commit 3b92962653ca6b229b1dfe8b8f60d5ba13e6ed97
parent 694eec4ce05a2e4c35baa168aa46dfc482bd5de5
Author: aabacchus <ben@bvnf.space>
Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2022 16:48:12 +0000
14
Diffstat:
| M | live/14.htm | | | 193 | ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------- |
1 file changed, 176 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
diff --git a/live/14.htm b/live/14.htm
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ from the ships, even they that were wounded with the bronze, Tydeus’ son,
and Odysseus, and Agamemnon, son of Atreus. For far apart from the battle were
their ships drawn up, on the shore of the grey sea, for these were the first
they had drawn up to the plain, but had builded the wall in front of the
-hindmost. For in no wise might the beach, wide as it was, hold all the ships,
+hindmost. For in no wise might the beach, for as wide as it was, hold all the ships,
and the host was straitened. Wherefore they drew up the ships row within row,
and filled up the wide mouth of all the shore that the headlands held between
them. Therefore the kings were going together, leaning on their spears, to look
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ Then Nestor of Gerenia the knight answered him saying “Verily these
things are now at hand, and being accomplished, nor otherwise could Zeus
himself contrive them, he that thundereth on high. For, lo, the wall is
overthrown, wherein we trusted that it should be an unbroken bulwark of the
-ships and of our own bodies. But let us take counsel, how these things may best
+ships and of our own bodies. And these men by the swift ships have endless
+battle without sparing, and no more couldst thou tell, howsoever closely
+thou mightst spy, from what side the Achaians are driven in rout, so confusedly
+are they slain, and the cry of battle goeth up to heaven. But let us take counsel, how these things may best
be done, if wit may do aught: but into the war I counsel not that we should go
down, for in no wise may a wounded man do battle.”
</p>
@@ -170,7 +173,8 @@ Zeus sitting on the topmost crest of many-fountained Ida, and to her heart he
was hateful. Then she took thought, the ox-eyed lady Hera, how she might
beguile the mind of aegis-bearing Zeus. And this seemed to her in her heart to
be the best counsel, namely to fare to Ida, when she had well adorned herself,
-if perchance a sweet sleep and a kindly she could pour on his eye lids and his
+if perchance he would desire to sleep beside her and embrace her body in love, and
+a sweet sleep and a kindly she could pour on his eye lids and his
crafty wits. And she set forth to her bower, that her dear son Hephaistos had
fashioned, and therein had made fast strong doors on the pillars, with a secret
bolt, that no other god might open. There did she enter in and closed the
@@ -207,14 +211,14 @@ the gods, and mother Tethys, who reared me well and nourished me in their
halls, having taken me from Rhea, when far-seeing Zeus imprisoned Kronos
beneath the earth and the unvintaged sea. Them am I going to visit, and their
endless strife will I loose, for already this long time they hold apart from
-each other, since wrath hath settled in their hearts. If with words I might
-persuade their hearts, and bring them back to love, ever should I be called
+each other, apart from love and the marriage bed, since wrath hath settled in their hearts. If with words I might
+persuade their hearts, and bring them back to love and the marriage bed, ever should I be called
dear to them and worshipful.”
</p>
<p>
Then laughter-loving Aphrodite answered her again: “It may not be, nor
-seemly were it, to deny that thou askest, for thou steepest in the arms of
+seemly were it, to deny that thou askest, for thou sleepest in the arms of
Zeus, the chief of gods.”
</p>
@@ -235,23 +239,49 @@ within her breast.
<p>
Then the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, went to her house, and Hera, rushing
-down, left the peak of Olympus, and sped’ over the snowy hills of the
+down, left the peak of Olympus, and touched on Pieria and pleasant Emathia,
+and sped’ over the snowy hills of the
Thracian horsemen, even over the topmost crests, nor grazed the ground with her
feet, and from Athos she fared across the foaming sea, and came to Lemnos, the
city of godlike Thoas. There she met Sleep, the brother of Death, and clasped
her hand in his, and spake and called him by name: “Sleep, lord of all
gods and of all men, if ever thou didst hear my word, obey me again even now,
and I will be grateful to thee always. Lull me, I pray thee, the shining eyes
-of Zeus beneath his brows. And gifts I will give to thee, even a fair throne,
+of Zeus beneath his brows, so soon as I have laid me down by him in love.
