The Iliad of Homer, Homer [reading fiction TXT] 📗

or flies." Footnote 733:(return) So in Senec. Hippol. 1176, "Placemus umbras, capitis exuvias cape, laceræque frontis accipe abscissam comam." The custom is learnedly illustrated by Bernart on Stat. Theb. vi. 195, Lomeier de Lustrat. § xxv.

But they, when they reached the place where Achilles pointed out to them, laid him down; and immediately heaped on abundant wood for him. Then again swift-footed Achilles remembered another thing. Standing apart from the pile, he cut off his yellow hair, which he had nurtured, blooming, for the river Sperchius; 734 and, moaning, he spake, looking upon the dark sea:

Footnote 734:(return) On this custom, cf. Schol. Hesiod. Theog. 348: Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ ποταμοῖς οὶ νέοι ἀπέτεμον τὰς κόμας, διὰ τὸ αύξήσεως καὶ ἀνατροφῆς αἰτίους εἷναι. See Lindenbrog on Censorin. de Die Nat. i. p. 6, and Blomf. on Æsch. Choeph. s. init., with my own note. Statius, Achill. i. 628, "Quærisne meos, Sperchie, natatus, Promissasque comas?" Cf. Pausan. i. 43, 4; Philostrat. Her. xi.

"In vain, O Sperchius, did my father Peleus vow to thee, that I, returning to my dear native land, should there cut off my hair for thee, and offer a sacred hecatomb; and besides, that I would in the same place sacrifice fifty male sheep at the fountains, where are a grove and fragrant altar to thee. Thus the old man spake, but thou hast not fulfilled his will. And now, since I return not to my dear fatherland, I will give my hair to the hero Patroclus, to be borne [with him]." Thus saying, he placed his hair in the hands of his dear companion; and excited amongst them all a longing for weeping. And the light of the sun had certainly set upon them, mourning, had not Achilles, standing beside, straightway addressed Agamemnon:

"O son of Atreus (for to thy words the people of the Greeks most especially hearken), it is possible to satiate oneself even with weeping; 735 but now do thou dismiss them from the pile, and order them to prepare supper. We, to whom the corpse is chiefly a care, will labour concerning these things; but let the chiefs remain with us."

But when the king of men, Agamemnon, heard this, he immediately dispersed the people among the equal ships; but the mourners remained there, and heaped up the wood. They formed a pile 736 a hundred feet this way and that, and laid the body upon the summit of the pile, grieving at heart.

Footnote 735:(return) See Buttm. Lexil. p. 25. "Achilles speaks of the expediency of terminating the lamentations of the army at large, and leaving what remains to be performed in honour of the deceased to his more particular friends."--Kennedy. Footnote 736:(return) In illustration of the following rites, cf. Virg. Æn. iii. 62; v. 96; vi. 215; x. 517; xi. 80, 197, sqq.; and the notes of Stephens on Saxo Grammat. p. 92.

Many fat sheep, and stamping-footed, bent-horned oxen, they skinned and dressed before the pile; from all of which magnanimous Achilles, taking the fat, covered over the dead body [with it] from head to feet, and heaped around the skinned carcases. Leaning towards the bier, he likewise placed vessels of honey and oil, 737 and, sighing deeply, hastily threw upon the pyre four high-necked steeds. There were nine dogs, companions at the table of the [departed] king, and, slaying two of them, he cast them upon the pile; also twelve gallant sons 738 of the magnanimous Trojans, slaying them with the brass; and he designed evil deeds in his mind. Next he applied to it the iron strength of fire, that it might feed upon it: then he groaned aloud, and addressed his beloved companion by name: 739

Footnote 737:(return) Cf. Alcæus apud Brunck, Ann. i. p. 490: Καὶ τάφον ὑψώσαντο, γάλακτι δὲ ποιμένες αἰγῶν Ἔῤῥαναν ξανθῷ μιξάμενοι μέλιτι. Compare the similar libations to the dead in Eur. Orest. 114; Heliodor. Eth. vi.; Apul. Met. 3; Stat. Theb. vi. 209; Virg. Æn. iii. 66. Footnote 738:(return) This cruel custom was in vogue amongst the followers of Odin. See Olaus Magnus, iii. 3, and Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 213, sq., ed. Bohn. Footnote 739:(return) On this προσφώνησις, or last address to the deceased, see my note on Eurip. Alcest. 625, t. i. p. 231, ed. Bohn; and Suppl. 773, 804; Virg. Æn. iii. 68, v. 79; Propert. i. 17; Auson. Parent. 159, 10.

"Hail! O Patroclus, even in the dwellings of Hades: for I now fulfil all things which I formerly promised thee; twelve brave sons of the magnanimous Trojans, all these, along with thee, shall the fire consume; but I will not suffer Hector, the son of Priam, to be devoured by fire, but by the dogs."

Thus he spoke, threatening; but about him the dogs were not busied; for Venus, the daughter of Jove, drove off the dogs both days and nights, and anointed him with a rosy unguent, ambrosial, that he might not lacerate him dragging him along. Over him also Phœbus Apollo drew a dark cloud from heaven to the plain, and overshadowed the whole space, as much as the dead body occupied, lest the influence of the sun should previously dry the body all around, with the nerves and limbs.

