The Iliad of Homer by Homer (some good books to read txt) 📕

But when the flying Trojans had o'erpass'd
Both stakes and trench, and numerous slaughtered lay
By Grecian hands, the remnant halted all
Beside their chariots, pale, discomfited.
Then was it that on Ida's summit Jove5
At Juno's side awoke; starting, he stood
At once erect; Trojans and Greeks he saw,
These broken, those pursuing and led on
By Neptune; he beheld also remote
Encircled by his friends, and on the plain10
Extended, Hector; there he panting lay,
Senseless, ejecting blood, bruised by a blow
From not the feeblest of the sons of Greece.
Touch'd with compassion at that sight, the Sire
Of Gods and men, frowning terrific, fix'd15
His eyes on Juno, and her thus bespake.

No place for doubt remains. Oh, versed in wiles,
Juno! thy mischief-teeming mind perverse
Hath plotted this; thou hast contrived the hurt
Of Hector, and hast driven his host to flight.20
I know not but thyself mayst chance to reap
The first-fruits of thy cunning, scourged[1] by me.
362 Hast thou forgotten how I once aloft
Suspended thee, with anvils at thy feet,
And both thy wrists bound with a golden cord25
Indissoluble? In the clouds of heaven
I hung thee, while from the Olympian heights
The Gods look'd mournful on, but of them all
None could deliver thee, for whom I seized,
Hurl'd through the gates of heaven on earth he fell,30
Half-breathless. Neither so did I resign
My hot resentment of the hero's wrongs
Immortal Hercules, whom thou by storms
Call'd from the North, with mischievous intent
Hadst driven far distant o'er the barren Deep35
To populous Cos. Thence I deliver'd him,
And after numerous woes severe, he reach'd
The shores of fruitful Argos, saved by me.
I thus remind thee now, that thou mayst cease
Henceforth from artifice, and mayst be taught40
How little all the dalliance and the love
Which, stealing down from heaven, thou hast by fraud
Obtain'd from me, shall profit thee at last.

He ended, whom imperial Juno heard
Shuddering, and in wing'd accents thus replied.45

Be witness Earth, the boundless Heaven above,
And Styx beneath, whose stream the blessed Gods
Even tremble to adjure;[2] be witness too
Thy sacred life, and our connubial bed,
Which by a false oath I will never wrong,50
That by no art induced or plot of mine
Neptune, the Shaker of the shores, inflicts
363 These harms on Hector and the Trojan host
Aiding the Grecians, but impell'd alone
By his own heart with pity moved at sight55
Of the Achaians at the ships subdued.
But even him, oh Sovereign of the storms!
I am prepared to admonish that he quit
The battle, and retire where thou command'st.

So she; then smiled the Sire of Gods and men,60
And in wing'd accents answer thus return'd.[3]

Juno! wouldst thou on thy celestial throne
Assist my counsels, howso'er in heart
He differ now, Neptune should soon his will
Submissive bend to thy desires and mine.65
But if sincerity be in thy words
And truth, repairing to the blest abodes
Send Iris hither, with the archer God
Apollo; that she, visiting the host
Of Greece, may bid the Sovereign of the Deep70
Renounce the fight, and seek his proper home.
Apollo's part shall be to rouse again
Hector to battle, to inspire his soul
Afresh with courage, and all memory thence
To banish of the pangs which now he feels.75
Apollo also shall again repulse
Achaia's host, which with base panic fill'd,
Shall even to Achilles' ships be driven.
Achilles shall his valiant friend exhort
Patroclus forth; him under Ilium's walls80
Shall glorious Hector slay; but many a youth
Shall perish by Patroclus first, with whom,
My noble son Sarpedon. Peleus' son,
Resentful of Patroclus' death, shall slay
Hector, and I will urge ceaseless, myself,85
Thenceforth the routed Trojans back again,
Till by Minerva's aid the Greeks shall take
Ilium's proud city; till that day arrive
My wrath shall burn, nor will I one permit
364 Of all the Immortals to assist the Greeks,90
But will perform Achilles' whole desire.
Such was my promise to him at the first,
Ratified by a nod that self-same day
When Thetis clasp'd my knees, begging revenge
And glory for her city-spoiler son.95

