THE FIRST BOOK OF HOMER'S
ILIAS.
Chryses, priest of Apollo, brings presents to the Grecian princes, to ransom his daughter Chryseis, who was prisoner in the fleet. Agamemnon, the general, whose captive and mistress the young lady was, refuses to deliver her, threatens the venerable old man, and dismisses him with contumely. The priest craves vengeance of his god; who sends a plague among the Greeks which occa sions Achilles, their great champion, to summon a council of the chief officers: he encourages Cal. chas, the high priest and prophet, to tell the reason, why the gods were so much incensed against them.-Calchas is fearful of provoking Agamem non, till Achilles engages to protect him; then,
Suppliant before the Grecian chiefs he stood;
Awful, and arm'd with ensigns of his god:
Bare was his hoary head; one holy hand
Held forth his laurel crown, and one his scep-
tre of command.
His suit was common; but above the rest,
To both the brother-princes thus address'd:
Ye sons of Atreus, and ye Grecian powers,
So may the gods who dwell in heavenly bowers
Succeed your siege, accord the vows you
make,
And give you Troy's imperial town to take ;
So, by their happy conduct may you come
With conquest back to your sweet native home,
As you receive the ransom which I bring,
imboldened by the hero, he accuses the general (Respecting Jove, and the far-shooting king,)
as the cause of all, by detaining the fair captive, and refusing the presents offered for her ransom. By this proceeding, Agamemnon is obliged, against his will, to restore Chryseis, with gifts, that he might appease the wrath of Phoebus; but at the same time, to revenge himself on Achilles, sends to seize his slave Briseis. Achilles, thus affronted, complains to his mother Thetis; and begs her to revenge his injury, not only on the general. hut on all the army, by giving victory to the Trojans, till the ungrateful king became sensible of his injustice. At the same time, he retires from the camp into his ships, and withdraws his aid from his countrymen Thetis prefers her son's petition to Jupiter, who grants her suit. Juno suspects her errand, and quarrels with her husband, for hus grant; till Vulcan reconciles his parents to a bowl of nectar, and sends them peaceably tu bed.
TAE wrath of Peleus' son, O Muse, resound;
Whose dire effects the Grecian army found,
And many a hero, king, and hardy knight,
Were sent, in early youth, to shades of night:
Their limbs a prey to dogs and vultures made:
So was the sovereign will of Jove obey'd:
From that ill-omen'd hour when strife begun,
Betwixt Atrides great, and Thetis' godlike scu.
What power provok'd, and for what cause,
relate,
Sow'd, in their breasts, the seeds of stera de
And break my daughter's bonds, at my desire
And glad with her return her grieving sire.
With shouts of loud acclaim the Greeks de
To take the gifts, to set the damsel free.
The king of men alone with fury burn'd;
And, haughty, these opprobrious won't return'd:
Hence, holy dotard, and avoid my sight,
Ere evil intercept thy tardy flight:
Nor dare to tread this interdicted strand,
Lest, not that idle sceptre in thy hand,
Nor thy go i's crown, my vov'd revenge with-
Hence on thy life: the captive maid is mine;
Whom not for price or prayers I will resign:
Mine she shall be, till creeping age and time
Her bloom have wither'd, and consum'd her
Till then my royal bed she shall attend ;
Aud, having first adorn'd it, late ascend:
This, for the night; by day, the web and loom,
And homely household-task, shall be her doom,
Far from thy lov'd embrace, and her sweet
native home.
He said; the helpless priest replied no more,
But sped his steps along the hoarse-resounding
shore :
Silent he fled; secure at length he stood,
Devoutly curs'd his foes, and thus invok'd his
god.
O source of sacred light, attend my prayer
God with the silver bow, and golden hair;
Whom Chrysa, Cilla, Tenedos obeys,
And whose broad eye their happy soil surveys
If, Smintheus, I have pour'd before thy brine
The blood of oxen, goats, and ruddy w.
And larded thighs on loaded altars laid,
Hear, and my just revenge propitious aid!
Pierce the proud Greeks, and with thy shafts
How much thy power is injur'd in thy priest.
He pray'd, and Phoebus, hearing, urg'd his
flight,
With fury kindled, from Olympus' height;
His quiver o'er his ample shoulders threw ;
His bow twang'd, and his arrows rattled as
they flew.
Black as a stormy night, he rang'd around
The tents, and compass'd the devoted ground,
Then with full force his deadly bow he bent,
And feather'd fates among the mules and sump-
The essay of rage; on faithful dogs the next;
And last, in human hearts his arrows fix'd.
The god nine days the Greeks at rovers kill'd,
Nine days the camp with funeral fires was fill'd;
The tenth, Achilles, by the Queen's command,
Who bears heaven's awful sceptre in her hand,
A council summon'd; for the goddess griev'd
Her favour'd host should perish unreliev'd.
The kings assembled, soon their chief en-
close;
Then from his seat the goddess-born arose,
And thus undaunted spoke: What now remains,
But that once more we tempt the wat'ry plains,
And, wandering homeward, seek our safety
hence,
In flight at least, if we can find defence?
Such woes at once encompass us about,
The plague within the camp, the sword without.
Consult, O king, the prophets of the event:
And whence these ills, and what the god's in-
tent,
Wouldst thou the seeds deep sown of mischiof
know,
And why provok'd Apollo bends his bow?
Plight first thy faith, inviolably true,
To save me from those ills that may ensue.
For I shall tell ungrateful truths to those,
Whose boundless powers of life and death dis-
pose.
And sovereigns, ever jealous of their state,
Forgive not those whom once they mark for
hate :
Even though the offence they seemingly digest,
Revenge, like embers rak'd, within their breast,
Bursts forth in flames; whose unresisted power
Will seize the unwary wretch, and soon de-
Such and no less is he, on whom depends
The sum of things; and whom my tongue
Secure me then from his foreseen intent.
That what his wrath may doom, thy valour may
prevent.
To this the stern Achilles made reply;
Be bold; and on my plighted faith rely,
To speak what Phoebus has inspir'd thy soul
For conimon good; and speak without control.
His godhead I invoke, by him I swear,
That while my nostrils draw his vital air,
None shall presume to violate those bands;
Or touch thy person with unhallow'd hands:
E'en not the king of men that all commands.
At this resuming heart, the prophet said:
Nor hecatomb unslain, nor vows unpaid,
On Greeks accurs'd this dire contagion bring,
Or call for vengeance from the bowyer King;
But he the tyrant, whom none dares resist,
Affronts the godhead in his injur'd priest:
Let them by dreams explore; for dreams from He keeps the damsel captive in his chain,
What want of offer'd victims, what offence
In fact committed could the Sun incense,
To deal his deadly shafts? What may remove
His settled hate, and reconcile his love?
That he may look propitious on our toils;
And hungry graves no more be glutted with
our spoils.
Thus to the king of men the hero spoke,
Then Calchas the desir'd occasion took:
Calchas the sacred seer, who had in view
Things present and the past; and things to come
foreknew.
Supreme of augurs, who, by Phoebus taught,
The Grecian powers to Troy's destruction
brought.
Skill'd in the secret causes of their woes,
The reverend priest in graceful act arose :
And thus bespoke Pelides: Care of Jove,
Favour'd of all the immortal Powers above;
And presents are refus'd, and prayers preferr's
in vain.
For this the avenging power employs his darts;
And empties all his quiver in our hearts;
Thus, will persist, relentless in his ire,
Till the fair slave be render'd to her sire.
And ransom-free restor❜d to his abode,
With sacrifice to reconcile the god :
Then he, perhaps, aton'd by prayer, may cease
His vengeance justly vow'd, and give the peace.
Thus having said, he sate: thus answer'd
Upstarting from his throne, the king of men,
His breast with furv fill'd, his eye with fire;
Which rolling round, he shot in sparkles on the
sire:
Augur of ill, whose tongue was never found
Without a priestly curse, or boding sound;
For not one bless'd event foretold to me
Pass'd through that mouth, or pass'd unwillingly.
And now thou dost with lies the throne invade,
By practice harden'd in thy slandering trade.
Obtending heaven, for whate'er ills befall;
And sputtering under specious names thy gall.
Now Phoebus is provok'd, his rites and laws
Are in his priest profan'd, and I the cause:
Since I detain a slave, my sovereign prize;
And sacred gold, your idol-god, despise.
