Complete Works of Homer Read online

  Euphemus, the Ciconian troops, in his command disposed,

  Who from Troezenius-Ceades right nobly did descend.

  Pyrsechmes did the Paeons rule, that crooked bows do bend;

  From Axius, out of Amydon, he had them in command,

  From Axius, whose most beauteous stream still overflows the land.

  Pylaemen, with the well-armed heart, the Paphlagonians led,

  From Enes, where the race of mules fit for the plough is bred.

  The men that broad Cytorus bounds, and Sesamus enfold,

  About Parthenius' lofty flood in houses much extolled,

  From Cromna and iEgialus, the men that arms did bear,

  And Erythinus situate high, Pylaemen's soldiers were.

  Epistrophus and Dius did the Halizonians guide,

  Far-fetched from Alybe, where first the silver mines were tried.

  Chromis, and augur Eunomus, the Mysians did command,

  Who could not with his auguries the strength of death withstand,

  But suffered it beneath the stroke of great Aeacides,

  In Xanthus; where he made more souls dive to the Stygian seas.

  Phorcys and fair Ascanius, the Phrygians brought to war,

  Well trained for battle, and were come out of Ascania far.

  With Methles and with Antiphus (Pylaemen's sons) did fight

  The men of Me'ion, whom the fen Gygsea brought to light,

  And those Mei'onians that beneath the mountain Tmolus sprung.

  The rude unlettered Caribse, that barbarous were of tongue,

  Did under Nastes' colours march, and young Amphimachus

  (Nomion's famous sons ), to whom the mountain Phthirorus

  That with the famous wood is crowned, Miletus, Mycales

  That hath so many lofty marks for men that love the seas,

  The crooked arms Mseander bowed with his so snaky flood,

  Resigned for conduct the choice youth of all their martial brood.

  The fool Amphimachus, to field, brought gold to be his wreck,

  Proud-girl-like that doth ever bear her dower upon her back,

  Which wise Achilles marked, slew him, and took his gold in strife,

  At Xanthus' flood; so little Death did fear his golden life.

  Sarpedon led the Lycians, and Glaucus unreproved,

  From Lycia, and the gulfy flood of Xanthus far removed.

  BOOK III.

  ARGUMENT.

  Paris, betwixt the hosts, to single fight,

  Of all the Greeks, dares the most hardy knight.

  King Menelaus doth accept his brave,

  Conditioning that he again should have

  Fair Helena, with all she brought to Troy,

  If he subdued; else Paris should enjoy

  Her and her wealth in peace. Conquest doth grunt

  Her dear wreath to the Grecian combatant;

  But Venus to her champions life doth yield

  Safe rescue, and conveys him from the field

  Into his chamber, and for Helen sends,

  Whom much her lover's foul disgrace offends;

  Yet Venus still for him makes good her charms,

  And ends the second combat in his arms.

  ANOTHER ARGUMENT.

  Gamma the single fight doth sing

  'Twixt Paris und the Spartan ling.

  WHEN every least commander's will- best soldiers bad obeyed,

  And both the hosts were ranged for fight, the Trojans would

  have frayed

  The Greeks with noises, crying out, in coming rudely on

  At all parts, like the cranes that fill with harsh confusion

  Of brutish clanges all the air, and in ridiculous war

  (Eschewing the unsuffered storms shot from the winter's star)

  Visit the ocean, and confer the Pygmei soldier's death.

  The Greeks charged silent, and, like men, bestowed their thrifty breath

  In strength of far-resounding blows, still entertaining care

  Of either's rescue, when their strength did their engagements dare.

  And as, upon a hill's steep top, the south wind pours a cloud,

  To shepherds thankless, but by thieves, that loved the night, allowed,

  A darkness letting down, that blinds a stone's cast off men's eyes:

  Such darkness from the Greeks' swift feet (made all of dust) did rise.

