Where Titan hides his hoary head in snow,
And where Hyperia’s silver fountains flow. 895
Thy troops, Argissa, Polypœtes leads,
And Eleon, shelter’d by Olympus’ shades,
Grytonè’s warriors; and where Orthè lies,
And Oloösson’s chalky cliffs arise.
Sprung from Pirithoüs of immortal race, 900
The fruit of fair Hippodame’s embrace
(That day, when, hurl’d from Pelion’s cloudy head,
To distant dens the shaggy Centaurs fled),
With Polypœtes join’d in equal sway,
Leonteus leads, and forty ships obey. 905
In twenty sail the bold Perrhæbians came
From Cyphus, Guneus was their leader’s name.
With these the Enians join’d, and those who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her holy trees;
Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides, 910
And into Peneus rolls his easy tides;
Yet o’er the silver surface pure they flow,
The sacred stream unmix’d with streams below,
Sacred and awful! From the dark abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of Gods! 915
Last under Prothous the Magnesians stood,
Prothous the swift, of old Tenthredon’s blood;
Who dwell where Pelion, crown’d with piny boughs,
Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows:
Or where thro’ flowery Tempè Peneus stray’d 920
(The region stretch’d beneath his mighty shade):
In forty sable barks they stemm’d the main;
Such were the Chiefs, and such the Grecian train.
Say next, O Muse! of all Achaia breeds,
Who bravest fought, or rein’d the noblest steeds? 925
Eumelus’ mares were foremost in the chase,
As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race;
Bred where Pieria’s fruitful fountains flow,
And train’d by him who bears the silver bow.
Fierce in the fight, their nostrils breathed a flame, 930
Their height, their colour, and their age, the same;
O’er fields of death they whirl the rapid car,
And break the ranks, and thunder thro’ the war.
Ajax in arms the first renown acquired,
While stern Achilles in his wrath retired 935
(His was the strength that mortal might exceeds,
And his th’ unrivall’d race of heav’nly steeds):
But Thetis’ son now shines in arms no more;
His troops, neglected on the sandy shore,
In empty air their sportive jav’lins throw, 940
Or whirl the disk, or bend an idle bow:
Unstain’d with blood his cover’d chariots stand;
Th’ immortal coursers graze along the strand;
But the brave Chiefs th’ inglorious life deplor’d,
And, wand’ring o’er the camp, required their lord. 945
Now, like a deluge, cov’ring all around,
The shining armies swept along the ground;
Swift as a flood of fire, when storms arise,
Floats the wide field, and blazes to the skies.
Earth groan’d beneath them; as when angry Jove 950
Hurls down the forky lightning from above,
On Arimè when he the thunder throws,
And fires Typhœus with redoubled blows,
Where Typhon, press’d beneath the burning load,
Still feels the fury of th’ avenging God. 955
But various Iris, Jove’s commands to bear,
Speeds on the wings of winds thro’ liquid air;
In Priam’s porch the Trojan Chiefs she found,
The old consulting, and the youths around.
Polites’ shape, the monarch’s son, she chose, 960
Who from Æsetes’ tomb observ’d the foes,
High on the mound; from whence in prospect lay
The fields, the tents, the navy, and the bay.
In this dissembled form she hastes to bring
Th’ unwelcome message to the Phrygian King: 965
‘Cease to consult, the time for action calls,
War, horrid war, approaches to your walls!
Assembled armies oft have I beheld,
But ne’er till now such numbers charged a field.
Thick as autumnal leaves, or driving sand, 970
The moving squadrons blacken all the strand.
Thou, godlike Hector! all thy force employ,
Assemble all th’ united bands of Troy;
In just array let every leader call
The foreign troops: this day demands them all.’ 975
The voice divine the mighty Chief alarms;
The council breaks, the warriors rush to arms.
The gates unfolding pour forth all their train,
Nations on nations fill the dusky plain,
Men, steeds, and chariots, shake the trembling ground; 980
The tumult thickens, and the skies resound.
Amidst the plain in sight of Ilion stands
A rising mount, the work of human hands
(This for Myrinne’s tomb th’ immortals know,
Tho’ call’d Bateia in the world below); 985
Beneath their Chiefs in martial order here
Th’ auxiliar troops and Trojan hosts appear.
The godlike Hector, high above the rest,
Shakes his huge spear, and nods his plumy crest:
In throngs around his native bands appear, 990
And groves of lances glitter in the air.
Divine Æneas brings the Dardan race,
Anchises’ son, by Venus’ stol’n embrace,
Born in the shades of Ida’s secret grove
(A mortal mixing with the Queen of Love); 995
Archilochus and Acamas divide
The warrior’s toils, and combat by his side.
Who fair Zeleia’s wealthy valleys till,
Fast by the foot of Ida’s sacred hill;
Or drink, Æsepus, of thy sable flood; 1000
Were led by Pandarus, of royal blood.
To whom his art Apollo deign’d to shew,
Graced with the present of his shafts and bow.
