The Iliad, Page 68

  fit and proper gifts! Now take my son--

  or was he all a dream? Never once in his halls

  did he forget the gods who hold Olympus, never,

  so now they remember him ... if only after death.

  Come, this handsome cup: accept it from me, I beg you!

  Protect me, escort me now--if the gods will it so--

  all the way till I reach Achilles' shelter."

  The guide and giant-killer refused him firmly,

  "You test me again, old man, since I am young,

  but you will not persuade me,

  tempting me with a gift behind Achilles' back.

  I fear the man, I'd die of shame to rob him--

  just think of the trouble I might suffer later.

  But I'd escort you with all the kindness in my heart,

  all the way till I reached the shining hills of Argos

  bound in a scudding ship or pacing you on foot--

  and no marauder on earth, scorning your escort,

  would dare attack you then."

  And the god of luck,

  leaping onto the chariot right behind the team,

  quickly grasped the whip and reins in his hands

  and breathed fresh spirit into the mules and horses.

  As they reached the trench and rampart round the fleet,

  the sentries had just begun to set out supper there

  but the giant-killer plunged them all in sleep ...

  he spread the gates at once, slid back the bars

  and ushered Priam in with his wagon-load of treasure.

  Now, at last, they approached royal Achilles' shelter,

  the tall, imposing lodge the Myrmidons built their king,

  hewing planks of pine, and roofed it high with thatch,

  gathering thick shaggy reeds from the meadow banks,

  and round it built their king a spacious courtyard

  fenced with close-set stakes. A single pine beam

  held the gates, and it took three men to ram it home,

  three to shoot the immense bolt back and spread the doors--

  three average men. Achilles alone could ram it home himself.

  But the god of luck now spread the gates for the old man,

  drove in the glinting gifts for Peleus' swift son,

  climbed down from behind the team and said to Priam,

  "Old man, look, I am a god come down to you,

  I am immortal Hermes--

  my Father sent me here to be your escort.

  But now I will hasten back. I will not venture

  into Achilles' presence: it would offend us all

  for a mortal man to host an immortal face-to-face.

  But you go in yourself and clasp Achilles' knees,

  implore him by his father, his mother with lovely hair,

  by his own son--so you can stir his heart!"

  With that urging

  Hermes went his way to the steep heights of Olympus.

  But Priam swung down to earth from the battle-car

  and leaving Idaeus there to rein in mules and team,

  the old king went straight up to the lodge

  where Achilles dear to Zeus would always sit.

  Priam found the warrior there inside ...

  many captains sitting some way off, but two,

  veteran Automedon and the fine fighter Alcimus

  were busy serving him. He had just finished dinner,

  eating, drinking, and the table still stood near.

  The majestic king of Troy slipped past the rest

  and kneeling down beside Achilles, clasped his knees

  and kissed his hands, those terrible, man-killing hands

  that had slaughtered Priam's many sons in battle.

  Awesome--as when the grip of madness seizes one

  who murders a man in his own fatherland and flees

  abroad to foreign shores, to a wealthy, noble host,

  and a sense of marvel runs through all who see him--

  so Achilles marveled, beholding majestic Priam.

  His men marveled too, trading startled glances.

  But Priam prayed his heart out to Achilles:

  "Remember your own father, great godlike Achilles--

  as old as I am, past the threshold of deadly old age!

  No doubt the countrymen round about him plague him now,

  with no one there to defend him, beat away disaster.

  No one--but at least he hears you're still alive

  and his old heart rejoices, hopes rising, day by day,

  to see his beloved son come sailing home from Troy.

  But I--dear god, my life so cursed by fate ...

  I fathered hero sons in the wide realm of Troy

  and now not a single one is left, I tell you.

  Fifty sons I had when the sons of Achaea came,

  nineteen born to me from a single mother's womb

  and the rest by other women in the palace. Many,

  most of them violent Ares cut the knees from under.

  But one, one was left me, to guard my walls, my people--

  the one you killed the other day, defending his fatherland,

  my Hector! It's all for him I've come to the ships now,

  to win him back from you--I bring a priceless ransom.

  Revere the gods, Achilles! Pity me in my own right,

  remember your own father! I deserve more pity ...

  I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before--

  I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son."

  Those words stirred within Achilles a deep desire

  to grieve for his own father. Taking the old man's hand

  he gently moved him back. And overpowered by memory

  both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely

  for man-killing Hector, throbbing, crouching

  before Achilles' feet as Achilles wept himself,

  now for his father, now for Patroclus once again,

  and their sobbing rose and fell throughout the house.

  Then, when brilliant Achilles had had his fill of tears

  and the longing for it had left his mind and body,

  he rose from his seat, raised the old man by the hand

  and filled with pity now for his gray head and gray beard,

  he spoke out winging words, flying straight to the heart:

  "Poor man, how much you've borne--pain to break the spirit!