I love her well: and well her merits claim,
To stand preferr'd before my Grecian dame :
Not Clytemnestra's self in beauty's bloom
More charm'd, or better plied the various loom:
Mine is the maid; and brought in happy hour,
With every household-grace adorn'd,to bless my
nuptial bower.
Yet shall she be restor'd; since public good
For private interest ought not to be withstood,
To save the effusion of my people's blood.
But right requires, if I resign my own,
I should not suffer for your sakes alone;
Alone excluded from the prize I gain'd,
And by your common suffrage have obtain❜d.
The slave without a ransom shall be sent :
It rests for you to make the equivalent
To this the fierce Thessalian prince replied: O first in power, but passing all in pride, Griping, and still tenacious of thy hold, Wouldst thou the Grecian chiefs, though largely soul'd,
Should give the prizes they had gain'd before
And with their loss thy sacrilege restore?
Whate'er by force of arms the soldier got,
Is each his own, by dividend of lot:
Which to resume, were both unjust and base;
Not to be borne but by a servile race.
But this we can: if Saturn's son bestows
The sack of Troy, which he by promise owes;
Then shall the conquering Greeks thy loss re-
store,
[more.
And with large interest make the advantage
To this Atrides answer'd: Though thy boast
Assumes the foremost name of all our host,
Pretend not, mighty man, that what is mine,
Controll'd by thee, I tamely should resign.
Shall I release the prize I gain'd by right,
In taken towns, and many a bloody fight,
While thou detain'st Briseis in thy bands,
By priestly glossing on the god's commands?
Resolve on this, (a short alternative,)
Quit mine, or, in exchange, another give;
Else I, assure thy soul, by sovereign right
Will seize thy captive in thy own despite.
Or from stout Ajax, or Ulysses, bear
What other prize my fancy shall prefer:
Then softly murmur, or aloud complain,
Rage as you please, you shall resist in vain.
But more of this, in proper time and place;
To things of greater moment let us pass.
A ship to sail the sacred scas prepare.
Proud in her trin; and put on board the fair,
With sacrifice and gifts, and all the pomp of
prayer.
The crew well chosen, the command shall be
In Ajax; or if other I decree,
In Creta's king, or Ithacus, or, if I please, in thee:
Most fit thyself to see perform'd the intent For which my prisoner from my sight is sent, (Thanks to thy pious care,) that Phœbus may relent.
At this, Achilles roll'd his furious eyes,
Fix'd on the king askant; and thus replies
O, impudent, regardful of thy own,
Whose thoughts are centred on thyself alone,
Advanc'd to sovereign sway for better ends
Than thus like abject slaves to treat thy friends.
What Greek is he, that, urg'd by thy command,
Against the Trojan troops will lift his hand?
Not I: nor such enforc'd respect I owe;
Nor Pergamus I hate, nor Priam is my foe.
What wrong from Troy remote, could I sustain,
To leave my fruitful soil, and happy reign,
And plough the surges of the stormy main?
Thee, frontless man, we follow'd from afar ;
Thy instruments of death, and tools of war.
Thine is the triumph; ours the toil alone:
We bear thee on our backs, and mount thee on
the throne.
For thee we fall in fight; for thee redress
Thy baffled brother; not the wrongs of Greece.
And now thou threaten'st with unjust decree,
To punish thy affronting heaven, on me.
To seize the prize which I so dearly bought;
By common suffrage given, confirm'd by lot.
Mean match to thine: for still above the rest,
Thy hook'd rapacious hands usurp the best.
Though mine are first in fight, to force the prey.
And last sustain the labours of the day.
Nor grudge I thee the much the Grecians give;
Nor murmuring take the little I receive.
Yet even this little, thou, who wouldst engross
The whole, insatiate, envy'st as thy loss.
Know, then, for Phthia fix'd is my return:
Better at home my ill-paid pains to mourn,
Than from an equal here sustain the public
[bound,
The king, whose brows with shining gold were Who saw his throne with sceptred slaves encompass'd round,
Thus answer'd stern: Go, at thy pleasure, go: We need not such a friend, nor fear we such a foc.
There will not want to follow me in fight:
Jove will assist, and Jove assert my right.
