Samuel Butler - Scroll 6 lyrics

[1] The fight between Trojans and Achaeans was now left to rage as it would, and the tide of war surged here and there over the plain as they aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another between the streams of Simoeis and Xanthos. [5] First, Ajax son of Telamon, tower of strength to the Achaeans, broke a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the a**istance of his comrades by k**ing Akamas son of Eussoros, the best man among the Thracians, being both brave and of great stature. The spear struck the projecting peak of his helmet: [10] its bronze point then went through his forehead into the brain, and darkness veiled his eyes. Then Diomedes k**ed Axylos son of Teuthranos, a rich man who lived in the strong-founded city of Arisbe, and was beloved by all men; for he had a house by the roadside, [15] and entertained every one who pa**ed; howbeit not one of his guests stood before him to save his life, and Diomedes k**ed both him and his attendant [therapōn] Kalesios, who was then his charioteer – so the pair pa**ed beneath the earth. [20] Euryalos k**ed Dresos and Opheltios, and then went in pursuit of Aisepos and Pedasos, whom the naiad nymph Abarbarea had borne to noble Boukolion. Boukolion was eldest son to haughty Laomedon, but he was a ba*tard. [25] While tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph, and she conceived twin sons; these the son of Mekisteus now slew, and he stripped the armor from their shoulders. Polypoites then k**ed Astyalos, [30] Odysseus Pidytes of Perkote, and Teucer Aretaon. Ableros fell by the spear of Nestor's son Antilokhos, and Agamemnon, king of men, k**ed Elatos who dwelt in Pedasos by the banks of the river Satnioeis. [35] Leitos k**ed Phylakos as he was fleeing, and Eurypylos slew Melanthos. Then Menelaos of the loud war-cry took Adrastos alive, for his horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as they were flying wildly over the plain, [40] and broke the pole from the car; they went on towards the city along with the others in full flight, but Adrastos rolled out, and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot; Menelaos came up to him spear in hand, [45] but Adrastos caught him by the knees begging for his life. “Take me alive,” he cried, “son of Atreus, and you shall have a full ransom for me: my father is rich and has much treasure of gold, bronze, and wrought iron laid by in his house. From this store he will give you a large ransom [50] should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the Achaeans.” Thus did he plead, and Menelaos was for yielding and giving him to a attendant [therapōn] to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running up to him and rebuked him. [55] “My good Menelaos,” said he, “this is no time for giving quarter. Has, then, your house fared so well at the hands of the Trojans? Let us not spare a single one of them – not even the child unborn and in its mother's womb; let not a man of them be left alive, [60] but let all in Ilion perish, unheeded and forgotten.” Thus did he speak, and his brother was persuaded by him, for his words were just. Menelaos, therefore, thrust Adrastos from him, whereon powerful King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell: then the son of Atreus [65] planted his foot upon his breast to draw his spear from the body. Meanwhile Nestor shouted to the Argives, saying, “My friends, Danaan warriors, attendants [therapontes] of Ares, let no man lag that he may spoil the dead, and bring back much booty to the ships. [70] Let us k** as many as we can; the bodies will lie upon the plain, and you can despoil them later at your leisure.” With these words he put heart and spirit into them all. And now the Trojans would have been routed and driven back into Ilion, [75] had not Priam's son Helenos, wisest of augurs, said to Hector and Aeneas, “Hector and Aeneas, you two are the mainstays [ponos] of the Trojans and Lycians, for you are foremost at all times, alike in fight and counsel; [80] hold your ground here, and go about among the army of warriors to rally them in front of the gates, or they will fling themselves into the arms of their wives, to the great joy of our foes. Then, when you have put heart into all our companies, we will stand firm here and fight the Danaans [85] however hard they press us, for there is nothing else to be done. Meanwhile do you, Hector, go to the city and tell our mother what is happening. Tell her to bid the matrons gather at the temple of owl-vision Athena in the acropolis; let her then take her key and open the doors of the sacred building; there, upon the knees of Athena the lovely-haired, [90] let her lay the largest, fairest robe she has in her house – the one she sets most store by; let her, moreover, promise to sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess, if she will take pity [95] on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of Tydeus the wild spear-fighter from falling on the goodly city of Ilion; for he fights with fury and fills men's spirits with panic. I hold him mightiest of them all; we did not fear even their great champion Achilles, [100] son of a goddess though he be, as we do this man: his rage is beyond all bounds, and there is none can vie with him in prowess.” Hector did as his brother bade him. 103 He sprang from his chariot, and went about everywhere among the army of warriors, brandishing his spears, [105] urging the men on to fight, and raising the dread cry of battle. Then they rallied and again faced the Achaeans, who gave ground and ceased their murderous onset, for they thought that some one of the immortals had come down from the starry sky to help the Trojans, so strangely had they rallied. [110] And Hector shouted to the Trojans, “High-hearted Trojans and far-renowned allies, be