<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=410306" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Iliad: Book 24</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">The assembly now broke up and the people went their ways each to his<br>own ship. There they made ready their supper, and then bethought<br>them of the blessed boon of sleep; but Achilles still wept for<br>thinking of his dear comrade, and sleep, before whom all things bow,<br>could take no hold upon him. This way and that did he turn as he<br>yearned after the might and manfulness of Patroclus; he thought of all<br>they had done together, and all they had gone through both on the<br>field of battle and on the waves of the weary sea. As he dwelt on<br>these things he wept bitterly and lay now on his side, now on his<br>back, and now face downwards, till at last he rose and went out as one<br>distraught to wander upon the seashore. Then, when he saw dawn<br>breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and<br>bound the body of Hector behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice<br>did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoetius, and then went<br>back into his tent, leaving the body on the ground full length and<br>with its face downwards. But Apollo would not suffer it to be<br>disfigured, for he pitied the man, dead though he now was; therefore<br>he shielded him with his golden aegis continually, that he might<br>take no hurt while Achilles was dragging him.<br>Thus shamefully did Achilles in his fury dishonour Hector; but the<br>blessed gods looked down in pity from heaven, and urged Mercury,<br>slayer of Argus, to steal the body. All were of this mind save only<br>Juno, Neptune, and Jove's grey-eyed daughter, who persisted in the<br>hate which they had ever borne towards Ilius with Priam and his<br>people; for they forgave not the wrong done them by Alexandrus in<br>disdaining the goddesses who came to him when he was in his<br>sheepyards, and preferring her who had offered him a wanton to his<br>ruin.<br>When, therefore, the morning of the twelfth day had now come,<br>Phoebus Apollo spoke among the immortals saying, "You gods ought to be<br>ashamed of yourselves; you are cruel and hard-hearted. Did not<br>Hector burn you thigh-bones of heifers and of unblemished goats? And<br>now dare you not rescue even his dead body, for his wife to look upon,<br>with his mother and child, his father Priam, and his people, who would<br>forthwith commit him to the flames, and give him his due funeral<br>rites? So, then, you would all be on the side of mad Achilles, who<br>knows neither right nor ruth? He is like some savage lion that in<br>the pride of his great strength and daring springs upon men's flocks<br>and gorges on them. Even so has Achilles flung aside all pity, and all<br>that conscience which at once so greatly banes yet greatly boons him<br>that will heed it. man may lose one far dearer than Achilles has lost-<br>a son, it may be, or a brother born from his own mother's womb; yet<br>when he has mourned him and wept over him he will let him bide, for it<br>takes much sorrow to kill a man; whereas Achilles, now that he has<br>slain noble Hector, drags him behind his chariot round the tomb of his<br>comrade. It were better of him, and for him, that he should not do so,<br>for brave though he be we gods may take it ill that he should vent his<br>fury upon dead clay."<br>Juno spoke up in a rage. "This were well," she cried, "O lord of the<br>silver bow, if you would give like honour to Hector and to Achilles;<br>but Hector was mortal and suckled at a woman's breast, whereas<br>Achilles is the offspring of a goddess whom I myself reared and<br>brought up. I married her to Peleus, who is above measure dear to<br>the immortals; you gods came all of you to her wedding; you feasted<br>along with them yourself and brought your lyre- false, and fond of low<br>company, that you have ever been."<br>Then said Jove, "Juno, be not so bitter. Their honour shall not be<br>equal, but of all that dwell in Ilius, Hector was dearest to the gods,<br>as also to myself, for his offerings never failed me. Never was my<br>altar stinted of its dues, nor of the drink-offerings and savour of<br>sacrifice which we claim of right. I shall therefore permit the body<br>of mighty Hector to be stolen; and yet this may hardly be without<br>Achilles coming to know it, for his mother keeps night and day<br>beside him. Let some one of you, therefore, send Thetis to me, and I<br>will impart my counsel to her, namely that Achilles is to accept a<br>ransom from Priam, and give up the body."<br>On this Iris fleet as the wind went forth to carry his message. Down<br>she plunged into the dark sea midway between Samos and rocky Imbrus;<br>the waters hissed as they closed over her, and she sank into the<br>bottom as the lead at the end of an ox-horn, that is sped to carry<br>death to fishes. She found Thetis sitting in a great cave with the<br>other sea-goddesses gathered round her; there she sat in the midst<br>of them weeping for her noble son who was to fall far from his own<br>land, on the rich plains of Troy. Iris went up to her and said,<br>"Rise Thetis; Jove, whose counsels fail not, bids you come to him."<br>And Thetis answered, "Why does the mighty god so bid me? I am in great<br>grief, and shrink from going in and out among the immortals. Still,<br>I will go, and the word that he may speak shall not be spoken in<br>vain."<br>The goddess took her dark veil, than which there can be no robe more<br>sombre, and went forth with fleet Iris leading the way before her. The<br>waves of the sea opened them a path, and when they reached the shore<br>they flew up into the heavens, where they found the all-seeing son<br>of Saturn with the blessed gods that live for ever assembled near him.