Yet the pile of dead Patroclus burnt not. Then again noble Achilles meditated other things. Standing apart from the pile, he prayed to two winds, Boreas and Zephyrus, and promised fair sacrifices; and, pouring out many libations with a golden goblet, he supplicated them to come, that they might burn the body with fire as soon as possible, and the wood might hasten to be burned. But swift Iris, hearing his prayers, went as a messenger to the winds. They, indeed, together at home with fierce-breathing Zephyrus, were celebrating a feast, when Iris, hastening, stood upon the stone threshold. But when they beheld her with their eyes, they rose up, and invited her to him, each of them. But she, on the contrary, refused to sit down, and spoke [this] speech:

"No seat [for me]; for I return again to the flowings of the ocean, to the land of the Æthiopians, where they sacrifice hecatombs to the immortals, that now I, too, may have a share in their offerings. But Achilles now supplicates Boreas, and sonorous Zephyrus, to come, that ye may kindle the pile to be consumed, on which lies Patroclus, whom all the Greeks bewail."

She, indeed, thus having spoken, departed; but they hastened to go with a great tumult, driving on the clouds before them. Immediately they reached the sea, blowing, and the billow was raised up beneath their sonorous blast: but they reached the very fertile Troad, and fell upon the pile, and mightily resounded the fiercely-burning fire. All night, indeed, did they together toss about the blaze of the pyre, shrilly blowing; and all night swift Achilles, holding a double cup, poured wine upon the ground, drawing it from a golden goblet, and moistened the earth, invoking the manes of wretched Patroclus. And as a father mourns, consuming the bones of his son, a bridegroom who, dying, has afflicted his unhappy parents, so mourned Achilles, burning the bones of his companion, pacing pensively beside the pile, groaning continually. But when Lucifer arrived, proclaiming light over the earth, after whom saffron-vested Morn is diffused over the sea, then the pyre grew languid, and the flame decayed; and the Winds departed again, to return home through the Thracian sea; but it (the sea) groaned indeed, raging with swelling billow.

But Pelides, going apart 740 from the pile, reclined fatigued, and upon him fell sweet sleep. The others, however, were assembling in crowds round the son of Atreus, the noise and tumult of whom, approaching, awoke him; and, being raised up, he sat, and addressed them:

Footnote 740:(return) On λιάζομαι, cf. Buttm. Lex. p. 404.

"O son of Atreus, and ye other chiefs of the Greeks, first, indeed, extinguish the whole pile, as much as the fire has seized, with dark wine; and then let us collect the bones of Patroclus, the son of Menœtius, well discriminating them (for they are readily distinguished; for he lay in the centre of the pyre, but the others, both horses and men, were burned promiscuously at the extremity), and let us place them in a golden vessel, and with a double [layer of] fat, till I myself be hidden in Hades. And I wish that a tomb should be made, not very large, but of such 741 a size as is becoming; but do ye, O Achæans, hereafter, make it both broad and lofty, you who may be left behind me at the many-benched barks."

Thus he spoke; and they obeyed the swift-footed son of Peleus. First of all, indeed, they totally extinguished the pyre with dark wine, as much as the fire had invaded, and the deep ashes fell in; and, weeping, they collected the white bones of their mild companion into a golden vessel, and a double [layer of] fat; then, laying them in the tent, they covered them with soft 742 linen. Next they marked out the area for the tomb, and laid the foundations around the pile; and immediately upraised a mound of earth; and, heaping up the tomb, returned. But Achilles detained the people there, and made the wide assembly sit down; but from the ships he brought forth prizes, goblets, tripods, horses, mules, and sturdy heads of oxen, and slender-waisted women, and hoary 743 iron. First he staked as prizes for swift-footed steeds, a woman to be borne away, faultless, skilled in works, as well as a handled tripod of two-and-twenty measures, for the first; but for the second he staked a mare six years old, unbroken, pregnant with a young mule; for the third he staked a fireless tripod, beautiful, containing four measures, yet quite untarnished; 744 for the fourth he staked two talents of gold; and for the fifth he staked a double vessel, untouched by the fire. Erect he stood, and spoke this speech to the Greeks:

Footnote 741:(return) Ernesti considers that τοῖον is here added to indicate magnitude, and Heyne accordingly renders it: "magnitudine fere hac," the speaker being supposed to use a gesture while thus speaking. Footnote 742:(return) See Buttm. Lexil. pp. 236--9. Footnote 743:(return) "Ernesti conceives that the colour is here maintained to express, not merely the shining aspect, but the newness of the metal; as λενκὸν in 268. This is ingenious; but why not receive it as expressive of colour, and borrowed from that to which the metal itself supplies a well-known epithet, viz., the hair of age?"--Kennedy. Footnote 744:(return) Αὕτως here designates "that which is original, unchanged, in opposition to common changes, λενκὸν ἔθ΄ αὕτως, still in that its original state, completely unblackened with fire; and ω. 413; of the body of Hector, ἀλλ' ἔτε κεῖνος κεῖται. Αὕτως, in that state in which he was before, still free from corruption."--Buttm. Lexil. p. 173.

"O son of Atreus, and ye other well-greaved Greeks, these prizes lie in the circus, awaiting the charioteers. If now, indeed, in honour of another, we Grecians were contending, then truly would I, receiving, bear the first [prizes] to my tent. For ye know how much my steeds surpass in excellence; for they are both immortal, and Neptune gave them to my father Peleus, who, again, delivered them to me. But nevertheless I and my solid-hoofed steeds will remain apart