To be the vaunt of Ilium and her King,
Helen of Argos, in whose cause the Greeks
Have numerous perish’d from their home remote? 190
Haste! Seek the mail-arm’d multitude, by force
Detain them of thy soothing speech, ere yet
All launch their oary barks into the flood.
She spake, nor did Minerva not comply,
037 But darting swift from the Olympian heights, 195
Reach’d soon Achaia’s fleet. There, she perceived
Prudent as Jove himself, Ulysses; firm
He stood; he touch’d not even with his hand
His sable bark, for sorrow whelm’d his soul.
The Athenæan Goddess azure-eyed 200
Beside him stood, and thus the Chief bespake.
Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d!
Why seek ye, thus precipitate, your ships?
Intend ye flight? And is it thus at last,
That the Achaians on the billows borne, 205
Shall seek again their country, leaving here,
To be the vaunt of Ilium and her King,
Helen of Argos, in whose cause the Greeks
Have numerous perish’d from their home remote?
Delay not. Rush into the throng; by force 210
Detain them of thy soothing speech, ere yet
All launch their oary barks into the flood.
She ceased, whom by her voice Ulysses knew,
Casting his mantle from him, which his friend
Eurybates the Ithacensian caught, 215
He ran; and in his course meeting the son
Of Atreus, Agamemnon, from his hand
The everlasting sceptre quick received,
Which bearing, through Achaia’s fleet he pass’d.
What King soever, or distinguish’d Greek 220
He found, approaching to his side, in terms
Of gentle sort he stay’d him. Sir, he cried,
It is unseemly that a man renown’d
As thou, should tremble. Go — Resume the seat
Which thou hast left, and bid the people sit. 225
Thou know’st not clearly yet the monarch’s mind.
He proves us now, but soon he will chastize.
All were not present; few of us have heard
His speech this day in council. Oh, beware,
Lest in resentment of this hasty course 230
Irregular, he let his anger loose.
Dread is the anger of a King; he reigns
038 By Jove’s own ordinance, and is dear to Jove,
But what plebeian base soe’er he heard
Stretching his throat to swell the general cry, 235
He laid the sceptre smartly on his back,
With reprimand severe. Fellow, he said,
Sit still; hear others; thy superiors hear.
For who art thou? A dastard and a drone,
Of none account in council, or in arms. 240
By no means may we all alike bear sway
At Ilium; such plurality of Kings
Were evil. One suffices. One, to whom
The son of politic Saturn hath assign’d
The sceptre, and inforcement of the laws, 245
That he may rule us as a monarch ought.
With such authority the troubled host
He sway’d; they, quitting camp and fleet again
Rush’d back to council; deafening was the sound
As when a billow of the boisterous deep 250
Some broad beach dashes, and the Ocean roars.
The host all seated, and the benches fill’d,
Thersites only of loquacious tongue
Ungovern’d, clamor’d mutinous; a wretch
Of utterance prompt, but in coarse phrase obscene 255
Deep learn’d alone, with which to slander Kings.
Might he but set the rabble in a roar,
He cared not with what jest; of all from Greece
To Ilium sent, his country’s chief reproach.
Cross-eyed he was, and halting moved on legs 260
Ill-pair’d; his gibbous shoulders o’er his breast
039 Contracted, pinch’d it; to a peak his head
Was moulded sharp, and sprinkled thin with hair
Of starveling length, flimsy and soft as down.
Achilles and Ulysses had incurr’d 265
Most his aversion; them he never spared;
But now, imperial Agamemnon ‘self
In piercing accents stridulous he charged
With foul reproach. The Grecians with contempt
Listen’d, and indignation, while with voice 270
At highest pitch, he thus the monarch mock’d.
What wouldst thou now? Whereof is thy complaint
Now, Agamemnon? Thou hast fill’d thy tents
With treasure, and the Grecians, when they take
A city, choose the loveliest girls for thee. 275
Is gold thy wish? More gold? A ransom brought
By some chief Trojan for his son’s release
Whom I, or other valiant Greek may bind?
Or wouldst thou yet a virgin, one, by right
Another’s claim, but made by force thine own? 280
It was not well, great Sir, that thou shouldst bring
A plague on the Achaians, as of late.
But come, my Grecian sisters, soldiers named
Unfitly, of a sex too soft for war,
Come, let us homeward: let him here digest 285
What he shall gorge, alone; that he may learn
If our assistance profit him or not.
For when he shamed Achilles, he disgraced
A Chief far worthier than himself, whose prize
He now withholds. But tush, — Achilles lacks 290
Himself the spirit of a man; no gall
Hath he within him, or his hand long since
Had stopp’d that mouth, that it should scoff no more.
Thus, mocking royal Agamemnon, spake
Thersites. Instant starting to his side,
Noble Ulysses with indignant brows
Survey’d him, and him thus reproved severe.