From rich Apæsus and Adrestia’s towers,
High Teree’s summits, and Pityea’s bowers; 1005
From these the congregated troops obey
Young Amphius and Adrastus’ equal sway;
Old Merops’ sons; whom, skill’d in fates to come,
The sire forewarn’d, and prophesied their doom:
Fate urged them on! the sire forewarn’d in vain, 1010
They rush’d to war, and perish’d on the plain.
From Practius’ stream, Percotè’s pasture lands,
And Sestos and Abydos’ neighb’ring strands,
From great Arisba’s walls and Sellè’s coast,
Asius Hyrtacides conducts his host: 1015
High on his car he shakes the flowing reins,
His fiery coursers thunder o’er the plains.
The fierce Pelasgi next, in war renown’d,
March from Larissa’s ever-fertile ground:
In equal arms their brother leaders shine, 1020
Hippothous bold, and Pyleus the divine.
Next Acamas and Pyroüs lead their hosts
In dread array, from Thracia’s wintry coasts;
Round the black realms where Hellespontus roars,
And Boreas beats the hoarse-resounding shores. 1025
With great Euphemus the Ciconians move,
Sprung from Trœzenian Ceüs, lov’d by Jove.
Pyræchmes the Pæonian troops attend,
Skill’d in the fight their crooked bows to bend;
From Axius’ ample bed he leads them on, 1030
Axius, that laves the distant Amydon,
Axius, that swells with
all his neighb’ring rills,
And wide around the floating region fills.
The Paphlagonians Pylæmenes rules,
Where rich Henetia breeds her savage mules, 1035
Where Erythinus’ rising cliffs are seen,
Thy groves of box, Cytorus! ever green;
And where Ægialus and Cromna lie,
And lofty Sesamus invades the sky;
And where Parthenius roll’d thro’ banks of flowers, 1040
Reflects her bord’ring palaces and bowers.
Here march’d in arms the Halizonian band,
Whom Odius and Epistrophus command,
From those far regions where the sun refines
The ripening silver in Alybean mines. 1045
There, mighty Chromis led the Mysian train,
And augur Ennomus, inspired in vain,
For stern Achilles lopp’d his sacred head,
Roll’d down Scamander with the vulgar dead.
Phoreys and brave Ascanius here unite 1050
Th’ Ascanian Phrygians, eager for the fight.
Of those who round Mæonia’s realms reside,
Or whom the vales in shade of Tmolus hide,
Mestles and Antiphus the charge partake;
Born on the banks of Gyges’ silent lake. 1055
There, from the fields where wild Mæander flows,
High Mycalè, and Latmos’ shady brows,
And proud Miletus, came the Carian throngs,
With mingled clamours, and with barb’rous tongues:
Amphimachus and Naustes guide the train, 1060
Naustes the bold, Amphimachus the vain,
Who, trick’d with gold, and glitt’ring on his car,
Rode like a woman to the field of war.
Fool that he was! by fierce Achilles slain,
The river swept him to the briny main: 1065
There whelm’d with waves the gaudy warrior lies;
The valiant victor seiz’d the golden prize.
The forces last in fair array succeed,
Which blameless Glaucus and Sarpedon lead;
The warlike bands that distant Lycia yields 1070
Where gulfy Xanthus foams along the fields.
Iliad Book III. The Duel of Menelaus and Paris
THE ARGUMENT
The armies being ready to engage, a single combat is agreed upon between Menelaus and Paris (by the intervention of Hector) for the determination of the war. Iris is sent to call Helena to behold the fight. She leads her to the walls of Troy, where Priam sat with his counsellors, observing the Grecian leaders on the plain below, to whom Helen gives an account of the chief of them. The Kings on either part take the solemn oath for the conditions of the combat. The duel ensues, wherein Paris, being overcome, is snatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his apartment. She then calls Helen from the walls, and brings the lovers together. Agamemnon, on the part of the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen, and the performance of the articles. The three-and-twentieth day still continues throughout this book. The scene is sometimes in the field before Troy, and sometimes in Troy itself.
THUS by their leader’s care each martial band
Moves into ranks, and stretches o’er the land.
With shouts the Trojans, rushing from afar,
Proclaim their motions, and provoke the war:
So when inclement winters vex the plain 5
With piercing frosts, or thick-descending rain,
To warmer seas the cranes embodied fly,
With noise, and order, thro’ the midway sky;
To pigmy nations wounds and death they bring,
And all the war descends upon the wing. 10
But silent, breathing rage, resolv’d, and skill’d
By mutual aids to fix a doubtful field,
Swift march the Greeks: the rapid dust around
Dark’ning arises from the labour’d ground.
Thus from his flaggy wings when Notus sheds 15
A night of vapours round the mountain-heads,
Swift-gliding mists the dusky fields invade,
To thieves more grateful than the midnight shade;
While scarce the swains their feeding flocks survey,
Lost and confused amidst the thicken’d day: 20
So, wrapt in gath’ring dust, the Grecian train,
A moving cloud, swept on, and hid the plain.
