The Iliad of Homer

by Homer

the anger took hold of Atreus’ son,

If only you could sit by your ships untroubled, not weeping, since indeed your lifetime is to be short, of no length. Now it has befallen that your life must be brief and bitter beyond all men’s. To a bad destiny I bore you in my chambers.

be angry at the Achaians and stay away from all fighting.

Odysseus of the many designs

All day long they propitiated the god with singing, chanting a splendid hymn to Apollo, these young Achaians, singing to the one who works from afar,

Apollo who works from afar

But that other still sat in anger beside his swift ships, Peleus’ son divinely born, Achilleus of the swift feet.

490 Never now would he go to assemblies where men win glory,

but continued to waste hi...

Zeus of the counsels, lord of Olympos, now do him honor. So long put strength into the Trojans, until the Achaians 510 give my son his rights, and his honor is increased among them.” She spoke thus.

See then, I will bend my head that you may believe me. 525 For this among the immortal gods is the mightiest witness I can give, and nothing I do shall be vain nor revocable nor a thing unfulfilled when I bend my head in assent to it.”

“Treacherous one, what god has been plotting counsels with you? Always it is dear to your heart in my absence to think of secret things and decide upon them. Never have you patience frankly to speak forth to me the thing that you purpose.”

“Hera, do not go on hoping that you will hear all my thoughts, since these will be too hard for you, though you are my wife. Any thought that it is right for you to listen to, no one neither man nor any immortal shall hear it before you.

Then in return Zeus who gathers the clouds made answer: “Dear lady, I never escape you; you are always full of suspicion. Yet thus you can accomplish nothing surely, but be more distant from my heart than ever, and it will be the worse for you. If what you say is true, then that is the way I wish it. 565 But go then, sit down in silence, and do as I tell you, for fear all the gods, as many as are on Olympos, can do nothing if I come close and lay my unconquerable hands upon you.” He spoke, and the goddess the ox-eyed lady Hera was frightened and went and sat down in silence wrenching her heart to obedience,

And I entreat my mother, though she herself understands it, to be ingratiating toward our father Zeus, that no longer our father may scold her and break up the quiet of our feasting. 580 For if the Olympian who handles the lightning should be minded to hurl us out of our places, he is far too strong for any. Do you therefore approach him again with words made gentle, and at once the Olympian will be gracious again to us.”

He should not sleep night long who is a man burdened with counsels 25 and responsibility for a people and cares so numerous.

Zeus, who far away cares much for you and is pitiful.

But he's lying to Agamemnon! My true God loves truth.

believing things in his heart that were not to be accomplished. For he thought that on that very day he would take Priam’s city; fool, who knew nothing of all the things Zeus planned to accomplish,

Zeus, who yet was minded to visit tears and sufferings 40 on Trojans and Danaäns alike in the strong encounters.

Why should Zeus want them all still to suffer?

‘Son of wise Atreus breaker of horses, are you sleeping? He should not sleep night long who is a man burdened with counsels and responsibility for a people and cares so numerous.

Yet first, since it is the right way, I will make trial of them by words, and tell them even to flee in their benched vessels.

By so much I claim we sons of the Achaians outnumber 130 the Trojans—those who live in the city; but there are companions from other cities in their numbers, wielders of the spear, to help them, who drive me hard back again and will not allow me, despite my will, to sack the well-founded stronghold of Ilion. And now nine years of mighty Zeus have gone by,

far away our own wives and our young children are sitting within our halls and wait for us, while still our work here stays forever unfinished as it is, for whose sake we came hither.

Foreshadowing of Odysseus wife, Penelope? And his own wife Clytemnestra who will murder him

the equal of Zeus in counsel,

resourceful Odysseus:

May he not in anger do some harm to the sons of the Achaians! For the anger of god-supported kings is a big matter, to whom honor and love are given from Zeus of the counsels.”

“Excellency! Sit still and listen to what others tell you, to those who are better men than you, you skulker and coward and thing of no account whatever in battle or council. Surely not all of us Achaians can be as kings here.

Lordship for many is no good thing. Let there be one ruler, 205 one king, to whom the son of devious-devising Kronos gives the scepter and right of judgment, to watch over his people.”

They believed kingship came from the gods

Thersites of the endless speech, still scolded, who knew within his head many words, but disorderly; vain, and without decency, to quarrel 215 with the princes with any word he thought might be amusing

Achilleus hated him, and Odysseus. These two he was forever abusing, but now at brilliant

“Fluent orator though you be, Thersites, your words are ill-considered. Stop, nor stand up alone against princes.

I assert there is no worse man than you are.

Any man who stays away one month from his own wife with his intricate ship is impatient,

I cannot find fault with the Achaians for their impatience

yet always it is disgraceful to wait long and at the end go home empty-handed.

as they cried out applause to the word of godlike Odysseus.

We do our fighting with words only, and can discover no remedy, though we have stayed here a long time.

He flashed lightning on our right, showing signs of favor. Therefore let no man be urgent to take the way homeward 355 until after he has lain in bed with the wife of a Trojan to avenge Helen’s longing to escape and her lamentations.

I was the first to be angry.

Good job! Take the blame for every fault you have.

a man like Zeus himself for counsel.

He spoke, but none of this would the son of Kronos accomplish, 420 who accepted the victims, but piled up the unwished-for hardship.

Tell me now, you Muses who have your homes on Olympos. 485 For you, who are goddesses, are there, and you know all things, and we have heard only the rumor of it and know nothing. Who then of those were the chief men and the lords of the Danaäns? I could not tell over the multitude of them nor name them, not if I had ten tongues and ten mouths, not if I had 490 a voice never to be broken and a heart of bronze within me, not unless the Muses of Olympia, daughters of Zeus of the aegis, remembered all those who came beneath Ilion. I will tell the lords of the ships, and the ships numbers.

his brother Menelaos of the great war cry was leader, with sixty ships marshaled apart from the others. He himself went among them in the confidence of his valor, driving them battleward, since above all his heart was eager 590 to avenge Helen’s longing to escape and her lamentations. They who dwelt

these in their anger struck him maimed, and the voice of wonder 600 they took away, and made him a singer without memory;

All these men were led by Odysseus, like Zeus in counsel. Following with him were twelve ships with bows red painted.

These then were the leaders and the princes among the Danaäns. Tell me then, Muse, who of them all was the best and bravest of the men,

Among the men far the best was Telamonian Aias while Achilleus stayed angry, since he was far best of all of them, 770 and the horses also, who carried the blameless son of Peleus.

the son of Priam, Polites, who confident in the speed of his feet kept watch for the Trojans

Tall Hektor of the shining helm was leader of the Trojans, Priam’s son; and with him far the best and the bravest fighting men were armed and eager to fight

The strong son of Anchises was leader of the Dardanians, 820 Aineias, whom divine Aphrodite bore to Anchises in the folds of Ida, a goddess lying in love with a mortal: