The Iliad: Book 08 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGBHGBBIJKBLBMB NOPQRSTBBBHUBBBVOWVB VBXYBZOTKBA2BXVBBNBV BBXBBVXBBB2C2XB2D2E2 BBBBNBBBBBVF2BBVBG2V VBBBBBOB2BH2XI2D2BBO OBNOJ2K2BQOOB2QRBOBX XBL2BOOBBOM2BBN2BOBO 2XBOP2XBOBBBONBBXQ2D 2BNBBI2BBBNOO2I2BNBG 2BD2OOBBBBBM2OXXBOB2 ROBBOOBBOXBBOBBOOOOX Q2OBBQ2XOB2XBBBBOBXB R2BBXBOBBBOBBXOOOB2B BBBBBBBBOBQ2BBXOBBOB OBOBBOOBXBNOS2XBOOBB NLNOBOXOOBNOXBBBRONB BBOOBXBOT2U2T2BOOOBB OJJBXOOBNV2ONBBT2BXO OBOBW2Q2BQ2OBOM2BOBB BBOBORXBOBBBOOOOBQ2B BBOBBBBBOBBBONBBXM2O BOBBOXM2M2JOBBBXLORO B2BOOQ2X2BBOBOBBBQ2O BBBX2BL| Now when Morning clad in her robe of saffron had begun to suffuse | A |
| light over the earth Jove called the gods in council on the topmost | B |
| crest of serrated Olympus Then he spoke and all the other gods gave | C |
| ear Hear me said he gods and goddesses that I may speak even as | D |
| I am minded Let none of you neither goddess nor god try to cross | E |
| me but obey me every one of you that I may bring this matter to an | F |
| end If I see anyone acting apart and helping either Trojans or | G |
| Danaans he shall be beaten inordinately ere he come back again to | B |
| Olympus or I will hurl him down into dark Tartarus far into the | H |
| deepest pit under the earth where the gates are iron and the floor | G |
| bronze as far beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth that | B |
| you may learn how much the mightiest I am among you Try me and find | B |
| out for yourselves Hangs me a golden chain from heaven and lay | I |
| hold of it all of you gods and goddesses together tug as you will | J |
| you will not drag Jove the supreme counsellor from heaven to earth | K |
| but were I to pull at it myself I should draw you up with earth and | B |
| sea into the bargain then would I bind the chain about some | L |
| pinnacle of Olympus and leave you all dangling in the mid firmament | B |
| So far am I above all others either of gods or men | M |
| They were frightened and all of them of held their peace for he had | B |
| spoken masterfully but at last Minerva answered Father son of | N |
| Saturn king of kings we all know that your might is not to be | O |
| gainsaid but we are also sorry for the Danaan warriors who are | P |
| perishing and coming to a bad end We will however since you so | Q |
| bid us refrain from actual fighting but we will make serviceable | R |
| suggestions to the Argives that they may not all of them perish in | S |
| your displeasure | T |
| Jove smiled at her and answered Take heart my child | B |
| Trito born I am not really in earnest and I wish to be kind to you | B |
| With this he yoked his fleet horses with hoofs of bronze and | B |
| manes of glittering gold He girded himself also with gold about the | H |
| body seized his gold whip and took his seat in his chariot Thereon | U |
| he lashed his horses and they flew forward nothing loth midway twixt | B |
| earth and starry heaven After a while he reached many fountained Ida | B |
| mother of wild beasts and Gargarus where are his grove and | B |
| fragrant altar There the father of gods and men stayed his horses | V |
| took them from the chariot and hid them in a thick cloud then he | O |
| took his seat all glorious upon the topmost crests looking down | W |
| upon the city of Troy and the ships of the Achaeans | V |
| The Achaeans took their morning meal hastily at the ships and | B |
| afterwards put on their armour The Trojans on the other hand likewise | V |
| armed themselves throughout the city fewer in numbers but | B |
| nevertheless eager perforce to do battle for their wives and children | X |
| All the gates were flung wide open and horse and foot sallied forth | Y |
| with the tramp as of a great multitude | B |
| When they were got together in one place shield clashed with | Z |
| shield and spear with spear in the conflict of mail clad men Mighty | O |
| was the din as the bossed shields pressed hard on one another | T |
| death cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers and the earth | K |
| ran red with blood | B |
| Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning their | A2 |
| weapons beat against one another and the people fell but when the | B |
| sun had reached mid heaven the sire of all balanced his golden | X |
| scales and put two fates of death within them one for the Trojans | V |
| and the other for the Achaeans He took the balance by the middle and | B |