Now front to front the hostile armies stand,
Eager of fight, and only wait command:
When, to the van, before the sons of fame 25
Whom Troy sent forth, the beauteous Paris came:
In form a God! the panther’s speckled hide
Flow’d o’er his armour with an easy pride;
His bended bow across his shoulders flung,
His sword beside him negligently hung; 30
Two pointed spears he shook with gallant grace,
And dared the bravest of the Grecian race.
As thus, with glorious air and proud disdain,
He boldly stalk’d, the foremost on the plain,
Him Menelaus, loved of Mars, espies, 35
With heart elated, and with joyful eyes:
So joys a lion, if the branching deer
Or mountain goat, his bulky prize, appear;
In vain the youths oppose, the mastiffs bay,
The lordly savage rends the panting prey. 40
Thus, fond of vengeance, with a furious bound,
In clanging arms he leaps upon the ground
From his high chariot: him, approaching near,
The beauteous champion views with marks of fear,
Smit with a conscious sense, retires behind, 45
And shuns the fate he well deserv’d to find.
As when some shepherd, from the rustling trees
Shot forth to view, a scaly serpent sees:
Trembling and pale, he starts with wild affright,
And, all confused, precipitates his flight: 50
So from the King the shining warrior flies,
And plunged amid the thickest Trojans lies.
As godlike Hector sees the Prince retreat,
He thus upbraids him with a gen’rous heat:
‘Unhappy Paris! but to women brave! 55
So fairly form’d, and only to deceive!
Oh, hadst thou died when first thou saw’st the light,
Or died at least before thy nuptial rite!
A better fate, than vainly thus to boast,
And fly, the scandal of thy Trojan host. 60
Gods! how the scornful Greeks exult to see
Their fears of danger undeceiv’d in thee!
Thy figure promis’d with a martial air,
But ill thy soul supplies a form so fair.
In former days, in all thy gallant pride, 65
When thy tall ships triumphant stemm’d the tide,
When Greece beheld thy painted canvas flow,
And crowds stood wond’ring at the passing show;
Say, was it thus, with such a baffled mien,
You met th’ approaches of the Spartan Queen, 70
Thus from her realm convey’d the beauteous prize,
And both her warlike lords outshined in Helen’s eyes?
This deed, thy foes’ delight, thy own disgrace,
Thy father’s grief, and ruin of thy race;
This deed recalls thee to the proffer’d flight; 75
Or hast thou injured whom thou dar’st not right?
Soon to thy cost the field would make thee know
Thou keep’st the consort of a braver foe.
Thy graceful form instilling soft desire,
Thy curling tresses, and thy silver lyre, 80
Beauty and youth, in vain to these you trust,
When youth and beauty shall be laid in dust:
Troy yet may wake, and one avenging blow
Crush the dire author of his country’s woe.’
His silence here, with
blushes, Paris breaks: 85
‘‘T is just, my brother, what your anger speaks:
But who like thee can boast a soul sedate,
So firmly proof to all the shocks of Fate?
Thy force, like steel, a temper’d hardness shews,
Still edged to wound, and still untired with blows, 90
Like steel, uplifted by some strenuous swain,
With falling woods to strow the wasted plain.
Thy gifts I praise; nor thou despise the charms
With which a lover golden Venus arms;
Soft moving speech, and pleasing outward show, 95
No wish can gain them, but the Gods bestow.
Yet wouldst thou have the proffer’d combat stand,
The Greeks and Trojans seat on either hand;
Then let a mid-way space our hosts divide,
And on that stage of war the cause be tried: 100
By Paris there the Spartan King be fought,
For beauteous Helen and the wealth she brought;
And who his rival can in arms subdue,
His be the fair, and his the treasure too.
Thus with a lasting league your toils may cease, 105
And Troy possess her fertile fields in peace;
Thus may the Greeks review their native shore,
Much famed for gen’rous steeds, for beauty more.’
He said. The challenge Hector heard with joy,
Then with his spear restrain’d the youth of Troy, 110
Held by the midst, athwart; and near the foe
Advanced with steps majestically slow;
While round his dauntless head the Grecians pour
Their stones and arrows in a mingled shower.
Then thus the Monarch, great Atrides, cried: 115
‘Forbear, ye warriors! lay the darts aside:
A parley Hector asks, a message bears;
We know him by the various plume he wears.’
Awed by his high command the Greeks attend,
The tumult silence, and the fight suspend. 120
While from the centre Hector rolls his eyes
On either host, and thus to both applies:
‘Hear, all ye Trojan, all ye Grecian bands!
What Paris, author of the war, demands.
Your shining swords within the sheath restrain, 125
And pitch your lances in the yielding plain.
Here, in the midst, in either army’s sight,
He dares the Spartan King to single fight;
And wills, that Helen and the ravish’d spoil,
That caus’d the contest, shall reward the toil. 130
Let these the brave triumphant victor grace,
And diff’ring nations part in leagues of peace.’
He spoke: in still suspense on either side
Each army stood. The Spartan Chief replied:
Alexander Pope - Delphi Poets Series Page 68