+And gifts I will give to thee, even a fair throne,
imperishable for ever, a golden throne, that Hephaistos the Lame, mine own
child, shall fashion skilfully, and will set beneath it a footstool for the
-feet, for thee to set thy shining feet upon, when thou art at a festival. Nay
+feet, for thee to set thy shining feet upon, when thou art at a festival.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then sweet Sleep answered her and said: “Hera, goddess and queen, daughter
+of mighty Kronos, another of the eternal gods might I lightly lull to slumber,
+yea, were it the streams of Okeanos himself, that is the father of them all. But
+to Zeus the son of Kronos might I not draw near, nor lull him to slumber, unless
+himself commanded it. For ere now did a behest of thine teach me a lesson, on the
+day when that famed high-hearted son of Zeus sailed from Ilios, when he had sacked
+the city of the Trojans. Then verily I lulled the soul of aegis-bearing Zeus, with
+my sweet influence poured about him, and thou didst contrive evil against him in thy heart, and didst rouse over the sea the blasts of violent winds, and Herakles
+thou then didst bear to well-peopled Kos, far from all his friends. But Zeus, when
+he wakened, was wrathful, and dashed the gods about his mansion, and me above all
+he sought, and he would have cast me from the upper air to perish in the deep, if
+Night had not saved me, Night, that subdues both gods and men. To her I came as a
+suppliant in my flight, and he ceased from pursuing, wrathful as he was, for he was
+in awe of doing aught displeasing to swift Night. And now again thou biddest me
+accomplish this other task that may not be accomplished.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the ox-eyed lady Hera answered him again: “Sleep, wherefore dost thou
+consider these things in thy heart? dost thou deem that Zeus of the far-borned voice
+will succour the Trojans even as he was wroth for the sake of Herakles, his own child? Nay
come, and I will give thee one of the younger of the Graces, to wed and to be
-called thy wife.”
+called thy wife [even Pasithea, that ever thou longest for all thy days].”
</p>
<p>
-So she spake, and Sleep was glad, and answered and said:—“Come now, swear
+So she spake, and Sleep was glad, and answered and said: “Come now, swear
to me by the inviolable water of Styx, and with one of thy hands grasp the
bounteous earth, and with the other the shining sea, that all may be witnesses
to us, even all the gods below that are with Kronos, that verily thou wilt give
@@ -269,19 +299,29 @@ beasts, to Lekton, where first they left the sea, and they twain fared above
the dry land, and the topmost forest waved beneath their feet. There Sleep
halted, ere the eyes of Zeus beheld him, and alighted on a tall pine tree, the
loftiest pine that then in all Ida rose through the nether to the upper air.
+Therein sat he, hidden by the branches of the pine, in the likeness of the
+shrill brid that on the mountains the gods call <em>chalkis</em>, but men <em>kymindis</em>.*
But Hera swiftly drew nigh to topmost Gargaros, the highest crest of Ida, and
Zeus the cloud-gatherer beheld her. And as he saw her, so love came over his
-deep heart, and he stood before her, and spoke, and said: “Hera, with
+deep heart, even as when first they mingled with each other in delight, and
+went together to the couch, their dear parents knowing it not. And he stood
+before her, and spoke, and said: “Hera, with
what desire comest thou thus hither from Olympus, and thy horses and chariot
are not here, whereon thou mightst ascend?”
</p>
+<p class="footnote">
+* The names of Night-jar, Goat-sucker, Doehawk, and Fern-owl are given in Bewick
+for this bird, which is really a kind of swift. - R. W. R.
