# The Iliad, Book 1: The Wrath of Achilles: The Plague, the Quarrel, and Thetis' Plea

Ἰλιάς · Homer · The Wrath

Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles, who withdraws from the war. His mother Thetis asks Zeus to make the Greeks pay for the insult.

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/iliad/1. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/iliad/1.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/iliad/<line id>.m4a.

**1** μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος  
The wrath of Peleus' son Achilles, sing, goddess,
> menis: wrath: μῆνις is not ordinary anger but a towering, often sacred wrath, elsewhere reserved for the gods; setting it as the poem's very first word makes Achilles' rage the engine of everything that follows. It is the Iliad's controlling term, the way νόστος governs the Odyssey.

**2** οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρίʼ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγεʼ ἔθηκε,  
the accursed wrath, that brought the Achaeans countless woes,

**3** πολλὰς δʼ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν  
and hurled down to Hades many mighty souls

**4** ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν  
of heroes, and made their bodies prey for dogs

**5** οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δʼ ἐτελείετο βουλή,  
and for all birds — and the will of Zeus was being fulfilled —
> Imperfect passive: ἐτελείετο is imperfect passive, "was being brought to fulfillment": the plan of Zeus is not a single finished act but a purpose working itself out across the whole poem, which the ongoing tense signals from the outset.

**6** ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε  
from the time when first they stood apart in strife,
> Dual number: Both the verb and its participle appear in the dual, a Greek grammatical number used for exactly two — grammar itself marks that this quarrel belongs to precisely two men, Agamemnon and Achilles.

**7** Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.  
the son of Atreus, lord of men, and godlike Achilles.

**8** τίς τʼ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι;  
Which of the gods, then, set the two of them at odds to fight?

**9** Λητοῦς καὶ Διὸς υἱός· ὃ γὰρ βασιλῆϊ χολωθεὶς  
The son of Leto and Zeus. For he, enraged at the king,

**10** νοῦσον ἀνὰ στρατὸν ὄρσε κακήν, ὀλέκοντο δὲ λαοί,  
roused a deadly plague throughout the camp, and the men were dying,

**11** οὕνεκα τὸν Χρύσην ἠτίμασεν ἀρητῆρα  
because he had dishonored Chryses the priest —

**12** Ἀτρεΐδης· ὃ γὰρ ἦλθε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν  
the son of Atreus. For Chryses had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans

**13** λυσόμενός τε θύγατρα φέρων τʼ ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα,  
to free his daughter, bringing boundless ransom,

**14** στέμματʼ ἔχων ἐν χερσὶν ἑκηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος  
holding in his hands the wreaths of far-shooting Apollo
> "Far-shooting" Apollo: ἑκηβόλος, "far-shooting" or "who strikes from afar," is a standing epithet of Apollo tied to his bow; it recurs whenever the god's power to strike from a distance — whether in wrath or in answer to prayer — is in view.

**15** χρυσέῳ ἀνὰ σκήπτρῳ, καὶ λίσσετο πάντας Ἀχαιούς,  
upon a golden staff, and he besought all the Achaeans,

**16** Ἀτρεΐδα δὲ μάλιστα δύω, κοσμήτορε λαῶν·  
but above all the two sons of Atreus, marshals of the people:

**17** Ἀτρεΐδαι τε καὶ ἄλλοι ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοί,  
"Sons of Atreus, and you other well-greaved Achaeans,
> Well-greaved Achaeans: ἐϋκνήμιδες, "well-greaved," names the bronze shin-guards that were part of a hoplite's standard armor. Like all Homeric epithets it is concrete, naming actual gear rather than a vague quality.

**18** ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ὀλύμπια δώματʼ ἔχοντες  
may the gods who hold the halls of Olympus grant you

**19** ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο πόλιν, εὖ δʼ οἴκαδʼ ἱκέσθαι·  
to sack the city of Priam, and to return safely home;

**20** παῖδα δʼ ἐμοὶ λύσαιτε φίλην, τὰ δʼ ἄποινα δέχεσθαι,  
but free for me my dear daughter, and accept this ransom,

**21** ἁζόμενοι Διὸς υἱὸν ἑκηβόλον Ἀπόλλωνα.  
in reverence for the son of Zeus, far-shooting Apollo.

**22** ἔνθʼ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες ἐπευφήμησαν Ἀχαιοὶ  
Then all the rest of the Achaeans cried out their assent,

**23** αἰδεῖσθαί θʼ ἱερῆα καὶ ἀγλαὰ δέχθαι ἄποινα·  
to respect the priest and accept the splendid ransom;

**24** ἀλλʼ οὐκ Ἀτρεΐδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονι ἥνδανε θυμῷ,  
but this did not please the heart of Atreus' son Agamemnon,

**25** ἀλλὰ κακῶς ἀφίει, κρατερὸν δʼ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε·  
and he sent him away harshly, laying on him a stern command:

**26** μή σε γέρον κοίλῃσιν ἐγὼ παρὰ νηυσὶ κιχείω  
"Let me not find you, old man, beside the hollow ships,
> Prohibitive subjunctive: μή with the aorist subjunctive κιχείω, "let me not find," is the regular Greek way to voice a forceful prohibition or threat, sharper and more menacing than a simple future statement.