<br>Minerva gave up her seat to her, and she sat down by the side of<br>father Jove. Juno then placed a fair golden cup in her hand, and spoke<br>to her in words of comfort, whereon Thetis drank and gave her back the<br>cup; and the sire of gods and men was the first to speak.<br>"So, goddess," said he, "for all your sorrow, and the grief that I<br>well know reigns ever in your heart, you have come hither to<br>Olympus, and I will tell you why I have sent for you. This nine days<br>past the immortals have been quarrelling about Achilles waster of<br>cities and the body of Hector. The gods would have Mercury slayer of<br>Argus steal the body, but in furtherance of our peace and amity<br>henceforward, I will concede such honour to your son as I will now<br>tell you. Go, then, to the host and lay these commands upon him; say<br>that the gods are angry with him, and that I am myself more angry than<br>them all, in that he keeps Hector at the ships and will not give him<br>up. He may thus fear me and let the body go. At the same time I will<br>send Iris to great Priam to bid him go to the ships of the Achaeans,<br>and ransom his son, taking with him such gifts for Achilles as may<br>give him satisfaction.<br>Silver-footed Thetis did as the god had told her, and forthwith down<br>she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus. She went to her<br>son's tents where she found him grieving bitterly, while his trusty<br>comrades round him were busy preparing their morning meal, for which<br>they had killed a great woolly sheep. His mother sat down beside him<br>and caressed him with her hand saying, "My son, how long will you keep<br>on thus grieving and making moan? You are gnawing at your own heart,<br>and think neither of food nor of woman's embraces; and yet these too<br>were well, for you have no long time to live, and death with the<br>strong hand of fate are already close beside you. Now, therefore, heed<br>what I say, for I come as a messenger from Jove; he says that the gods<br>are angry with you, and himself more angry than them all, in that<br>you keep Hector at the ships and will not give him up. Therefore let<br>him go, and accept a ransom for his body."<br>And Achilles answered, "So be it. If Olympian Jove of his own motion<br>thus commands me, let him that brings the ransom bear the body away."<br>Thus did mother and son talk together at the ships in long discourse<br>with one another. Meanwhile the son of Saturn sent Iris to the<br>strong city of Ilius. "Go," said he, "fleet Iris, from the mansions of<br>Olympus, and tell King Priam in Ilius, that he is to go to the ships<br>of the Achaeans and free the body of his dear son. He is to take<br>such gifts with him as shall give satisfaction to Achilles, and he<br>is to go alone, with no other Trojan, save only some honoured<br>servant who may drive his mules and waggon, and bring back the body of<br>him whom noble Achilles has slain. Let him have no thought nor fear of<br>death in his heart, for we will send the slayer of Argus to escort<br>him, and bring him within the tent of Achilles. Achilles will not kill<br>him nor let another do so, for he will take heed to his ways and sin<br>not, and he will entreat a suppliant with all honourable courtesy."<br>On this Iris, fleet as the wind, sped forth to deliver her<br>message. She went to Priam's house, and found weeping and<br>lamentation therein. His sons were seated round their father in the<br>outer courtyard, and their raiment was wet with tears: the old man sat<br>in the midst of them with his mantle wrapped close about his body, and<br>his head and neck all covered with the filth which he had clutched<br>as he lay grovelling in the mire. His daughters and his sons' wives<br>went wailing about the house, as they thought of the many and brave<br>men who lay dead, slain by the Argives. The messenger of Jove stood by<br>Priam and spoke softly to him, but fear fell upon him as she did so.<br>"Take heart," she said, "Priam offspring of Dardanus, take heart and<br>fear not. I bring no evil tidings, but am minded well towards you. I<br>come as a messenger from Jove, who though he be not near, takes<br>thought for you and pities you. The lord of Olympus bids you go and<br>ransom noble Hector, and take with you such gifts as shall give<br>satisfaction to Achilles. You are to go alone, with no Trojan, save<br>only some honoured servant who may drive your mules and waggon, and<br>bring back to the city the body of him whom noble Achilles has<br>slain. You are to have no thought, nor fear of death, for Jove will<br>send the slayer of Argus to escort you. When he has brought you within<br>Achilles' tent, Achilles will not kill you nor let another do so,<br>for he will take heed to his ways and sin not, and he will entreat a<br>suppliant with all honourable courtesy."<br>Iris went her way when she had thus spoken, and Priam told his<br>sons to get a mule-waggon ready, and to make the body of the waggon<br>fast upon the top of its bed. Then he went down into his fragrant<br>store-room, high-vaulted, and made of cedar-wood, where his many<br>treasures were kept, and he called Hecuba his wife. "Wife," said he,<br>"a messenger has come to me from Olympus, and has told me to go to the<br>ships of the Achaeans to ransom my dear son, taking with me such gifts<br>as shall give satisfaction to Achilles. What think you of this matter?<br>for my own part I am greatly moved to pass through the of the Achaeans<br>and go to their ships."