+</p>
+
<p>
Then with crafty purpose lady Hera answered him: “I am going to visit the
limits of the bountiful Earth, and Okeanos, father of the gods, and mother
Tethys, who reared me well and cherished me in their halls. Them am I going to
visit, and their endless strife will I loose, for already this long time they
-hold apart from each other, since wrath hath settled in their hearts. But my
+hold apart from each other, from love and the marriage bed,
+since wrath hath settled in their hearts. But my
horses are standing at the foot of many-fountained Ida, my horses that shall
bear me over wet and dry. And now it is because of thee that I am thus come
hither, down from Olympus, lest perchance thou mightest be wroth with me
@@ -291,18 +331,52 @@ Okeanos.”
<p>
Then Zeus, the gatherer of the clouds, answered her and said: “Hera,
-thither mayst thou go on a later day. For never once as thus did the love of
+thither mayst thou go on a later day. But come let us twain take pleasure in
+the bed of love. For never once as thus did the love of
goddess or woman so mightily overflow and conquer the heart within my
-breast.”
+breast. Not when I loved the wife of Ixion, who bore Pirithoos, the peer of gods
+in counsel, nor when I loved Danae of the fair ankles, daughter of Akrisios, who
+bore Perseus, most renowned of all men, nor when I loved the famed daughter of
+Phoinix, who bore me Minos, and godlike Rhadamanthys, nay, nor even when I loved
+Semele, nor Alkmene in Thebes, and she bore Herakles, a child hardy of heart, but
+Semele bore Dionysos, a delight to mortals, nay, nor when I loved the fair-tressed
+queen, Demeter, nor renowned Leto, nay, nor thy very self, as now I love thee, and sweet desire possesses me.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And him the lady Hera answered with craft purpose: “Most dread son of Kronos,
+what a word thou hast spoken! If now thou dost long to be couched in love on the crests of Ida, and all stands plain to view, how would it be if someone of the
+eternal gods should see us slumbering, and go and tell it to all the gods? It is
+not I that could arise from the couch and go again to thy house, nay, it would
+be a thing for righteous anger. But if thou wilt, and it is dear to thy heart,
+thou hast a chamber that thine own son Hephaistos builded, and fastened strong
+doors to the pillars, thither let us go and lie down, if the couch be thy
+desire.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her and said: “Hera, fear not lest any god, or any man should spy the thing, so great a golden cloud will I cast all over
+thee. Nay, methinks not even the sun might see through it, the sun, whose light
+is keenest of all to behold.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So spake he, and the son of Kronos clasped his consort in his arms. And beneath
+them the divine earth sent forth fresh new grass, and dewy lotus, and crocus, and
+hyacinth, thick and soft, that raised them aloft from the ground. Therein they
+lay, and were clad on with a fair golden cloud, whence fell drops of glittering
+dew.
</p>
<p>
Thus slept the Father in quiet on the crest of Gargaros, by Sleep and love
-overcome. But sweet Sleep started and ran to the ships of the Achaians, to tell
+overcome, with his bedfellow in his arms.
+But sweet Sleep started and ran to the ships of the Achaians, to tell
his tidings to the god that holdeth and shaketh the earth. And he stood near
him, and spake winged words: “Eagerly now, Poseidon, do thou aid the
Danaans, and give them glory for a little space, while yet Zeus sleepeth, for
-over him have I shed soft slumber, and Hera hath beguiled him.”
+over him have I shed soft slumber, and Hera hath beguiled him to couch in
+love.”
</p>
<p>
@@ -383,4 +457,89 @@ sank back on the ground, and black night covered his eyes, the stroke still
conquering his spirit.
