The Iliad: Book 7 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJFKLBMFMCNM EOBPFQFRPBLGGSTPEUBM IAESVBEWPTBLXOOYZLA2 BBEB2EC2D2EEEFEBBEOF E2F2FG2FH2I2F2EBF2AE J2MPK2OL2M2MBBM2N2BB O2EO2SP2Q2AO2O2LH2N2 OPFAO2LSE| With these words Hector passed through the gates and his brother | A |
| Alexandrus with him both eager for the fray As when heaven sends a | B |
| breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain and have | C |
| laboured at their oars till they are faint with toil even so | D |
| welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the Trojans | E |
| Thereon Alexandrus killed Menesthius the son of Areithous he | F |
| lived in Ame and was son of Areithous the Mace man and of | G |
| Phylomedusa Hector threw a spear at Eioneus and struck him dead | H |
| with a wound in the neck under the bronze rim of his helmet | I |
| Glaucus moreover son of Hippolochus captain of the Lycians in hard | J |
| hand to hand fight smote Iphinous son of Dexius on the shoulder as he | F |
| was springing on to his chariot behind his fleet mares so he fell | K |
| to earth from the car and there was no life left in him | L |
| When therefore Minerva saw these men making havoc of the | B |
| Argives she darted down to Ilius from the summits of Olympus and | M |
| Apollo who was looking on from Pergamus went out to meet her for he | F |
| wanted the Trojans to be victorious The pair met by the oak tree and | M |
| King Apollo son of Jove was first to speak What would you have | C |
| said he daughter of great Jove that your proud spirit has sent | N |
| you hither from Olympus Have you no pity upon the Trojans and | M |
| would you incline the scales of victory in favour of the Danaans | E |
| Let me persuade you for it will be better thus stay the combat for | O |
| to day but let them renew the fight hereafter till they compass the | B |
| doom of Ilius since you goddesses have made up your minds to | P |
| destroy the city | F |
| And Minerva answered So be it Far Darter it was in this mind | Q |
| that I came down from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans Tell me | F |
| then how do you propose to end this present fighting | R |
| Apollo son of Jove replied Let us incite great Hector to | P |
| challenge some one of the Danaans in single combat on this the | B |
| Achaeans will be shamed into finding a man who will fight him | L |
| Minerva assented and Helenus son of Priam divined the counsel of | G |
| the gods he therefore went up to Hector and said Hector son of | G |
| Priam peer of gods in counsel I am your brother let me then | S |
| persuade you Bid the other Trojans and Achaeans all of them take | T |
| their seats and challenge the best man among the Achaeans to meet you | P |
| in single combat I have heard the voice of the ever living gods | E |
| and the hour of your doom is not yet come | U |
| Hector was glad when he heard this saying and went in among the | B |
| Trojans grasping his spear by the middle to hold them back and | M |
| they all sat down Agamemnon also bade the Achaeans be seated But | I |
| Minerva and Apollo in the likeness of vultures perched on father | A |
| Jove's high oak tree proud of their men and the ranks sat close | E |
| ranged together bristling with shield and helmet and spear As when | S |
| the rising west wind furs the face of the sea and the waters grow dark | V |
| beneath it so sat the companies of Trojans and Achaeans upon the | B |
| plain And Hector spoke thus | E |
| Hear me Trojans and Achaeans that I may speak even as I am | W |
| minded Jove on his high throne has brought our oaths and covenants to | P |
| nothing and foreshadows ill for both of us till you either take | T |
| the towers of Troy or are yourselves vanquished at your ships The | B |
| princes of the Achaeans are here present in the midst of you let him | L |
| then that will fight me stand forward as your champion against | X |
| Hector Thus I say and may Jove be witness between us If your | O |
| champion slay me let him strip me of my armour and take it to your | O |
| ships but let him send my body home that the Trojans and their | Y |
| wives may give me my dues of fire when I am dead In like manner if | Z |
| Apollo vouchsafe me glory and I slay your champion I will strip him | L |
| of his armour and take it to the city of Ilius where I will hang it | A2 |
| in the temple of Apollo but I will give up his body that the | B |
