The Iliad of Homer

by Richmond Lattimore

  Do it, then; but not all the rest of us gods shall approve you.

  And put away in your thoughts this other thing I tell you;

  445 if you bring Sarpedon back to his home, still living,

  think how then some other one of the gods might also

  wish to carry his own son out of the strong encounter;

  since around the great city of Priam are fighting many

  sons of the immortals. You will waken grim resentment among them.

  450 No, but if he is dear to you, and your heart mourns for him,

  then let him be, and let him go down in the strong encounter

  underneath the hands of Patroklos, the son of Menoitios;

  but after the soul and the years of his life have left him, then send

  Death to carry him away, and Sleep, who is painless,

  455 until they come with him to the countryside of broad Lykia

  where his brothers and countrymen shall give him due burial

  with tomb and gravestone. Such is the privilege of those who have perished.”

  She spoke, nor did the father of gods and men disobey her;

  yet he wept tears of blood that fell to the ground, for the sake

  460 of his beloved son, whom now Patroklos was presently

  to kill, by generous Troy and far from the land of his fathers.

  Now as these two advancing had come close to each other

  there Patroklos threw first at glorious Thrasymelos

  who was the strong henchman of lord Sarpedon, and struck him

  465 in the depth of the lower belly, and unstrung his limbs’ strength.

  Sarpedon with the second throw then missed with the shining

  spear, but the spear fixed in the right shoulder of Pedasos

  the horse, who screamed as he blew his life away, and went down

  in shrill noise into the dust, and the life spirit flittered from him.

  470 The other horses shied apart, the yoke creaked, the guide reins

  were fouled together as the trace horse lay in the dust beside them;

  but at this spear-famed Automedon saw what he must do

  and wrenching out the long-edged sword from beside his big thigh

  in a flashing stroke and without faltering cut loose the trace horse

  475 and the other horses were straightened out, and pulled in the guide reins,

  and the two heroes came together in the heart-perishing battle.

  Once again Sarpedon threw wide with a cast of his shining

  spear, so that the pointed head overshot the left shoulder

  of Patroklos; and now Patroklos made the second cast with the brazen

  480 spear, and the shaft escaping his hand was not flung vainly

  but struck where the beating heart is closed in the arch of the muscles.

  He fell, as when an oak goes down or a white poplar,

  or like a towering pine tree which in the mountains the carpenters

  have hewn down with their whetted axes to make a ship-timber.

  485 So he lay there felled in front of his horses and chariots

  roaring, and clawed with his hands at the bloody dust; or as

  a blazing and haughty bull in a huddle of shambling cattle

  when a lion has come among the herd and destroys him

  dies bellowing under the hooked claws of the lion, so now

  490 before Patroklos the lord of the shield-armored Lykians

  died raging, and called aloud to his beloved companion:

  “Dear Glaukos, you are a fighter among men. Now the need comes

  hardest upon you to be a spearman and a bold warrior.

  Now, if you are brave, let bitter warfare be dear to you.

  495 First you must go among all men who are lords of the Lykians

  everywhere, and stir them up to fight for Sarpedon,

  and then you yourself also must fight for me with the bronze spear.

  For I shall be a thing of shame and a reproach said of you

  afterward, all your days forever, if the Achaians

  500 strip my armor here where I fell by the ships assembled.

  But hold strongly on and stir up all the rest of our people.”

  He spoke, and as he spoke death’s end closed over his nostrils

  and eyes, and Patroklos stepping heel braced to chest dragged

  the spear out of his body, and the midriff came away with it

  505 so that he drew out with the spearhead the life of Sarpedon,

  and the Myrmidons close by held in the hard-breathing horses

  as they tried to bolt away, once free of their master’s chariot.

  But when he heard the voice a hard sorrow came upon Glaukos,

  and the heart was stirred within him, and he could not defend Sarpedon.

  510 He took his arm in his hand and squeezed it, since the wound hurt him

  where Teukros had hit him with an arrow shot as he swept in

  on the high wall, and fended destruction from his companions.

  He spoke in prayer to him who strikes from afar, Apollo:

  “Hear me, my lord. You are somewhere in the rich Lykian countryside

  515 or here in Troy, and wherever you are you can listen

  to a man in pain, as now this pain has descended upon me.

  For see, I have this strong wound on me, and my arm on both sides

  is driven with sharp pains about, my blood is not able

  to dry and stop running, my shoulder is aching beneath it.

  520 I cannot hold my spear up steady, I cannot go forward

  to fight against the enemy. And the best of men has perished,

  Sarpedon, son of Zeus; who will not stand by his children.

  No, but you at least, my lord, make well this strong wound;

  and put the pains to sleep, give me strength, so that I may call out

  525 to my companions, the Lykians, and stir them to fight on,

  and I myself do battle over the fallen body.”

  So he spoke in prayer, and Phoibos Apollo heard him.

  At once he made the pains stop, and dried away from the hard wound

  the dark running of blood, and put strength into his spirit.