</p>
+<p>
+Now the Argives when they saw Hector departed rushed yet the more upon the Trojans,
+and were mindful of the delight of battle. There far the foremost did swift Aias,
+son of Oileus, leap on Satnios, son of Enops, and wounded him with his sharp
+spear; Satnios whom the fair Naiad-nymph bore to Enops as he herded his flocks by
+the banks of Satnioeis. Him did the spear-famed son of Oileus draw nigh, and
+wounded him on the flank, and he fell, and round him did Trojans and Danaans join
+in strong battle. Then to his aid came Polydamas, the wielder of the spear, son of
+Panthoos, and smote Prothoenor on the right shoulder, Prothoenor, son of
+Areïlykos, and through his shoulder went the mighty spear, and he fell in
+the dust, and clutched the earth with his palm. And Polydamas boasted over him
+terribly, crying aloud: “Verily methinks that again from the strong hand
+of the high-hearted son of Panthoos, the spear hath not leaped in vain. Nay, one of
+the Argives hath caught it in his flesh, and leaning thereon for a staff, methinks
+that he will go down within the house of Hades.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So spake he, and sorrow came on the Argives by reason of his boasting. And chiefly
+he roused the wrath of the wise son of Telamon, Aias, for the man fell close by
+him. Swiftly he cast at the other, as he departed, with his shining spear. And
+Polydamas himself avoided black Fate, starting to one side, but Archelochos, son
+of Antenor, received the spear, for the gods had willed his death. Him the spear
+struck at the meeting of the head and neck, on the last joint of the spine, and
+cut in twain both the tendons. And his head, and mouth, and nose, as he fell,
+reached the earth long before his legs and knees, and Aias again shouted to noble
+Polydamas: “Consider, Polydamas, and tell me truly, whether thou sayst not
+that this man is worth slaying in place of Prothoenor: he seems to me no coward,
+nor born of cowards, but a brother of horse-taming Antenor, or a child, for
+he most closely favoureth his house.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he spake, knowing the truth right well, and sorrow seized the hearts of the
+Trojans. Then Akamas wounded Promachos the Boiotian with his spear, from where he
+stodd above his brother, that Promachos was dragging away by the feet. Over him
+Akamas boasted terribly, shouting aloud: “Ye Argive bowmen, insatiate of
+threats, verily not for us alone shall there be struggle and toil, nay, but even
+as we shall ye likewise perish. Consider how your Promachos sleepeth, vanquished
+by my spear, that my brother's blood-price may not be long unpaid. Even for this
+it is that a man may well pray to leave some kinsman in his halls, that will
+avenge his fall.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he spake, and sorrow came on the Argives at his boast. And chiefly he stirred
+the heart of the wise Peneleos, who made for Akamas, and Akamas abode not the
+onset of the prince Peneleos. But Peneleos wounded Ilioneus, the son of Phorbas,
+rich in herds, that Hermes loved most dearly of all the Trojans, and gave him
+wealth. Now his mother bare Ilioneus, an only child, to Phorbas. Him did Peneleos
+wound beneath the brows, at the bases of the eye, and drave out the eyeball, and
+the spear went clean through the eye and through the nape of the neck, and he fell
+back, stretching out both his hands. And Peneleos, drawing forth his sharp sword,
+smote him on the middle of the neck, and smote off even to the ground the head
+with the helmet, and still the strong spear stood in the eye, and lifting it up
+like a poppy head, he showed it to the Trojans, and spoke his boastful words:
+“Ye Trojans, I pray you bid the dear father and the mother of proud Ilioneus
+to wail in their halls, for neither will the wife of Promachos, son of Alegenor,
+rejoice in her dear husband's coming, in that hour when we youths of the Achaians
+return with our ships out of Troy-land.”
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he spake, and fear fell on the limbs of all of them; and each man looked about
+to see where he might flee sheer destruction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tell me now, ye Muses, that dwell in the mansions of Olympus, who was the first
+of the Achaians to lift the bloody spoils, when once the renowned Shaker of the
+earth turned the battle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Verily it was Aias, son of Telamon, that first wounded Hyrtios, the son of
+Gyrtias, the leader of the Mysians strong of heart, and Antilochos stripped
+the spoils from Phalkes and Mermeros, and Meriones slew Morys and Hippotion, and
+Teukros slew Prothoon and Periphetes, and next Atreus' son wounded in the flank
+Hyperenor, the shepherd of the host, and the bronze point tore through and let
+out the entrails, and the soul through the stricken wound fled hastily, and
+darkness covered his eyes. But most men did Aias slay, the swift-footed son of
+Oileus, for there was none so speedy of foot as he, to follow when men fled, when
+Zeus sent terror among them.
+</p>
+
</div><!--end chapter-->
