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[1]All night both Gods and Chiefs equestrian slept, But not the Sire of all. He, waking soon, Mused how to exalt Achilles, and destroy No few in battle at the Grecian fleet. This counsel, at the last, as best he chose5 And likeliest; to dispatch an evil Dream To Agamemnon's tent, and to his side The phantom summoning, him thus addressed.

Haste, evil Dream! Fly to the Grecian fleet,

And, entering royal Agamemnon's tent,10

His ear possess thou thus, omitting nought

Of all that I enjoin thee. Bid him arm

His universal host, for that the time

When the Achaians shall at length possess

Wide Ilium, hath arrived. The Gods above15

No longer dwell at variance. The request

Of Juno hath prevail'd; now, wo to Troy!

So charged, the Dream departed. At the ships

Well-built arriving of Achaia's host,

He Agamemnon, son of Atreus, sought.20

032 Him sleeping in his tent he found, immersed

In soft repose ambrosial. At his head

The shadow stood, similitude exact

Of Nestor, son of Neleus; sage, with whom

In Agamemnon's thought might none compare.25

His form assumed, the sacred Dream began.

Oh son of Atreus the renown'd in arms

And in the race! Sleep'st thou? It ill behoves

To sleep all night the man of high employ,

And charged, as thou art, with a people's care.30

Now, therefore, mark me well, who, sent from Jove,

Inform thee, that although so far remote,

He yet compassionates and thinks on thee

With kind solicitude. He bids thee arm

Thy universal host, for that the time35

When the Achaians shall at length possess

Wide Ilium, hath arrived. The Gods above

No longer dwell at variance. The requests

Of Juno have prevail'd. Now, wo to Troy

From Jove himself! Her fate is on the wing.40

Awaking from thy dewy slumbers, hold

In firm remembrance all that thou hast heard.

So spake the Dream, and vanishing, him left

In false hopes occupied and musings vain.

Full sure he thought, ignorant of the plan45

By Jove design'd, that day the last of Troy.

Fond thought! For toils and agonies to Greeks

And Trojans both, in many a bloody field

To be endured, the Thunderer yet ordain'd.

Starting he woke, and seeming still to hear50

The warning voice divine, with hasty leap

Sprang from his bed, and sat.[2] His fleecy vest 033 New-woven he put on, and mantle wide; His sandals fair to his unsullied feet He braced, and slung his argent-studded sword.55 Then, incorruptible for evermore The sceptre of his sires he took, with which He issued forth into the camp of Greece.

Aurora now on the Olympian heights

Proclaiming stood new day to all in heaven,60

When he his clear-voiced heralds bade convene

The Greeks in council. Went the summons forth

Into all quarters, and the throng began.

First, at the ship of Nestor, Pylian King,[3] The senior Chiefs for high exploits renown'd65 He gather'd, whom he prudent thus address'd.

My fellow warriors, hear! A dream from heaven,

Amid the stillness of the vacant night

Approach'd me, semblance close in stature, bulk,

And air, of noble Nestor. At mine head70

The shadow took his stand, and thus he spake.

Oh son of Atreus the renown'd in arms

And in the race, sleep'st thou? It ill behoves

To sleep all night the man of high employ,

And charged as thou art with a people's care.75

Now, therefore, mark me well, who, sent from Jove,

Inform thee, that although so far remote,

He yet compassionates and thinks on thee

With kind solicitude. He bids thee arm

Thy universal host; for that the time80

When the Achaians shall at length possess

Wide Ilium, hath arrived. The Gods above

No longer dwell at variance. The requests

Of Juno have prevail'd. Now, wo to Troy

From Jove himself! Her fate is on the wing.85

Charge this on thy remembrance. Thus he spake,

Then vanished suddenly, and I awoke.

Haste therefore, let us arm, if arm we may,[4] 034 The warlike sons of Greece; but first, myself Will prove them, recommending instant flight90 With all our ships, and ye throughout the host Dispersed, shall, next, encourage all to stay.

He ceased, and sat; when in the midst arose

Of highest fame for wisdom, Nestor, King

Of sandy Pylus, who them thus bespake.95

Friends, Counsellors, and Leaders of the Greeks!

Had any meaner Argive told his dream,

We had pronounced it false, and should the more

Have shrunk from battle; but the dream is his

Who boasts himself our highest in command.100

Haste, arm we, if we may, the sons of Greece.

So saying, he left the council; him, at once

The sceptred Chiefs, obedient to his voice,

Arising, follow'd; and the throng began.

As from the hollow rock bees stream abroad,105

And in succession endless seek the fields,

Now clustering, and now scattered far and near,

In spring-time, among all the new-blown flowers,

So they to council swarm'd, troop after troop,

Grecians of every tribe, from camp and fleet110

Assembling orderly o'er all the plain

Beside the shore of Ocean. In the midst

A kindling rumor, messenger of Jove,

Impell'd them, and they went. Loud was the din

Of the assembling thousands; groan'd the earth115

When down they sat, and murmurs ran around.

Nine heralds cried aloud—Will ye restrain

Your clamors, that your heaven-taught Kings may speak?

Scarce were they settled, and the clang had ceased,

When Agamemnon, sovereign o'er them all,120

Sceptre in hand, arose. (That sceptre erst

Vulcan with labor forged, and to the hand

Consign'd it of the King, Saturnian Jove;

035 Jove to the vanquisher[5] of Ino's[6] guard, And he to Pelops; Pelops in his turn,125 To royal Atreus; Atreus at his death Bequeath'd it to Thyestes rich in flocks, And rich Thyestes left it to be borne By Agamemnon, symbol of his right To empire over Argos and her isles)130 On that he lean'd, and rapid, thus began.[7]

Friends, Grecian Heroes, ministers of Mars!

