNYZZA2SB 2C2NWD2DSE2ZC2C2C2ZX ZC2F2G2NFZZH2I2C2D2E J2IMD2K2ZIZZZK2L2M2I N2C2FDIIIC2SD2K2ZIC2 IO2P2SQ2ZC2LR2C2IUII LZZS2T2ZU2ILZV2M2ID2 D2A2V2M2W2FILZD2W2IX 2ILID2LD2C2IIILZLIHI LY2A2C2I2LFC2YHLC2LL LFZI2ZD2FZ2FLZLDIZA3 ILI2LB3IZFC2FC3DZILY 2IFZC2C2D3IE3F3LFD2M IILID2LD2IRZLZA2IZFL LZG3LH3LLZLC2IFZC2I2 LIJ2C2FLI3IC2W2M2C2L LZLLILZZFFI2FA2LIILF M2LFJ3FZIZM2DDFC2ZLI FZLLM2ZLLIFM2ZMC2LLI ZM2LLM2MZIC2LZIM2IM2 IIMILM2H3LJ3A2LLLZJ2 IM2RZC2C2ZILI2ZM2ZLL IZZIIFLZIK3ZLLI2LM2I ZILLLL3ZLZL2M2LJ2LIL FC2ZB3LJ3I2P2LJ2C2U2 ZZLB3M2ZC2ZFK2KC2IJ3 LC2ZLM3| Now the gods were sitting with Jove in council upon the golden floor | A |
| while Hebe went round pouring out nectar for them to drink and as | B |
| they pledged one another in their cups of gold they looked down upon | C |
| the town of Troy The son of Saturn then began to tease Juno | D |
| talking at her so as to provoke her Menelaus said he has two | E |
| good friends among the goddesses Juno of Argos and Minerva of | F |
| Alalcomene but they only sit still and look on while Venus keeps | G |
| ever by Alexandrus' side to defend him in any danger indeed she has | B |
| just rescued him when he made sure that it was all over with him | H |
| for the victory really did lie with Menelaus We must consider what we | I |
| shall do about all this shall we set them fighting anew or make peace | J |
| between them If you will agree to this last Menelaus can take back | K |
| Helen and the city of Priam may remain still inhabited | L |
| Minerva and Juno muttered their discontent as they sat side by | M |
| side hatching mischief for the Trojans Minerva scowled at her father | N |
| for she was in a furious passion with him and said nothing but | O |
| Juno could not contain herself Dread son of Saturn said she | I |
| what pray is the meaning of all this Is my trouble then to go | D |
| for nothing and the sweat that I have sweated to say nothing of my | M |
| horses while getting the people together against Priam and his | P |
| children Do as you will but we other gods shall not all of us | Q |
| approve your counsel | R |
| Jove was angry and answered My dear what harm have Priam and | S |
| his sons done you that you are so hotly bent on sacking the city of | F |
| Ilius Will nothing do for you but you must within their walls and eat | T |
| Priam raw with his sons and all the other Trojans to boot Have it | U |
| your own way then for I would not have this matter become a bone of | F |
| contention between us I say further and lay my saying to your heart | V |
| if ever I want to sack a city belonging to friends of yours you | E |
| must not try to stop me you will have to let me do it for I am | W |
| giving in to you sorely against my will Of all inhabited cities under | N |
| the sun and stars of heaven there was none that I so much respected | X |
| as Ilius with Priam and his whole people Equitable feasts were | N |
| never wanting about my altar nor the savour of burning fat which | Y |
| is honour due to ourselves | Z |
| My own three favourite cities answered Juno are Argos | Z |
| Sparta and Mycenae Sack them whenever you may be displeased with | A2 |
| them I shall not defend them and I shall not care Even if I did and | S |
| tried to stay you I should take nothing by it for you are much | B2 |
| stronger than I am but I will not have my own work wasted I too am a | C2 |
| god and of the same race with yourself I am Saturn's eldest daughter | N |
| and am honourable not on this ground only but also because I am | W |
| your wife and you are king over the gods Let it be a case then | D2 |
| of give and take between us and the rest of the gods will follow | D |
| our lead Tell Minerva to go and take part in the fight at once and | S |
| let her contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their | E2 |
| oaths and set upon the Achaeans | Z |
| The sire of gods and men heeded her words and said to Minerva | C2 |
| Go at once into the Trojan and Achaean hosts and contrive that the | C2 |
| Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the | C2 |
| Achaeans | Z |
| This was what Minerva was already eager to do so down she darted | X |
| from the topmost summits of Olympus She shot through the sky as | Z |
| some brilliant meteor which the son of scheming Saturn has sent as a | C2 |