| when he lifted it up the day of the Achaeans sank the death fraught | B |
| scale of the Achaeans settled down upon the ground while that of | N |
| the Trojans rose heavenwards Then he thundered aloud from Ida and | B |
| sent the glare of his lightning upon the Achaeans when they saw this | V |
| pale fear fell upon them and they were sore afraid | B |
| Idomeneus dared not stay nor yet Agamemnon nor did the two | B |
| Ajaxes servants of Mars hold their ground Nestor knight of Gerene | X |
| alone stood firm bulwark of the Achaeans not of his own will but | B |
| one of his horses was disabled Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen had | B |
| hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head where the mane begins | V |
| to grow away from the skull a very deadly place The horse bounded in | X |
| his anguish as the arrow pierced his brain and his struggles threw | B |
| others into confusion The old man instantly began cutting the | B |
| traces with his sword but Hector's fleet horses bore down upon him | B2 |
| through the rout with their bold charioteer even Hector himself | C2 |
| and the old man would have perished there and then had not Diomed been | X |
| quick to mark and with a loud cry called Ulysses to help him | B2 |
| Ulysses he cried noble son of Laertes where are you flying | D2 |
| to with your back turned like a coward See that you are not struck | E2 |
| with a spear between the shoulders Stay here and help me to defend | B |
| Nestor from this man's furious onset | B |
| Ulysses would not give ear but sped onward to the ships of the | B |
| Achaeans and the son of Tydeus flinging himself alone into the | B |
| thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of | N |
| Neleus Sir said he these young warriors are pressing you hard | B |
| your force is spent and age is heavy upon you your squire is naught | B |
| and your horses are slow to move Mount my chariot and see what the | B |
| horses of Tros can do how cleverly they can scud hither and thither | B |
| over the plain either in flight or in pursuit I took them from the | B |
| hero Aeneas Let our squires attend to your own steeds but let us | V |
| drive mine straight at the Trojans that Hector may learn how | F2 |
| furiously I too can wield my spear | B |
| Nestor knight of Gerene hearkened to his words Thereon the | B |
| doughty squires Sthenelus and kind hearted Eurymedon saw to Nestor's | V |
| horses while the two both mounted Diomed's chariot Nestor took the | B |
| reins in his hands and lashed the horses on they were soon close up | G2 |
| with Hector and the son of Tydeus aimed a spear at him as he was | V |
| charging full speed towards them He missed him but struck his | V |
| charioteer and squire Eniopeus son of noble Thebaeus in the breast | B |
| by the nipple while the reins were in his hands so that he died there | B |
| and then and the horses swerved as he fell headlong from the chariot | B |
| Hector was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer but let | B |
| him lie for all his sorrow while he went in quest of another | B |
| driver nor did his steeds have to go long without one for he | O |
| presently found brave Archeptolemus the son of Iphitus and made him | B2 |
| get up behind the horses giving the reins into his hand | B |
| All had then been lost and no help for it for they would have | H2 |
| been penned up in Ilius like sheep had not the sire of gods and men | X |
| been quick to mark and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolt which | I2 |
| fell just in front of Diomed's horses with a flare of burning | D2 |
| brimstone The horses were frightened and tried to back beneath the | B |
| car while the reins dropped from Nestor's hands Then he was afraid | B |
| and said to Diomed Son of Tydeus turn your horses in flight see | O |
| you not that the hand of Jove is against you To day he vouchsafes | O |
| victory to Hector to morrow if it so please him he will again grant | B |
| it to ourselves no man however brave may thwart the purpose of | N |
| Jove for he is far stronger than any | O |
| Diomed answered All that you have said is true there is a grief | J2 |
| however which pierces me to the very heart for Hector will talk among | K2 |
| the Trojans and say 'The son of Tydeus fled before me to the | B |
| ships ' This is the vaunt he will make and may earth then swallow | Q |
| me | O |
| Son of Tydeus replied Nestor what mean you Though Hector say | O |