Ye see me here entangled in the snares

Of unpropitious Jove. He promised once,

And with a nod confirm'd it, that with spoils135

Of Ilium laden, we should hence return;

But now, devising ill, he sends me shamed,

And with diminished numbers, home to Greece.

So stands his sovereign pleasure, who hath laid

The bulwarks of full many a city low,140

And more shall level, matchless in his might.

That such a numerous host of Greeks as we,

Warring with fewer than ourselves, should find

No fruit of all our toil, (and none appears)

Will make us vile with ages yet to come.145

For should we now strike truce, till Greece and Troy

Might number each her own, and were the Greeks

Distributed in bands, ten Greeks in each,

Our banded decads should exceed so far

Their units, that all Troy could not supply150

For every ten, a man, to fill us wine;

So far the Achaians, in my thought, surpass

The native Trojans. But in Troy are those

Who baffle much my purpose; aids derived

From other states, spear-arm'd auxiliars, firm155

In the defence of Ilium's lofty towers.

036 Nine years have passed us over, nine long years;

Our ships are rotted, and our tackle marr'd,

And all our wives and little-ones at home

Sit watching our return, while this attempt160

Hangs still in doubt, for which that home we left.

Accept ye then my counsel. Fly we swift

With all our fleet back to our native land,

Hopeless of Troy, not yet to be subdued.

So spake the King, whom all the concourse heard165

With minds in tumult toss'd; all, save the few,

Partners of his intent. Commotion shook

The whole assembly, such as heaves the flood

Of the Icarian Deep, when South and East

Burst forth together from the clouds of Jove.170

And as when vehement the West-wind falls

On standing corn mature, the loaded ears

Innumerable bow before the gale,

So was the council shaken. With a shout

All flew toward the ships; uprais'd, the dust175

Stood o'er them; universal was the cry,

"Now clear the passages, strike down the props,

Set every vessel free, launch, and away!"

Heaven rang with exclamation of the host

All homeward bent, and launching glad the fleet.180

Then baffled Fate had the Achaians seen

Returning premature, but Juno thus,

With admonition quick to Pallas spake.

Unconquer'd daughter of Jove Ægis-arm'd!

Ah foul dishonor! Is it thus at last185

That the Achaians on the billows borne,

Shall seek again their country, leaving here,

To be the vaunt of Ilium and her King,

Helen of Argos, in whose cause the Greeks

Have numerous perish'd from their home remote?190

Haste! Seek the mail-arm'd multitude, by force

Detain them of thy soothing speech, ere yet

All launch their oary barks into the flood.

She spake, nor did Minerva not comply,

037 But darting swift from the Olympian heights,195

Reach'd soon Achaia's fleet. There, she perceived

Prudent as Jove himself, Ulysses; firm

He stood; he touch'd not even with his hand

His sable bark, for sorrow whelm'd his soul.

The Athenæan Goddess azure-eyed200

Beside him stood, and thus the Chief bespake.

Laertes' noble son, for wiles renown'd!

Why seek ye, thus precipitate, your ships?

Intend ye flight? And is it thus at last,

That the Achaians on the billows borne,205

Shall seek again their country, leaving here,

To be the vaunt of Ilium and her King,

Helen of Argos, in whose cause the Greeks

Have numerous perish'd from their home remote?

Delay not. Rush into the throng; by force210

Detain them of thy soothing speech, ere yet

All launch their oary barks into the flood.

She ceased, whom by her voice Ulysses knew,

Casting his mantle from him, which his friend

Eurybates the Ithacensian caught,215

He ran; and in his course meeting the son

Of Atreus, Agamemnon, from his hand

The everlasting sceptre quick received,

Which bearing, through Achaia's fleet he pass'd.

What King soever, or distinguish'd Greek220

He found, approaching to his side, in terms

Of gentle sort he stay'd him. Sir, he cried,

It is unseemly that a man renown'd

As thou, should tremble. Go—Resume the seat

Which thou hast left, and bid the people sit.225

Thou know'st not clearly yet the monarch's mind.

He proves us now, but soon he will chastize.

All were not present; few of us have heard

His speech this day in council. Oh, beware,

Lest in resentment of this hasty course230

Irregular, he let his anger loose.

Dread is the anger of a King; he reigns

038 By Jove's own ordinance, and is dear to Jove,

But what plebeian base soe'er he heard

Stretching his throat to swell the general cry,235

He laid the sceptre smartly on his back,

With reprimand severe. Fellow, he said,

Sit still; hear others; thy superiors hear.

For who art thou? A dastard and a drone,

Of none account in council, or in arms.240

By no means may we all alike bear sway

At Ilium; such plurality of Kings

Were evil. One suffices. One, to whom

The son of politic Saturn hath assign'd

The sceptre, and inforcement of the laws,245

That he may rule us as a monarch ought.[8]

With such authority the troubled host

He sway'd; they, quitting camp and fleet again

Rush'd back to council; deafening was the sound

As when a billow of the boisterous deep250

Some broad beach dashes, and the Ocean roars.

The host all seated, and the benches fill'd,

Thersites only of loquacious tongue

Ungovern'd, clamor'd mutinous; a wretch

Of utterance prompt, but in coarse phrase obscene255

Deep learn'd alone, with which to slander Kings.

Might he but set the rabble in a roar,

He cared not with what jest; of all from Greece

To Ilium sent, his country's chief reproach.

Cross-eyed he was, and halting moved on legs260

Ill-pair'd; his gibbous shoulders o'er his breast

039 Contracted, pinch'd it; to a peak his head

Was moulded sharp, and sprinkled thin with hair

Of starveling length, flimsy and soft as down.

Achilles and Ulysses had incurr'd265

Most his aversion; them he never spared;

But now, imperial Agamemnon 'self

In piercing accents stridulous he charged

With foul reproach. The Grecians with contempt

Listen'd, and indignation, while with voice270

At highest pitch, he thus the monarch mock'd.

