XXVII. Hector's reprehension of Paris for avoiding Menelaus.
PARIS! poor maniac, bound in woman's chains,
Of matchless form, but false as thou art fair,
Oh that thy birth had fail'd, or that thy death
Had barr'd thy nuptials! thou hadst then escap'd
This ignominious gaze, this public shame.
Vain wish! but kind as can be felt for thee.
How loud the Grecians laugh! thy noble form
Promis'd them deeds as noble; but thy mind
Ill suits it, timid, feminine and frail.
Couldst thou be such, yet traverse, with thy friends,
The billowy deep into a foreign land,
Feast with the natives, bring the beauteous bride
Of valiant princes hither, and in her
Grief to thy father, mischief to us all,
Shame to thyself, and triumph to us our foes?
And dar'st not meet him? Ah! thou shouldst have known. How brave a chief thou didst not fear to wrong;
And that thy lyre, and all thy specious gifts
From Venus' hand, bright locks and beauteous form,
Would lose their charms once mingled with the dust.
A slavish awe restrains them, or the host:
This moment, to requite thy many crimes,
Would new-attire thee in a suit of stone.
XXVIII. Paris' reply to Hector.
IIECTOR! I merit it; thy blame is just;
And thy own heart is like the temper'd axe
That in the shipwright's hand divides the plank.
Not else divisible. The steel defies
All opposition, and all danger thou.
Yet, let the gifts of Venus 'scape thy blame
The gods are absolute, and what they give,
Or good, or ill, mere mortals must receive.
Now, therefore, if it please thee that I wage
This desp'rate conflict, bid the people sit,
Both Greeks and Trojans, and between them place.
The warlike Menelaus and myself
To fight for Helen and the wealth she brought.
The conqu'ror wins them both; if mine the palm,
I keep them, and if his, he bears them home.
Then peace confirm'd, the Greeks shall see again
The lovely women of their native land,
And ye in safety till the fields of Troy.
XXIX. Agamemnon to his troops, exciting them to battle, and exhorting the leaders, by praises and reproofs.
ARGIVES! abate no spark of all your fire.
The faithless never have a friend in Jove.
Yon violaters of their sacred oath
Shall feed the vultures; Troy shall be our own;
And ev'ry wife, and ev'ry child in Troy,
Made captive, shall attend us home to Greece.
To the supine or remiss.
Dead marks for archers! shame ye thus your home, And feel no shame? Why stand ye thus aghast Like heartless fawns that after long pursuit Stand terror-fixt? Such seems your fixt amaze, And such your dread of battle. Or ye wait, It may be, till the Trojans shall invade Your gallies on the shore, in hope that Jove To save you then, himself will interpose.
To Idomeneus of the Cretans.
In battle, in division of the spoil,
On all occasions I distinguish thee
Idomeneus! and when the mantling cup
Rewards the valour of the Grecian chiers,
If others drink by measure, measure none
Thou know'st, but thy cup constantly as mine
Replenish'd stands, thy will thy sole restraint.
Haste then, and fight as thou hast ever fought.
Brave leaders of the male-clad host of Greece! I move not you to duty; ye yourselves
Move others, and no lesson need from me.
Jove! Pallas! and Apollo!! Were but all
Courageous as yourselves, soon Priam's tow'rs
Should totter, and his Ilium storm'd and sack'd
By Grecian hands, a formless ruin lie.
-thy dauntless spirit asks But time unhinges all.
Oh that the burthen of thy ears were laid
On one far younger, and his youth were thine!
To Menestheus, son of Peteos, and the wary chief
Ulysses.
O son of Peteos, gallant prince! and thou
All trick, all subtlety and sly design!
Why stand ye trembling here, and from afar
Observing others? Foremost to defy
The burning battle's rage should ye be found,
Whom foremost I invite of all to share
The banquet, when the princes feast with me.