| that you are a coward the Trojans and Dardanians will not believe him | B2 |
| nor yet the wives of the mighty warriors whom you have laid low | Q |
| So saying he turned the horses back through the thick of the battle | R |
| and with a cry that rent the air the Trojans and Hector rained their | B |
| darts after them Hector shouted to him and said Son of Tydeus | O |
| the Danaans have done you honour hitherto as regards your place at | B |
| table the meals they give you and the filling of your cup with wine | X |
| Henceforth they will despise you for you are become no better than | X |
| a woman Be off girl and coward that you are you shall not scale our | B |
| walls through any Hinching upon my part neither shall you carry off | L2 |
| our wives in your ships for I shall kill you with my own hand | B |
| The son of Tydeus was in two minds whether or no to turn his | O |
| horses round again and fight him Thrice did he doubt and thrice | O |
| did Jove thunder from the heights of Ida in token to the Trojans that | B |
| he would turn the battle in their favour Hector then shouted to | B |
| them and said Trojans Lycians and Dardanians lovers of close | O |
| fighting be men my friends and fight with might and with main I | M2 |
| see that Jove is minded to vouchsafe victory and great glory to | B |
| myself while he will deal destruction upon the Danaans Fools for | B |
| having thought of building this weak and worthless wall It shall | N2 |
| not stay my fury my horses will spring lightly over their trench and | B |
| when I am BOOK at their ships forget not to bring me fire that I may | O |
| burn them while I slaughter the Argives who will be all dazed and | B |
| bewildered by the smoke | O2 |
| Then he cried to his horses Xanthus and Podargus and you Aethon | X |
| and goodly Lampus pay me for your keep now and for all the | B |
| honey sweet corn with which Andromache daughter of great Eetion has | O |
| fed you and for she has mixed wine and water for you to drink | P2 |
| whenever you would before doing so even for me who am her own | X |
| husband Haste in pursuit that we may take the shield of Nestor | B |
| the fame of which ascends to heaven for it is of solid gold arm rods | O |
| and all and that we may strip from the shoulders of Diomed the | B |
| cuirass which Vulcan made him Could we take these two things the | B |
| Achaeans would set sail in their ships this self same night | B |
| Thus did he vaunt but Queen Juno made high Olympus quake as she | O |
| shook with rage upon her throne Then said she to the mighty god of | N |
| Neptune What now wide ruling lord of the earthquake Can you find | B |
| no compassion in your heart for the dying Danaans who bring you | B |
| many a welcome offering to Helice and to Aegae Wish them well then | X |
| If all of us who are with the Danaans were to drive the Trojans back | Q2 |
| and keep Jove from helping them he would have to sit there sulking | D2 |
| alone on Ida | B |
| King Neptune was greatly troubled and answered Juno rash of | N |
| tongue what are you talking about We other gods must not set | B |
| ourselves against Jove for he is far stronger than we are | B |
| Thus did they converse but the whole space enclosed by the ditch | I2 |
| from the ships even to the wall was filled with horses and | B |
| warriors who were pent up there by Hector son of Priam now that | B |
| the hand of Jove was with him He would even have set fire to the | B |
| ships and burned them had not Queen Juno put it into the mind of | N |
| Agamemnon to bestir himself and to encourage the Achaeans To this | O |
| end he went round the ships and tents carrying a great purple cloak | O2 |
| and took his stand by the huge black hull of Ulysses' ship which | I2 |
| was middlemost of all it was from this place that his voice would | B |
| carry farthest on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of | N |
| Telamon and on the other towards those of Achilles for these two | B |
| heroes well assured of their own strength had valorously drawn up | G2 |
| their ships at the two ends of the line From this spot then with a | B |
| voice that could be heard afar he shouted to the Danaans saying | D2 |
| Argives shame on you cowardly creatures brave in semblance only | O |
| where are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious the vaunts | O |
| we made so vaingloriously in Lemnos when we ate the flesh of horned | B |
| cattle and filled our mixing bowls to the brim You vowed that you | B |