<br>His wife cried aloud as she heard him, and said, "Alas, what has<br>become of that judgement for which you have been ever famous both<br>among strangers and your own people? How can you venture alone to<br>the ships of the Achaeans, and look into the face of him who has slain<br>so many of your brave sons? You must have iron courage, for if the<br>cruel savage sees you and lays hold on you, he will know neither<br>respect nor pity. Let us then weep Hector from afar here in our own<br>house, for when I gave him birth the threads of overruling fate were<br>spun for him that dogs should eat his flesh far from his parents, in<br>the house of that terrible man on whose liver I would fain fasten<br>and devour it. Thus would I avenge my son, who showed no cowardice<br>when Achilles slew him, and thought neither of Right nor of avoiding<br>battle as he stood in defence of Trojan men and Trojan women."<br>Then Priam said, "I would go, do not therefore stay me nor be as a<br>bird of ill omen in my house, for you will not move me. Had it been<br>some mortal man who had sent me some prophet or priest who divines<br>from sacrifice- I should have deemed him false and have given him no<br>heed; but now I have heard the goddess and seen her face to face,<br>therefore I will go and her saying shall not be in vain. If it be my<br>fate to die at the ships of the Achaeans even so would I have it;<br>let Achilles slay me, if I may but first have taken my son in my<br>arms and mourned him to my heart's comforting."<br>So saying he lifted the lids of his chests, and took out twelve<br>goodly vestments. He took also twelve cloaks of single fold, twelve<br>rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal number of shirts. He weighed<br>out ten talents of gold, and brought moreover two burnished tripods,<br>four cauldrons, and a very beautiful cup which the Thracians had given<br>him when he had gone to them on an embassy; it was very precious,<br>but he grudged not even this, so eager was he to ransom the body of<br>his son. Then he chased all the Trojans from the court and rebuked<br>them with words of anger. "Out," he cried, "shame and disgrace to me<br>that you are. Have you no grief in your own homes that you are come to<br>plague me here? Is it a small thing, think you, that the son of Saturn<br>has sent this sorrow upon me, to lose the bravest of my sons? Nay, you<br>shall prove it in person, for now he is gone the Achaeans will have<br>easier work in killing you. As for me, let me go down within the house<br>of Hades, ere mine eyes behold the sacking and wasting of the city."<br>He drove the men away with his staff, and they went forth as the old<br>man sped them. Then he called to his sons, upbraiding Helenus,<br>Paris, noble Agathon, Pammon, Antiphonus, Polites of the loud<br>battle-cry, Deiphobus, Hippothous, and Dius. These nine did the old<br>man call near him. "Come to me at once," he cried, "worthless sons who<br>do me shame; would that you had all been killed at the ships rather<br>than Hector. Miserable man that I am, I have had the bravest sons in<br>all Troy- noble Nestor, Troilus the dauntless charioteer, and Hector<br>who was a god among men, so that one would have thought he was son<br>to an immortal- yet there is not one of them left. Mars has slain them<br>and those of whom I am ashamed are alone left me. Liars, and light<br>of foot, heroes of the dance, robbers of lambs and kids from your<br>own people, why do you not get a waggon ready for me at once, and<br>put all these things upon it that I may set out on my way?"<br>Thus did he speak, and they feared the rebuke of their father.<br>They brought out a strong mule-waggon, newly made, and set the body of<br>the waggon fast on its bed. They took the mule-yoke from the peg on<br>which it hung, a yoke of boxwood with a knob on the top of it and<br>rings for the reins to go through. Then they brought a yoke-band<br>eleven cubits long, to bind the yoke to the pole; they bound it on<br>at the far end of the pole, and put the ring over the upright pin<br>making it fast with three turns of the band on either side the knob,<br>and bending the thong of the yoke beneath it. This done, they<br>brought from the store-chamber the rich ransom that was to purchase<br>the body of Hector, and they set it all orderly on the waggon; then<br>they yoked the strong harness-mules which the Mysians had on a time<br>given as a goodly present to Priam; but for Priam himself they yoked<br>horses which the old king had bred, and kept for own use.<br>Thus heedfully did Priam and his servant see to the yolking of their<br>cars at the palace. Then Hecuba came to them all sorrowful, with a<br>golden goblet of wine in her right hand, that they might make a<br>drink-offering before they set out. She stood in front of the horses<br>and said, "Take this, make a drink-offering to father Jove, and<br>since you are minded to go to the ships in spite of me, pray that<br>you may come safely back from the hands of your enemies. Pray to the<br>son of Saturn lord of the whirlwind, who sits on Ida and looks down<br>over all Troy, pray him to send his swift messenger on your right<br>hand, the bird of omen which is strongest and most dear to him of<br>all birds, that you may see it with your own eyes and trust it as<br>you go forth to the ships of the Danaans. If all-seeing Jove will<br>not send you this messenger, however set upon it you may be, I would<br>not have you go to the ships of the Argives."<br>And Priam answered, "Wife, I will do as you desire me; it is well to<br>lift hands in prayer to Jove, if so be he may have mercy upon me."