He ended; nor his spouse white-arm'd refused
Obedience, but from the Idæan heights
Departing, to the Olympian summit soar'd.
Swift as the traveller's thought,[4] who, many a land
Traversed, deliberates on his future course100
Uncertain, and his mind sends every way,
So swift updarted Juno to the skies.
Arrived on the Olympian heights, she found
The Gods assembled; they, at once, their seats
At her approach forsaking, with full cups105
Her coming hail'd; heedless of all beside,
She took the cup from blooming Themis' hand,
For she first flew to welcome her, and thus
In accents wing'd of her return inquired.

Say, Juno, why this sudden re-ascent?110
Thou seem'st dismay'd; hath Saturn's son, thy spouse,
Driven thee affrighted to the skies again?

To whom the white-arm'd Goddess thus replied.
Themis divine, ask not. Full well thou know'st
How harshly temper'd is the mind of Jove,115
And how untractable. Resume thy seat;
The banquet calls thee; at our board preside,
Thou shalt be told, and all in heaven shall hear
What ills he threatens; such as shall not leave
All minds at ease, I judge, here or on earth,120
However tranquil some and joyous now.

So spake the awful spouse of Jove, and sat.
Then, all alike, the Gods displeasure felt
365 Throughout the courts of Jove, but she, her lips
Gracing with smiles from which her sable brows125
Dissented,[5] thus indignant them address'd.

Alas! how vain against the Thunderer's will
Our anger, and the hope to supersede
His purpose, by persuasion or by force!
He solitary sits, all unconcern'd130
At our resentment, and himself proclaims
Mightiest and most to be revered in heaven.
Be patient, therefore, and let each endure
Such ills as Jove may send him. Mars, I ween,
Already hath his share; the warrior God135
Hath lost Ascalaphus, of all mankind
His most beloved, and whom he calls his own.

She spake, and with expanded palms his thighs
Smiling, thus, sorrowful, the God exclaim'd.

Inhabitants of the Olympian heights!140
Oh bear with me, if to avenge my son
I seek Achaia's fleet, although my doom
Be thunder-bolts from Jove, and with the dead
Outstretch'd to lie in carnage and in dust.

He spake, and bidding Horror and Dismay145
Lead to the yoke his rapid steeds, put on
His all-refulgent armor. Then had wrath
More dreadful, some strange vengeance on the Gods
From Jove befallen, had not Minerva, touch'd
With timely fears for all, upstarting sprung150
From where she sat, right through the vestibule.
She snatch'd the helmet from his brows, the shield
From his broad shoulder, and the brazen spear
Forced from his grasp into its place restored.
Then reprimanding Mars, she thus began.155

Frantic, delirious! thou art lost for ever!
Is it in vain that thou hast ears to hear,
And hast thou neither shame nor reason left?
366 How? hear'st thou not the Goddess? the report
Of white-arm'd Juno from Olympian Jove160
Return'd this moment? or perfer'st thou rather,
Plagued with a thousand woes, and under force
Of sad necessity to seek again
Olympus, and at thy return to prove
Author of countless miseries to us all?165
For He at once Grecians and Trojans both
Abandoning, will hither haste prepared
To tempest[6] us in heaven, whom he will seize,
The guilty and the guiltless, all alike.
I bid thee, therefore, patient bear the death170
Of thy Ascalaphus; braver than he
And abler have, ere now, in battle fallen,
And shall hereafter; arduous were the task
To rescue from the stroke of fate the race
Of mortal men, with all their progeny.175

So saying, Minerva on his throne replaced
The fiery Mars. Then, summoning abroad
Apollo from within the hall of Jove,
With Iris, swift ambassadress of heaven,
Them in wing'd accents Juno thus bespake.180

Jove bids you hence with undelaying speed
To Ida; in his presence once arrived,
See that ye execute his whole command.