040 Thersites! Railer! — peace. Think not thyself,
Although thus eloquent, alone exempt
From obligation not to slander Kings. 300
I deem thee most contemptible, the worst
Of Agamemnon’s followers to the war;
Presume not then to take the names revered
Of Sovereigns on thy sordid lips, to asperse
Their sacred character, and to appoint 305
The Greeks a time when they shall voyage home.
How soon, how late, with what success at last
We shall return, we know not: but because
Achaia’s heroes numerous spoils allot
To Agamemnon, Leader of the host, 310
Thou therefore from thy seat revilest the King.
But mark me. If I find thee, as even now,
Raving and foaming at the lips again,
May never man behold Ulysses’ head
On these my shoulders more, and may my son 315
Prove the begotten of another Sire,
If I not strip thee to that hide of thine
As bare as thou wast born, and whip thee hence
Home to thy galley, sniveling like a boy.
He ceased, and with his sceptre on the back 320
And shoulders smote him. Writhing to and fro,
He wept profuse, while many a bloody whelk
Protuberant beneath the sceptre sprang.
Awe-quell’d he sat, and from his visage mean,
Deep-sighing, wiped the rheums. It was no time 325
For mirth, yet mirth illumined every face,
And laughing, thus they spake. A thousand acts
Illustrious, both by well-concerted plans
And prudent disposition of the host
Ulysses hath achiev
ed, but this by far 330
Transcends his former praise, that he hath quell’d
Such contumelious rhetoric profuse.
The valiant talker shall not soon, we judge,
Take liberties with royal names again.
041 So spake the multitude. Then, stretching forth 335
The sceptre, city-spoiler Chief, arose
Ulysses. Him beside, herald in form,
Appeared Minerva. Silence she enjoined
To all, that all Achaia’s sons might hear,
Foremost and rearmost, and might weigh his words. 340
He then his counsel, prudent, thus proposed.
Atrides! Monarch! The Achaians seek
To make thee ignominious above all
In sight of all mankind. None recollects
His promise more in steed-famed Argos pledged, 345
Here to abide till Ilium wall’d to heaven
Should vanquish’d sink, and all her wealth be ours.
No — now, like widow’d women, or weak boys,
They whimper to each other, wishing home.
And home, I grant, to the afflicted soul 350
Seems pleasant. The poor seaman from his wife
One month detain’d, cheerless his ship and sad
Possesses, by the force of wintry blasts,
And by the billows of the troubled deep
Fast lock’d in port. But us the ninth long year 355
Revolving, finds camp’d under Ilium still.
I therefore blame not, if they mourn beside
Their sable barks, the Grecians. Yet the shame
That must attend us after absence long
Returning unsuccessful, who can bear? 360
Be patient, friends! wait only till we learn
If Calchas truly prophesied, or not;
For well we know, and I to all appeal,
Whom Fate hath not already snatch’d away,
(It seems but yesterday, or at the most 365
042 A day or two before) that when the ships
Wo-fraught for Priam, and the race of Troy,
At Aulis met, and we beside the fount
With perfect hecatombs the Gods adored
Beneath the plane-tree, from whose root a stream 370
Ran crystal-clear, there we beheld a sign
Wonderful in all eyes. A serpent huge,
Tremendous spectacle! with crimson spots
His back all dappled, by Olympian Jove
Himself protruded, from the altar’s foot 375
Slipp’d into light, and glided to the tree.
There on the topmost bough, close-cover’d sat
With foliage broad, eight sparrows, younglings all,
Then newly feather’d, with their dam, the ninth.
The little ones lamenting shrill he gorged, 380
While, wheeling o’er his head, with screams the dam
Bewail’d her darling brood. Her also next,
Hovering and clamoring, he by the wing
Within his spiry folds drew, and devoured.
All eaten thus, the nestlings and the dam, 385
The God who sent him, signalized him too,
For him Saturnian Jove transform’d to stone.
We wondering stood, to see that strange portent
Intrude itself into our holy rites,
When Calchas, instant, thus the sign explain’d. 390
Why stand ye, Greeks, astonish’d? Ye behold
A prodigy by Jove himself produced,
An omen, whose accomplishment indeed
Is distant, but whose fame shall never die.
E’en as this serpent in your sight devour’d 395
Eight youngling sparrows, with their dam, the ninth,
So we nine years must war on yonder plain,
And in the tenth, wide-bulwark’d Troy is ours.
So spake the seer, and as he spake, is done.
043 Wait, therefore, brave Achaians! go not hence 400
Till Priam’s spacious city be your prize.
He ceased, and such a shout ensued, that all
The hollow ships the deafening roar return’d
Of acclamation, every voice the speech
Extolling of Ulysses, glorious Chief. 405
Then Nestor the Gerenian, warrior old,
Arising, spake; and, by the Gods, he said,
Ye more resemble children inexpert
In war, than disciplined and prudent men.