| would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men and | B |
| now you prove no match even for one for Hector who will be ere | B |
| long setting our ships in a blaze Father Jove did you ever so ruin a | B |
| great king and rob him so utterly of his greatness yet when to my | M2 |
| sorrow I was coming hither I never let my ship pass your altars | O |
| without offering the fat and thigh bones of heifers upon every one | X |
| of them so eager was I to sack the city of Troy Vouchsafe me then | X |
| this prayer suffer us to escape at any rate with our lives and let | B |
| not the Achaeans be so utterly vanquished by the Trojans | O |
| Thus did he pray and father Jove pitying his tears vouchsafed him | B2 |
| that his people should live not die forthwith he sent them an eagle | R |
| most unfailingly portentous of all birds with a young fawn in its | O |
| talons the eagle dropped the fawn by the altar on which the | B |
| Achaeans sacrificed to Jove the lord of omens When therefore the | B |
| people saw that the bird had come from Jove they sprang more fiercely | O |
| upon the Trojans and fought more boldly | O |
| There was no man of all the many Danaans who could then boast that | B |
| he had driven his horses over the trench and gone forth to fight | B |
| sooner than the son of Tydeus long before any one else could do so he | O |
| slew an armed warrior of the Trojans Agelaus the son of Phradmon | X |
| He had turned his horses in flight but the spear struck him in the | B |
| back midway between his shoulders and went right through his chest | B |
| and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell forward from his | O |
| chariot | B |
| After him came Agamemnon and Menelaus sons of Atreus the two | B |
| Ajaxes clothed in valour as with a garment Idomeneus and his | O |
| companion in arms Meriones peer of murderous Mars and Eurypylus | O |
| the brave son of Euaemon Ninth came Teucer with his bow and took his | O |
| place under cover of the shield of Ajax son of Telamon When Ajax | O |
| lifted his shield Teucer would peer round and when he had hit any one | X |
| in the throng the man would fall dead then Teucer would hie back | Q2 |
| to Ajax as a child to its mother and again duck down under his | O |
| shield | B |
| Which of the Trojans did brave Teucer first kill Orsilochus and | B |
| then Ormenus and Ophelestes Daetor Chromius and godlike | Q2 |
| Lycophontes Amopaon son of Polyaemon and Melanippus these in turn | X |
| did he lay low upon the earth and King Agamemnon was glad when he saw | O |
| him making havoc of the Trojans with his mighty bow He went up to him | B2 |
| and said Teucer man after my own heart son of Telamon captain | X |
| among the host shoot on and be at once the saving of the Danaans and | B |
| the glory of your father Telamon who brought you up and took care | B |
| of you in his own house when you were a child bastard though you | B |
| were Cover him with glory though he is far off I will promise and | B |
| I will assuredly perform if aegis bearing Jove and Minerva grant me | O |
| to sack the city of Ilius you shall have the next best meed of honour | B |
| after my own a tripod or two horses with their chariot or a woman | X |
| who shall go up into your bed | B |
| And Teucer answered Most noble son of Atreus you need not urge | R2 |
| me from the moment we began to drive them back to Ilius I have never | B |
| ceased so far as in me lies to look out for men whom I can shoot and | B |
| kill I have shot eight barbed shafts and all of them have been | X |
| buried in the flesh of warlike youths but this mad dog I cannot hit | B |
| As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at Hector for he was | O |
| bent on hitting him nevertheless he missed him and the arrow hit | B |
| Priam's brave son Gorgythion in the breast His mother fair | B |
| Castianeira lovely as a goddess had been married from Aesyme and | B |
| now he bowed his head as a garden poppy in full bloom when it is | O |
| weighed down by showers in spring even thus heavy bowed his head | B |
| beneath the weight of his helmet | B |
| Again he aimed at Hector for he was longing to hit him and again | X |
| his arrow missed for Apollo turned it aside but he hit Hector's | O |
| brave charioteer Archeptolemus in the breast by the nipple as he was | O |
| driving furiously into the fight The horses swerved aside as he | O |
| fell headlong from the chariot and there was no life left in him | B2 |