What wouldst thou now? Whereof is thy complaint

Now, Agamemnon? Thou hast fill'd thy tents

With treasure, and the Grecians, when they take

A city, choose the loveliest girls for thee.275

Is gold thy wish? More gold? A ransom brought

By some chief Trojan for his son's release

Whom I, or other valiant Greek may bind?

Or wouldst thou yet a virgin, one, by right

Another's claim, but made by force thine own?280

It was not well, great Sir, that thou shouldst bring

A plague on the Achaians, as of late.

But come, my Grecian sisters, soldiers named

Unfitly, of a sex too soft for war,

Come, let us homeward: let him here digest285

What he shall gorge, alone; that he may learn

If our assistance profit him or not.

For when he shamed Achilles, he disgraced

A Chief far worthier than himself, whose prize

He now withholds. But tush—Achilles lacks290

Himself the spirit of a man; no gall

Hath he within him, or his hand long since

Had stopp'd that mouth,[9] that it should scoff no more.

Thus, mocking royal Agamemnon, spake

Thersites. Instant starting to his side,

295

Noble Ulysses with indignant brows

Survey'd him, and him thus reproved severe.

040 Thersites! Railer!—peace. Think not thyself,

Although thus eloquent, alone exempt

From obligation not to slander Kings.300

I deem thee most contemptible, the worst

Of Agamemnon's followers to the war;

Presume not then to take the names revered

Of Sovereigns on thy sordid lips, to asperse

Their sacred character, and to appoint305

The Greeks a time when they shall voyage home.

How soon, how late, with what success at last

We shall return, we know not: but because

Achaia's heroes numerous spoils allot

To Agamemnon, Leader of the host,310

Thou therefore from thy seat revilest the King.

But mark me. If I find thee, as even now,

Raving and foaming at the lips again,

May never man behold Ulysses' head

On these my shoulders more, and may my son315

Prove the begotten of another Sire,

If I not strip thee to that hide of thine

As bare as thou wast born, and whip thee hence

Home to thy galley, sniveling like a boy.

He ceased, and with his sceptre on the back320

And shoulders smote him. Writhing to and fro,

He wept profuse, while many a bloody whelk

Protuberant beneath the sceptre sprang.

Awe-quell'd he sat, and from his visage mean,

Deep-sighing, wiped the rheums. It was no time325

For mirth, yet mirth illumined every face,

And laughing, thus they spake. A thousand acts

Illustrious, both by well-concerted plans

And prudent disposition of the host

Ulysses hath achieved, but this by far330

Transcends his former praise, that he hath quell'd

Such contumelious rhetoric profuse.

The valiant talker shall not soon, we judge,

Take liberties with royal names again.[10] 041 So spake the multitude. Then, stretching forth335 The sceptre, city-spoiler Chief, arose Ulysses. Him beside, herald in form, Appeared Minerva. Silence she enjoined To all, that all Achaia's sons might hear, Foremost and rearmost, and might weigh his words.340 He then his counsel, prudent, thus proposed.

Atrides! Monarch! The Achaians seek

To make thee ignominious above all

In sight of all mankind. None recollects

His promise more in steed-famed Argos pledged,345

Here to abide till Ilium wall'd to heaven

Should vanquish'd sink, and all her wealth be ours.

No—now, like widow'd women, or weak boys,

They whimper to each other, wishing home.

And home, I grant, to the afflicted soul350

Seems pleasant.[11] The poor seaman from his wife One month detain'd, cheerless his ship and sad Possesses, by the force of wintry blasts, And by the billows of the troubled deep Fast lock'd in port. But us the ninth long year355 Revolving, finds camp'd under Ilium still. I therefore blame not, if they mourn beside Their sable barks, the Grecians. Yet the shame That must attend us after absence long Returning unsuccessful, who can bear?360 Be patient, friends! wait only till we learn If Calchas truly prophesied, or not; For well we know, and I to all appeal, Whom Fate hath not already snatch'd away, (It seems but yesterday, or at the most365 042 A day or two before) that when the ships Wo-fraught for Priam, and the race of Troy, At Aulis met, and we beside the fount With perfect hecatombs the Gods adored Beneath the plane-tree, from whose root a stream370 Ran crystal-clear, there we beheld a sign Wonderful in all eyes. A serpent huge, Tremendous spectacle! with crimson spots His back all dappled, by Olympian Jove Himself protruded, from the altar's foot375 Slipp'd into light, and glided to the tree. There on the topmost bough, close-cover'd sat With foliage broad, eight sparrows, younglings all, Then newly feather'd, with their dam, the ninth. The little ones lamenting shrill he gorged,380 While, wheeling o'er his head, with screams the dam Bewail'd her darling brood. Her also next, Hovering and clamoring, he by the wing Within his spiry folds drew, and devoured. All eaten thus, the nestlings and the dam,385 The God who sent him, signalized him too, For him Saturnian Jove transform'd to stone. We wondering stood, to see that strange portent Intrude itself into our holy rites, When Calchas, instant, thus the sign explain'd.390

Why stand ye, Greeks, astonish'd? Ye behold

A prodigy by Jove himself produced,

An omen, whose accomplishment indeed

Is distant, but whose fame shall never die.[12] E'en as this serpent in your sight devour'd395 Eight youngling sparrows, with their dam, the ninth, So we nine years must war on yonder plain, And in the tenth, wide-bulwark'd Troy is ours.

So spake the seer, and as he spake, is done.

043 Wait, therefore, brave Achaians! go not hence400

Till Priam's spacious city be your prize.

