The Iliad, Page 55

  the other spurned him, he would not take a thing--

  so both men pressed for a judge to cut the knot.

  The crowd cheered on both, they took both sides,

  but heralds held them back as the city elders sat

  on polished stone benches, forming the sacred circle,

  grasping in hand the staffs of clear-voiced heralds,

  and each leapt to his feet to plead the case in turn.

  Two bars of solid gold shone on the ground before them,

  a prize for the judge who'd speak the straightest verdict.

  But circling the other city camped a divided army

  gleaming in battle-gear, and two plans split their ranks:

  to plunder the city or share the riches with its people,

  hoards the handsome citadel stored within its depths.

  But the people were not surrendering, not at all.

  They armed for a raid, hoping to break the siege--

  loving wives and innocent children standing guard

  on the ramparts, flanked by elders bent with age

  as men marched out to war. Ares and Pallas led them,

  both burnished gold, gold the attire they donned, and great,

  magnificent in their armor--gods for all the world,

  looming up in their brilliance, towering over troops.

  And once they reached the perfect spot for attack,

  a watering place where all the herds collected,

  there they crouched, wrapped in glowing bronze.

  Detached from the ranks, two scouts took up their posts,

  the eyes of the army waiting to spot a convoy,

  the enemy's flocks and crook-horned cattle coming...

  Come they did, quickly, two shepherds behind them,

  playing their hearts out on their pipes--treachery

  never crossed their minds. But the soldiers saw them,

  rushed them, cut off at a stroke the herds of oxen

  and sleek sheep-flocks glistening silver-gray

  and killed the herdsmen too. Now the besiegers,

  soon as they heard the uproar burst from the cattle

  as they debated, huddled in council, mounted at once

  behind their racing teams, rode hard to the rescue,

  arrived at once, and lining up for assault

  both armies battled it out along the river banks--

  they raked each other with hurtling bronze-tipped spears.

  And Strife and Havoc plunged in the fight, and violent Death--

  now seizing a man alive with fresh wounds, now one unhurt,

  now hauling a dead man through the slaughter by the heels,

  the cloak on her back stained red with human blood.

  So they clashed and fought like living, breathing men

  grappling each other's corpses, dragging off the dead.

  And he forged a fallow field, broad rich plowland

  tilled for the third time, and across it crews of plowmen

  wheeled their teams, driving them up and back and soon

  as they'd reach the end-strip, moving into the turn,

  a man would run up quickly

  and hand them a cup of honeyed, mellow wine

  as the crews would turn back down along the furrows,

  pressing again to reach the end of the deep fallow field

  and the earth churned black behind them, like earth churning,

  solid gold as it was--that was the wonder of Hephaestus' work.

  And he forged a king's estate where harvesters labored,

  reaping the ripe grain, swinging their whetted scythes.

  Some stalks fell in line with the reapers, row on row,

  and others the sheaf-binders girded round with ropes,

  three binders standing over the sheaves, behind them

  boys gathering up the cut swaths, filling their arms,

  supplying grain to the binders, endless bundles.

  And there in the midst the king,

  scepter in hand at the head of the reaping-rows,

  stood tall in silence, rejoicing in his heart.

  And off to the side, beneath a spreading oak,

  the heralds were setting out the harvest feast,

  they were dressing a great ox they had slaughtered,

  while attendant women poured out barley, generous,

  glistening handfuls strewn for the reapers' midday meal.

  And he forged a thriving vineyard loaded with clusters,

  bunches of lustrous grapes in gold, ripening deep purple

  and climbing vines shot up on silver vine-poles.

  And round it he cut a ditch in dark blue enamel

  and round the ditch he staked. a fence in tin.

  And one lone footpath led toward the vineyard

  and down it the pickers ran

  whenever they went to strip the grapes at vintage--

  girls and boys, their hearts leaping in innocence,

  bearing away the sweet ripe fruit in wicker baskets.

  And there among them a young boy plucked his lyre,

  so clear it could break the heart with longing,

  and what he sang was a dirge for the dying year,

  lovely ... his fine voice rising and falling low

  as the rest followed, all together, frisking, singing,

  shouting, their dancing footsteps beating out the time.

  And he forged on the shield a herd of longhorn cattle,

  working the bulls in beaten gold and tin, lowing loud

  and rumbling out of the farmyard dung to pasture

  along a rippling stream, along the swaying reeds.

  And the golden drovers kept the herd in line,

  four in all, with nine dogs at their heels,

  their paws flickering quickly--a savage roar!--

  a crashing attack--and a pair of ramping lions

  had seized a bull from the cattle's front ranks--

  he bellowed out as they dragged him off in agony.

  Packs of dogs and the young herdsmen rushed to help

  but the lions ripping open the hide of the huge bull

  were gulping down the guts and the black pooling blood

  while the herdsmen yelled the fast pack on--no use.

  The hounds shrank from sinking teeth in the lions,

  they balked, hunching close, barking, cringing away.