| sign to mariners or to some great army and a fiery train of light | F2 |
| follows in its wake The Trojans and Achaeans were struck with awe | G2 |
| as they beheld and one would turn to his neighbour saying Either | N |
| we shall again have war and din of combat or Jove the lord of | F |
| battle will now make peace between us | Z |
| Thus did they converse Then Minerva took the form of Laodocus | Z |
| son of Antenor and went through the ranks of the Trojans to find | H2 |
| Pandarus the redoubtable son of Lycaon She found him standing | I2 |
| among the stalwart heroes who had followed him from the banks of the | C2 |
| Aesopus so she went close up to him and said Brave son of Lycaon | D2 |
| will you do as I tell you If you dare send an arrow at Menelaus you | E |
| will win honour and thanks from all the Trojans and especially from | J2 |
| prince Alexandrus he would be the first to requite you very | I |
| handsomely if he could see Menelaus mount his funeral pyre slain by | M |
| an arrow from your hand Take your home aim then and pray to Lycian | D2 |
| Apollo the famous archer vow that when you get home to your strong | K2 |
| city of Zelea you will offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his | Z |
| honour | I |
| His fool's heart was persuaded and he took his bow from its case | Z |
| This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex which he had killed as | Z |
| it was bounding from a rock he had stalked it and it had fallen as | Z |
| the arrow struck it to the heart Its horns were sixteen palms long | K2 |
| and a worker in horn had made them into a bow smoothing them well | L2 |
| down and giving them tips of gold When Pandarus had strung his bow | M2 |
| he laid it carefully on the ground and his brave followers held their | I |
| shields before him lest the Achaeans should set upon him before he had | N2 |
| shot Menelaus Then he opened the lid of his quiver and took out a | C2 |
| winged arrow that had yet been shot fraught with the pangs of | F |
| death He laid the arrow on the string and prayed to Lycian Apollo | D |
| the famous archer vowing that when he got home to his strong city | I |
| of Zelea he would offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honour | I |
| He laid the notch of the arrow on the oxhide bowstring and drew | I |
| both notch and string to his breast till the arrow head was near the | C2 |
| bow then when the bow was arched into a half circle he let fly and | S |
| the bow twanged and the string sang as the arrow flew gladly on | D2 |
| over the heads of the throng | K2 |
| But the blessed gods did not forget thee O Menelaus and Jove's | Z |
| daughter driver of the spoil was the first to stand before thee | I |
| and ward off the piercing arrow She turned it from his skin as a | C2 |
| mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping sweetly | I |
| she guided it to the part where the golden buckles of the belt that | O2 |
| passed over his double cuirass were fastened so the arrow struck | P2 |
| the belt that went tightly round him It went right through this and | S |
| through the cuirass of cunning workmanship it also pierced the belt | Q2 |
| beneath it which he wore next his skin to keep out darts or arrows | Z |
| it was this that served him in the best stead nevertheless the | C2 |
| arrow went through it and grazed the top of the skin so that blood | L |
| began flowing from the wound | R2 |
| As when some woman of Meonia or Caria strains purple dye on to a | C2 |
| piece of ivory that is to be the cheek piece of a horse and is to | I |
| be laid up in a treasure house many a knight is fain to bear it | U |
| but the king keeps it as an ornament of which both horse and driver | I |
| may be proud even so O Menelaus were your shapely thighs and your | I |
| legs down to your fair ancles stained with blood | L |
| When King Agamemnon saw the blood flowing from the wound he was | Z |
| afraid and so was brave Menelaus himself till he saw that the barbs | Z |
| of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow head to the shaft | S2 |
| were still outside the wound Then he took heart but Agamemnon heaved | T2 |
| a deep sigh as he held Menelaus's hand in his own and his comrades | Z |