But thou of all the kings (his care below)
Art least at my command, and most niv foe.
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(A well-rigg'd vessel in the port attends, Mann'd at my charge, commanded by my friends,)
The ship shall waft her to her wish'd abode, Full fraught with holy bribes to the far-shooting god.
This thus despatch'd, I owe myself the care,
My fame and injur'd honour to repair:
From thy own tent, proud man, in thy despite,
This hand shall ravish thy pretended right.
Briseis shall be mine, and thou shalt see
What odds of awful power I have on thee:
That others at thy cost may learn the difference
of degree.
At this the impatient hero sourly smil'd:
His heart impetuous in his bosom boil'd,
And justled by two tides of equal sway,
Stood, for a while, suspended in his way.
Betwixt his reason and his rage untam'd;
One whisper'd soft, and one aloud reclaim'd:
That only counsell'd to the safer side;
This to the sword his ready hand applied.
Unpunish'd to support the affront was hard:
Nor easy was the attempt to force the guard.
But soon the thirst of vengeance fir'd his blood:
Half shone his falchion,and half sheath'd it stood.
In that nice moment, Pallas, from above,
Commission'd by the imperial wife of Jove,
Descended swift: (the white-arm'd Queen
was loath
The fight should follow; for she favour'd both :)
Just as in act he stood, in clouds inshrin'd,
Her hand she fasten'd on his hair behind;
Then backward by his yellow curls she drew;
To him and him alone confess'd in view.
Tam'd by superior force, he turn'd his eyes
Aghast at first, and stupid with surprise:
But by her sparkling eyes, and ardent look,
The virgin-warrior known, he thus bespoke.
Com'st thou, Celestial, to behold my wrongs?
To view the vengeance which to crimes be-
longs?
Thus he. The blue-eyed goddess thus rejoin'd.
I come to calm thy turbulence of mind,
If reason will resume her sovereign sway,
And, sent by Juno, her commands obey.
Equal she loves you both, and I protect:
Then give thy guardian gods their due respect;
And cease contention; be thy words severo,
Sharp as he merits, but the sword forbear,
An hour unhop'd already wings her way,
When he his dire affront shall dearly pay:
When the proud king shall sue, with treble
gain,
To quit thy loss, and conquer thy disdain.
But thou, secure of my unfailing word,
Compose thy swelling soul, and sheath the
sword.
{Maid,
The youth thus answer'd mild; Auspicious
Heaven's will be mine, and your cominands
obey'd.
The gods are just, and when, subduing sense, We serve their Powers, provide the recom
He said; with surly faith believ'd her word, And in the sheath, reluctant, plung'd the sword. Her message done, she mounts the bless'd abodes,
And mix'd among the senate of the gods.
At her departure his disdain return'd:
The fire she fann'd, with greater fury burn'd
Rumbling within, till thus it found a vent:
Dastard, and drunkard, mean and insolent
Tongue-valiant hero, vaunter of thy might,
In threats the foremost, but the lag in fight;
When didst thou thrust amid the mingled
preace,
Content to bide the war aloof in peace?
Arms are the trade of each plebeian soul;
'Tis death to fight; but kingly to control.
Lord-like at ease, with arbitrary power,
To peal the chiefs, the people to devour.
These, traitor, are thy talents; safer far
Than to contend in fields, and toils of war.
Nor couldst thou thus have dar'd the common
hate,
Were not their souls as abject as their state.
But, by this sceptre, solemnly I swear
(Which never more green leaf or growing
Torn from the tree, and given by Jove to those Who laws dispense, and mighty wrongs oppose) That when the Grecians want my wanted aid, No gift shall bribe it, and no prayer persuade. When Hector comes, the homicide, to wield His conquering arms, with corpse to strow the field,
[fess Then shalt thou mourn thy pride ; and late conMy wrong repented, when 't is past redress. He said: and with disdain, in open view, Against the ground his golden sceptre threw, Then sate with boiling rage Atrides burn'd, And foam betwixt his gnashing grinders churn'd. But from his seat the Pylian prince arosu, With reasoning mild, their madness to com pose:
Words, sweet as honey, from his mouth distill'd;
Twr centuries already he fulfill'd,
And now began the third; unbroken yet:
Once fam'd for courage; still in council great.