men, my friends, and fight with might and main, while I go to Ilion and tell the old men of our council and our wives [115] to pray to the gods [daimones] and vow hecatombs in their honor.” With this he went his way, and the black rim of hide that went round his shield beat against his neck and his ankles. Then Glaukos son of Hippolokhos, and the son of Tydeus [120] went into the open space between the armies to fight in single combat. When they were close up to one another Diomedes of the loud war-cry was the first to speak. “Who, my good sir,” said he, “who are you among men? I have never seen you in battle until now, [125] but you are daring beyond all others if you abide my onset. Woe to those fathers whose sons face my might. If, however, you are one of the immortals and have come down from the sky, I will not fight you; [130] for even valiant Lykourgos, son of Dryas, did not live long when he took to fighting with the gods. He it was that drove the nursing women who were in charge of frenzied Dionysus through the land of Nysa, and they flung their thyrsoi on the ground as manslaughtering Lykourgos [135] beat them with his oxgoad. Dionysus himself plunged terror-stricken into the sea, and Thetis took him to her bosom to comfort him, for he was scared by the fury with which the man reviled him. Then the gods who live at ease were angry with Lykourgos and the son of Kronos struck him blind, nor did he live much longer [140] after he had become hateful to the immortals. Therefore I will not fight with the blessed gods; but if you are of them that eat the fruit of the ground, draw near and meet your doom.” And the shining son of Hippolokhos answered, [145] “High-hearted son of Tydeus, why ask me of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when spring [hōra] returns the forest buds forth with fresh vines. Even so is it with the generations of humankind, the new spring up as the old are pa**ing away. [150] If, then, you would learn my descent, it is one that is well known to many. There is a city in the heart of Argos, pasture land of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all humankind. He was the son of Aiolos, and had a son named Glaukos, [155] who was father to Bellerophon the blameless, whom the gods have endowed with the most surpa**ing comeliness and beauty. But Proitos devised his ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the locale [dēmos] of the Argives, over which Zeus had made him ruler. [160] For beautiful Antaia, wife of Proitos, lusted after him, and would have had him lie with her in secret; but Bellerophon was an honorable man and would not, so she told lies about him to Proitos. ‘Proitos,' said she, ‘k** Bellerophon or die, [165] for he would have had converse with me against my will.' The king was angered, but shrank from k**ing Bellerophon, so he sent him to Lycia bearing baneful signs [sēma pl.], written inside a folded tablet and containing much ill against the bearer. [170] He bade Bellerophon show these written signs to his father-in-law, to the end that he might thus perish; Bellerophon therefore went to Lycia, and the gods convoyed him safely. When he reached the river Xanthos, which is in Lycia, the king received him with all goodwill, feasted him nine days, and k**ed nine heifers in his honor, [175] but when rosy-fingered morning appeared upon the tenth day, he questioned him and desired to see the markings [sēma pl.] from his son-in-law Proitos. When he had received the baneful markings [sēma pl.] he first commanded Bellerophon to k** that savage monster, the Chimaera, [180] who was not a human being, but a goddess, for she had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while her body was that of a goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire; but Bellerophon slew her, for he was guided by divine signs. He next fought the far-famed Solymoi, [185] and this, he said, was the hardest of all his battles. Thirdly, he k**ed the Amazons, women who were the peers of men, and as he was returning thence the king devised yet another plan for his destruction; he selected [krinein] the bravest warriors in all Lycia, and placed them in ambuscade, but not a man ever came back, [190] for blameless Bellerophon k**ed every one of them. Then the king knew that he must be the valiant offspring of a god, so he kept him in Lycia, gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honor [timē] in the kingdom with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece of land, [195] the best in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields, to have and to hold. The king's daughter bore valiant Bellerophon three children, Isandros, Hippolokhos, and Laodameia. Zeus, the lord of counsel, lay with Laodameia, and she bore him noble Sarpedon; [200] but when Bellerophon came to be hated by all the gods, he wandered all desolate and dismayed upon the plain of Alea, gnawing at his own heart, and shunning the path of man. Ares, insatiate of battle, k**ed his son Isandros while he was fighting the glorious Solymoi; [205] his daughter was k**ed by Artemis of the golden reins, for she was angered with her; but Hippolokhos was father to myself, and when he sent me to Troy he urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost and outcompete my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my fathers [210] who were the noblest in Ephyra and in all Lycia. This, then, is the descent I claim.” Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomedes of the great war cry was glad. He planted his spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly words. [215] “Then,” he said, “you are an old friend of my father's house. Great Oineus once entertained Bellerophon the blameless for twenty days, and the two exchanged presents. Oineus gave a belt rich with purple, [220] and Bellerophon a double cup, which I left at home when I set out for Troy. I do not remember Tydeus, for he was taken from us while I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans was cut to pieces before Thebes. Henceforth, however, I must be your host in middle Argos, [225] and you mine in Lycia, if I should ever go to that locale [dēmos]; let us avoid one another's spears even during a general engagement; there are many noble Trojans and allies whom I can k**, if I overtake them and the gods deliver them into my hand; so again with yourself, there are many Achaeans whose lives you may take if you can; [230] we two, then, will exchange armor, that all present may know of the old ties that subsist between us.” With these words they sprang from their chariots, grasped one another's hands, and plighted friendship. But Zeus the son of Kronos made Glaukos take leave of his wits, [235] for he exchanged golden armor for bronze, the worth of a hundred head of cattle for the worth of nine. Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree, the wives and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him to ask after their sons, brothers, kinsmen, [240] and husbands: he told them to set about praying to the gods, and many were made sorrowful as they heard him. Presently he reached the splendid palace of King Priam, adorned with colonnades of hewn stone. In it there were fifty bedchambers – all of hewn stone – [245] built near one another, where the sons of Priam slept, each with his wedded wife. Opposite these, on the other side the courtyard, there were twelve upper rooms also of hewn stone for Priam's daughters, built near one another, [250] where his sons-in-law slept with their wives. When Hector got there, his fond mother came up to him with Laodike the fairest of her daughters. She took his hand within her own and said, “My son, why have you left the battle to come here? [255] Are the Achaeans, woe betide them, pressing you hard about the city that you have thought fit to come and uplift your hands to Zeus from the citadel? Wait till I can bring you wine that you may make offering to Zeus and to the other immortals, [260] and may then drink and be refreshed. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied, as you now are with fighting on behalf of your kinsmen.” And tall Hector of the shining helmet answered, “Honored mother, bring no wine, [265] lest you unman me and I forget my strength. I dare not make a drink-offering to Zeus with unwashed hands; one who is bespattered with blood and filth may not pray to the son of Kronos. Get the matrons together, [270] and go with offerings to the temple of Athena driver of the spoil; there, upon the knees of Athena the lovely haired, lay the largest and fairest robe you have in your house – the one you set most store by; promise, moreover, to sacrifice twelve yearling heifers [275] that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess if she will take pity on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of Tydeus from off the goodly city of Ilion, for he fights with fury, and fills men's spirits with panic. Go, then, to the temple of Athena, [280] while I seek Paris and exhort him, if he will hear my words. Would that the earth might open her jaws and swallow him, for Zeus bred him to be the bane of the Trojans, and of high-hearted Priam and Priam's sons. Could I but see him go down into the house of Hadēs, [285] my heart would forget its heaviness.” His mother went into the house and called her waiting-women who gathered the matrons throughout the city. She then went down into her fragrant store-room, where pattern-women fabrics were kept, the work of Sidonian women, [290] whom Alexandros the godlike had brought over from Sidon when he sailed the seas [pontos] upon that voyage during which he carried off gloriously descended Helen. Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one that was most beautifully pattern-woven, as an offering to Athena: [295] it glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. With this she went on her way and many matrons with her. When they reached the temple of Athena, lovely Theano, daughter of Kisseus and wife of Antenor, breaker of horses, opened the doors, [300] for the Trojans had made her priestess of Athena. The women lifted up their hands to the lovely-haired goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees of Athena, praying the while to the daughter of great Zeus. [305] “Holy Athena, shining among goddesses,” she cried, “protectress of our city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomedes and lay him low before the Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity [310] upon the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans.” Thus she prayed, but Pallas Athena granted not her prayer. While they were thus praying to the daughter of great Zeus, Hector went to the fair house of Alexandros, which he had had built for him [315] by the foremost builders in the land. They had built him his house, storehouse, and courtyard near those of Priam and Hector on the acropolis. Here Hector beloved of Zeus entered, with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand; the bronze point gleamed in front of him, [320] and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold. He found Alexandros within the house, busied about his armor, his shield and cuira**, and handling his curved bow; there, too, sat Argive Helen with her women, setting them their several tasks; [325] and as Hector saw him he rebuked him with words of scorn. “Sir,” said he, “you do ill to nurse this rancor; the people perish fighting round this our town; you would yourself chide one [330] whom you saw shirking his part in the combat. Up then, or before long the city will be in a blaze.” And godlike Alexandros answered, “Hector, your rebuke is just; listen therefore, and