| made moan in concert Dear brother he cried I have been the death | U2 |
| of you in pledging this covenant and letting you come forward as our | I |
| champion The Trojans have trampled on their oaths and have wounded | L |
| you nevertheless the oath the blood of lambs the drink offerings | Z |
| and the right hands of fellowship in which have put our trust shall | V2 |
| not be vain If he that rules Olympus fulfil it not here and now | M2 |
| he will yet fulfil it hereafter and they shall pay dearly with their | I |
| lives and with their wives and children The day will surely come when | D2 |
| mighty Ilius shall be laid low with Priam and Priam's people when | D2 |
| the son of Saturn from his high throne shall overshadow them with | A2 |
| his awful aegis in punishment of their present treachery This shall | V2 |
| surely be but how Menelaus shall I mourn you if it be your lot now | M2 |
| to die I should return to Argos as a by word for the Achaeans will | W2 |
| at once go home We shall leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of | F |
| still keeping Helen and the earth will rot your bones as you lie here | I |
| at Troy with your purpose not fulfilled Then shall some braggart | L |
| Trojan leap upon your tomb and say 'Ever thus may Agamemnon wreak his | Z |
| vengeance he brought his army in vain he is gone home to his own | D2 |
| land with empty ships and has left Menelaus behind him ' Thus will | W2 |
| one of them say and may the earth then swallow me | I |
| But Menelaus reassured him and said Take heart and do not alarm | X2 |
| the people the arrow has not struck me in a mortal part for my outer | I |
| belt of burnished metal first stayed it and under this my cuirass and | L |
| the belt of mail which the bronze smiths made me | I |
| And Agamemnon answered I trust dear Menelaus that it may be even | D2 |
| so but the surgeon shall examine your wound and lay herbs upon it | L |
| to relieve your pain | D2 |
| He then said to Talthybius Talthybius tell Machaon son to the | C2 |
| great physician Aesculapius to come and see Menelaus immediately | I |
| Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our | I |
| dismay and to his own great glory | I |
| Talthybius did as he was told and went about the host trying to | L |
| find Machaon Presently he found standing amid the brave warriors | Z |
| who had followed him from Tricca thereon he went up to him and | L |
| said Son of Aesculapius King Agamemnon says you are to come and see | I |
| Menelaus immediately Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him | H |
| with an arrow to our dismay and to his own great glory | I |
| Thus did he speak and Machaon was moved to go They passed | L |
| through the spreading host of the Achaeans and went on till they | Y2 |
| came to the place where Menelaus had been wounded and was lying with | A2 |
| the chieftains gathered in a circle round him Machaon passed into the | C2 |
| middle of the ring and at once drew the arrow from the belt bending | I2 |
| its barbs back through the force with which he pulled it out He undid | L |
| the burnished belt and beneath this the cuirass and the belt of | F |
| mail which the bronze smiths had made then when he had seen the | C2 |
| wound he wiped away the blood and applied some soothing drugs which | Y |
| Chiron had given to Aesculapius out of the good will he bore him | H |
| While they were thus busy about Menelaus the Trojans came forward | L |
| against them for they had put on their armour and now renewed the | C2 |
| fight | L |
| You would not have then found Agamemnon asleep nor cowardly and | L |
| unwilling to fight but eager rather for the fray He left his chariot | L |
| rich with bronze and his panting steeds in charge of Eurymedon son of | F |
| Ptolemaeus the son of Peiraeus and bade him hold them in readiness | Z |
| against the time his limbs should weary of going about and giving | I2 |
| orders to so many for he went among the ranks on foot When he saw | Z |
| men hasting to the front he stood by them and cheered them on | D2 |
| Argives said he slacken not one whit in your onset father Jove | F |
| will be no helper of liars the Trojans have been the first to break | Z2 |
| their oaths and to attack us therefore they shall be devoured of | F |