There ye are prompt; ye find it pleasant there
To eat your sav'ry food, and quaff your wine
Delicious, till satiety ensue;
But here, though ten embattled bands should wage
Fierce conflict first, ye could be well content.
To Diomede, son of Tydeus.
Ah son of Tydeus, the renown'd in war! Why skulking here? why peering through the lines ? So did not Tydeus, but the foremost fight Chose rather; as is testified by those Who saw with wonder his heroic deeds. He never met my view, but by report Of all who knew him, none was brave as he. For with the godlike Polynices once He enter'd, but unarm'd and as a friend, Mycena, seeking powerful aids to join The host assembled for the siege of Thebes, And earnestly they sued. We, well-inclined, Had granted their request, but were deterr'd
By unpropitious omens from above,
Departing; therefore, to the reedy banks.
Of the Asopus, there thy sire received
An embassy to sacred Thebes in charge.
He went; and found in Eteocles' hall
Num'rous Cadmeans feasting. With a heart
Estranged from fear, unfriended as he was,
The noble Tydens yet provok'd them forth
To proof of manhood, and such aid obtain'd
From Pallas, that with ease he foil'd them all.
Shamed and resentful, fifty of the town
Lay in close ambush waiting his return
Mæon and Lycophontes at their head,
Both dauntless warriors. These thy father slew,
Save Maon, slew them all. A voice from heav'n
Bade spare the herald, therefore him he sent
To tell at Thebes that he alone surviv'd.
Such once was Tydeus; and he left a son
Less valiant, though more eloquent than he.
XXX. Jove's prohibition of all interference of the Gods, convened in council, between the Greeks and Trojans.
HEAR, all ye gods and goddesses, my word
And purpose irreversible. Beware
That none presumptuously, of either sex,
Seek to rescind, but rather all promote
Its full accomplishment. Whom I shall see
Descending from Olympus to the aid
Of either host, or shamefully chastised
He shall return to the Olympian heights,
Or I will hurt him deep into the gulphs
Of gloomy Tartarus, where hell shuts fast
Iler iron gates, and spreads her brazen floor,
As far below the shades, as earth from heav'n.
There shall he learn how much I pass in might
All others; which if ye incline to doubt,
Now prove me. Let ye down the golden chain
From heav'n, and pull at its inferior links
Both goddesses and gods. But me your king,
Supreme in wisdom, ye shall never draw
To earth from heav'n, strive with me as ye may. -
But I, if willing to exert my power,
The earth itself, itself the sea, and you
Will lift with ease together, and will wind
The chain around the spiry summit sharp
Of the Olympian, that all things upheaved
Shall hang in the mid heav'n. So much am I
Alone superior both to gods and men.
XXXI. The embassy from Agamemnon to Achilles.
HEALTH to Achilles! hospitable cheer
And well prepared, we want not at the board
Of royal Agamemnon, or at thine,
For both are nobly spread; but dainties now,
Or plenteous boards, are little our concern.
Oh godlike chief! tremendous are our themes
Of contemplation, while in doubt we sit
If life or death with loss of all our ships
Attend us, unless thou put on thy might.
För lo! the haughty Trojans, with their friends
Call'd from afar, beside the fleet encamp
Fast by the wall, where they have kindled fires
Num'rous, and threaten that no force of ours
Shall check their purpos'd inroad on the camp.
Jove grants them favourable signs from heav'n,
Bright lightnings; Hector glares revenge, with rage
Infuriate, and by Jove assisted, heeds
Nor God nor man, but, maniac-like, implores
Incessantly the morn at once to rise,
That he may hew away our vessel-heads,
Burn all our fleet with fire, and at their sides
Slay the Achaians panting in the smoke.
Dread overwhelms my spirit, lest the gods
His threats accomplish, and it be our doom
To perish here, from Argos far remote.
Up, therefore! if thou can'st at last relent,
Oh! rise and save Achaia's weary sons
From Trojan violence. Regret, but vain,
Shall else be thine hereafter, when no cure
Of such great ill, once suffer'd, can be found.
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