<br>With this the old man bade the serving-woman pour pure water over<br>his hands, and the woman came, bearing the water in a bowl. He<br>washed his hands and took the cup from his wife; then he made the<br>drink-offering and prayed, standing in the middle of the courtyard and<br>turning his eyes to heaven. "Father Jove," he said, "that rulest<br>from Ida, most glorious and most great, grant that I may be received<br>kindly and compassionately in the tents of Achilles; and send your<br>swift messenger upon my right hand, the bird of omen which is<br>strongest and most dear to you of all birds, that I may see it with my<br>own eyes and trust it as I go forth to the ships of the Danaans."<br>So did he pray, and Jove the lord of counsel heard his prayer.<br>Forthwith he sent an eagle, the most unerring portent of all birds<br>that fly, the dusky hunter that men also call the Black Eagle. His<br>wings were spread abroad on either side as wide as the well-made and<br>well-bolted door of a rich man's chamber. He came to them flying<br>over the city upon their right hands, and when they saw him they<br>were glad and their hearts took comfort within them. The old man<br>made haste to mount his chariot, and drove out through the inner<br>gateway and under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Before him<br>went the mules drawing the four-wheeled waggon, and driven by wise<br>Idaeus; behind these were the horses, which the old man lashed with<br>his whip and drove swiftly through the city, while his friends<br>followed after, wailing and lamenting for him as though he were on his<br>road to death. As soon as they had come down from the city and had<br>reached the plain, his sons and sons-in-law who had followed him<br>went back to Ilius.<br>But Priam and Idaeus as they showed out upon the plain did not<br>escape the ken of all-seeing Jove, who looked down upon the old man<br>and pitied him; then he spoke to his son Mercury and said, "Mercury,<br>for it is you who are the most disposed to escort men on their way,<br>and to hear those whom you will hear, go, and so conduct Priam to<br>the ships of the Achaeans that no other of the Danaans shall see him<br>nor take note of him until he reach the son of Peleus."<br>Thus he spoke and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus,<br>did as he was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden<br>sandals with which he could fly like the wind over land and sea; he<br>took the wand with which he seals men's eyes in sleep, or wakes them<br>just as he pleases, and flew holding it in his hand till he came to<br>Troy and to the Hellespont. To look at, he was like a young man of<br>noble birth in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down<br>just coming upon his face.<br>Now when Priam and Idaeus had driven past the great tomb of Ilius,<br>they stayed their mules and horses that they might drink in the river,<br>for the shades of night were falling, when, therefore, Idaeus saw<br>Mercury standing near them he said to Priam, "Take heed, descendant of<br>Dardanus; here is matter which demands consideration. I see a man<br>who I think will presently fall upon us; let us fly with our horses,<br>or at least embrace his knees and implore him to take compassion<br>upon us?<br>When he heard this the old man's heart failed him, and he was in<br>great fear; he stayed where he was as one dazed, and the hair stood on<br>end over his whole body; but the bringer of good luck came up to him<br>and took him by the hand, saying, "Whither, father, are you thus<br>driving your mules and horses in the dead of night when other men<br>are asleep? Are you not afraid of the fierce Achaeans who are hard<br>by you, so cruel and relentless? Should some one of them see you<br>bearing so much treasure through the darkness of the flying night,<br>what would not your state then be? You are no longer young, and he who<br>is with you is too old to protect you from those who would attack you.<br>For myself, I will do you no harm, and I will defend you from any<br>one else, for you remind me of my own father."<br>And Priam answered, "It is indeed as you say, my dear son;<br>nevertheless some god has held his hand over me, in that he has sent<br>such a wayfarer as yourself to meet me so Opportunely; you are so<br>comely in mien and figure, and your judgement is so excellent that you<br>must come of blessed parents."<br>Then said the slayer of Argus, guide and guardian, "Sir, all that<br>you have said is right; but tell me and tell me true, are you taking<br>this rich treasure to send it to a foreign people where it may be<br>safe, or are you all leaving strong Ilius in dismay now that your<br>son has fallen who was the bravest man among you and was never lacking<br>in battle with the Achaeans?"<br>And Priam said, "Wo are you, my friend, and who are your parents,<br>that you speak so truly about the fate of my unhappy son?"<br>The slayer of Argus, guide and guardian, answered him, "Sir, you<br>would prove me, that you question me about noble Hector. Many a time<br>have I set eyes upon him in battle when he was driving the Argives<br>to their ships and putting them to the sword. We stood still and<br>marvelled, for Achilles in his anger with the son of Atreus suffered<br>us not to fight. I am his squire, and came with him in the same<br>ship. I am a Myrmidon, and my father's name is Polyctor: he is a<br>rich man and about as old as you are; he has six sons besides<br>myself, and I am the seventh. We cast lots, and it fell upon me to<br>sail hither with Achilles. I am now come from the ships on to the<br>plain, for with daybreak the Achaeans will set battle in array about<br>the city. They chafe at doing nothing, and are so eager that their<br>princes cannot hold them back."