| vultures we shall take their city and carry off their wives and | L |
| children in our ships | Z |
| But he angrily rebuked those whom he saw shirking and disinclined to | L |
| fight Argives he cried cowardly miserable creatures have you no | D |
| shame to stand here like frightened fawns who when they can no longer | I |
| scud over the plain huddle together but show no fight You are as | Z |
| dazed and spiritless as deer Would you wait till the Trojans reach | A3 |
| the sterns of our ships as they lie on the shore to see whether | I |
| the son of Saturn will hold his hand over you to protect you | L |
| Thus did he go about giving his orders among the ranks Passing | I2 |
| through the crowd he came presently on the Cretans arming round | L |
| Idomeneus who was at their head fierce as a wild boar while | B3 |
| Meriones was bringing up the battalions that were in the rear | I |
| Agamemnon was glad when he saw him and spoke him fairly Idomeneus | Z |
| said he I treat you with greater distinction than I do any others of | F |
| the Achaeans whether in war or in other things or at table When the | C2 |
| princes are mixing my choicest wines in the mixing bowls they have | F |
| each of them a fixed allowance but your cup is kept always full | C3 |
| like my own that you may drink whenever you are minded Go | D |
| therefore into battle and show yourself the man you have been always | Z |
| proud to be | I |
| Idomeneus answered I will be a trusty comrade as I promised you | L |
| from the first I would be Urge on the other Achaeans that we may | Y2 |
| join battle at once for the Trojans have trampled upon their | I |
| covenants Death and destruction shall be theirs seeing they have | F |
| been the first to break their oaths and to attack us | Z |
| The son of Atreus went on glad at heart till he came upon the | C2 |
| two Ajaxes arming themselves amid a host of foot soldiers As when a | C2 |
| goat herd from some high post watches a storm drive over the deep | D3 |
| before the west wind black as pitch is the offing and a mighty | I |
| whirlwind draws towards him so that he is afraid and drives his flock | E3 |
| into a cave even thus did the ranks of stalwart youths move in a dark | F3 |
| mass to battle under the Ajaxes horrid with shield and spear Glad | L |
| was King Agamemnon when he saw them No need he cried to give | F |
| orders to such leaders of the Argives as you are for of your own | D2 |
| selves you spur your men on to fight with might and main Would by | M |
| father Jove Minerva and Apollo that all were so minded as you are | I |
| for the city of Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands and we | I |
| should sack it | L |
| With this he left them and went onward to Nestor the facile speaker | I |
| of the Pylians who was marshalling his men and urging them on in | D2 |
| company with Pelagon Alastor Chromius Haemon and Bias shepherd | L |
| of his people He placed his knights with their chariots and horses in | D2 |
| the front rank while the foot soldiers brave men and many whom he | I |
| could trust were in the rear The cowards he drove into the middle | R |
| that they might fight whether they would or no He gave his orders | Z |
| to the knights first bidding them hold their horses well in hand | L |
| so as to avoid confusion Let no man he said relying on his | Z |
| strength or horsemanship get before the others and engage singly with | A2 |
| the Trojans nor yet let him lag behind or you will weaken your | I |
| attack but let each when he meets an enemy's chariot throw his | Z |
| spear from his own this be much the best this is how the men of | F |
| old took towns and strongholds in this wise were they minded | L |
| Thus did the old man charge them for he had been in many a fight | L |
| and King Agamemnon was glad I wish he said to him that your limbs | Z |
| were as supple and your strength as sure as your judgment is but age | G3 |
| the common enemy of mankind has laid his hand upon you would that it | L |
| had fallen upon some other and that you were still young | H3 |
| And Nestor knight of Gerene answered Son of Atreus I too | L |
| would gladly be the man I was when I slew mighty Ereuthalion but | L |
| the gods will not give us everything at one and the same time I was | Z |