  What daring brought you down to the ships, all alone,

  to face the glance of the man who killed your sons,

  so many fine brave boys? You have a heart of iron.

  Come, please, sit down on this chair here...

  Let us put our griefs to rest in our own hearts,

  rake them up no more, raw as we are with mourning.

  What good's to be won from tears that chill the spirit?

  So the immortals spun our lives that we, we wretched men

  live on to bear such torments--the gods live free of sorrows.

  There are two great jars that stand on the floor of Zeus's halls

  and hold his gifts, our miseries one, the other blessings.

  When Zeus who loves the lightning mixes gifts for a man,

  now he meets with misfortune, now good times in turn.

  When Zeus dispenses gifts from the jar of sorrows only,

  he makes a man an outcast--brutal, ravenous hunger

  drives him down the face of the shining earth,

  stalking far and wide, cursed by gods and men.

  So with my father, Peleus. What glittering gifts

  the gods rained down from the day that he was bom!

  He excelled all men in wealth and pride of place,

  he lorded the Myrmidons, and mortal that he was,

  they gave the man an immortal goddess for a wife.

  Yes, but even on him the Father piled hardships,

  no powerful race of princes born in his royal halls,


  only a single son he fathered, doomed at birth,

  cut off in the spring of life--

  and I, I give the man no care as he grows old

  since here I sit in Troy, far from my fatherland,

  a grief to you, a grief to all your children ...

  And you too, old man, we hear you prospered once:

  as far as Lesbos, Macar's kingdom, bounds to seaward,

  Phrygia east and upland, the Hellespont vast and north--

  that entire realm, they say, you lorded over once,

  you excelled all men, old king, in sons and wealth.

  But then the gods of heaven brought this agony on you--

  ceaseless battles round your walls, your armies slaughtered.

  You must bear up now. Enough of endless tears,

  the pain that breaks the spirit.

  Grief for your son will do no good at all.

  You will never bring him back to life--

  sooner you must suffer something worse."

  But the old and noble Priam protested strongly:

  "Don't make me sit on a chair, Achilles, Prince,

  not while Hector lies uncared-for in your camp!

  Give him back to me, now, no more delay--

  I must see my son with my own eyes.

  Accept the ransom I bring you, a king's ransom!

  Enjoy it, all of it--return to your own native land,

  safe and sound ... since now you've spared my life."

  A dark glance--and the headstrong runner answered,

  "No more, old man, don't tempt my wrath, not now!

  My own mind's made up to give you back your son.

  A messenger brought me word from Zeus--my mother,

  Thetis who bore me, the Old Man of the Sea's daughter.

  And what's more, I can see through you, Priam--

  no hiding the fact from me: one of the gods

  has led you down to Achaea's fast ships.

  No man alive, not even a rugged young fighter,

  would dare to venture into our camp. Never--

  how could he slip past the sentries unchallenged?

  Or shoot back the bolt of my gates with so much ease?

  So don't anger me now. Don't stir my raging heart still more.

  Or under my own roof I may not spare your life, old man--

  suppliant that you are--may break the laws of Zeus!"

  The old man was terrified. He obeyed the order.

  But Achilles bounded out of doors like a lion--

  not alone but flanked by his two aides-in-arms,

  veteran Automedon and Alcimus, steady comrades,

  Achilles' favorites next to the dead Patroclus.

  They loosed from harness the horses and the mules,

  they led the herald in, the old king's crier,

  and sat him down on a bench. From the polished wagon

  they lifted the priceless ransom brought for Hector's corpse

  but they left behind two capes and a finely-woven shirt

  to shroud the body well when Priam bore him home.

  Then Achilles called the serving-women out:

  "Bathe and anoint the body--

  bear it aside first. Priam must not see his son."

  He feared that, overwhelmed by the sight of Hector,

  wild with grief, Priam might let his anger flare

  and Achilles might fly into fresh rage himself,

  cut the old man down and break the laws of Zeus.

  So when the maids had bathed and anointed the body

  sleek with olive oil and wrapped it round and round

  in a braided battle-shirt and handsome battle-cape,

  then Achilles lifted Hector up in his own arms

  and laid him down on a bier, and comrades helped him

  raise the bier and body onto the sturdy wagon ...

  Then with a groan he called his dear friend by name:

  "Feel no anger at me, Patroclus, if you learn--

  even there in the House of Death--I let his father

  have Prince Hector back. He gave me worthy ransom

  and you shall have your share from me, as always,

  your fitting, lordly share."

  So he vowed

  and brilliant Achilles strode back to his shelter,

  sat down on the well-carved chair that he had left,

  at the far wall of the room, leaned toward Priam

  and firmly spoke the words the king had come to hear:

  "Your son is now set free, old man, as you requested.

  Hector lies in state. With the first light of day

  you will see for yourself as you convey him home.

  Now, at last, let us turn our thoughts to supper.

  Even Niobe with her lustrous hair remembered food,

  though she saw a dozen children killed in her own halls,

  six daughters and six sons in the pride and prime of youth.