<br>Then answered Priam, "If you are indeed the squire of Achilles son<br>of Peleus, tell me now the Whole truth. Is my son still at the<br>ships, or has Achilles hewn him limb from limb, and given him to his<br>hounds?"<br>"Sir," replied the slayer of Argus, guide and guardian, "neither<br>hounds nor vultures have yet devoured him; he is still just lying at<br>the tents by the ship of Achilles, and though it is now twelve days<br>that he has lain there, his flesh is not wasted nor have the worms<br>eaten him although they feed on warriors. At daybreak Achilles drags<br>him cruelly round the sepulchre of his dear comrade, but it does him<br>no hurt. You should come yourself and see how he lies fresh as dew,<br>with the blood all washed away, and his wounds every one of them<br>closed though many pierced him with their spears. Such care have the<br>blessed gods taken of your brave son, for he was dear to them beyond<br>all measure."<br>The old man was comforted as he heard him and said, "My son, see<br>what a good thing it is to have made due offerings to the immortals;<br>for as sure as that he was born my son never forgot the gods that hold<br>Olympus, and now they requite it to him even in death. Accept<br>therefore at my hands this goodly chalice; guard me and with<br>heaven's help guide me till I come to the tent of the son of Peleus."<br>Then answered the slayer of Argus, guide and guardian, "Sir, you are<br>tempting me and playing upon my youth, but you shall not move me,<br>for you are offering me presents without the knowledge of Achilles<br>whom I fear and hold it great guiltless to defraud, lest some evil<br>presently befall me; but as your guide I would go with you even to<br>Argos itself, and would guard you so carefully whether by sea or land,<br>that no one should attack you through making light of him who was with<br>you."<br>The bringer of good luck then sprang on to the chariot, and<br>seizing the whip and reins he breathed fresh spirit into the mules and<br>horses. When they reached the trench and the wall that was before<br>the ships, those who were on guard had just been getting their<br>suppers, and the slayer of Argus threw them all into a deep sleep.<br>Then he drew back the bolts to open the gates, and took Priam inside<br>with the treasure he had upon his waggon. Ere long they came to the<br>lofty dwelling of the son of Peleus for which the Myrmidons had cut<br>pine and which they had built for their king; when they had built it<br>they thatched it with coarse tussock-grass which they had mown out<br>on the plain, and all round it they made a large courtyard, which<br>was fenced with stakes set close together. The gate was barred with<br>a single bolt of pine which it took three men to force into its place,<br>and three to draw back so as to open the gate, but Achilles could draw<br>it by himself. Mercury opened the gate for the old man, and brought in<br>the treasure that he was taking with him for the son of Peleus. Then<br>he sprang from the chariot on to the ground and said, "Sir, it is I,<br>immortal Mercury, that am come with you, for my father sent me to<br>escort you. I will now leave you, and will not enter into the presence<br>of Achilles, for it might anger him that a god should befriend<br>mortal men thus openly. Go you within, and embrace the knees of the<br>son of Peleus: beseech him by his father, his lovely mother, and his<br>son; thus you may move him."<br>With these words Mercury went back to high Olympus. Priam sprang<br>from his chariot to the ground, leaving Idaeus where he was, in charge<br>of the mules and horses. The old man went straight into the house<br>where Achilles, loved of the gods, was sitting. There he found him<br>with his men seated at a distance from him: only two, the hero<br>Automedon, and Alcimus of the race of Mars, were busy in attendance<br>about his person, for he had but just done eating and drinking, and<br>the table was still there. King Priam entered without their seeing<br>him, and going right up to Achilles he clasped his knees and kissed<br>the dread murderous hands that had slain so many of his sons.<br>As when some cruel spite has befallen a man that he should have<br>killed some one in his own country, and must fly to a great man's<br>protection in a land of strangers, and all marvel who see him, even so<br>did Achilles marvel as he beheld Priam. The others looked one to<br>another and marvelled also, but Priam besought Achilles saying, "Think<br>of your father, O Achilles like unto the gods, who is such even as I<br>am, on the sad threshold of old age. It may be that those who dwell<br>near him harass him, and there is none to keep war and ruin from<br>him. Yet when he hears of you being still alive, he is glad, and his<br>days are full of hope that he shall see his dear son come home to<br>him from Troy; but I, wretched man that I am, had the bravest in all<br>Troy for my sons, and there is not one of them left. I had fifty<br>sons when the Achaeans came here; nineteen of them were from a<br>single womb, and the others were borne to me by the women of my<br>household. The greater part of them has fierce Mars laid low, and<br>Hector, him who was alone left, him who was the guardian of the city<br>and ourselves, him have you lately slain; therefore I am now come to<br>the ships of the Achaeans to ransom his body from you with a great<br>ransom. Fear, O Achilles, the wrath of heaven; think on your own<br>father and have compassion upon me, who am the more pitiable, for I<br>have steeled myself as no man yet has ever steeled himself before<br>me, and have raised to my lips the hand of him who slew my son."