He ceased, and such a shout ensued, that all

The hollow ships the deafening roar return'd

Of acclamation, every voice the speech

Extolling of Ulysses, glorious Chief.405

Then Nestor the Gerenian,[13] warrior old, Arising, spake; and, by the Gods, he said, Ye more resemble children inexpert In war, than disciplined and prudent men. Where now are all your promises and vows,410 Councils, libations, right-hand covenants?[14] Burn them, since all our occupation here Is to debate and wrangle, whereof end Or fruit though long we wait, shall none be found. But, Sovereign, be not thou appall'd. Be firm.415 Relax not aught of thine accustomed sway, But set the battle forth as thou art wont. And if there be a Grecian, here and there, One,[15] adverse to the general voice, let such Wither alone. He shall not see his wish420 Gratified, neither will we hence return To Argos, ere events shall yet have proved Jove's promise false or true. For when we climb'd Our gallant barks full-charged with Ilium's fate, Saturnian Jove omnipotent, that day,425 (Omen propitious!) thunder'd on the right. Let no man therefore pant for home, till each Possess a Trojan spouse, and from her lips 044 Take sweet revenge for Helen's pangs of heart. Who then? What soldier languishes and sighs430 To leave us? Let him dare to lay his hand On his own vessel, and he dies the first. But hear, O King! I shall suggest a course Not trivial. Agamemnon! sort the Greeks By districts and by tribes, that tribe may tribe435 Support, and each his fellow. This performed, And with consent of all, thou shalt discern With ease what Chief, what private man deserts, And who performs his part. The base, the brave, Such disposition made, shall both appear;440 And thou shalt also know, if heaven or we, The Gods, or our supineness, succor Troy.

To whom Atrides, King of men, replied.

Old Chief! Thou passest all Achaia's sons

In consultation; would to Jove our Sire,445

To Athenæan Pallas, and Apollo!

That I had ten such coadjutors, wise

As thou art, and the royal city soon

Of Priam, with her wealth, should all be ours.[16] But me the son of Saturn, Jove supreme450 Himself afflicts, who in contentious broils Involves me, and in altercation vain. Thence all that wordy tempest for a girl Achilles and myself between, and I The fierce aggressor. Be that breach but heal'd!455 And Troy's reprieve thenceforth is at an end. Go—take refreshment now that we may march Forth to our enemies. Let each whet well His spear, brace well his shield, well feed his brisk High-mettled horses, well survey and search460 His chariot on all sides, that no defect Disgrace his bright habiliments of war. So will we give the day from morn to eve To dreadful battle. Pause there shall be none Till night divide us. Every buckler's thong465 045 Shall sweat on the toil'd bosom, every hand That shakes the spear shall ache, and every steed Shall smoke that whirls the chariot o'er the plain. Wo then to whom I shall discover here Loitering among the tents; let him escape470 My vengeance if he can. The vulture's maw Shall have his carcase, and the dogs his bones.

He spake; whom all applauded with a shout

Loud as against some headland cliff the waves

Roll'd by the stormy South o'er rocks that shoot475

Afar into the deep, which in all winds

The flood still overspreads, blow whence they may.

Arising, forth they rush'd, among the ships

All scatter'd; smoke from every tent arose,

The host their food preparing; next, his God480

Each man invoked (of the Immortals him

Whom he preferr'd) with sacrifice and prayer

For safe escape from danger and from death.

But Agamemnon to Saturnian Jove

Omnipotent, an ox of the fifth year485

Full-flesh'd devoted, and the Princes call'd

Noblest of all the Grecians to his feast.

First, Nestor with Idomeneus the King,

Then either Ajax, and the son he call'd

Of Tydeus, with Ulysses sixth and last,490

Jove's peer in wisdom. Menelaus went,

Heroic Chief! unbidden, for he knew

His brother's mind with weight of care oppress'd.

The ox encircling, and their hands with meal

Of consecration fill'd, the assembly stood,495

When Agamemnon thus his prayer preferred.

Almighty Father! Glorious above all!

Cloud-girt, who dwell'st in heaven thy throne sublime,

Let not the sun go down, till Priam's roof

Fall flat into the flames; till I shall burn500

His gates with fire; till I shall hew away

His hack'd and riven corslet from the breast

Of Hector, and till numerous Chiefs, his friends,

046 Around him, prone in dust, shall bite the ground.

So prayed he, but with none effect, The God505

Received his offering, but to double toil

Doom'd them, and sorrow more than all the past.

They then, the triturated barley grain

First duly sprinkling, the sharp steel infix'd

Deep in the victim's neck reversed, then stripp'd510

The carcase, and divided at their joint

The thighs, which in the double caul involved

They spread with slices crude, and burn'd with fire

Ascending fierce from billets sere and dry.

The spitted entrails next they o'er the coals515

Suspended held. The thighs with fire consumed,

They gave to each his portion of the maw,

Then slash'd the remnant, pierced it with the spits,

And managing with culinary skill

The roast, withdrew it from the spits again.520

Thus, all their task accomplished, and the board

Set forth, they feasted, and were all sufficed.

When neither hunger more nor thirst remain'd

Unsatisfied, Gerenian Nestor spake.

Atrides! Agamemnon! King of men!525

No longer waste we time in useless words,

Nor to a distant hour postpone the work

To which heaven calls thee. Send thine heralds forth.

Who shall convene the Achaians at the fleet,

That we, the Chiefs assembled here, may range,530

Together, the imbattled multitude,

And edge their spirits for immediate fight.

He spake, nor Agamemnon not complied.

At once he bade his clear-voiced heralds call

The Greeks to battle. They the summons loud535

Gave forth, and at the sound the people throng'd.