believe me when I tell you that [335] I am not here so much through rancor or ill-will [nemesis] towards the Trojans, as from a desire to indulge my grief. My wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I hold it better that I should go, for victory is ever fickle. [340] Wait, then, while I put on my armor, or go first and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake you.” Hector of the shining helmet made no answer, but Helen tried to soothe him. “Brother,” said she, “to my abhorred and sinful self, [345] would that a whirlwind had caught me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had borne me to some mountain or to the waves of the roaring sea that should have swept me away before this mischief had come about. But, since the gods have devised these evils, would, at any rate, [350] that I had been wife to a better man – to one who could smart under dishonor [nemesis] and men's evil speeches. This man was never yet to be depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely reap what he has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, [355] for it is you who bear the brunt of that toil [ponos] that has been caused by my hateful self and by the derangement [atē] of Alexandros – both of whom Zeus has doomed to be a theme of song among those that shall be born hereafter.” And tall Hector of the shining helmet answered, [360] “Bid me not be seated, Helen, for all the goodwill you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste to help the Trojans, who miss me greatly when I am not among them; but urge your husband, and of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me before I am out of the city. [365] I must go home to see my household, my wife and my little son, for I know not whether I shall ever again return to them, or whether the gods will cause me to fall by the hands of the Achaeans.” Then Hector of the shining helmet left her, [370] and right away was at his own house. He did not find Andromache of the white arms, for she was on the wall with her child and one of her maids, weeping bitterly. Seeing, then, that she was not within, [375] he stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and said, “Women, tell me, and tell me true, where did Andromache go when she left the house? Was it to my sisters, or to my brothers' wives? or is she at the temple of Athena [380] where the other women are propitiating the terrifying goddess?” His good housekeeper answered, “Hector, since you bid me tell you things that are true [alēthea], she did not go to your sisters nor to your brothers' wives, nor yet to the temple of Athena, [385] where the other women are propitiating the terrifying goddess, but she is on the high wall of Ilion, for she had heard the Trojans were being hard pressed, and that the Achaeans were in great force: she went to the wall in frenzied haste, and the nurse went with her carrying the child.” [390] Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking, and went down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he would go out on to the plain, his wife came running towards him, [395] Andromache, daughter of great Eëtion who ruled in Thebe under the wooded slopes of wooded Mount Plakos, and was king of the Cilicians. His daughter had married Hector of the bronze helmet, and now came to meet him with a nurse who carried [400] his little child in her bosom – a mere babe. Hector's darling son, and lovely as a star. Hector had named him Skamandrios, but the people called him Astyanax, for his father stood alone as chief guardian of Ilion. Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy, but he did not speak, [405] and Andromache stood by him weeping and taking his hand in her own. 407 What's gotten into you [Hector] - some kind of superhuman force [daimōn]? Your own power [menos] is going to make you perish [phthi-n-ein]. You are not showing pity, 408 not thinking of your disconnected [nēpiakhos] son, and not thinking of me, deprived as I am of good fortune. I will soon become a widow, 409 your widow, since you will soon be k**ed by the Achaeans. [410] They will all rush at you. It would be better for me, 411 if I should lose you, to lie dead and be covered over by the earth, since there will no longer 412 be anything left to comfort me when you have met your fate. 413 I will have nothing but sorrows [akhos plural]. I have neither a father nor a queen mother now. 414 My father was k**ed by radiant Achilles [415] when that one destroyed the beautifully flourishing city of the Cilicians, 416 Thebe, with its lofty gates. So he [= Achilles] k**ed Eëtion, 417 but he did not strip him of his armor - at least he had that much decency in his heart [thūmos] - 418 and he honored him with the ritual of cremation, burning him together with his armor. 419 Then he heaped up a tomb [sēma] for him, and elm trees were generated [phuteuein] around it [420] by forest nymphs who are daughters of Zeus, holder of the aegis. 421 I had seven brothers in my father's house, 422 but on the same day they all went down into the house of Hādēs. 423 For they were all k**ed by Achilles, swift of foot, the radiant one, 424 while they were guarding their ranging cattle and their bright-fleeced sheep. [425] My mother - her who had been queen of all the land under the wooded mountain Plakos - 426 he [= Achilles] brought here along with the captured treasures, 427 and freed her for the price of an untold amount of property, 428 but then, in the house of your father [= Priam], she was shot down by Artemis, shooter of arrows. 