| Hector was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer but for | B |
| all his sorrow he let him lie where he fell and bade his brother | B |
| Cebriones who was hard by take the reins Cebriones did as he had | B |
| said Hector thereon with a loud cry sprang from his chariot to the | B |
| ground and seizing a great stone made straight for Teucer with intent | B |
| kill him Teucer had just taken an arrow from his quiver and had | B |
| laid it upon the bow string but Hector struck him with the jagged | B |
| stone as he was taking aim and drawing the string to his shoulder | B |
| he hit him just where the collar bone divides the neck from the chest | B |
| a very deadly place and broke the sinew of his arm so that his | O |
| wrist was less and the bow dropped from his hand as he fell forward | B |
| on his knees Ajax saw that his brother had fallen and running | Q2 |
| towards him bestrode him and sheltered him with his shield | B |
| Meanwhile his two trusty squires Mecisteus son of Echius and | B |
| Alastor came up and bore him to the ships groaning in his great pain | X |
| glad when he saw | O |
| Jove now again put heart into the Trojans and they drove the | B |
| Achaeans to their deep trench with Hector in all his glory at their | B |
| head As a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or buttock when he | O |
| gives him chase and watches warily for his wheeling even so did | B |
| Hector follow close upon the Achaeans ever killing the hindmost as | O |
| they rushed panic stricken onwards When they had fled through the set | B |
| stakes and trench and many Achaeans had been laid low at the hands | O |
| of the Trojans they halted at their ships calling upon one another | B |
| and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the | B |
| gods but Hector wheeled his horses this way and that his eyes | O |
| glaring like those of Gorgo or murderous Mars | O |
| Juno when she saw them had pity upon them and at once said to | B |
| Minerva Alas child of aegis bearing Jove shall you and I take no | X |
| more thought for the dying Danaans though it be the last time we ever | B |
| do so See how they perish and come to a bad end before the onset of | N |
| but a single man Hector the son of Priam rages with intolerable fury | O |
| and has already done great mischief | S2 |
| Minerva answered Would indeed this fellow might die in his own | X |
| land and fall by the hands of the Achaeans but my father Jove is mad | B |
| with spleen ever foiling me ever headstrong and unjust He forgets | O |
| how often I saved his son when he was worn out by the labours | O |
| Eurystheus had laid on him He would weep till his cry came up to | B |
| heaven and then Jove would send me down to help him if I had had the | B |
| sense to foresee all this when Eurystheus sent him to the house of | N |
| Hades to fetch the hell hound from Erebus he would never have come | L |
| back alive out of the deep waters of the river Styx And now Jove | N |
| hates me while he lets Thetis have her way because she kissed his | O |
| knees and took hold of his beard when she was begging him to do | B |
| honour to Achilles I shall know what to do next time he begins | O |
| calling me his grey eyed darling Get our horses ready while I go | X |
| within the house of aegis bearing Jove and put on my armour we | O |
| shall then find out whether Priam's son Hector will be glad to meet us | O |
| in the highways of battle or whether the Trojans will glut hounds and | B |
| vultures with the fat of their flesh as they he dead by the ships of | N |
| the Achaeans | O |
| Thus did she speak and white armed Juno daughter of great Saturn | X |
| obeyed her words she set about harnessing her gold bedizened | B |
| steeds while Minerva daughter of aegis bearing Jove flung her | B |
| richly vesture made with her own hands on to the threshold of her | B |
| father and donned the shirt of Jove arming herself for battle | R |
| Then she stepped into her flaming chariot and grasped the spear so | O |
| stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of | N |
| heroes who have displeased her Juno lashed her horses and the | B |
| gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord | B |
| gates over which the Hours preside in whose hands are heaven and | B |
| Olympus either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to close | O |
| it Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds | O |