Then Agamemnon and the Kings of Greece

Dispatchful drew them into order just,

With whom Minerva azure-eyed advanced,

The inestimable Ægis on her arm,540

Immortal, unobnoxious to decay

047 A hundred braids, close twisted, all of gold,

Each valued at a hundred beeves,[17] around Dependent fringed it. She from side to side Her eyes cerulean rolled, infusing thirst545 Of battle endless into every breast. War won them now, war sweeter now to each Than gales to waft them over ocean home.[18] As when devouring flames some forest seize On the high mountains, splendid from afar550 The blaze appears, so, moving on the plain, The steel-clad host innumerous flash'd to heaven. And as a multitude of fowls in flocks Assembled various, geese, or cranes, or swans Lithe-neck'd, long hovering o'er Caÿster's banks555 On wanton plumes, successive on the mead Alight at last, and with a clang so loud That all the hollow vale of Asius rings; In number such from ships and tents effused, They cover'd the Scamandrian plain; the earth560 Rebellow'd to the feet of steeds and men. They overspread Scamander's grassy vale, Myriads, as leaves, or as the flowers of spring. As in the hovel where the peasant milks His kine in spring-time, when his pails are fill'd,565 Thick clouds of humming insects on the wing Swarm all around him, so the Grecians swarm'd An unsumm'd multitude o'er all the plain, Bright arm'd, high crested, and athirst for war. As goat-herds separate their numerous flocks570 With ease, though fed promiscuous, with like ease Their leaders them on every side reduced 048 To martial order glorious;[19] among whom Stood Agamemnon "with an eye like Jove's, To threaten or command," like Mars in girth,575 And with the port of Neptune. As the bull Conspicuous among all the herd appears, For he surpasses all, such Jove ordain'd That day the son of Atreus, in the midst Of Heroes, eminent above them all.580

Tell me, (for ye are are heavenly, and beheld[20] A scene, whereof the faint report alone Hath reached our ears, remote and ill-informed,) Tell me, ye Muses, under whom, beneath What Chiefs of royal or of humbler note585 Stood forth the embattled Greeks? The host at large; They were a multitude in number more Than with ten tongues, and with ten mouths, each mouth Made vocal with a trumpet's throat of brass I might declare, unless the Olympian nine,590 Jove's daughters, would the chronicle themselves Indite, of all assembled, under Troy. I will rehearse the Captains and their fleets.

[21]Bœotia's sturdy sons Peneleus led, And Leïtus, whose partners in command595 049 Arcesilaus and Prothoenor came, And Clonius. Them the dwellers on the rocks Of Aulis followed, with the hardy clans Of Hyrie, Schoenos, Scholos, and the hills Of Eteon; Thespia, Græa, and the plains600 Of Mycalessus them, and Harma served, Eleon, Erythræ, Peteon; Hyle them, Hesius and Ocalea, and the strength Of Medeon; Copæ also in their train Marched, with Eutresis and the mighty men605 Of Thisbe famed for doves; nor pass unnamed Whom Coronæa, and the grassy land Of Haliartus added to the war, Nor whom Platæa, nor whom Glissa bred, And Hypothebæ,[22] and thy sacred groves610 To Neptune, dark Onchestus. Arne claims A record next for her illustrious sons, Vine-bearing Arne. Thou wast also there Mideia, and thou Nissa; nor be thine Though last, Anthedon, a forgotten name.615 These in Bœotia's fair and gallant fleet Of fifty ships, each bearing o'er the waves Thrice forty warriors, had arrived at Troy.

In thirty ships deep-laden with the brave,

Aspledon and Orchomenos had sent620

050 Their chosen youth; them ruled a noble pair,

Sons of Astyoche; she, lovely nymph,

Received by stealth, on Actor's stately roof,

The embraces of a God, and bore to Mars

Twins like himself, Ascalaphus the bold,625

And bold Iälmenus, expert in arms.

Beneath Epistrophus and Schedius, took

Their destined station on Bœotia's left,

The brave Phocensians; they in forty ships

From Cyparissus came, and from the rocks630

Of Python, and from Crissa the divine;

From Anemoria, Daulis, Panopeus,

And from Hyampolis, and from the banks

Of the Cephissus, sacred stream, and from

Lilæa, seated at its fountain-head.635

Next from beyond Eubœa's happy isle

In forty ships conveyed, stood forth well armed

The Locrians; dwellers in Augeia some

The pleasant, some of Opoëis possessed,

Some of Calliarus; these Scarpha sent,640

And Cynus those; from Bessa came the rest,

From Tarpha, Thronius, and from the brink

Of loud Boagrius; Ajax them, the swift,

Son of Oïleus led, not such as he

From Telamon, big-boned and lofty built,645

But small of limb, and of an humbler crest;

Yet he, competitor had none throughout

The Grecians of what land soe'er, for skill

In ushering to its mark the rapid lance.

Elphenor brought (Calchodon's mighty son)650

The Eubœans to the field. In forty ships

From Histrïæa for her vintage famed,

From Chalcis, from Iretria, from the gates

Of maritime Cerinthus, from the heights

Of Dios rock-built citadel sublime,655

And from Caristus and from Styra came

His warlike multitudes, all named alike

Abantes, on whose shoulders fell behind

051 Their locks profuse,[23] and they were eager all To split the hauberk with the pointed spear.660

Nor Athens had withheld her generous sons,

The people of Erectheus. Him of old

The teeming glebe produced, a wondrous birth!

And Pallas rear'd him: her own unctuous fane

She made his habitation, where with bulls665

The youth of Athens, and with slaughter'd lambs

Her annual worship celebrate. Then led

Menestheus, whom, (sage Nestor's self except,

Thrice school'd in all events of human life,)

None rivall'd ever in the just array670

Of horse and man to battle. Fifty ships

Black-prowed, had borne them to the distant war.

Ajax from Salamis twelve vessels brought,

And where the Athenian band in phalanx stood

Marshall'd compact, there station'd he his powers.675

The men of Argos and Tyrintha next,

And of Hermione, that stands retired

With Asine, within her spacious bay;

Of Epidaurus, crown'd with purple vines,

And of Trœzena, with the Achaian youth680

Of sea-begirt Ægina, and with thine,

Maseta, and the dwellers on thy coast,

Wave-worn Eïonæ; these all obeyed

The dauntless Hero Diomede, whom served

Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, a Chief685

Of deathless fame, his second in command,

And godlike man, Euryalus, the son

Of King Mecisteus, Talaüs' son, his third.

