The Iliad of Homer
Page 66
a spearcast’s length behind by glorious Menelaos.
530 For his horses with splendid manes were slowest of all, and likewise
he himself was of least account for the racing of chariots.
Last and behind them all came in the son of Admetos
dragging his fine chariot and driving his horses before him,
and seeing this, brilliant swift-footed Achilleus took pity upon him
535 and stood forth among the Argives and spoke to them all in winged words:
“The best man is driving his single-foot horses in last.
Come then, we must give some kind of prize, and well he deserves it;
second prize; let first place go to the son of Tydeus.”
So he spoke, and all gave approval to what he was urging,
540 and he would have given him the horse, since all the Achaians
approved, had not Antilochos, son of great-hearted Nestor,
stood up to answer Peleid Achilleus, and argue:
“Achilleus, I shall be very angry with you if you accomplish
what you have said. You mean to take my prize away from me,
545 with the thought in mind that his chariot fouled and his running horses
but he himself is great. He should have prayed to the immortal
gods. That is why he came in last of all in the running.
But if you are sorry for him and he is dear to your liking,
there is abundant gold in your shelter, and there is bronze there
550 and animals, and there are handmaidens and single-foot horses.
You can take from these, and give him afterward a prize still greater
than mine, or now at once, and have the Achaians applaud you.
But the mare I will not give up, and the man who wants her
must fight me for her with his hands before he can take her.”
555 So he spoke, but brilliant swift-footed Achilleus, favoring
Antilochos, smiled, since he was his beloved companion,
and answered him and addressed him in winged words: “Antilochos,
if you would have me bring some other thing out of my dwelling
as special gift for Eumelos, then for your sake I will do it.
I will give him that corselet I stripped from Asteropaios;
560 it is bronze, but there is an overlay circled about it
in shining tin. It will be a gift that will mean much to him.”
He spoke, and told Automedon, his beloved companion,
to bring it out of the shelter, and he went away, and brought it back,
565 and put it in Eumelos’ hands. And he accepted it joyfully.
But now Menelaos, heart full of bitterness, stood up among them
in relentless anger against Antilochos, and the herald
put the staff into his hand and gave the call for the Argives
to be silent. And he stood forth, a man like a god, and spoke to them:
570 “Antilochos, you had good sense once. See what you have done.
You have defiled my horsemanship, you have fouled my horses
by throwing your horses in their way, though yours were far slower.
Come then, O leaders of the Argives and their men of counsel:
judge between the two of us now; and without favor;
575 so that no man of the bronze-armored Achaians shall say of us:
‘Menelaos using lies and force against Antilochos
went off with the mare he won, for his horses were far slower
but he himself was greater in power and degree.’ Or rather
come, I myself will give the judgment, and I think no other
580 man of the Danaäns can call it in question, for it will be right.
Antilochos, beloved of Zeus, come here. This is justice.
Stand in front of your horses and chariot, and in your hand take
up the narrow whip with which you drove them before, then
lay your hand on the horses and swear by him who encircles
585 the earth and shakes it you used no guile to baffle my chariot.”
Then in turn Antilochos of the good counsel answered him:
“Enough now. For I, my lord Menelaos, am younger
by far than you, and you are the greater and go before me.
You know how greedy transgressions flower in a young man, seeing
590 that his mind is the more active but his judgment is lightweight. Therefore
I would have your heart be patient with me. I myself will give you
the mare I won, and if there were something still greater you asked for
out of my house, I should still be willing at once to give it
to you, beloved of Zeus, rather than all my days
595 fall from your favor and be in the wrong before the divinities.”
He spoke, the son of Nestor the great-hearted, and leading
the mare up gave her to Menelaos’ hands. But his anger
was softened, as with dew the ears of corn are softened
in the standing corn growth of a shuddering field. For you also
600 the heart, O Menelaos, was thus softened within you.
He spoke to him aloud and addressed him in winged words: “Antilochos,
I myself, who was angry, now will give way before you,
since you were not formerly loose-minded or vain. It is only
that this time your youth got the better of your intelligence.
605 Beware another time of playing tricks on your betters.
Any other man of the Achaians might not have appeased me.
But you have suffered much for me, and done much hard work,
and your noble father, too, and your brother for my sake. Therefore
I will be ruled by your supplication. I will even give you
610 the mare, though she is mine, so that these men too may be witnesses
that the heart is never arrogant nor stubborn within me.”
He spoke, and gave Antilochos’ companion, Noëmon,
the mare to lead away, and himself took the glittering cauldron.