  And the famous crippled Smith forged a meadow

  deep in a shaded glen for shimmering flocks to graze,

  with shepherds' steadings, well-roofed huts and sheepfolds.

  And the crippled Smith brought all his art to bear

  on a dancing circle, broad as the circle Daedalus

  once laid out on Cnossos' spacious fields

  for Ariadne the girl with lustrous hair.

  Here young boys and girls, beauties courted

  with costly gifts of oxen, danced and danced,

  linking their arms, gripping each other's wrists.

  And the girls wore robes of linen light and flowing,

  the boys wore finespun tunics rubbed with a gloss of oil,

  the girls were crowned with a bloom of fresh garlands,

  the boys swung golden daggers hung on silver belts.

  And now they would run in rings on their skilled feet,

  nimbly, quick as a crouching potter spins his wheel,

  palming it smoothly, giving it practice twirls

  to see it run, and now they would run in rows,

  in rows crisscrossing rows--rapturous dancing.

  A breathless crowd stood round them struck with joy

  and through them a pair of tumblers dashed and sprang,

  whirling in leaping handsprings, leading on the dance.

  And he forged the Ocean River's mighty power girdling

  round the outmost rim of the welded indestructible shield.

  And once the god had made that great and massive shield

  he made Achilles a breastplat
e brighter than gleaming fire,

  he made him a sturdy helmet to fit the fighter's temples,

  beautiful, burnished work, and raised its golden crest

  and made him greaves of flexing, pliant tin.

  Now,

  when the famous crippled Smith had finished off

  that grand array of armor, lifting it in his arms

  he laid it all at the feet of Achilles' mother Thetis--

  and down she flashed like a hawk from snowy Mount Olympus

  bearing the brilliant gear, the god of fire's gift.

  BOOK NINETEEN

  The Champion Arms for Battle

  As Dawn rose up in her golden robe from Ocean's tides,

  bringing light to immortal gods and mortal men,

  Thetis sped Hephaestus' gifts to the ships.

  She found her beloved son lying facedown,

  embracing Patroclus' body, sobbing, wailing,

  and round him crowded troops of mourning comrades.

  And the glistening goddess moved among them now,

  seized Achilles' hand and urged him, spoke his name:

  "My child, leave your friend to lie there dead--

  we must, though it breaks our hearts ...

  The will of the gods has crushed him once for all.

  But here, Achilles, accept this glorious armor, look,

  a gift from the god of fire--burnished bright, finer

  than any mortal has ever borne across his back!"

  Urging,

  the goddess laid the armor down at Achilles' feet

  and the gear clashed out in all its blazoned glory.

  A tremor ran through all the Myrmidon ranks--none dared

  to look straight at the glare, each fighter shrank away.

  Not Achilles. The more he gazed, the deeper his anger went,

  his eyes flashing under his eyelids, fierce as fire--

  exulting, holding the god's shining gifts in his hands.

  And once he'd thrilled his heart with looking hard

  at the armor's well-wrought beauty,

  he turned to his mother, winged words flying:

  "Mother--armor sent by the god--you're right,

  only immortal gods could forge such work,

  no man on earth could ever bring it off!

  Now, by heaven, I'll arm and go to war.

  But all the while my blood runs cold with fear--

  Menoetius' fighting son ... the carrion blowflies

  will settle into his wounds, gouged deep by the bronze,

  worms will breed and seethe, defile the man's corpse--

  his life's ripped out--his flesh may rot to nothing."

  But glistening-footed Thetis reassured him:

  "O my child, wipe these worries from your mind.

  I'll find a way to protect him from those swarms,

  the vicious flies that devour men who fall in battle.

  He could lie there dead till a year has run its course

  and his flesh still stand firm, even fresher than now ...

  So go and call the Argive warriors to the muster:

  renounce your rage at the proud commander Agamemnon,

  then arm for battle quickly, don your fighting power!"

  With that she breathed in her son tremendous courage

  then instilled in Patroclus' nostrils fresh ambrosia,

  blood-red nectar too, to make his flesh stand firm.

  But brilliant Achilles strode along the surf,

  crying his piercing cry and roused Achaean warriors.

  Even those who'd kept to the beached ships till now,

  the helmsmen who handled the heavy steering-oars

  and stewards left on board to deal out rations--

  even they trooped to the muster: great Achilles

  who held back from the brutal fighting so long

  had just come blazing forth.

  And along came two aides of Ares limping in,

  the battle-hard Tydides flanked by good Odysseus

  leaning on their spears, still bearing painful wounds,

  and slowly found their seats in the front ranks.

  And the lord of men Agamemnon came in last of all,

  weighed down by the wound he took in the rough charge

  when Coon, son of Antenor, slashed his arm with bronze.

  And now, as all the Achaean armies massed together,

  the swift runner Achilles rose among them, asking,

  "Agamemnon--was it better for both of us, after all,

  for you and me to rage at each other, raked by anguish,

  consumed by heartsick strife, all for a young girl?

  If only Artemis had cut her down at the ships--

  with one quick shaft--

  that day I destroyed Lymessus, chose her as my prize.