So saying, the awful Goddess to her throne
Return'd and sat. They, cleaving swift the air,185
Alighted soon on Ida fountain-fed,
Parent of savage kinds. High on the point
Seated of Gargarus, and wrapt around
With fragrant clouds, they found Saturnian Jove
The Thunderer, and in his presence stood.190
He, nought displeased that they his high command
367 Had with such readiness obey'd, his speech
To Iris, first, in accents wing'd address'd

Swift Iris, haste—to royal Neptune bear
My charge entire; falsify not the word.195
Bid him, relinquishing the fight, withdraw
Either to heaven, or to the boundless Deep.
But should he disobedient prove, and scorn
My message, let him, next, consider well
How he will bear, powerful as he is,200
My coming. Me I boast superior far
In force, and elder-born; yet deems he slight
The danger of comparison with me,
Who am the terror of all heaven beside.

He spake, nor storm-wing'd Iris disobey'd,205
But down from the Idæan summit stoop'd
To sacred Ilium. As when snow or hail
Flies drifted by the cloud-dispelling North,
So swiftly, wing'd with readiness of will,
She shot the gulf between, and standing soon210
At glorious Neptune's side, him thus address'd.

To thee, O Neptune azure-hair'd! I come
With tidings charged from Ægis-bearing Jove.
He bids thee cease from battle, and retire
Either to heaven, or to the boundless Deep.215
But shouldst thou, disobedient, set at nought
His words, he threatens that himself will haste
To fight against thee; but he bids thee shun
That strife with one superior far to thee,
And elder-born; yet deem'st thou slight, he saith,220
The danger of comparison with Him,
Although the terror of all heaven beside.

Her then the mighty Shaker of the shores
Answer'd indignant. Great as is his power,
Yet he hath spoken proudly, threatening me225
With force, high-born and glorious as himself.
We are three brothers; Saturn is our sire,
And Rhea brought us forth; first, Jove she bore;
Me next; then, Pluto, Sovereign of the shades.
368 By distribution tripart we received230
Each his peculiar honors; me the lots
Made Ruler of the hoary floods, and there
I dwell for ever. Pluto, for his part,
The regions took of darkness; and the heavens,
The clouds, and boundless æther, fell to Jove.235
The Earth and the Olympian heights alike
Are common to the three. My life and being
I hold not, therefore, at his will, whose best
And safest course, with all his boasted power,
Were to possess in peace his proper third.240
Let him not seek to terrify with force
Me like a dastard; let him rather chide
His own-begotten; with big-sounding words
His sons and daughters govern, who perforce
Obey his voice, and shrink at his commands.245

To whom thus Iris tempest-wing'd replied,
Cœrulean-tress'd Sovereign of the Deep!
Shall I report to Jove, harsh as it is,
Thy speech, or wilt thou soften it? The wise
Are flexible, and on the elder-born250
Erynnis, with her vengeful sisters, waits.[7]

Her answer'd then the Shaker of the shores.
Prudent is thy advice, Iris divine!
Discretion in a messenger is good
At all times. But the cause that fires me thus,255
And with resentment my whole heart and mind
Possesses, is the license that he claims
To vex with provocation rude of speech
Me his compeer, and by decree of Fate
Illustrious as himself; yet, though incensed,260
And with just cause, I will not now persist.
But hear—for it is treasured in my heart
The threat that my lips utter. If he still
369 Resolve to spare proud Ilium in despite
Of me, of Pallas, Goddess of the spoils,265
Of Juno, Mercury, and the King of fire,
And will not overturn her lofty towers,
Nor grant immortal glory to the Greeks,
Then tell him thus—hostility shall