<br>Thus spoke Priam, and the heart of Achilles yearned as he<br>bethought him of his father. He took the old man's hand and moved<br>him gently away. The two wept bitterly- Priam, as he lay at<br>Achilles' feet, weeping for Hector, and Achilles now for his father<br>and now for Patroclous, till the house was filled with their<br>lamentation. But when Achilles was now sated with grief and had<br>unburthened the bitterness of his sorrow, he left his seat and<br>raised the old man by the hand, in pity for his white hair and<br>beard; then he said, "Unhappy man, you have indeed been greatly<br>daring; how could you venture to come alone to the ships of the<br>Achaeans, and enter the presence of him who has slain so many of<br>your brave sons? You must have iron courage: sit now upon this seat,<br>and for all our grief we will hide our sorrows in our hearts, for<br>weeping will not avail us. The immortals know no care, yet the lot<br>they spin for man is full of sorrow; on the floor of Jove's palace<br>there stand two urns, the one filled with evil gifts, and the other<br>with good ones. He for whom Jove the lord of thunder mixes the gifts<br>he sends, will meet now with good and now with evil fortune; but he to<br>whom Jove sends none but evil gifts will be pointed at by the finger<br>of scorn, the hand of famine will pursue him to the ends of the world,<br>and he will go up and down the face of the earth, respected neither by<br>gods nor men. Even so did it befall Peleus; the gods endowed him<br>with all good things from his birth upwards, for he reigned over the<br>Myrmidons excelling all men in prosperity and wealth, and mortal<br>though he was they gave him a goddess for his bride. But even on him<br>too did heaven send misfortune, for there is no race of royal children<br>born to him in his house, save one son who is doomed to die all<br>untimely; nor may I take care of him now that he is growing old, for I<br>must stay here at Troy to be the bane of you and your children. And<br>you too, O Priam, I have heard that you were aforetime happy. They say<br>that in wealth and plenitude of offspring you surpassed all that is in<br>Lesbos, the realm of Makar to the northward, Phrygia that is more<br>inland, and those that dwell upon the great Hellespont; but from the<br>day when the dwellers in heaven sent this evil upon you, war and<br>slaughter have been about your city continually. Bear up against it,<br>and let there be some intervals in your sorrow. Mourn as you may for<br>your brave son, you will take nothing by it. You cannot raise him from<br>the dead, ere you do so yet another sorrow shall befall you."<br>And Priam answered, "O king, bid me not be seated, while Hector is<br>still lying uncared for in your tents, but accept the great ransom<br>which I have brought you, and give him to me at once that I may look<br>upon him. May you prosper with the ransom and reach your own land in<br>safety, seeing that you have suffered me to live and to look upon<br>the light of the sun."<br>Achilles looked at him sternly and said, "Vex me, sir, no longer;<br>I am of myself minded to give up the body of Hector. My mother,<br>daughter of the old man of the sea, came to me from Jove to bid me<br>deliver it to you. Moreover I know well, O Priam, and you cannot<br>hide it, that some god has brought you to the ships of the Achaeans,<br>for else, no man however strong and in his prime would dare to come to<br>our host; he could neither pass our guard unseen, nor draw the bolt of<br>my gates thus easily; therefore, provoke me no further, lest I sin<br>against the word of Jove, and suffer you not, suppliant though you<br>are, within my tents."<br>The old man feared him and obeyed. Then the son of Peleus sprang<br>like a lion through the door of his house, not alone, but with him<br>went his two squires Automedon and Alcimus who were closer to him than<br>any others of his comrades now that Patroclus was no more. These<br>unyoked the horses and mules, and bade Priam's herald and attendant be<br>seated within the house. They lifted the ransom for Hector's body from<br>the waggon. but they left two mantles and a goodly shirt, that<br>Achilles might wrap the body in them when he gave it to be taken home.<br>Then he called to his servants and ordered them to wash the body and<br>anoint it, but he first took it to a place where Priam should not<br>see it, lest if he did so, he should break out in the bitterness of<br>his grief, and enrage Achilles, who might then kill him and sin<br>against the word of Jove. When the servants had washed the body and<br>anointed it, and had wrapped it in a fair shirt and mantle, Achilles<br>himself lifted it on to a bier, and he and his men then laid it on the<br>waggon. He cried aloud as he did so and called on the name of his dear<br>comrade, "Be not angry with me, Patroclus," he said, "if you hear even<br>in the house of Hades that I have given Hector to his father for a<br>ransom. It has been no unworthy one, and I will share it equitably<br>with you."