But Diomede controll'd them all, and him

Twice forty sable ships their leader own'd.690

Came Agamemnon with a hundred ships,

Exulting in his powers; more numerous they,

052 And more illustrious far than other Chief

Could boast, whoever. Clad in burnish'd brass,

And conscious of pre-eminence, he stood.695

He drew his host from cities far renown'd,

Mycenæ, and Corinthus, seat of wealth,

Orneia, and Cleonæ bulwark'd strong,

And lovely Aræthyria; Sicyon, where

His seat of royal power held at the first700

Adrastus: Hyperesia, and the heights

Of Gonoëssa; Ægium, with the towns

That sprinkle all that far-extended coast,

Pellene also and wide Helice

With all their shores, were number'd in his train.705

From hollow Lacedæmon's glen profound,

From Phare, Sparta, and from Messa, still

Resounding with the ring-dove's amorous moan,

From Brysia, from Augeia, from the rocks

Of Laas, from Amycla, Otilus,710

And from the towers of Helos, at whose foot

The surf of Ocean falls, came sixty barks

With Menelaus. From the monarch's host

The royal brother ranged his own apart,

and panted for revenge of Helen's wrongs,715

And of her sighs and tears.[24] From rank to rank, Conscious of dauntless might he pass'd, and sent Into all hearts the fervor of his own.

Gerenian Nestor in thrice thirty ships

Had brought his warriors; they from Pylus came,720

From blithe Arene, and from Thryos, built

Fast by the fords of Alpheus, and from steep

And stately Æpy. Their confederate powers

Sent Amphigenia, Cyparissa veiled

With broad redundance of funereal shades,725

Pteleos and Helos, and of deathless fame

Dorion. In Dorion erst the Muses met

Threïcian Thamyris, on his return

053 From Eurytus, Oechalian Chief, and hush'd

His song for ever; for he dared to vaunt730

That he would pass in song even themselves

The Muses, daughters of Jove Ægis-arm'd.

They therefore, by his boast incensed, the bard

Struck blind, and from his memory dash'd severe

All traces of his once celestial strains.735

Arcadia's sons, the dwellers at the foot

Of mount Cyllene, where Æpytus sleeps

Intomb'd; a generation bold in fight,

And warriors hand to hand; the valiant men

Of Pheneus, of Orchomenos by flocks740

Grazed numberless, of Ripe, Stratia, bleak

Enispe; Mantinea city fair,

Stymphelus and Parrhasia, and the youth

Of Tegea; royal Agapenor these,

Ancæus' offspring, had in sixty ships745

To Troy conducted; numerous was the crew,

And skilled in arms, which every vessel brought,

And Agamemnon had with barks himself

Supplied them, for, of inland realms possessed,

They little heeded maritime employs.[25]750

The dwellers in Buprasium, on the shores

Of pleasant Elis, and in all the land

Myrsinus and the Hyrminian plain between,

The rock Olenian, and the Alysian fount;

These all obey'd four Chiefs, and galleys ten755

Each Chief commanded, with Epeans filled.

Amphimachus and Thalpius govern'd these,

This, son of Cteatus, the other, sprung

From Eurytus, and both of Actor's house.

Diores, son of Amarynceus, those760

Led on, and, for his godlike form renown'd,

Polyxenus was Chieftain o'er the rest,

Son of Agasthenes, Augeias' son.

Dulichium, and her sister sacred isles

054 The Echinades, whose opposite aspect765

Looks toward Elis o'er the curling waves,

Sent forth their powers with Meges at their head,

Brave son of Phyleus, warrior dear to Jove.

Phyleus in wrath, his father's house renounced,

And to Dulichium wandering, there abode.770

Twice twenty ships had follow'd Meges forth.

Ulysses led the Cephallenians bold.

From Ithaca, and from the lofty woods

Of Neritus they came, and from the rocks

Of rude Ægilipa. Crocylia these,775

And these Zacynthus own'd; nor yet a few

From Samos, from Epirus join'd their aid,

And from the opposite Ionian shore.

Them, wise as Jove himself, Ulysses led

In twelve fair ships, with crimson prows adorn'd.780

From forty ships, Thoas, Andræmon's son,

Had landed his Ætolians; for extinct

Was Meleager, and extinct the house

Of Oeneus all, nor Oeneus self survived;

To Thoas therefore had Ætolia fallen;785

Him Olenos, Pylene, Chalcis served,

With Pleuro, and the rock-bound Calydon.

Idomeneus, spear-practised warrior, led

The numerous Cretans. In twice forty ships

He brought his powers to Troy. The warlike bands790

Of Cnossus, of Gortyna wall'd around,

Of Lyctus, of Lycastus chalky-white,

Of Phæstus, of Miletus, with the youth

Of Rhytius him obey'd; nor these were all,

But others from her hundred cities Crete795

Sent forth, all whom Idomeneus the brave

Commanded, with Meriones in arms

Dread as the God of battles blood-imbrued.

Nine ships Tlepolemus, Herculean-born,

For courage famed and for superior size,800

Fill'd with his haughty Rhodians. They, in tribes

Divided, dwelt distinct. Jelyssus these,

055 Those Lindus, and the rest the shining soil

Of white Camirus occupied. Him bore

To Hercules, (what time he led the nymph805

From Ephyre, and from Sellea's banks,

After full many a city laid in dust.)