Fourth, in the order he had driven, Meriones took up
615 the two talents’ weight of gold. But the fifth prize, the two-handled
jar, was left. Achilleus carried it through the assembly
of the Argives, and gave it to Nestor, and stood by and spoke to him:
“This, aged sir, is yours to lay away as a treasure
in memory of the burial of Patroklos; since never
620 again will you see him among the Argives. I give you this prize
for the giving; since never again will you fight with your fists nor wrestle,
nor enter again the field for the spear-throwing, nor race
on your feet; since now the hardship of old age is upon you.”
He spoke, and put it in the hands of Nestor, who took it
625 joyfully and spoke in answer and addressed him in winged words:
“Yes, child: all this you said to me was true as you said it.
My limbs are no longer steady, dear friend; not my feet, neither
do my arms, as once they did, swing light from my shoulders.
I wish I were young again and the strength still unshaken within me
630 as once, when great Amaryngkeus was buried by the Epeians
at Bouprasion, and his sons gave games for a king’s funeral.
There, there was no man like me, not among the Epeians
nor yet of the Pylians themselves or great-hearted Aitolians.
At boxing I won against Klytomedes, the son of Enops,
635 at wrestling against Angkaios of Pleuron, who stood up against me.
In the foot-race, for all his speed, I outran Iphiklos,
and with the spear I out-threw Polydoros and Phyleus.
It was only in the chariot-race that the sons of Aktor
defeated me, crossing me in the crowd, so intent on winn
ing
640 were they, for the biggest prizes had been left for the horse-race.
Now these sons of Aktor were twins; one held the reins at his leisure,
held the reins at his leisure while the other lashed on the horses.
This was I, once. Now it is for the young men to encounter
in such actions, and for me to give way to the persuasion
645 of gloomy old age. But once I shone among the young heroes.
Go now, and honor the death of your companion with contests.
I accept this from you gratefully, and my heart is happy
that you have remembered me and my kindness, that I am not forgotten
for the honor that should be my honor among the Achaians.
650 May the gods, for what you have done for me, give you great happiness.”
He spoke, and Peleides went back among the great numbers
of Achaians assembled, when he had listened to all the praise spoken
by Neleus’ son, and set forth the prizes for the painful boxing.
He led out into the field and tethered there a hard-working
655 six-year-old unbroken jenny, the kind that is hardest
to break; and for the loser set out a two-handled goblet.
He stood upright and spoke his word out among the Argives:
“Son of Atreus, and all you other strong-greaved Achaians,
we invite two men, the best among you, to contend for these prizes
660 with their hands up for the blows of boxing. He whom Apollo
grants to outlast the other, and all the Achaians witness it,
let him lead away the hard-working jenny to his own shelter.
The beaten man shall take away the two-handled goblet.”
He spoke, and a man huge and powerful, well skilled in boxing,
665 rose up among them; the son of Panopeus, Epeios.
He laid his hand on the hard-working jenny, and spoke out:
“Let the man come up who will carry off the two-handled goblet.
I say no other of the Achaians will beat me at boxing
and lead off the jenny. I claim I am the champion. Is it not
670 enough that I fall short in battle? Since it could not be
ever, that a man could be a master in every endeavor.
For I tell you this straight out, and it will be a thing accomplished.
I will smash his skin apart and break his bones on each other.
Let those who care for him wait nearby in a huddle about him
675 to carry him out, after my fists have beaten him under.”
So he spoke, and all of them stayed stricken to silence.
Alone Euryalos stood up to face him, a godlike
man, son of lord Mekisteus of the seed of Talaos;
of him who came once to Thebes and the tomb of Oidipous after
680 his downfall, and there in boxing defeated all the Kadmeians.
The spear-famed son of Tydeus was his second, and talked to him
in encouragement, and much desired the victory for him.
First he pulled on the boxing belt about his waist, and then
gave him the thongs carefully cut from the hide of a ranging
685 ox. The two men, girt up, strode into the midst of the circle
and faced each other, and put up their ponderous hands at the same time
and closed, so that their heavy arms were crossing each other,
and there was a fierce grinding of teeth, the sweat began to run
everywhere from their bodies. Great Epeios came in, and hit him
690 as he peered out from his guard, on the cheek, and he could no longer
keep his feet, but where he stood the glorious limbs gave.
As in the water roughened by the north wind a fish jumps
in the weeds of the beach-break, then the dark water closes above him,
so Euryalos left the ground from the blow, but great-hearted Epeios
695 took him in his arms and set him upright, and his true companions
stood about him, and led him out of the circle, feet dragging
as he spat up the thick blood and rolled his head over on one side.
He was dizzy when they brought him back and set him among them.
But they themselves went and carried off the two-handled goblet.
700 Now Peleides set forth the prizes for the third contest,
for the painful wrestling, at once, and displayed them before the Danaäns.
There was a great tripod, to set over fire, for the winner.