<br>Achilles then went back into the tent and took his place on the<br>richly inlaid seat from which he had risen, by the wall that was at<br>right angles to the one against which Priam was sitting. "Sir," he<br>said, "your son is now laid upon his bier and is ransomed according to<br>desire; you shall look upon him when you him away at daybreak; for the<br>present let us prepare our supper. Even lovely Niobe had to think<br>about eating, though her twelve children- six daughters and six<br>lusty sons- had been all slain in her house. Apollo killed the sons<br>with arrows from his silver bow, to punish Niobe, and Diana slew the<br>daughters, because Niobe had vaunted herself against Leto; she said<br>Leto had borne two children only, whereas she had herself borne<br>many- whereon the two killed the many. Nine days did they lie<br>weltering, and there was none to bury them, for the son of Saturn<br>turned the people into stone; but on the tenth day the gods in<br>heaven themselves buried them, and Niobe then took food, being worn<br>out with weeping. They say that somewhere among the rocks on the<br>mountain pastures of Sipylus, where the nymphs live that haunt the<br>river Achelous, there, they say, she lives in stone and still nurses<br>the sorrows sent upon her by the hand of heaven. Therefore, noble sir,<br>let us two now take food; you can weep for your dear son hereafter<br>as you are bearing him back to Ilius- and many a tear will he cost<br>you."<br>With this Achilles sprang from his seat and killed a sheep of<br>silvery whiteness, which his followers skinned and made ready all in<br>due order. They cut the meat carefully up into smaller pieces, spitted<br>them, and drew them off again when they were well roasted. Automedon<br>brought bread in fair baskets and served it round the table, while<br>Achilles dealt out the meat, and they laid their hands on the good<br>things that were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat<br>and drink, Priam, descendant of Dardanus, marvelled at the strength<br>and beauty of Achilles for he was as a god to see, and Achilles<br>marvelled at Priam as he listened to him and looked upon his noble<br>presence. When they had gazed their fill Priam spoke first. "And<br>now, O king," he said, "take me to my couch that we may lie down and<br>enjoy the blessed boon of sleep. Never once have my eyes been closed<br>from the day your hands took the life of my son; I have grovelled<br>without ceasing in the mire of my stable-yard, making moan and<br>brooding over my countless sorrows. Now, moreover, I have eaten<br>bread and drunk wine; hitherto I have tasted nothing."<br>As he spoke Achilles told his men and the women-servants to set beds<br>in the room that was in the gatehouse, and make them with good red<br>rugs, and spread coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks<br>for Priam and Idaeus to wear. So the maids went out carrying a torch<br>and got the two beds ready in all haste. Then Achilles said laughingly<br>to Priam, "Dear sir, you shall lie outside, lest some counsellor of<br>those who in due course keep coming to advise with me should see you<br>here in the darkness of the flying night, and tell it to Agamemnon.<br>This might cause delay in the delivery of the body. And now tell me<br>and tell me true, for how many days would you celebrate the funeral<br>rites of noble Hector? Tell me, that I may hold aloof from war and<br>restrain the host."<br>And Priam answered, "Since, then, you suffer me to bury my noble son<br>with all due rites, do thus, Achilles, and I shall be grateful. You<br>know how we are pent up within our city; it is far for us to fetch<br>wood from the mountain, and the people live in fear. Nine days,<br>therefore, will we mourn Hector in my house; on the tenth day we<br>will bury him and there shall be a public feast in his honour; on<br>the eleventh we will build a mound over his ashes, and on the twelfth,<br>if there be need, we will fight."<br>And Achilles answered, "All, King Priam, shall be as you have<br>said. I will stay our fighting for as long a time as you have named."<br>As he spoke he laid his hand on the old man's right wrist, in<br>token that he should have no fear; thus then did Priam and his<br>attendant sleep there in the forecourt, full of thought, while<br>Achilles lay in an inner room of the house, with fair Briseis by his<br>side.<br>And now both gods and mortals were fast asleep through the<br>livelong night, but upon Mercury alone, the bringer of good luck,<br>sleep could take no hold for he was thinking all the time how to get<br>King Priam away from the ships without his being seen by the strong<br>force of sentinels. He hovered therefore over Priam's head and said,<br>"Sir, now that Achilles has spared your life, you seem to have no fear<br>about sleeping in the thick of your foes. You have paid a great<br>ransom, and have received the body of your son; were you still alive<br>and a prisoner the sons whom you have left at home would have to<br>give three times as much to free you; and so it would be if<br>Agamemnon and the other Achaeans were to know of your being here."<br>When he heard this the old man was afraid and roused his servant.<br>Mercury then yoked their horses and mules, and drove them quickly<br>through the host so that no man perceived them. When they came to<br>the ford of eddying Xanthus, begotten of immortal Jove, Mercury went<br>back to high Olympus, and dawn in robe of saffron began to break<br>over all the land. Priam and Idaeus then drove on toward the city<br>lamenting and making moan, and the mules drew the body of Hector. No<br>one neither man nor woman saw them, till Cassandra, fair as golden<br>Venus standing on Pergamus, caught sight of her dear father in his<br>chariot, and his servant that was the city's herald with him. Then she<br>saw him that was lying upon the bier, drawn by the mules, and with a<br>loud cry she went about the city saying, "Come hither Trojans, men and<br>women, and look on Hector; if ever you rejoiced to see him coming from<br>battle when he was alive, look now on him that was the glory of our<br>city and all our people."