Astyocheia. In his father's house

Magnificent, Tlepolemus spear-famed

Had scarce up-grown to manhood's lusty prime810

When he his father's hoary uncle slew

Lycimnius, branch of Mars. Then built he ships,

And, pushing forth to sea, fled from the threats

Of the whole house of Hercules. Huge toil

And many woes he suffer'd, till at length815

At Rhodes arriving, in three separate bands

He spread himself abroad, Much was he loved

Of all-commanding Jove, who bless'd him there,

And shower'd abundant riches on them all.

Nireus of Syma, with three vessels came;820

Nireus, Aglæa's offspring, whom she bore

To Charopus the King; Nireus in form,

(The faultless son of Peleus sole except,)

Loveliest of all the Grecians call'd to Troy.

But he was heartless and his men were few.[26]825

Nisyrus, Casus, Crapathus, and Cos

Where reign'd Eurypylus, with all the isles

Calydnæ named, under two valiant Chiefs

Their troops disposed; Phidippus one, and one,

His brother Antiphus, begotten both830

By Thessalus, whom Hercules begat.

In thirty ships they sought the shores of Troy.

The warriors of Pelasgian Argos next,

Of Alus, and Alope, and who held

Trechina, Phthia, and for women fair835

Distinguish'd, Hellas; known by various names

Hellenes, Myrmidons, Achæans, them

In fifty ships embark'd, Achilles ruled.

056 But these were deaf to the hoarse-throated war,

For there was none to draw their battle forth,840

And give them just array. Close in his ships

Achilles, after loss of the bright-hair'd

Brisëis, lay, resentful; her obtained

Not without labor hard, and after sack

Of Thebes and of Lyrnessus, where he slew845

Two mighty Chiefs, sons of Evenus both,

Epistrophus and Mynes, her he mourn'd,

And for her sake self-prison'd in his fleet

And idle lay, though soon to rise again.

From Phylace, and from the flowery fields850

Of Pyrrhasus, a land to Ceres given

By consecration, and from Iton green,

Mother of flocks; from Antron by the sea,

And from the grassy meads of Pteleus, came

A people, whom while yet he lived, the brave855

Protesilaüs led; but him the earth

Now cover'd dark and drear. A wife he left,

To rend in Phylace her bleeding cheeks,

And an unfinish'd mansion. First he died

Of all the Greeks; for as he leap'd to land860

Foremost by far, a Dardan struck him dead.

Nor had his troops, though filled with deep regret,

No leader; them Podarces led, a Chief

Like Mars in battle, brother of the slain,

But younger born, and from Iphiclus sprung865

Who sprang from Phylacus the rich in flocks.

But him Protesilaüs, as in years,

So also in desert of arms excell'd

Heroic, whom his host, although they saw

Podarces at their head, still justly mourn'd;870

For he was fierce in battle, and at Troy

With forty sable-sided ships arrived.

Eleven galleys, Pheræ on the lake,

And Boebe, and Iölchus, and the vale

Of Glaphyræ supplied with crews robust875

Under Eumelus; him Alcestis, praised

057 For beauty above all her sisters fair,

In Thessaly to King Admetus bore.

Methone, and Olizon's craggy coast,

With Melibœa and Thaumasia sent880

Seven ships; their rowers were good archers all,

And every vessel dipped into the wave

Her fifty oars. Them Philoctetes, skill'd

To draw with sinewy arm the stubborn bow,

Commanded; but he suffering anguish keen885

Inflicted by a serpent's venom'd tooth,

Lay sick in Lemnos; him the Grecians there

Had left sore-wounded, but were destined soon

To call to dear remembrance whom they left.

Meantime, though sorrowing for his sake, his troops890

Yet wanted not a chief; them Medon ruled,

Whom Rhena to the far-famed conqueror bore

Oïleus, fruit of their unsanction'd loves.

From Tricca, from Ithome rough and rude

With rocks and glens, and from Oechalia, town895

Of Eurytus Oechalian-born, came forth

Their warlike youth by Podalirius led

And by Machaon, healers both expert

Of all disease, and thirty ships were theirs.

The men of Ormenus, and from beside900

The fountain Hypereia, from the tops

Of chalky Titan, and Asteria's band;

Them ruled Eurypylus, Evæmon's son

Illustrious, whom twice twenty ships obeyed.

Orthe, Gyrtone, Oloösson white,905

Argissa and Helone; they their youth

Gave to control of Polypœtes, son

Undaunted of Pirithoüs, son of Jove.

Him, to Pirithoüs, (on the self-same day

When he the Centaurs punish'd and pursued910

Sheer to Æthicæ driven from Pelion's heights

The shaggy race) Hippodamia bore.

Nor he alone them led. With him was join'd

Leonteus dauntless warrior, from the bold

058 Coronus sprung, who Cæneus call'd his sire.915

Twice twenty ships awaited their command.

Guneus from Cyphus twenty and two ships

Led forth; the Enienes him obey'd,

And the robust Perœbi, warriors bold,

And dwellers on Dodona's wintry brow.920

To these were join'd who till the pleasant fields

Where Titaresius winds; the gentle flood

Pours into Peneus all his limpid stores,

But with the silver-eddied Peneus flows

Unmixt as oil;[27] for Stygian is his stream,925 And Styx is the inviolable oath.

Last with his forty ships, Tenthredon's son,

The active Prothoüs came. From the green banks

Of Peneus his Magnesians far and near

He gather'd, and from Pelion forest-crown'd.930

These were the princes and the Chiefs of Greece.

Say, Muse, who most in personal desert

Excell'd, and whose were the most warlike steeds

And of the noblest strain. Their hue, their age,

Their height the same, swift as the winds of heaven935

And passing far all others, were the mares

Which drew Eumelus; on Pierian hills

The heavenly Archer of the silver bow,

Apollo, bred them. But of men, the chief

Was Telamonian Ajax, while wrath-bound940

Achilles lay; for he was worthier far,

And more illustrious were the steeds which bore

The noble son of Peleus; but revenge

On Agamemnon leader of the host

Was all his thought, while in his gallant ships945

Sharp-keel'd to cut the foaming flood, he lay.