The Achaians among themselves valued it at the worth of twelve oxen.
But for the beaten man he set in their midst a woman
705 skilled in much work of her hands, and they rated her at four oxen.
He stood upright and spoke his word out among the Argives:
“Rise up, two who would endeavor this prize.” So he spoke
and presently there rose up huge Telamonian Aias,
and resourceful Odysseus rose, who was versed in every advantage.
710 The two men, girt up, strode out into the midst of the circle,
and grappled each other in the hook of their heavy arms, as when
rafters lock, when a renowned architect has fitted them
in the roof of a high house to keep out the force of the winds’ spite.
Their backs creaked under stress of violent hands that tugged them
715 stubbornly, and the running sweat broke out, and raw places
frequent all along their ribs and their shoulders broke out
bright red with blood, as both of them kept up their hard efforts
for success and the prize of the wrought tripod. Neither Odysseus
was able to bring Aias down or throw him to the ground, nor
720 could Aias, but the great strength of Odysseus held out against him.
But now as they made the strong-greaved Achaians begin to be restless,
at last great Telamonian Aias said to the other:
“Son of Laërtes and seed of Zeus, resourceful Odysseus:
lift me, or I will lift you. All success shall be as Zeus gives it.”
725 He spoke, and heaved; but not forgetting his craft Odysseus
caught him with a stroke behind the hollow of the knee, and unnerved
the tendons, and threw him over backward, so that Odysseus
fell on his chest as the people gazed upon them and wondered.
Next, brilliant much-enduring Odysseus endeavored to lift him
730 and budged him a little from the ground, but still could not raise him
clear, then hooked a knee behind, so that both of them went down
together to the ground, and lay close, and were soiled in the dust. Then
they would have sprung to their feet once more and wrestled a third fall,
had not Achilleus himself stood up and spoken to stop them:
735 “Wrestle no more now; do not wear yourselves out and get hurt.
You have both won. Therefore take the prizes in equal division
and retire, so the rest of the Achaians can have their contests.”
So he spoke, and they listened close to him and obeyed him
and wiped the dust away from their bodies, and put on their tunics.
740 At once the son of Peleus set out prizes for the foot-race:
a mixing bowl of silver, a work of art, which held only
six measures, but for its loveliness it surpassed all others
on earth by far, since skilled Sidonian craftsmen had wrought it
well, and Phoenicians carried it over the misty face of the water
745 and set it in the harbor, and gave it for a present to Thoas.
Euneos, son of Jason, gave it to the hero Patroklos
to buy Lykaon, Priam’s son, out of slavery, and now
Achilleus made it a prize in memory of his companion,
for that man who should p
rove in the speed of his feet to run lightest.
750 For second place he set out a great ox with fat deep upon him,
and for the last runner half a talent’s weight of gold. He stood
upright then and spoke his word out among the Argives:
“Rise up, you who would endeavor this prize.” So he spoke
and presently there rose up swift Aias, the son of Oïleus,
755 and Odysseus the resourceful rose up, and after him Nestor’s
son, Antilochos, the best runner among all the young men.
They stood in line for the start, and Achilleus showed them the turn-post.
The field was strung out from the scratch, and not long afterward
Oïleus’ son was out in front, but brilliant Odysseus
760 overhauled him close, as near as to the breast of a woman
fair-girdled is the rod she pulls in her hands carefully
as she draws the spool out and along the warp, and holds it
close to her chest. So Odysseus ran close up, but behind him,
and his feet were hitting the other’s tracks before the dust settled.
765 Great Odysseus was breathing on the back of the head of Aias
as he ran and held his speed, and all the Achaians were shouting
for his effort to win, and hallooed him hard along in his running.
But as they were running the last part of the race, then Odysseus
said a prayer inside his own mind to gray-eyed Athene:
770 “Hear me, goddess; be kind; and come with strength for my footsteps.”
So he spoke in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him.
She made his limbs light, both his feet and the hands above them.
Now as they were for making their final sprint for the trophy,
there Aias slipped in his running, for Athene unbalanced him,
775 where dung was scattered on the ground from the bellowing oxen slaughtered
by swift-footed Achilleus, those he slew to honor Patroklos;
and his mouth and nose were filled with the cow dung, so that Odysseus
the great and much enduring took off the mixing bowl, seeing
he had passed him and come in first, and the ox went to glorious Aias.
780 He stood there holding in his hands the horn of the field-ox,
spitting the dung from his mouth, and spoke his word to the Argives:
“Ah, now! That goddess made me slip on my feet, who has always
stood over Odysseus like a mother, and taken good care of him.”
He spoke, and all the rest of them laughed happily at him.
785 In turn Antilochos took up prize for last place, and carried it