  True, lord Apollo killed the sons with his silver bow

  and Artemis showering arrows killed the daughters.

  Both gods were enraged at Niobe. Time and again

  she placed herself on a par with their own mother,

  Leto in her immortal beauty--how she insulted Leto:

  'All you have borne is two, but I have borne so many!'

  So, two as they were, they slaughtered all her children.

  Nine days they lay in their blood, no one to bury them--

  Cronus' son had turned the people into stone ...

  then on the tenth the gods of heaven interred them.

  And Niobe, gaunt, worn to the bone with weeping,

  turned her thoughts to food. And now, somewhere,

  lost on the crags, on the lonely mountain slopes,

  on Sipylus where, they say, the nymphs who live forever,

  dancing along the Achelous River run to beds of rest--

  there, struck into stone, Niobe still broods

  on the spate of griefs the gods poured out to her.

  So come--we too, old king, must think of food.

  Later you can mourn your beloved son once more,

  when you bear him home to Troy, and you'll weep many tears."

  Never pausing, the swift runner sprang to his feet

  and slaughtered a white sheep as comrades moved in

  to skin the carcass quickly, dress the quarters well.

  Expertly they cut the meat in pieces, pierced them with spits,

  roasted them to a turn and pulled them off the fire.

  Automedon brought the bread, set it out on the board

  in ample wicker baskets. Achilles served the meat.

  They reached out for the good things that lay at hand

  and when they had put aside desire for food and drink,

  Priam the son of Dardanus gazed at Achilles, marveling

  now at the man's beauty, his magnificent build--

  face-to-face he seemed a deathless god ...

  and Achilles gazed and marveled at Dardan Priam,

  beholding his noble looks, listening to his words.

  But once they'd had their fill of gazing at each other,

  the old majestic Priam broke the silence first:

  "Put me to bed quickly, Achilles, Prince.

  Time to rest, to enjoy the sweet relief of sleep.

  Not once have my eyes closed shut beneath my lids

  from the day my son went down beneath your hands ...

  day and night I groan, brooding over the countless griefs,

  groveling in the dung that fills my walled-in court.

  But now, at long last, I have tasted food again

  and let some glistening wine go down my throat.

  Before this hour I had tasted nothing."

  He shook his head

  as Achilles briskly told his men and serving-women

  to make beds in the porch's shelter, to lay down

  some heavy purple throws for the beds themselves

  and over
them spread some blankets, thick woolly robes,

  a warm covering laid on top. Torches in hand,

  they left the hall and fell to work at once

  and in no time two good beds were spread and made.

  Then Achilles nodded to Priam, leading the king on

  with brusque advice: "Sleep outside, old friend,

  in case some Achaean captain comes to visit.

  They keep on coming now, huddling beside me,

  making plans for battle--it's their duty.

  But if one saw you here in the rushing dark night

  he'd tell Agamemnon straightaway, our good commander.

  Then you'd have real delay in ransoming the body.

  One more point. Tell me, be precise about it--

  how many days do you need to bury Prince Hector?

  I will hold back myself

  and keep the Argive armies back that long."

  And the old and noble Priam answered slowly,

  "If you truly want me to give Prince Hector burial,

  full, royal honors, you'd show me a great kindness,

  Achilles, if you would do exactly as I say.

  You know how crammed we are inside our city,

  how far it is to the hills to haul in timber,

  and our Trojans are afraid to make the journey.

  Well, nine days we should mourn him in our halls,

  on the tenth we'd bury Hector, hold the public feast,

  on the eleventh build the barrow high above his body--

  on the twelfth we'd fight again ... if fight we must."

  The swift runner Achilles reassured him quickly:

  "All will be done, old Priam, as you command.

  I will hold our attack as long as you require."

  With that he clasped the old king by the wrist,

  by the right hand, to free his heart from fear.

  Then Priam and herald, minds set on the journey home,

  bedded down for the night within the porch's shelter.

  And deep in his sturdy well-built lodge Achilles slept

  with Briseis in all her beauty sleeping by his side.

  Now the great array of gods and chariot-driving men

  slept all night long, overcome by gentle sleep.

  But sleep could never hold the running Escort--

  Hermes kept on turning it over in his mind ...

  how could he convoy Priam clear of the ships,

  unseen by devoted guards who held the gates?

  Hovering at his head the Escort rose and spoke:

  "Not a care in the world, old man? Look at you,

  how you sleep in the midst of men who'd kill you--

  and just because Achilles spared your life. Now, yes,

  you've ransomed your dear son--for a king's ransom.

  But wouldn't the sons you left behind be forced

  to pay three times as much for you alive?

  What if Atrides Agamemnon learns you're here--

  what if the whole Achaean army learns you're here?"

  The old king woke in terror, roused the herald.

  Hermes harnessed the mules and team for both men,

  drove them fast through the camp and no one saw them.

  Once they reached the ford where the river runs clear,