Where now are all your promises and vows, 410
Councils, libations, right-hand covenants?
Burn them, since all our occupation here
Is to debate and wrangle, whereof end
Or fruit though long we wait, shall none be found.
But, Sovereign, be not thou appall’d. Be firm. 415
Relax not aught of thine accustomed sway,
But set the battle forth as thou art wont.
And if there be a Grecian, here and there,
One, adverse to the general voice, let such
Wither alone. He shall not see his wish 420
Gratified, neither will we hence return
To Argos, ere events shall yet have proved
Jove’s promise false or true. For when we climb’d
Our gallant barks full-charged with Ilium’s fate,
Saturnian Jove omnipotent, that day, 425
(Omen propitious!) thunder’d on the right.
Let no man therefore pant for home, till each
Possess a Trojan spouse, and from her lips
044 Take sweet revenge for Helen’s pangs of heart.
Who then? What soldier languishes and sighs 430
To leave us? Let him dare to lay his hand
On his own vessel, and he dies the first.
But hear, O King! I shall suggest a course
Not trivial. Agamemnon! sort the Greeks
By districts and by tribes, that tribe may tribe 435
Support, and each his fellow. This performed,
And with consent of all, thou shalt discern
With ease what Chief, what private man deserts,
And who performs his part. The base, the brave,
Such disposition made, shall both appear; 440
And thou shalt also know, if heaven or we,
The Gods, or our supineness, succor Troy.
To whom Atrides, King of men, replied.
Old Chief! Thou passest all Achaia’s sons
In consultation; would to Jove our Sire, 445
To Athenæan Pallas, and Apollo!
That I had ten such coadjutors, wise
As thou art, and the royal city soon
Of Priam, with her wealth, should all be ours.
But me the son of Saturn, Jove supreme 450
Himself afflicts, who in contentious broils
Involves me, and in altercation vain.
Thence all that wordy tempest for a girl
Achilles and myself between, and I
The fierce aggressor. Be that breach but heal’d! 455
And Troy’s reprieve thenceforth is at an end.
Go — take refreshment now that we may march
Forth to our enemies. Let each whet well
His spear, brace well his shield, well feed his brisk
High-mettled horses, well survey and search 460
His chariot on all sides, that no defect
Disgrace his bright habiliments of war.
So will we give the day from morn to eve
To dreadful battle. Pause there shall be none
Till night divide us. Every buckler’s thong 465
045 Shall sweat on the toil’d bosom, every hand
That shakes the spear shall ache, and every steed
Shall smoke that whirls the chariot o’er the plain.
Wo then to whom I shall discover here
Loitering among the tents; let him escape 470
My vengeance if he can. The vulture’s maw
Shall have
his carcase, and the dogs his bones.
He spake; whom all applauded with a shout
Loud as against some headland cliff the waves
Roll’d by the stormy South o’er rocks that shoot 475
Afar into the deep, which in all winds
The flood still overspreads, blow whence they may.
Arising, forth they rush’d, among the ships
All scatter’d; smoke from every tent arose,
The host their food preparing; next, his God 480
Each man invoked (of the Immortals him
Whom he preferr’d) with sacrifice and prayer
For safe escape from danger and from death.
But Agamemnon to Saturnian Jove
Omnipotent, an ox of the fifth year 485
Full-flesh’d devoted, and the Princes call’d
Noblest of all the Grecians to his feast.
First, Nestor with Idomeneus the King,
Then either Ajax, and the son he call’d
Of Tydeus, with Ulysses sixth and last, 490
Jove’s peer in wisdom. Menelaus went,
Heroic Chief! unbidden, for he knew
His brother’s mind with weight of care oppress’d.
The ox encircling, and their hands with meal
Of consecration fill’d, the assembly stood, 495
When Agamemnon thus his prayer preferred.
Almighty Father! Glorious above all!
Cloud-girt, who dwell’st in heaven thy throne sublime,
Let not the sun go down, till Priam’s roof
Fall flat into the flames; till I shall burn 500
His gates with fire; till I shall hew away
His hack’d and riven corslet from the breast
Of Hector, and till numerous Chiefs, his friends,
046 Around him, prone in dust, shall bite the ground.
So prayed he, but with none effect, The God 505
Received his offering, but to double toil
Doom’d them, and sorrow more than all the past.
They then, the triturated barley grain
First duly sprinkling, the sharp steel infix’d
Deep in the victim’s neck reversed, then stripp’d 510
The carcase, and divided at their joint
The thighs, which in the double caul involved
They spread with slices crude, and burn’d with fire
Ascending fierce from billets sere and dry.
The spitted entrails next they o’er the coals 515
Suspended held. The thighs with fire consumed,
They gave to each his portion of the maw,
Then slash’d the remnant, pierced it with the spits,
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