To earth from heav'n, strive with me as ye may But I, if willing to exert my power, The earth itself, itself the sca, 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. For lo! the haughty Trojans, with their friends Call'd from afar, beside the fleet encamps. 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.
Thou therefore, seasonably kind, devise Means to preserve from such disastrous fate The Grecians. Ah, my friend! when Peleus thee From Phthia sent to Agamemnon's aid,
On that same day he gave thee thus in charge. "Juno, my son, and Pallas, if they please, "Can make thee valiant; but thy own big heart "Thyself restrain. Sweet manners win respect. "Cease from pernicious strife, and young and old "Throughout the host shall honour thee the more.” Such was thy father's charge, which thou, it seems, Remember'st not. Yet even now thy wrath Renounce; be reconciled; for princely gifts Atrides gives thee if thy wrath subside. Hear, if thou wilt, and I will tell thee all, How vast the gifts which Agamemnon made By promise thine, this night within his tent. Sev'n tripods never sullied yet with fire;
Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright; Twelve steeds strong-limb'd, victorious in the race; No man should need complain that he is poor, Or shield be troubled with a want of gold, Possessing what those steeds have won for him. Sev'n well-born female captives he will give, Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all,
Whom, when thou conquer'dst Lesbos, he received His chosen portion, passing woman-kind In perfect loveliness of face and form. These will he give, and will with these resign Her whom he took, Briseïs, with an oath Most solemn, that unconscious as she was Of his embraces, such he yields her back. All these he gives thee now! and if at length The blessed gods shall grant us to destroy Priam's great city, thou shalt heap thy ships With gold and brass, ent'ring and choosing first, When we shall share the spoil; and shalt beside Take twenty from among the maids of Troy, Except fair Helen, loveliest of their sex. And if once more we reach the milky land Of pleasant Argos, thou shalt there become His son-in-law, and shalt enjoy like state With him, whom he in all abundance rears,
His only son Orestes. At his court
He hath three daughters; thou may'st home conduct To Phthia, her whom thou shalt most approve, Chrysothemis, Laodice, or the young Iphianassa; and from thee he asks
No dow'r; himself will such a dow'r bestow As never father on his child before.
Sev'n strong well-peopled cities will he give; Cardamyle and Enope; and rich
In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built, And for her depth of pasturage renown'd, ́ Antheia; proud Epeia's lofty towers, And Pedasus impurpled dark with vines. All these are maritime, and on the shore They stand of Pylus, by a race possess'd Most rich in flocks and herds, who tribute large And gifts presenting to thy sceptred hand, Shall hold thee high in honour as a god. These will he give thee, if thy wrath subside. But shouldst thou rather in thine heart the more Both Agamemnon and his gifts detest, Yet oh compassionate th' afflicted host Prepared to adore thee. Thou shalt win renown Among the Grecians that shall never die. Now strike at Hector-he is here-himself Provokes thee forth; madness is in his heart, And in his rage he glories that our ships Have hither brought no Grecian brave as he.
LAERTES' noble son, for wiles renown'd! I must with plainness speak my fixt resolve Unalterable; lest I hear from each
The same long murmur'd melancholy tale. For, as the gates, of Ades I detest
The man, whose heart and language disagree. So shall not mine. My most approved resolve Is this; that neither Agamemnon me
Nor all the Greeks shall move; for ceaseless toil... Wins here no thanks; one recompense awaits
The sedentary and the most alert,
The brave and base in equal honour stand, And drones and heroes fall unwept alike. I after all my toils, who have exposed Life daily in the field, have earn'd no prize Superior to the rest, but as the bird Gives to her unfledged brood a morsel gain'd After long search, though wanting it herself, So have I worn out many a sleepless night, And waded deep through many a bloody day In battle for their wives. I have destroy'd Twelve cities with my fleet, and twelve, save one, On foot contending in the fields of Troy. From all these cities, precious spoils I took Abundant, and to Agamemnon's hand Gave all the treasure. He within his ships Abode the while, and having all received, Little distributed, and much retained; He gave, however, to the kings and chiefs A portion, and they keep it. Me alone Of all the Grecian host he hath despoil'd; My bride, my soul's delight is in his hands, And let him couch with her. What urgent need Have the Achaians to contend with Troy? Why hath Atrides gather'd such an host, And led them hither? Was 't not for the sake Of beauteous Helen? And of all mankind
Can none be found who love their proper wives But the Atrida? There is no good man
Who loves not, guards not, and with care provides For his own wife, and, though in battle won,
I loved the fair Briseïs at my heart. But having dispossess'd me of my prize So foully, let him not essay me now, For I am warn'd, and he shall not prevail. Let him advise with thee and with thy peers, Ulysses! how the fleet may likeliest 'scape Yon hostile fires; since many an arduous task He hath accomplish'd without aid of mine; So hath he now this rampart and the trench Which he hath sunk around it, and with stakes Contiguous planted-puny barriers all
To hero-slaught'ring Hector's force opposed.
While, present with the host of Greece, I waged Myself the battle, Hector never fought. Far from his walls, but to the Scæan gate Advancing and the beech-tree, there remain'd. Once, on that spot he met me, and my arm Escaped with difficulty even there.
But, since I feel myself not now inclined To fight with noble Hector, yielding first To Jove due worship, and to all the gods, To-morrow will I launch, and give my ships Their lading. Look thou forth at early dawn, And, if such spectacle delight thee aught, Thou shalt behold me cleaving with my prows The wares of lellespont, and all my crews Of lusty rowers, active in their task. So shall I reach (if ocean's mighty god Prosper my voyage) Phthia the deep-soil'd On the third day. I have possessions there, Which hither roaming in an evil hour
I left abundant. I shall also hence
Convey much treasure, gold and burnish'd brass, And glittering steel, and women passing fair My portion of the spoils. But he, your king, The prize he gave, himself, himself resumed, And taunted at me. Tell him my reply, And tell it him aloud, that other Greeks May indignation feel like me, if arm'd Always in impudence, he seek to wrong Them also. Let him not henceforth presume, Canine and hard in aspect though he be, To look me in the face. I will not share His counsels, neither will I aid his works. Let it suffice him, that he wrong'd me once, Deceived me once, henceforth his glazing arts Are lost on me. But let him rot in peace Crazed as he is, and by the stroke of Jove Infatuate. I detest his gifts, and him So honour, as the thing which most I scorn. And would he give me twenty times the worth Of this his offer, all the treasured heaps Which he possesses, or shall yet possess, All that Orchomenos within her walls, And all that opulent Ægyptian Thebes
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