  How many fewer friends had gnawed the dust of the wide world,

  brought down by enemy hands while I raged on and on.

  Better? Yes--for Hector and Hector's Trojans!

  Not for the Argives. For years to come, I think,

  they will remember the feud that flared between us both.

  Enough. Let bygones be bygones. Done is done.

  Despite my anguish I will beat it down,

  the fury mounting inside me, down by force.

  Now, by god, I call a halt to all my anger--

  it's wrong to keep on raging, heart inflamed forever.

  Quickly, drive our long-haired Achaeans to battle now!

  So I can go at the Trojans once again and test their strength

  and see if they still long to camp the night at the ships.

  They'll gladly sink to a knee and rest at home, I'd say--

  whoever comes through alive from the heat of combat,

  out from under my spear!"

  Welcome, rousing words,

  and Achaeans-at-arms roared out with joy to hear

  the greathearted Achilles swearing off his rage.

  Now it was King Agamemnon's turn to address them.

  He rose from his seat, not moving toward the center.

  The lord of men spoke out from where he stood:

  "My friends, fighting Danaans, aides of Ares ...

  when a man stands up to speak, it's well to listen.

  Not to interrupt him, the only courteous thing.

  Even the finest speaker finds intrusions hard.

  Yet how can a person hear or say a word?--

  this howling din could drown the clearest voice.

  But I will declare my inmost feelings to Achilles.

  And you, the rest of you Argives, listen closely:

  every man of you here, mark each word I say.

  Often the armies brought this matter up against me--

  they would revile me in public. But I am not to blame!

  Zeus and Fate and the Fury stalking through the night,

  they are the ones who drove that savage madness in my heart,

  that day in assembly when I seized Achilles' prize--

  on my own authority, true, but what could I do?

  A god impels all things to their fulfillment:

  Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all,

  that fatal madness--she with those delicate feet of hers,

  never touching the earth, gliding over the heads of men

  to trap us all. She entangles one man, now another.

  Why, she and her frenzy blinded Zeus one time,

  highest, greatest of men and gods, they say:

  even Father Zeus! Hera deceived him blind--

  feminine as she is, and only armed with guile--

  that day in Thebes, ringed with tower on tower,

  Alcmena was poised to bear invincible Heracles.

  So the proud Father declared to all immortals,

  'Hear me, all you gods and all goddesses too,

  as I proclaim what's brooding deep inside me.

  Today the goddess of birth pangs and labor

  will bring to lig
ht a human child, a man-child

  born of the stock of men who spring from my blood,

  one who will lord it over all who dwell around him.'

  But teeming with treachery noble Hera set her trap,

  'You will prove a liar ...

  when the time arrives to crown your words with action.

  Come now, my Olympian, swear your inviolate oath

  that he shall lord it over all who dwell around him--

  that child who drops between a woman's knees today,

  born of the stock of men who spring from Zeus's blood.'

  And Zeus suspected nothing, not a word of treachery.

  He swore his mighty oath--blinded, from that hour on.

  Speeding down in a flash from Mount Olympus' summit

  Hera reached Achaean Argos in no time, where,

  she knew for a fact, the hardy wife of Sthenelus,

  Perseus' own son, was about to bear her child,

  but only seven months gone. So into the light

  Queen Hera brought the baby, two months shy,

  and the goddess stopped Alcmena's hour of birth,

  she held back the Lady of Labor's birthing pangs

  and rushed in person to give the word to Zeus:

  'Zeus, Father, lord of the lightning bolt--

  here is a piece of news to warm your heart!

  Today an illustrious son is born to rule the Argives ...

  Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, descended of Perseus--

  so he is born of your own stock and immortal blood

  and it's only right for him to rule the Argives!'

  With that, a stab of agony struck his deep heart.

  Suddenly seizing Ruin by her glossy oiled braids--

  he was furious, raging--now he swore his inviolate oath

  that never again would she return to Olympus' starry skies,

  that maddening goddess, Ruin, Ruin who blinds us all.

  With that he whirled her round in his massive hand

  and flung her out of the brilliant, starry skies

  and she soon found herself in the world of men.

  But Zeus could never think of Ruin without a groan

  whenever he saw Heracles, his own dear son endure

  some shameful labor Eurystheus forced upon him.

  And so with me, I tell you!

  When tall Hector with that flashing helmet of his

  kept slaughtering Argives pinned against our ships--

  how could I once forget that madness, that frenzy,

  the Ruin that blinded me from that first day?

  But since I was blinded and Zeus stole my wits,

  I am intent on setting things to rights, at once:

  I'll give that priceless ransom paid for friendship.

  Gear up for battle now! And rouse the rest of your armies!

  As for the gifts, here I am to produce them all,

  all that good Odysseus promised you in full,

  the other day, when he approached your tents.

  Or if you prefer, hold off a moment now ...

  much as your heart would spur you on to war.

  Aides will fetch that treasure trove from my ship,

  they'll bring it here to you, so you can behold