  530 And Glaukos knew in his heart what was done, and was happy

  that the great god had listened to his prayer. And first of all

  he roused toward battle all the men who were lords of the Lykians,

  going everywhere among them, to fight for Sarpedon;

  afterward he ranged in long strides among the Trojans,

  535 by Poulydamas the son of Panthoös and brilliant Agenor,

  and went to Aineias and to Hektor of the brazen helmet

  and stood near them and addressed them in winged words: “Hektor,

  now you have utterly forgotten your armed companions

  who for your sake, far from their friends and the land of their fathers,

  540 are wearing their lives away, and you will do nothing to help them.

  Sarpedon has fallen, the lord of the shield-armored Lykians,

  who defended Lykia in his strength and the right of his justice.

  Now brazen Ares has struck him down by the spear of Patroklos.

  Then, friends, stand beside me, let the thought be shame in your spirit

  545 that they might strip away his arms, and dishonor his body,

  these Myrmidons, in anger for all the Danaäns perished,

  those whom we Lykians have killed with the spear by the swift ships.”

  He spoke, and the Trojans were taken head to heel with a sorrow

  untakeable, not to be endured, since he was their city’s

  550 stay, always, though he was an outlander, and many people

  came with him, but he was the best of them all in battle

  always. They went straight for the Danaäns, raging, and Hektor

  led them, in anger for Sarpedon. Meanwhile the Achaians

  rou
sed to the savage heart of Patroklos, the son of Menoitios.

  555 First he spoke to the Aiantes, who were burning for battle already:

  “Aiantes, now your desire must be to defend yourselves, and be

  such as you were among men before, or even more valiant.

  The man is fallen who first scaled the wall of the Achaians,

  Sarpedon. If only we could win and dishonor his body

  560 and strip the armor from his shoulders, and kill with the pitiless

  bronze some one of his companions who fight to defend him.”

  He spoke, and they likewise grew furious in their defense,

  and when they on either side had made massive their battalions,

  Trojans and Lykians, and Myrmidons and Achaians,

  565 they clashed together in battle over the perished body

  howling terribly, with a high crash of the men in their armor,

  while Zeus swept ghastly night far over the strong encounter

  that over his dear son might be deadly work in the fighting.

  First the Trojans shouldered back the glancing-eyed Achaians

  570 when a man, and not the worst of the Myrmidons, was struck down,

  son of high-hearted Agakles, Epeigeus the brilliant.

  He was one who was lord before in strong-founded Boudeion,

  but now, since he had happened to kill his high-born cousin,

  had come suppliant to Peleus and to Thetis the silver-footed,

  575 and these sent him to follow Achilleus, who broke men in battle,

  to Ilion of the horses and the battle against the Trojans.

  As he caught at a dead man glorious Hektor hit him

  with a stone in the head, and all the head broke into two pieces

  inside the heavy helmet, and he in the dust face downward

  580 dropped, while death breaking the spirit drifted about him.

  And the sorrow took hold of Patroklos for his fallen companion.

  He steered his way through the ranks of the front fighters, like a flying

  hawk who scatters into flight the daws and the starlings.

  So straight for the Lykians, O lord of horses, Patroklos,

  585 you swept, and for the Trojans, heart angered for your companion.

  Now he struck Sthenelaos, beloved son of Ithaimenes,

  in the neck with a stone, and broke the tendons loose from about it.

  The champions of Troy gave back then, and glorious Hektor.

  As far as goes the driving cast of a slender javelin

  590 which a man throws making trial of his strength, either in a contest

  or else in battle, under the heart-breaking hostilities,

  so far the Trojans gave way with the Achaians pushing them.

  But Glaukos was first, lord of the shield-armored Lykians,

  to turn again, and killed Bathykles the great-hearted, beloved

  595 son of Chalkon, who had dwelled in his home in Hellas

  conspicuous for wealth and success among all the Myrmidons.

  It was he whom Glaukos stabbed in the middle of the chest, turning

  suddenly back with his spear as he overtook him. He fell,

  thunderously, and the closing sorrow came over the Achaians

  600 as the great man went down, but the Trojans were gladdened greatly

  as the great man went down, but the Trojans were gladdened greatly

  and came and stood in a pack about him, nor did the Achaians

  let go of their fighting strength, but steered their fury straight at them.

  And there Meriones cut down a chief man of the Trojans,

  Laogonos, bold son of Onetor, who was Idaian,

  605 Zeus’ priest, and who was honored in his countryside as a god is.

  Meriones struck him by jaw and ear, and at once the life spirit

  fled from his limbs, and the hateful darkness closed in about him.

  But Aineias threw his bronze spear at Meriones, hoping

  to hit him as he came forward under his shield’s covering,

  610 but Meriones with his eyes straight on him avoided the bronze spear.

  For he bent forward, and behind his back the long spearshaft

  was driven into the ground so that the butt end was shaken

  on the spear. Then and there Ares the huge took the force from it

  [so that the vibrant shaft of Aineias was driven groundward

  615 since it had been thrown in a vain cast from his big hand].