429 Oh, Hector, you who are to me a father, a queen mother, [430] a brother, and a husband in his prime - 431 please, have pity on me; stay here at the fortifications; 432 don't make your child an orphan, and your wife a widow. As for the army of warriors, place them near the fig-tree, where the city can be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. [435] Thrice have the bravest of them come there and a**ailed it, under the two Ajaxes, renowned Idomeneus, the sons of Atreus, and the brave son of Tydeus, either of their own bidding, or because some soothsayer had told them.” [440] And tall Hector of the shining helmet answered, “Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I shirked battle like a coward? I cannot do so: I know nothing save [445] to fight bravely in the forefront of the Trojan army of warriors and win fame [kleos] alike for my father and myself. 447 For I know well in my thinking, in my heart, that 448 there will come a day when, once it comes, the sacred city of Ilios [= Ilion = Troy] will be destroyed 449 – and Priam, too, and along with him [will be destroyed] the people of that man with the fine ash spear, that Priam. [450] But the pain I have on my mind is not as great for the Trojans and for what will happen to them in the future, 451 or for Hecuba or for Priam the king, 452 or for my brothers if, many in number and noble as they are, 453 they will fall in the dust at the hands of men who are their enemies 454 – no, [the pain I have on my mind is not as great for them] as it is for you when I think of a moment when some Achaean man, one of those men who wear khitons of bronze, [455] takes hold of you as you weep and leads you away as his prize, depriving you of your days of freedom from slavery. 456 And you would be going to Argos, where you would be weaving [huphainein] at the loom of some other woman [and no longer at your own loom at home] 457 – and you would be carrying water for her, drawing from the spring called Messēís or the one called Hypereia. 458 Again and again you will be forced to do things against your will, and the bondage holding you down will be harsh. 459 And someone some day will look at you as you pour out your tears and will say: [460] “Hector is the man whose wife this woman used to be. He used to be the best in battle 461 – the best of all the Trojans, those horse-tamers, back in those days when they fought to defend Ilion [= Troy].” 462 That is what someone some day will say. And just hearing it will give you a new sorrow 463 as the widow of this kind of man, the kind that is able to prevent those days of slavery. 464 But, once I am dead, may earth be scattered over me and cover me. [465] before I hear your cry as they carry you into bondage.” He stretched his arms towards his child, but the boy cried and nestled in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his father's armor, [470] and at the horse-hair plume that nodded fiercely from his helmet. His father and mother laughed to see him, but glorious Hector took the helmet from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the ground. Then he took his darling child, kissed him, and dandled him in his arms, [475] praying over him the while to Zeus and to all the gods. “Zeus,” he cried, “grant that this my child may be even as myself, chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule Ilion with his might. Then may one say of him as he comes from battle, ‘The son is far better than the father.' [480] May he bring back the bloodstained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother's heart be glad.'” With this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife, who took him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As her husband watched her his heart yearned towards her [485] and he caressed her fondly, saying, “My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly to heart. No one can hurry me down to Hadēs before my time, but if a man's hour is come, be he brave or be he coward, there is no escape for him when he has once been born. [490] Go, then, within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for war is man's matter, and mine above all others of them that have been born in Ilion.” He took his plumed helmet from the ground, [495] and his wife went back again to her house, weeping bitterly and often looking back towards him. When she reached her home she found her maidens within, and bade them all join in her lament; [500] so they mourned Hector slayer of men in his own house though he was yet alive, for they thought that they should never see him return safe from battle, and from the furious hands of the Achaeans. Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armor overlaid with bronze, [505] and hastened through the city as fast as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and fed, breaks loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is won't to bathe in the fair-flowing river – he holds his head high, and his mane streams [510] upon his shoulders as he exults in his strength and flies like the wind to the haunts and feeding ground of the mares – even so went forth Paris the son of Priam from high Pergamon, gleaming like sunlight in his armor, and he laughed aloud as he sped swiftly on his way. [515] Right away he came upon his brother radiant Hector, who was then turning away from the place where he had held converse with his wife, and he was himself the first to speak. “Sir,” said he, “I fear that I have kept you waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as you bade me.” [520] “My good brother,” answered tall Hector of the shining helmet, “you fight bravely, and no man with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. But you are careless and willfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart to hear the ill that the Trojans speak about you, [525] for they went through much toil [ponos] on your account. Let us be going, and we will make things right hereafter, should Zeus grant that we offer to the eternal gods of the sky the cup of our deliverance in our own homes, when we have chased the strong-greaved Achaeans from Troy.”