| then young and now I am old still I can go with my knights and | L |
| give them that counsel which old men have a right to give The | C2 |
| wielding of the spear I leave to those who are younger and stronger | I |
| than myself | F |
| Agamemnon went his way rejoicing and presently found Menestheus | Z |
| son of Peteos tarrying in his place and with him were the | C2 |
| Athenians loud of tongue in battle Near him also tarried cunning | I2 |
| Ulysses with his sturdy Cephallenians round him they had not yet | L |
| heard the battle cry for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans had only | I |
| just begun to move so they were standing still waiting for some | J2 |
| other columns of the Achaeans to attack the Trojans and begin the | C2 |
| fighting When he saw this Agamemnon rebuked them and said Son of | F |
| Peteos and you other steeped in cunning heart of guile why stand | L |
| you here cowering and waiting on others You two should be of all | I3 |
| men foremost when there is hard fighting to be done for you are | I |
| ever foremost to accept my invitation when we councillors of the | C2 |
| Achaeans are holding feast You are glad enough then to take your fill | W2 |
| of roast meats and to drink wine as long as you please whereas now | M2 |
| you would not care though you saw ten columns of Achaeans engage the | C2 |
| enemy in front of you | L |
| Ulysses glared at him and answered Son of Atreus what are you | L |
| talking about How can you say that we are slack When the Achaeans | Z |
| are in full fight with the Trojans you shall see if you care to do | L |
| so that the father of Telemachus will join battle with the foremost | L |
| of them You are talking idly | I |
| When Agamemnon saw that Ulysses was angry he smiled pleasantly at | L |
| him and withdrew his words Ulysses said he noble son of Laertes | Z |
| excellent in all good counsel I have neither fault to find nor orders | Z |
| to give you for I know your heart is right and that you and I are of | F |
| a mind Enough I will make you amends for what I have said and if | F |
| any ill has now been spoken may the gods bring it to nothing | I2 |
| He then left them and went on to others Presently he saw the son of | F |
| Tydeus noble Diomed standing by his chariot and horses with | A2 |
| Sthenelus the son of Capaneus beside him whereon he began to | L |
| upbraid him Son of Tydeus he said why stand you cowering here | I |
| upon the brink of battle Tydeus did not shrink thus but was ever | I |
| ahead of his men when leading them on against the foe so at least | L |
| say they that saw him in battle for I never set eyes upon him myself | F |
| They say that there was no man like him He came once to Mycenae | M2 |
| not as an enemy but as a guest in company with Polynices to recruit | L |
| his forces for they were levying war against the strong city of | F |
| Thebes and prayed our people for a body of picked men to help them | J3 |
| The men of Mycenae were willing to let them have one but Jove | F |
| dissuaded them by showing them unfavourable omens Tydeus | Z |
| therefore and Polynices went their way When they had got as far | I |
| the deep meadowed and rush grown banks of the Aesopus the Achaeans | Z |
| sent Tydeus as their envoy and he found the Cadmeans gathered in | M2 |
| great numbers to a banquet in the house of Eteocles Stranger though | D |
| he was he knew no fear on finding himself single handed among so | D |
| many but challenged them to contests of all kinds and in each one of | F |
| them was at once victorious so mightily did Minerva help him The | C2 |
| Cadmeans were incensed at his success and set a force of fifty youths | Z |
| with two captains the godlike hero Maeon son of Haemon and | L |
| Polyphontes son of Autophonus at their head to lie in wait for | I |
| him on his return journey but Tydeus slew every man of them save | F |
| only Maeon whom he let go in obedience to heaven's omens Such was | Z |
| Tydeus of Aetolia His son can talk more glibly but he cannot fight | L |
| as his father did | L |
| Diomed made no answer for he was shamed by the rebuke of Agamemnon | M2 |
| but the son of Capaneus took up his words and said Son of Atreus | Z |