<br>At this there was not man nor woman left in the city, so great a<br>sorrow had possessed them. Hard by the gates they met Priam as he<br>was bringing in the body. Hector's wife and his mother were the<br>first to mourn him: they flew towards the waggon and laid their<br>hands upon his head, while the crowd stood weeping round them. They<br>would have stayed before the gates, weeping and lamenting the livelong<br>day to the going down of the sun, had not Priam spoken to them from<br>the chariot and said, "Make way for the mules to pass you.<br>Afterwards when I have taken the body home you shall have your fill of<br>weeping."<br>On this the people stood asunder, and made a way for the waggon.<br>When they had borne the body within the house they laid it upon a<br>bed and seated minstrels round it to lead the dirge, whereon the women<br>joined in the sad music of their lament. Foremost among them all<br>Andromache led their wailing as she clasped the head of mighty<br>Hector in her embrace. "Husband," she cried, "you have died young, and<br>leave me in your house a widow; he of whom we are the ill-starred<br>parents is still a mere child, and I fear he may not reach manhood.<br>Ere he can do so our city will be razed and overthrown, for you who<br>watched over it are no more- you who were its saviour, the guardian of<br>our wives and children. Our women will be carried away captives to the<br>ships, and I among them; while you, my child, who will be with me will<br>be put to some unseemly tasks, working for a cruel master. Or, may be,<br>some Achaean will hurl you (O miserable death) from our walls, to<br>avenge some brother, son, or father whom Hector slew; many of them<br>have indeed bitten the dust at his hands, for your father's hand in<br>battle was no light one. Therefore do the people mourn him. You have<br>left, O Hector, sorrow unutterable to your parents, and my own grief<br>is greatest of all, for you did not stretch forth your arms and<br>embrace me as you lay dying, nor say to me any words that might have<br>lived with me in my tears night and day for evermore."<br>Bitterly did she weep the while, and the women joined in her lament.<br>Hecuba in her turn took up the strains of woe. "Hector," she cried,<br>"dearest to me of all my children. So long as you were alive the<br>gods loved you well, and even in death they have not been utterly<br>unmindful of you; for when Achilles took any other of my sons, he<br>would sell him beyond the seas, to Samos Imbrus or rugged Lemnos;<br>and when he had slain you too with his sword, many a time did he<br>drag you round the sepulchre of his comrade- though this could not<br>give him life- yet here you lie all fresh as dew, and comely as one<br>whom Apollo has slain with his painless shafts."<br>Thus did she too speak through her tears with bitter moan, and<br>then Helen for a third time took up the strain of lamentation.<br>"Hector," said she, "dearest of all my brothers-in-law-for I am wife<br>to Alexandrus who brought me hither to Troy- would that I had died ere<br>he did so- twenty years are come and gone since I left my home and<br>came from over the sea, but I have never heard one word of insult or<br>unkindness from you. When another would chide with me, as it might<br>be one of your brothers or sisters or of your brothers' wives, or my<br>mother-in-law- for Priam was as kind to me as though he were my own<br>father- you would rebuke and check them with words of gentleness and<br>goodwill. Therefore my tears flow both for you and for my unhappy<br>self, for there is no one else in Troy who is kind to me, but all<br>shrink and shudder as they go by me."<br>She wept as she spoke and the vast crowd that was gathered round her<br>joined in her lament. Then King Priam spoke to them saying, "Bring<br>wood, O Trojans, to the city, and fear no cunning ambush of the<br>Argives, for Achilles when he dismissed me from the ships gave me<br>his word that they should not attack us until the morning of the<br>twelfth day."<br>Forthwith they yoked their oxen and mules and gathered together<br>before the city. Nine days long did they bring in great heaps wood,<br>and on the morning of the tenth day with many tears they took trave<br>Hector forth, laid his dead body upon the summit of the pile, and<br>set the fire thereto. Then when the child of morning rosy-fingered<br>dawn appeared on the eleventh day, the people again assembled, round<br>the pyre of mighty Hector. When they were got together, they first<br>quenched the fire with wine wherever it was burning, and then his<br>brothers and comrades with many a bitter tear gathered his white<br>bones, wrapped them in soft robes of purple, and laid them in a golden<br>urn, which they placed in a grave and covered over with large stones<br>set close together. Then they built a barrow hurriedly over it keeping<br>guard on every side lest the Achaeans should attack them before they<br>had finished. When they had heaped up the barrow they went back<br>again into the city, and being well assembled they held high feast<br>in the house of Priam their king.<br>Thus, then, did they celebrate the funeral of Hector tamer of<br>horses.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Homer">Homer</a>, translated by Samuel Butler<div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=410306" data-title="The Iliad: Book 24 de Homer" data-description="The assembly now broke up and the people went their ways each to his/own ship. There they made ready their supper, and then bethought/them of the blessed boon of sleep; but Achilles still wept for/thinking of his dear comrade, and sleep, before wh..."></div> </div> </div>

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