  But, ere stern conflict mixed both strengths, fair Paris stept before

  The Trojan host; athwart his back a panther's hide he wore,

  A crooked bow, and sword, and shook two brazen-headed darts,

  With which well armed, his tongue provoked the best of Grecian hearts

  To stand with him in single fight. Whom when the man, wronged most

  Of all the Greeks, so gloriously saw stalk before the host;

  As when a lion is rejoiced, with hunger half forlorn,

  That finds some sweet prey, as a hart, whose grace lies in his horn,

  Or sylvan goat, which he devours, though never so pursued

  With dogs and men; so Sparta's king exulted, when he viewed

  The fair-faced Paris so exposed to his so thirsted wreak,

  Whereof his good cause made him sure. The Grecian front did break,

  And forth he rushed, at all parts armed, leapt from his chariot,

  And royally prepared for charge. Which seen, cold terror shot

  The heart of Paris, who retired as headlong from the king

  As in him he had shunned his death; and as a hilly spring

  Presents a serpent to a man, full underneath his feet;

  Her blue neck swoln with poison, raised, and her sting out, to greet

  His heedless entry, suddenly his walk he altereth,

  Starts back amazed, is shook with fear, and looks as pale as death;

  So Menelaus Paris scared; so that divine-faced foe

  Shrunk in his beauties. Which beheld by Hector, he let go

  This bitter check at him : " Accursed, made but in beauty's scorn,

  Imposter, woman's man! O heaven, that thou hadst ne'er been born,

  Or, being so manless, never lived to bear man's noblest state,

  The nuptial honour! Which I wish, because it were a fate

  Much better for thee than this shame. This spectacle doth make

  A man a monster. Hark! how loud the Greeks laugh, who did take

  Thy fair form for a continent of parts as fair. A rape

  Thou mad'st of nature, like their queen. No soul, an empty shape

  Takes up thy being; yet how spite to every shade of good

  Fills it with ill, for, as thou art, thou couldst collect a brood

  Of others like thee, and far hence fetch ill enough to us,

  Even to thy father; all these friends make those foes mock them thus

  In thee, for whose ridiculous sake, so seriously they lay

  All Greece, and fate, upon their necks. O wretch! Not dare to stay

  Weak Menelaus? But 'twas well; for in him thou hadst tried

  What strength lost beauty can infuse, and with the more grief died,

  To feel thou robb'st a worthier man, to wrong a soldier's right.

  Your harp's sweet touch, curled locks, fine shape, and gifts so exquisite,

  Given thee by Venus, would have done your fine dames little good,

  When blood and dust had ruffled them, and had as little stood

  Thyself in stead; but what thy care of all these in thee flies

  We should inflict on thee ourselves. Infectious cowardice

  In thee hath terrified our host; for which thou well deservest

  A coat of tombstone, not of steel in which for form thou serv'st."

  To this thus Paris spake (for form, that might inhabit heaven) :

  “Hector, because thy sharp reproof is out of justice given,

  I take it well, but though thy heart, inured to these affrights,

  Cuts through them as an axe through oak, tha
t more used more excites

  The workman's faculty, whose art can make the edge go far,

  Yet I, less practised than thyself in these extremes of war

  May well be pardoned, though less bold; in these your worth exceeds,

  In others mine. Nor is my mind of less force to the deeds

  Required in war, because my form more flows in gifts of peace.

  Reproach not therefore the kind gifts of golden Cyprides.

  All heaven's gifts have their worthy price; as little to be scorned

  As to be won with strength, wealth, state; with which, to be adorned,

  Some men would change state, wealth, or strength. But if your martial heart

  Wish me to make my challenge good, and hold it such a part

  Of shame to give it over thus, cause all the rest to rest,

  And, 'twixt both hosts, let Sparta's king and me perform our best

  For Helen and the wealth she brought; and he that overcomes,

  Or proves superior any way, in all your equal dooms,

  Let him enjoy her utmost wealth, keep her, or take her home;

  The rest strike leagues of endless date, and hearty friends become;

  You dwelling safe in gleby Troy, and Greeks retire their force

  T'Achaia, that breeds fairest dames, and Argos, fairest horse."