Meantime, along the margin of the deep

His soldiers hurled the disk, or bent the bow.

059 Or to its mark dispatch'd the quivering lance.

Beside the chariots stood the unharness'd steeds950

Cropping the lotus, or at leisure browsed

On celery wild, from watery freshes gleaned.

Beneath the shadow of the sheltering tent

The chariot stood, while they, the charioteers

Roam'd here and there the camp, their warlike lord955

Regretting sad, and idle for his sake.

As if a fire had burnt along the ground,

Such seem'd their march; earth groan'd their steps beneath;

As when in Arimi, where fame reports

Typhoëus stretch'd, the fires of angry Jove960

Down darted, lash the ground, so groan'd the earth

Beneath them, for they traversed swift the plain.

And now from Jove, with heavy tidings charged,

Wind-footed Iris to the Trojans came.

It was the time of council, when the throng965

At Priam's gate assembled, young and old:

Them, standing nigh, the messenger of heaven

Accosted with the voice of Priam's son,

Polites. He, confiding in his speed

For sure deliverance, posted was abroad970

On Æsyeta's tomb,[28] intent to watch When the Achaian host should leave the fleet. The Goddess in his form thus them address'd.

Oh, ancient Monarch! Ever, evermore

Speaking, debating, as if all were peace;975

I have seen many a bright-embattled field,

But never one so throng'd as this to-day.

For like the leaves, or like the sands they come

Swept by the winds, to gird the city round.

But Hector! chiefly thee I shall exhort.980

In Priam's spacious city are allies

060 Collected numerous, and of nations wide

Disseminated various are the tongues.

Let every Chief his proper troop command,

And marshal his own citizens to war.985

She ceased; her Hector heard intelligent,

And quick dissolved the council. All took arms.

Wide flew the gates; forth rush'd the multitude,

Horsemen and foot, and boisterous stir arose.

In front of Ilium, distant on the plain,990

Clear all around from all obstruction, stands

An eminence high-raised, by mortal men

Call'd Bateia, but the Gods the tomb

Have named it of Myrinna swift in fight.

Troy and her aids there set the battle forth.995

Huge Priameian Hector, fierce in arms,

Led on the Trojans; with whom march'd the most

And the most valiant, dexterous at the spear.

Æneas, (on the hills of Ida him

The lovely Venus to Anchises bore,1000

A Goddess by a mortal man embraced)

Led the Dardanians; but not he alone;

Archilochus with him and Acamas

Stood forth, the offspring of Antenor, each,

And well instructed in all forms of war.1005

Fast by the foot of Ida, where they drank

The limpid waters of Æsepus, dwelt

The Trojans of Zeleia. Rich were they

And led by Pandarus, Lycaon's son,

Whom Phœbus self graced with the bow he bore.1010

Apæsus, Adrastea, Terie steep,

And Pitueia—them, Amphius clad

In mail thick-woven, and Adrastus, ruled.

They were the sons of the Percosian seer

Merops, expert in the soothsayers' art1015

Above all other; he his sons forbad

The bloody fight, but disobedient they

Still sought it, for their destiny prevailed.

The warriors of Percote, and who dwelt

061 In Practius, in Arisba, city fair,1020

In Sestus, in Abydus, march'd behind

Princely Hyrtacides; his tawny steeds,

Strong-built and tall, from Sellcentes' bank

And from Arisba, had him borne to Troy.

Hippothous and Pilmus, branch of Mars,1025

Both sons of Lethus the Pelasgian, they,

Forth from Larissa for her fertile soil

Far-famed, the spear-expert Pelasgians brought.

The Thracians (all whom Hellespont includes

Within the banks of his swift-racing tide)1030

Heroic Acamas and Pirous led.

Euphemus, offspring of Trœzenus, son

Of Jove-protected Ceas, was the Chief

Whom the spear-arm'd Ciconian band obey'd.

Pæonia's archers follow'd to the field1035

Pyræchmes; they from Amydon remote

Were drawn, where Axius winds; broad Axius, stream

Diffused delightful over all the vale.

Pylæmenes, a Chief of giant might

From the Eneti for forest-mules renowned1040

March'd with his Paphlagonians; dwellers they

In Sesamus and in Cytorus were,

And by the stream Parthenius; Cromna these

Sent forth, and those Ægialus on the lip

And margin of the land, and some, the heights1045

Of Erythini, rugged and abrupt.

Epistrophus and Odius from the land

Of Alybe, a region far remote,

Where veins of silver wind, led to the field

The Halizonians. With the Mysians came1050

Chromis their Chief, and Ennomus; him skill'd

In augury, but skill'd in vain, his art

Saved not, but by Æacides[29] the swift, With others in the Xanthus[30] slain, he died. 062 Ascanius, lovely youth, and Phorcis, led1055 The Phrygians from Ascania far remote, Ardent for battle. The Mœonian race, (All those who at the foot of Tmolus dwelt,) Mesthles and Antiphus, fraternal pair, Sons of Pylæmenes commanded, both1060 Of the Gygæan lake in Lydia born.

Amphimachus and Nastes led to fight

The Carians, people of a barbarous speech,[31] With the Milesians, and the mountain-race Of wood-crown'd Phthira, and who dwelt beside1065 Mæander, or on Mycale sublime. Them led Amphimachus and Nastes, sons Renown'd of Nomion. Like a simple girl Came forth Amphimachus with gold bedight, But him his trappings from a woful death1070 Saved not, when whirled beneath the bloody tide To Peleus' stormy son his spoils he left.

Sarpedon with the noble Glaucus led

Their warriors forth from farthest Lycia, where

Xanthus deep-dimpled rolls his oozy tide.1075