| tell no lies for you can speak truth if you will We boast | L |
| ourselves as even better men than our fathers we took seven gated | L |
| Thebes though the wall was stronger and our men were fewer in number | I |
| for we trusted in the omens of the gods and in the help of Jove | F |
| whereas they perished through their own sheer folly hold not then | M2 |
| our fathers in like honour with us | Z |
| Diomed looked sternly at him and said Hold your peace my | M |
| friend as I bid you It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge the | C2 |
| Achaeans forward for the glory will be his if we take the city and | L |
| his the shame if we are vanquished Therefore let us acquit | L |
| ourselves with valour | I |
| As he spoke he sprang from his chariot and his armour rang so | Z |
| fiercely about his body that even a brave man might well have been | M2 |
| scared to hear it | L |
| As when some mighty wave that thunders on the beach when the west | L |
| wind has lashed it into fury it has reared its head afar and now | M2 |
| comes crashing down on the shore it bows its arching crest high | M |
| over the jagged rocks and spews its salt foam in all directions | Z |
| even so did the serried phalanxes of the Danaans march steadfastly | I |
| to battle The chiefs gave orders each to his own people but the | C2 |
| men said never a word no man would think it for huge as the host | L |
| was it seemed as though there was not a tongue among them so | Z |
| silent were they in their obedience and as they marched the armour | I |
| about their bodies glistened in the sun But the clamour of the Trojan | M2 |
| ranks was as that of many thousand ewes that stand waiting to be | I |
| milked in the yards of some rich flockmaster and bleat incessantly in | M2 |
| answer to the bleating of their lambs for they had not one speech nor | I |
| language but their tongues were diverse and they came from many | I |
| different places These were inspired of Mars but the others by | M |
| Minerva and with them came Panic Rout and Strife whose fury never | I |
| tires sister and friend of murderous Mars who from being at first | L |
| but low in stature grows till she uprears her head to heaven | M2 |
| though her feet are still on earth She it was that went about among | H3 |
| them and flung down discord to the waxing of sorrow with even hand | L |
| between them | J3 |
| When they were got together in one place shield clashed with | A2 |
| shield and spear with spear in the rage of battle The bossed | L |
| shields beat one upon another and there was a tramp as of a great | L |
| multitude death cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers and | L |
| the earth ran red with blood As torrents swollen with rain course | Z |
| madly down their deep channels till the angry floods meet in some | J2 |
| gorge and the shepherd the hillside hears their roaring from afar | I |
| even such was the toil and uproar of the hosts as they joined in | M2 |
| battle | R |
| First Antilochus slew an armed warrior of the Trojans Echepolus | Z |
| son of Thalysius fighting in the foremost ranks He struck at the | C2 |
| projecting part of his helmet and drove the spear into his brow the | C2 |
| point of bronze pierced the bone and darkness veiled his eyes | Z |
| headlong as a tower he fell amid the press of the fight and as he | I |
| dropped King Elephenor son of Chalcodon and captain of the proud | L |
| Abantes began dragging him out of reach of the darts that were falling | I2 |
| around him in haste to strip him of his armour But his purpose was | Z |
| not for long Agenor saw him haling the body away and smote him in | M2 |
| the side with his bronze shod spear for as he stooped his side was | Z |
| left unprotected by his shield and thus he perished Then the fight | L |
| between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over his body and they flew | L |
| upon each other like wolves man and man crushing one upon the other | I |
| Forthwith Ajax son of Telamon slew the fair youth Simoeisius | Z |
| son of Anthemion whom his mother bore by the banks of the Simois | Z |
| as she was coming down from Mt Ida where she had been with her | I |
| parents to see their flocks Therefore he was named Simoeisius but he | I |