  He said, and his amendsful words did Hector highly please,

  Who rushed betwixt the fighting hosts, and made the Trojans cease,

  By holding up in midst his lance. The Grecians noted not

  The signal he for parley used, but at him fiercely shot,

  Hurled stones, and still were levelling darts. At last the king of men,

  Great Agamemnon, cried aloud : " Argives! for shame, contain;

  Youths of Achaia, shoot no more; the fair-helmed Hector shows

  As he desired to treat with us." This said, all ceased from blows,

  And Hector spake to both the hosts: " Trojans, and hardy Greeks,

  Hear now what he that stirred these wars for their cessation seeks.

  He bids us all, and you, disarm, that he alone may fight

  With Menelaus, for us all, for Helen and her right,

  With all the dower she brought to Troy; and he that wins the day,

  Or is in all the art of arms superior any way,

  The queen, and all her sorts of wealth, let him at will enjoy;

  The rest strike truce, and let love seal firm leagues 'twixt Greece and Troy."

  The Greek host wondered at this brave; silence flew everywhere;

  At last spake Sparta's warlike king : " Now also give me ear,

  Whom grief gives most cause of reply. I now have hope to free

  The Greeks and Trojans of all ills they have sustained for me,

  And Alexander, that was cause I stretched my spleen so far.

  Of both then, which is nearest fate, let his death end the war;

  The rest immediately retire, and greet all homes in peace.

  Go then (to bless your champion, and give his powers success)

  Fetch for the Earth, and for the Sun (the Gods on whom ye call),

  Two lambs, a black one and a white, a female and a male;

  And we another for ourselves will fetch, and kill to Jove.

  To sign which rites bring Priam's force, because we well approve

  His sons perfidious, envious, and, out of practised bane

  To faith, when she believes in them, Jove's high truce may profane.

  All young men's hearts are still unstaid; but in those well-weighed deeds

  An old man will consent to pass things past, and what succeeds

  He looks into, that he may know how best to make his way

  Through both the fortunes of a fact, and will the worst obey."

  This granted, a delightful hope, both Greek and Trojans fed,

  Of longed-for rest from those long toils their tedious war had bred.

  Their horses then in rank they set, drawn from their chariots round,

  Descend themselves, took off their arms, and placed them on the ground,

  Near one another; for the space 'twixt both the hosts was small.

  Hector two heralds sent to Troy, that they from thence might call

  King Priam, and to bring the lambs, to rate the truce they swore.

  But Agamemnon to the fleet Talthybius sent before,

  To fetch their lamb, who nothing slackt the royal charge was given.

  Iris, the rainbow, then came down, ambassadress from heaven,

  To white-armed Helen. She assumed at every part the grace

  Of Helen's last love's sister's shape, who had the highest place

  In Helen's love, and had to name Laodice, most fair

  Of all the daughters Priam had, and made the nuptial pair

  With Helicaon, royal sprout of old Antenor's seed.

  She found Queen Helena at home, at work about a weed,

  Woven for herself; it shined like fire, was rich and full of size,

  The work of both sides being alike; in which she did comprise

  The many labours warlike Troy and brass-armed Greece endured

  For her fair sake, by cruel Mars and his stern friends procured.

  Iris came in in joyful haste and said: " O come with me,

  Loved nymph, and an admired sight of Greeks and Trojans see,

  Who first on one another brought a war so full of tears,

  Even thirsty of contentious war. Now every man forbears,

  And friendly by each other sits, each leaning on his shield,

  Their long and shining lances pitched fast by them in the field.