| Achaeans may bury him at their ships and the build him a mound by the | B |
| wide waters of the Hellespont Then will one say hereafter as he sails | E |
| his ship over the sea 'This is the monument of one who died long | B2 |
| since a champion who was slain by mighty Hector ' Thus will one say | E |
| and my fame shall not be lost | C2 |
| Thus did he speak but they all held their peace ashamed to decline | D2 |
| the challenge yet fearing to accept it till at last Menelaus rose | E |
| and rebuked them for he was angry Alas he cried vain braggarts | E |
| women forsooth not men double dyed indeed will be the stain upon us | E |
| if no man of the Danaans will now face Hector May you be turned every | F |
| man of you into earth and water as you sit spiritless and inglorious | E |
| in your places I will myself go out against this man but the | B |
| upshot of the fight will be from on high in the hands of the | B |
| immortal gods | E |
| With these words he put on his armour and then O Menelaus your | O |
| life would have come to an end at the hands of hands of Hector for he | F |
| was far better the man had not the princes of the Achaeans sprung | E2 |
| upon you and checked you King Agamemnon caught him by the right | F2 |
| hand and said Menelaus you are mad a truce to this folly Be | F |
| patient in spite of passion do not think of fighting a man so much | G2 |
| stronger than yourself as Hector son of Priam who is feared by many | F |
| another as well as you Even Achilles who is far more doughty than | H2 |
| you are shrank from meeting him in battle Sit down your own | I2 |
| people and the Achaeans will send some other champion to fight | F2 |
| Hector fearless and fond of battle though he be I ween his knees | E |
| will bend gladly under him if he comes out alive from the | B |
| hurly burly of this fight | F2 |
| With these words of reasonable counsel he persuaded his brother | A |
| whereon his squires gladly stripped the armour from off his shoulders | E |
| Then Nestor rose and spoke Of a truth said he the Achaean land | J2 |
| is fallen upon evil times The old knight Peleus counsellor and | M |
| orator among the Myrmidons loved when I was in his house to | P |
| question me concerning the race and lineage of all the Argives How | K2 |
| would it not grieve him could he hear of them as now quailing before | O |
| Hector Many a time would he lift his hands in prayer that his soul | L2 |
| might leave his body and go down within the house of Hades Would | M2 |
| by father Jove Minerva and Apollo that I were still young and | M |
| strong as when the Pylians and Arcadians were gathered in fight by the | B |
| rapid river Celadon under the walls of Pheia and round about the | B |
| waters of the river Iardanus The godlike hero Ereuthalion stood | M2 |
| forward as their champion with the armour of King Areithous upon | N2 |
| his shoulders Areithous whom men and women had surnamed 'the | B |
| Mace man ' because he fought neither with bow nor spear but broke the | B |
| battalions of the foe with his iron mace Lycurgus killed him not | O2 |
| in fair fight but by entrapping him in a narrow way where his mace | E |
| served him in no stead for Lycurgus was too quick for him and speared | O2 |
| him through the middle so he fell to earth on his back Lycurgus then | S |
| spoiled him of the armour which Mars had given him and bore it in | P2 |
| battle thenceforward but when he grew old and stayed at home he gave | Q2 |
| it to his faithful squire Ereuthalion who in this same armour | A |
| challenged the foremost men among us The others quaked and quailed | O2 |
| but my high spirit bade me fight him though none other would | O2 |
| venture I was the youngest man of them all but when I fought him | L |
| Minerva vouchsafed me victory He was the biggest and strongest man | H2 |
| that ever I killed and covered much ground as he lay sprawling upon | N2 |
| the earth Would that I were still young and strong as I then was for | O |
| the son of Priam would then soon find one who would face him But you | P |
| foremost among the whole host though you be have none of you any | F |
| stomach for fighting Hector | A |
| Thus did the old man rebuke them and forthwith nine men started | O2 |
| to their feet Foremost of all uprose King Agamemnon and after him | L |
| brave Diomed the son of Tydeus Next were the two Ajaxes men | S |
| clothed in valour as | E |
Homer
(1)
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