What worse, he said, can Argos undergo,
What can more gratify the Phrygian foe,
Than these distemper'd heats. If both the
lights
Of Greece their private interest disunites? Believe a friend, with thrice your years increas'd,
And let these youthful passions be repress'd:
I flourish'd long before your birth; and then
Liv'd equal with a race of braver men,
Than these dim eyes shall e'er behold again.
Ceneus and Dryas, and, excelling them,
Great Theseus, and the force of greater Poly-
pheme.
With these I went, a brother of the war,
Their dangers to divide; their fame to share.
Nor idle stood with unassisting hands,
When salvage beasts, and men's more salvage
bands,
Their virtuous toil subdued: yet those I sway'd, With powerful speech: I spoke, and they obey'd.
If such as those my counsels could reclaim, Think not, young warriors, your diminish'd
Shall lose of lustre, by subjecting rage
To the cool dictates of experienc'd age.
Thou, king of men, stretch not thy sovereign
Beyond the bounds free subjects can obey:
But let Pelides in his prize rejoice,
Achiev'd in arms, allow'd by public voice.
Nor thou, brave champion, with his power con-
tend,
[sceptres bend.
Before whose throne e'en kings their lower'd
The head of action he, and thou the hand,
Matchless thy force; but mightier his command:
Thou first, O king, release the rights of sway;
Power, self-restrain'd, the people best obey;
Sanctions of law from thee derive their source;
Command thyself, whom no commands can
force.
The son of Thetis, rampire of our host,
Is worth our care to keep ; nor shall my prayers
be lost.
Thus Nestor said, and ceas'd: Atrides broke His silence next; but ponder'd ere he spoke. Wise are thy words, and glad I would obey, But this proud man affects imperial sway. Controlling kings, and trampling on our state, His will is law; and what he wills is fate. The gods have given him strength: but whence
Of lawless power assum'd, or license to revile?
Achilles cut him short; and thus replied: My worth allow'd in words, is in effect denied. For who but a poltroon, possess'd with fear, Such haughty insolence can tamely bear? Command thy slaves: my free-born soul dis
A tyrant's curb; and restiff breaks the reins.
Take this along; that no dispute shall rise
(Though mine the woman) for my ravish'd
prize :
But, she excepted, as unworthy strife,
Dare not, I charge thee dare not, on thy life,
Touch aught of mine beside, by lot my due,
But stand aloof, and think profane to view:
This fauchion, eise, not hitherto withstood,
These hostile fields shall fatten with thy blood.
He said; and rose the first: the council broke
And all their grave consults dissolv'd in sınoke,
The royal youth retir'd, on vengeance bent,
Patroclus follow'd silent to his tent.
Meantime, the king with gifts a vessel
stores;
Supplies the banks with twenty chosen oars:
And next, to reconcile the shooter god,
Within her hollow sides the sacrifice he stow'd:
Chryseis last was set on board; whose hand
Ulysses took, intrusted with command:
They plough the liquid seas, and leave the les-
sening land.
Atrides then, his outward zeal to boast,
Bade purify the sin-polluted host.
With perfect hecatombs the god they grac'd;
Whose offer'd entrails in the main were cast.
Black bulls, and bearded goats on altars lie;
And clouds of savoury stench involve the sky.
These pomps the royal hypocrite design'd
For show; but harbour'd vengeance in his mind:
Till holy malice, longing for a vent,
At length discover'd his conceal'd intent.
Talthybius, and Eurybates the just,
Heralds of arms, and ministers of trust,
He call'd, and thus bespoke : Haste hence your
way;
And from the goddess-born demand his prey.
If yielded, bring the captive: if denied,
The king (so tell him) shall chastise his pride:
And with arm'd multitudes in person come
To vindicate his power, and justify his doom.
This hard command unwilling they obey, And o'er the barren shore pursue their way, Where quarter'd in their camp the fierce Thes salians lay.
Their sovereign seated on his chair they find; His pensive cheek upon his hand reclin'd, And anxious thoughts revolving in his mind. With gloomy looks he saw there entering in Without salute: nor durst they first begin, Fearful of rash offence and death foreseen.
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