  Paris, and Sparta's king, alone must take up all the strife;

  And he that conquers only call fair Helena his wife."

  i Thus spake the thousand-coloured dame, and to her mind commends

  The joy to see her first espoused, her native towers, and friends;

  Which stirred a sweet desire in her, to serve the which she hied,

  Shadowed her graces with white veils, and (though she took a pride

  To set her thoughts at gaze, and see, in her clear beauty's flood,

  What choice of glory swum to her yet tender womanhood)

  Seasoned with tears her joys to see more joys the more offence,

  And that perfection could not flow from earthly excellence.

  Thus went she forth, and took with her her women most of name,

  iEthra, Pittheus' lovely birth, and Clymene, whom fame

  Hath for her fair eyes memorised. They reached the Scaean towers,

  Where Priam sat, to see the fight, with all his counsellors;

  Panthous, Lampus, Clytius, and stout Hicetaon,

  Thymcetes, wise Antenor, and profound Ucalegon:

  All grave old men; and soldiers they had been, but for age

  Now left the wars; yet counsellors they were exceeding sage.

  And as in well-grown woods, on trees, cold spiny grasshoppers

  Sit chirping, and send voices out that scarce can pierce our ears

  For softness, and their weak faint sounds; so, talking on the tower,

  These seniors of the people sat; who when they saw the power

  Of beauty, in the queen, ascend, even those cold-spirited peers,

  Those wise and almost withered men, found this heat in their years

  That they were forced (though whispering) to say: " What man can blame

  The Greeks and Trojans to endure, for so admired a dame,

  So many miseries, and so long? In her sweet countenance shine

  Looks like the Goddesses. And yet (though never so divine)

  Before we boast, unjustly still, of her enforced prise,

  And justly suffer for her sake, with all our progenies,

  Labour and ruin, let her go; the profit of our land

  Must pass the beauty." Thus, though these could bear so fit a hand

  On their affections, yet, when all their gravest po
wers were used,

  They could not choose but welcome her, and rather they accused

  The Gods than beauty, for thus spake the most famed king of Troy :

  “Come, loved daughter, sit by me, and take the worthy joy

  Of thy first husband's sight, old friends, and princes near allied,

  And name me some of these brave Greeks, so manly beautified.

  Come, do not tbink I lay the wars endured by us on thee,

  The Gods have sent them, and the tears in which they swum to me.

  Sit then, and name this goodly Greek, so tall, and broadly spread,

  Who than the rest, that stand by him, is higher by the head;

  The bravest man I ever saw, and most majestical,

  His only presence makes me think him king amongst them all."

  The fairest of her sex replied : " Most reverend father-in-law,

  Most loved, most feared, would some ill death had seized me, when I saw

  The first mean why I wronged you thus; that I had never lost

  The sight of these my ancient friends, of him that loved me most,

  Of my sole daughter, brothers both, with all those kindly mates,

  Of one soil, one age, born with me, though under different fates!

  But these boons envious stars deny; the memory of these

  In sorrow pines those beauties now that then did too much please;

  Nor satisfy they your demand, to which I thus reply :

  That's Agamemnon, Atreus' son, the great in empery;

  A king, whom double royalty doth crown, being great and good,

  And one that was my brother-in-law, when I contained my blood,

  And was more worthy; if at all I might be said to be,

  My being being lost so soon in all that honour'd me."

  The good old king admired, and said: " O Atreus' blessed son,

  Born unto joyful destines, that hast the empire won

  Of such a world of Grecian youths as I discover here,

  I once marched into Phrygia, that many vines doth bear,

  Where many Phrygians I beheld, well skilled in use of horse,

  That of the two men, like two Gods, were the commanded force,

  Otreus, and great Mygdonus, who on Sangarius' sands

  Set down their tents, with whom myself, for my assistant bands,

  Was numbered as a man in chief; the cause of war was then

  Th' Amazon dames, that in their facts affected to be men.

  In all there was a mighty power, which yet did never rise

  To equal these Achaian youths that have the sable eyes."

  Then (seeing Ulysses next) he said: " Loved daughter, what is he