| But father Jove when he saw them from Ida was very angry and sent | B |
| winged Iris with a message to them Go said he fleet Iris turn | X |
| them back and see that they do not come near me for if we come to | B |
| fighting there will be mischief This is what I say and this is | O |
| what I mean to do I will lame their horses for them I will hurl them | T2 |
| from their chariot and will break it in pieces It will take them all | U2 |
| ten years to heal the wounds my lightning shall inflict upon them | T2 |
| my grey eyed daughter will then learn what quarrelling with her father | B |
| means I am less surprised and angry with Juno for whatever I say she | O |
| always contradicts me | O |
| With this Iris went her way fleet as the wind from the heights | O |
| of Ida to the lofty summits of Olympus She met the goddesses at the | B |
| outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message What | B |
| said she are you about Are you mad The son of Saturn forbids | O |
| going This is what he says and this is he means to do he will | J |
| lame your horses for you he will hurl you from your chariot and will | J |
| break it in pieces It will take you all ten years to heal the | B |
| wounds his lightning will inflict upon you that you may learn | X |
| grey eyed goddess what quarrelling with your father means He is less | O |
| hurt and angry with Juno for whatever he says she always | O |
| contradicts him but you bold bold hussy will you really dare to | B |
| raise your huge spear in defiance of Jove | N |
| With this she left them and Juno said to Minerva Of a truth | V2 |
| child of aegis bearing Jove I am not for fighting men's battles | O |
| further in defiance of Jove Let them live or die as luck will have | N |
| it and let Jove mete out his judgements upon the Trojans and | B |
| Danaans according to his own pleasure | B |
| She turned her steeds the Hours presently unyoked them made them | T2 |
| fast to their ambrosial mangers and leaned the chariot against the | B |
| end wall of the courtyard The two goddesses then sat down upon | X |
| their golden thrones amid the company of the other gods but they | O |
| were very angry | O |
| Presently father Jove drove his chariot to Olympus and entered | B |
| the assembly of gods The mighty lord of the earthquake unyoked his | O |
| horses for him set the car upon its stand and threw a cloth over it | B |
| Jove then sat down upon his golden throne and Olympus reeled beneath | W2 |
| him Minerva and Juno sat alone apart from Jove and neither spoke | Q2 |
| nor asked him questions but Jove knew what they meant and said | B |
| Minerva and Juno why are you so angry Are you fatigued with killing | Q2 |
| so many of your dear friends the Trojans Be this as it may such is | O |
| the might of my hands that all the gods in Olympus cannot turn me you | B |
| were both of you trembling all over ere ever you saw the fight and its | O |
| terrible doings I tell you therefore and it would have surely been I | M2 |
| should have struck you with lighting and your chariots would never | B |
| have brought you back again to Olympus | O |
| Minerva and Juno groaned in spirit as they sat side by side and | B |
| brooded mischief for the Trojans Minerva sat silent without a word | B |
| for she was in a furious passion and bitterly incensed against her | B |
| father but Juno could not contain herself and said What dread | B |
| son of Saturn are you talking about We know how great your power is | O |
| nevertheless we have compassion upon the Danaan warriors who are | B |
| perishing and coming to a bad end We will however since you so | O |
| bid us refrain from actual fighting but we will make serviceable | R |
| suggestions to the Argives that they may not all of them perish in | X |
| your displeasure | B |
| And Jove answered To morrow morning Juno if you choose to do so | O |
| you will see the son of Saturn destroying large numbers of the | B |
| Argives for fierce Hector shall not cease fighting till he has roused | B |
| the son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire straits at their | B |
| ships' sterns about the body of Patroclus Like it or no this is | O |
| how it is decreed for aught I care you may go to the lowest depths | O |
| beneath earth and sea where Iapetus and Saturn dwell in lone Tartarus | O |
| with neither ray of light nor breath of wind to cheer them You may go | O |
| on and on till you get there and I shall not care one whit for your | B |
| displeasure you are the greatest vixen living | Q2 |
| Juno made him no answer The sun's glorious orb now sank into | B |
| Oceanus and drew down night over the land Sorry indeed were the | B |
| Trojans when light failed them but welcome and thrice prayed for | B |
| did darkness fall upon the Achaeans | O |
| Then Hector led the Trojans back from the ships and held a | B |
| council on the open space near the river where there was a spot ear | B |
| corpses They left their chariots and sat down on the ground to hear | B |
| the speech he made them He grasped a spear eleven cubits long the | B |
| bronze point of which gleamed in front of it while the ring round the | B |
| spear head was of gold Spear in hand he spoke Hear me said he | O |
| Trojans Dardanians and allies I deemed but now that I should | B |
| destroy the ships and all the Achaeans with them ere I went back to | B |
| Ilius but darkness came on too soon It was this alone that saved | B |
| them and their ships upon the seashore Now therefore let us obey | O |
| the behests of night and prepare our suppers Take your horses out of | N |
| their chariots and give them their feeds of corn then make speed to | B |
| bring sheep and cattle from the city bring wine also and corn for | B |
| your horses and gather much wood that from dark till dawn we may burn | X |
| watchfires whose flare may reach to heaven For the Achaeans may try | M2 |
| to fly beyond the sea by night and they must not embark scatheless | O |
| and unmolested many a man among them must take a dart with him to | B |
| nurse at home hit with spear or arrow as he is leaping on board his | O |
| ship that others may fear to bring war and weeping upon the | B |
| Trojans Moreover let the heralds tell it about the city that the | B |
| growing youths and grey bearded men are to camp upon its | O |
| heaven built walls Let the women each of them light a great fire in | X |
| her house and let watch be safely kept lest the town be entered by | M2 |
| surprise while the host is outside See to it brave Trojans as I | M2 |
| have said and let this suffice for the moment at daybreak I will | J |
| instruct you further I pray in hope to Jove and to the gods that we | O |
| may then drive those fate sped hounds from our land for 'tis the | B |
| fates that have borne them and their ships hither This night | B |
| therefore let us keep watch but with early morning let us put on our | B |
| armour and rouse fierce war at the ships of the Achaeans I shall then | X |
| know whether brave Diomed the son of Tydeus will drive me back from | L |
| the ships to the wall or whether I shall myself slay him and carry | O |
| off his bloodstained spoils To morrow let him show his mettle | R |
| abide my spear if he dare I ween that at break of day he shall be | O |
| among the first to fall and many another of his comrades round him | B2 |
| Would that I were as sure of being immortal and never growing old and | B |
| of being worshipped like Minerva and Apollo as I am that this day | O |
| will bring evil to the Argives | O |
| Thus spoke Hector and the Trojans shouted applause They took | Q2 |
| their sweating steeds from under the yoke and made them fast each | X2 |
| by his own chariot They made haste to bring sheep and cattle from the | B |
| city they brought wine also and corn from their houses and gathered | B |
| much wood They then offered unblemished hecatombs to the immortals | O |
| and the wind carried the sweet savour of sacrifice to heaven but | B |
| the blessed gods partook not thereof for they bitterly hated Ilius | O |
| with Priam and Priam's people Thus high in hope they sat through | B |
| the livelong night by the highways of war and many a watchfire did | B |
| they kindle As when the stars shine clear and the moon is bright | B |
| there is not a breath of air not a peak nor glade nor jutting | Q2 |
| headland but it stands out in the ineffable radiance that breaks | O |
| from the serene of heaven the stars can all of them be told and the | B |
| heart of the shepherd is glad even thus shone the watchfires of the | B |
| Trojans before Ilius midway between the ships and the river Xanthus A | B |
| thousand camp fires gleamed upon the plain and in the glow of each | X2 |
| there sat fifty men while the horses champing oats and corn beside | B |
| their chariots waited till dawn should come | L |
Homer
(1)
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