  But Aineias was angered in his spirit, and called out to him:

  “Meriones, though you are a dancer my spear might have stopped you

  now and for all time, if only I could have hit you.”

  Then in turn Meriones the spear-famed answered him:

  620 “Aineias, strong fighter though you are, it would be hard for you

  to quench the strength of every man who might come against you

  and defend himself, since you also are made as a mortal.

  But if I could throw and hit you with the sharp bronze in the middle,

  then strong as you are and confident in your hands’ work, you might

  625 give the glory to me, and your soul to Hades of the horses.”

  He spoke, but the fighting son of Menoitios reprimanded him:

  “Meriones, when you are a brave fighter, why say such things?—See,

  dear friend, the Trojans will not give back from the body

  for hard words spoken. Sooner the ground will cover them. Warfare’s

  630 finality lies in the work of hands, that of words in counsel.

  It is not for us now to pile up talk, but to fight in battle.”

  He spoke, and led the way, and the other followed, a mortal

  like a god. As the tumult goes up from men who are cutting

  timber in the mountain valleys, and the sound is heard from far off,

  635 such was the dull crashing that rose from earth of the wide ways,

  from the bronze shields, the skins and the strong-covering ox-hides

  as the swords and leaf-headed spears stabbed against them. No longer

  could a man, even a knowing one, have made out the godlike

  Sarpedon, since he was piled from head to ends of feet under

  640 a mass of weapons, the blood and the dust, while others about him

  kept forever swarming over his dead body, as flies

  through a sheepfold thunder about the pails overspilling

  milk, in the season of spring when the milk splashes in the buckets.

  So they swarmed over the dead man, nor did Zeus ever

  645 turn the glaring of his eyes from the strong encounter,

  but kept gazing forever upon them, in spirit reflective,

  and pondered hard over many ways for the death of Patroklos;

  whether this was now the time, in this strong encounter,

  when there over godlike Sarpedon glorious Hektor

  650 should kill him with the bronze, and strip the armor away from his shoulders,

  or whether to increase the steep work of fighting for more men.

  In the division of his heart this way seemed best to him,

  for the strong henchman of Achilleus, the son of Peleus,

  once again to push the Trojans and bronze-helmed Hektor

  655 back on their city, and tear the life from many. In Hektor

  first of all he put a temper that was without strength.

  He climbed to his chariot and turned to flight, and called to the other

  Trojans to run, for he saw the way of Zeus’ sacred balance.

  Nor did the powerful Lykians stand now, but were all scattered

  660 to flight, when they had seen their king with a spear in his heart, lying

  under the pile of dead men, since many others had fallen

  above him, once Zeus had strained fast the powerful conflict.

  But the Achaians took from Sarpedon’s shoulders the
armor

  glaring and brazen, and this the warlike son of Menoitios

  665 gave to his companions to carry back to the hollow ships.

  And now Zeus who gathers the clouds spoke a word to Apollo:

  “Go if you will, beloved Phoibos, and rescue Sarpedon

  from under the weapons, wash the dark suffusion of blood from him,

  then carry him far away and wash him in a running river,

  670 anoint him in ambrosia, put ambrosial clothing upon him;

  then give him into the charge of swift messengers to carry him,

  of Sleep and Death, who are twin brothers, and these two shall lay him

  down presently within the rich countryside of broad Lykia

  where his brothers and countrymen shall give him due burial

  675 with tomb and gravestone. Such is the privilege of those who have perished.”

  He spoke so, and Apollo, not disregarding his father,

  went down along the mountains of Ida, into the grim fight,

  and lifting brilliant Sarpedon out from under the weapons

  carried him far away, and washed him in a running river,

  680 and anointed him in ambrosia, put ambrosial clothing upon him,

  then gave him into the charge of swift messengers to carry him,

  of Sleep and Death, who are twin brothers, and these two presently

  laid him down within the rich countryside of broad Lykia.

  But Patroklos, with a shout to Automedon and his horses,

  685 went after Trojans and Lykians in a huge blind fury.

  Besotted: had he only kept the command of Peleiades

  he might have got clear away from the evil spirit of black death.

  But always the mind of Zeus is a stronger thing than a man’s mind.

  He terrifies even the warlike man, he takes away victory

  690 lightly, when he himself has driven a man into battle

  as now he drove on the fury in the heart of Patroklos.

  Then who was it you slaughtered first, who was the last one,

  Patroklos, as the gods called you to your death? Adrestos

  first, and after him Autonoös and Echeklos,

  695 Perimos, son of Megas, and Epistor, and Melanippos,

  and after these Elasos, and Moulios, and Pylartes.

  These he killed, while each man of the rest was bent on escaping.

  There the sons of the Achaians might have taken gate-towering Ilion

  under the hands of Patroklos, who raged with the spear far before them,

  700 had not Phoibos Apollo taken his stand on the strong-built

  tower, with thoughts of death for him, but help for the Trojans.