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pubOne.info thank you for your continued support and wish to present you this new edition. Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another.

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	23 octobre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819912811
Langue	English

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BOOK I
Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son ofPeleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a bravesoul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did ityield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jovefulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, andgreat Achilles, first fell out with one another.
And which of the gods was it that set them on toquarrel? It was the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with theking and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague the people,because the son of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. NowChryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter,and had brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in hishand the sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliants wreath andhe besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus,who were their chiefs.
"Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and all other Achaeans,may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city ofPriam, and to reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, andaccept a ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Jove."
On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice werefor respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered;but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent himroughly away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarryingabout our ships, nor yet coming hereafter. Your sceptre of the godand your wreath shall profit you nothing. I will not free her. Sheshall grow old in my house at Argos far from her own home, busyingherself with her loom and visiting my couch; so go, and do notprovoke me or it shall be the worse for you."
The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word hespoke, but went by the shore of the sounding sea and prayed apartto King Apollo whom lovely Leto had borne. "Hear me," he cried, "Ogod of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla andrulest Tenedos with thy might, hear me oh thou of Sminthe. If Ihave ever decked your temple with garlands, or burned yourthigh-bones in fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer, and let yourarrows avenge these my tears upon the Danaans."
Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. Hecame down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and hisquiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back withthe rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away fromthe ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rangdeath as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smotetheir mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts atthe people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead wereburning.
For nine whole days he shot his arrows among thepeople, but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly-moved thereto by Juno, who saw the Achaeans in their death-throesand had compassion upon them. Then, when they were got together, herose and spoke among them.
"Son of Atreus," said he, "I deem that we should nowturn roving home if we would escape destruction, for we are beingcut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest orprophet, or some reader of dreams (for dreams, too, are of Jove)who can tell us why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, and say whether itis for some vow that we have broken, or hecatomb that we have notoffered, and whether he will accept the savour of lambs and goatswithout blemish, so as to take away the plague from us."
With these words he sat down, and Calchas son ofThestor, wisest of augurs, who knew things past present and tocome, rose to speak. He it was who had guided the Achaeans withtheir fleet to Ilius, through the prophesyings with which PhoebusApollo had inspired him. With all sincerity and goodwill headdressed them thus:-
"Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell youabout the anger of King Apollo, I will therefore do so; butconsider first and swear that you will stand by me heartily in wordand deed, for I know that I shall offend one who rules the Argiveswith might, to whom all the Achaeans are in subjection. A plain mancannot stand against the anger of a king, who if he swallow hisdispleasure now, will yet nurse revenge till he has wreaked it.Consider, therefore, whether or no you will protect me."
And Achilles answered, "Fear not, but speak as it isborne in upon you from heaven, for by Apollo, Calchas, to whom youpray, and whose oracles you reveal to us, not a Danaan at our shipsshall lay his hand upon you, while I yet live to look upon the faceof the earth- no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who is byfar the foremost of the Achaeans."
Thereon the seer spoke boldly. "The god," he said,"is angry neither about vow nor hecatomb, but for his priestssake, whom Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he would not free hisdaughter nor take a ransom for her; therefore has he sent theseevils upon us, and will yet send others. He will not deliver theDanaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has restored the girlwithout fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy hecatombto Chryse. Thus we may perhaps appease him."
With these words he sat down, and Agamemnon rose inanger. His heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed fire ashe scowled on Calchas and said, "Seer of evil, you never yetprophesied smooth things concerning me, but have ever loved toforetell that which was evil. You have brought me neither comfortnor performance; and now you come seeing among Danaans, and sayingthat Apollo has plagued us because I would not take a ransom forthis girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on keepingher in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wifeClytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form and feature, inunderstanding and accomplishments. Still I will give her up if Imust, for I would have the people live, not die; but you must findme a prize instead, or I alone among the Argives shall be withoutone. This is not well; for you behold, all of you, that my prize isto go elsewhither."
And Achilles answered, "Most noble son of Atreus,covetous beyond all mankind, how shall the Achaeans find youanother prize? We have no common store from which to take one.Those we took from the cities have been awarded; we cannot disallowthe awards that have been made already. Give this girl, therefore,to the god, and if ever Jove grants us to sack the city of Troy wewill requite you three and fourfold."
Then Agamemnon said, "Achilles, valiant though yoube, you shall not thus outwit me. You shall not overreach and youshall not persuade me. Are you to keep your own prize, while I sittamely under my loss and give up the girl at your bidding? Let theAchaeans find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I willcome and take your own, or that of Ajax or of Ulysses; and he towhomsoever I may come shall rue my coming. But of this we will takethought hereafter; for the present, let us draw a ship into thesea, and find a crew for her expressly; let us put a hecatomb onboard, and let us send Chryseis also; further, let some chief manamong us be in command, either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or yourself, sonof Peleus, mighty warrior that you are, that we may offer sacrificeand appease the the anger of the god."
Achilles scowled at him and answered, "You aresteeped in insolence and lust of gain. With what heart can any ofthe Achaeans do your bidding, either on foray or in open fighting?I came not warring here for any ill the Trojans had done me. I haveno quarrel with them. They have not raided my cattle nor my horses,nor cut down my harvests on the rich plains of Phthia; for betweenme and them there is a great space, both mountain and sounding sea.We have followed you, Sir Insolence! for your pleasure, not ours-to gain satisfaction from the Trojans for your shameless self andfor Menelaus. You forget this, and threaten to rob me of the prizefor which I have toiled, and which the sons of the Achaeans havegiven me. Never when the Achaeans sack any rich city of the Trojansdo I receive so good a prize as you do, though it is my hands thatdo the better part of the fighting. When the sharing comes, yourshare is far the largest, and I, forsooth, must go back to myships, take what I can get and be thankful, when my labour offighting is done. Now, therefore, I shall go back to Phthia; itwill be much better for me to return home with my ships, for I willnot stay here dishonoured to gather gold and substance foryou."
And Agamemnon answered, "Fly if you will, I shallmake you no prayers to stay you. I have others here who will do mehonour, and above all Jove, the lord of counsel. There is no kinghere so hateful to me as you are, for you are ever quarrelsome andill affected. What though you be brave? Was it not heaven that madeyou so? Go home, then, with your ships and comrades to lord it overthe Myrmidons. I care neither for you nor for your anger; and thuswill I do: since Phoebus Apollo is taking Chryseis from me, I shallsend her with my ship and my followers, but I shall come to yourtent and take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn how muchstronger I am than you are, and that another may fear to sethimself up as equal or comparable with me."
The son of Peleus was furious, and his heart withinhis shaggy breast was divided whether to draw his sword, push theothers aside, and kill the son of Atreus, or to restrain himselfand check his anger. While he was thus in two minds, and wasdrawing his mighty sword from its scabbard, Minerva came down fromheaven (for Juno had sent her in the love she bore to them both),and seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair, visible to himalone, for of the others no man could see her. Achilles turned inamaze, and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once knew thatshe was Minerva. "Why are you here," said he, "daughter ofaegis-bearing Jove? To see the pride of Agamemnon, son of Atreus?Let me tell you- and it shall surely be- he shall pay for thisinsolence with his life."
And Minerva sai