| did not live to pay his parents for his rearing for he was cut off | F |
| untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax who struck him in the breast | L |
| by the right nipple as he was coming on among the foremost fighters | Z |
| the spear went right through his shoulder and he fell as a poplar | I |
| that has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere and its top | K3 |
| is thick with branches Then the wheelwright lays his axe to its roots | Z |
| that he may fashion a felloe for the wheel of some goodly chariot and | L |
| it lies seasoning by the waterside In such wise did Ajax fell to | L |
| earth Simoeisius son of Anthemion Thereon Antiphus of the gleaming | I2 |
| corslet son of Priam hurled a spear at Ajax from amid the crowd | L |
| and missed him but he hit Leucus the brave comrade of Ulysses in | M2 |
| the groin as he was dragging the body of Simoeisius over to the other | I |
| side so he fell upon the body and loosed his hold upon it Ulysses | Z |
| was furious when he saw Leucus slain and strode in full armour | I |
| through the front ranks till he was quite close then he glared | L |
| round about him and took aim and the Trojans fell back as he did | L |
| so His dart was not sped in vain for it struck Democoon the bastard | L |
| son of Priam who had come to him from Abydos where he had charge | L3 |
| of his father's mares Ulysses infuriated by the death of his | Z |
| comrade hit him with his spear on one temple and the bronze point | L |
| came through on the other side of his forehead Thereon darkness | Z |
| veiled his eyes and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell | L2 |
| heavily to the ground Hector and they that were in front then | M2 |
| gave round while the Argives raised a shout and drew off the dead | L |
| pressing further forward as they did so But Apollo looked down from | J2 |
| Pergamus and called aloud to the Trojans for he was displeased | L |
| Trojans he cried rush on the foe and do not let yourselves be | I |
| thus beaten by the Argives Their skins are not stone nor iron that | L |
| when hit them you do them no harm Moreover Achilles the son of | F |
| lovely Thetis is not fighting but is nursing his anger at the | C2 |
| ships | Z |
| Thus spoke the mighty god crying to them from the city while | B3 |
| Jove's redoubtable daughter the Trito born went about among the host | L |
| of the Achaeans and urged them forward whenever she beheld them | J3 |
| slackening | I2 |
| Then fate fell upon Diores son of Amarynceus for he was struck | P2 |
| by a jagged stone near the ancle of his right leg He that hurled it | L |
| was Peirous son of Imbrasus captain of the Thracians who had come | J2 |
| from Aenus the bones and both the tendons were crushed by the | C2 |
| pitiless stone He fell to the ground on his back and in his death | U2 |
| throes stretched out his hands towards his comrades But Peirous | Z |
| who had wounded him sprang on him and thrust a spear into his | Z |
| belly so that his bowels came gushing out upon the ground and | L |
| darkness veiled his eyes As he was leaving the body Thoas of Aetolia | B3 |
| struck him in the chest near the nipple and the point fixed itself in | M2 |
| his lungs Thoas came close up to him pulled the spear out of his | Z |
| chest and then drawing his sword smote him in the middle of the | C2 |
| belly so that he died but he did not strip him of his armour for his | Z |
| Thracian comrades men who wear their hair in a tuft at the top of | F |
| their heads stood round the body and kept him off with their long | K2 |
| spears for all his great stature and valour so he was driven back | K |
| Thus the two corpses lay stretched on earth near to one another the | C2 |
| one captain of the Thracians and the other of the Epeans and many | I |
| another fell round them | J3 |
| And now no man would have made light of the fighting if he could | L |
| have gone about among it scatheless and unwounded with Minerva | C2 |
| leading him by the hand and protecting him from the storm of spears | Z |
| and arrows For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched | L |
| side by side face downwards upon the earth | M3 |
Homer
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Iliad: Book 04 poem by Homer
Best Poems of Homer