**27** ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντʼ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα,  
either lingering now or coming back hereafter,

**28** μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμῃ σκῆπτρον καὶ στέμμα θεοῖο·  
lest your staff and the wreath of the god not protect you.

**29** τὴν δʼ ἐγὼ οὐ λύσω· πρίν μιν καὶ γῆρας ἔπεισιν  
Her I will not free. Old age will come upon her first,

**30** ἡμετέρῳ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ ἐν Ἄργεϊ τηλόθι πάτρης  
in our house, in Argos, far from her fatherland,

**31** ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένην καὶ ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιόωσαν·  
working the loom and sharing my bed.

**32** ἀλλʼ ἴθι μή μʼ ἐρέθιζε σαώτερος ὥς κε νέηαι.  
Go now, do not provoke me, if you would go home the safer."

**33** ὣς ἔφατʼ, ἔδεισεν δʼ ὃ γέρων καὶ ἐπείθετο μύθῳ·  
So he spoke, and the old man was afraid and obeyed his word;

**34** βῆ δʼ ἀκέων παρὰ θῖνα πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης·  
he went in silence along the shore of the loud-roaring sea.

**35** πολλὰ δʼ ἔπειτʼ ἀπάνευθε κιὼν ἠρᾶθʼ ὁ γεραιὸς  
And going apart, the old man prayed fervently

**36** Ἀπόλλωνι ἄνακτι, τὸν ἠΰκομος τέκε Λητώ·  
to lord Apollo, whom lovely-haired Leto bore:

**37** κλῦθί μευ ἀργυρότοξʼ, ὃς Χρύσην ἀμφιβέβηκας  
"Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stand guard over Chryse
> Chryse the town, not Chryses the priest: Χρύσην here is accusative of Χρύση, the town sacred to Apollo — spelled identically to the priest's name Χρύσης in the nominative. The two are distinct: Chryses is the man, Chryse is his city.

**38** Κίλλαν τε ζαθέην Τενέδοιό τε ἶφι ἀνάσσεις,  
and holy Cilla, and rule Tenedos with your might,

**39** Σμινθεῦ εἴ ποτέ τοι χαρίεντʼ ἐπὶ νηὸν ἔρεψα,  
Smintheus — if ever I roofed a temple pleasing to you,

**40** ἢ εἰ δή ποτέ τοι κατὰ πίονα μηρίʼ ἔκηα  
or if ever I burned for you the fat thighs

**41** ταύρων ἠδʼ αἰγῶν, τὸ δέ μοι κρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·  
of bulls and goats, grant me this desire:

**42** τίσειαν Δαναοὶ ἐμὰ δάκρυα σοῖσι βέλεσσιν.  
let the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows."

**43** ὣς ἔφατʼ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δʼ ἔκλυε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,  
So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him,
> Phoebus: the bright one: Φοῖβος, "bright, radiant," is Apollo's standing byname, tied to his association with light. It functions almost as a second name, paired with "Apollo" as a fixed unit.

**44** βῆ δὲ κατʼ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων χωόμενος κῆρ,  
and came down from the peaks of Olympus, enraged at heart,

**45** τόξʼ ὤμοισιν ἔχων ἀμφηρεφέα τε φαρέτρην·  
with his bow upon his shoulders, and his covered quiver;

**46** ἔκλαγξαν δʼ ἄρʼ ὀϊστοὶ ἐπʼ ὤμων χωομένοιο,  
the arrows clashed upon the shoulders of the raging god

**47** αὐτοῦ κινηθέντος· ὃ δʼ ἤϊε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.  
as he moved; and on he came, like night.

**48** ἕζετʼ ἔπειτʼ ἀπάνευθε νεῶν, μετὰ δʼ ἰὸν ἕηκε·  
Then he sat down apart from the ships and let fly an arrow;

**49** δεινὴ δὲ κλαγγὴ γένετʼ ἀργυρέοιο βιοῖο·  
terrible was the twang that rose from his silver bow.

**50** οὐρῆας μὲν πρῶτον ἐπῴχετο καὶ κύνας ἀργούς,  
First he went after the mules and the swift dogs,

**51** αὐτὰρ ἔπειτʼ αὐτοῖσι βέλος ἐχεπευκὲς ἐφιεὶς  
but then, aiming his sharp arrow at the men themselves,

**52** βάλλʼ· αἰεὶ δὲ πυραὶ νεκύων καίοντο θαμειαί.  
he struck; and the pyres of the dead burned thick without ceasing.

**53** ἐννῆμαρ μὲν ἀνὰ στρατὸν ᾤχετο κῆλα θεοῖο,  
For nine days the shafts of the god went among the army,

**54** τῇ δεκάτῃ δʼ ἀγορὴν δὲ καλέσσατο λαὸν Ἀχιλλεύς·  
but on the tenth Achilles called the people to assembly;

**55** τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη·  
for the white-armed goddess Hera set it in his heart;
> White-armed Hera: λευκώλενος, "white-armed," is a standing epithet of Hera distinct from the ox-eyed queenly Hera formula (βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη) locked for the Odyssey. Homer varies Hera's epithet by metrical need; both are genuine standing forms and each is rendered the same way whenever it recurs.

**56** κήδετο γὰρ Δαναῶν, ὅτι ῥα θνήσκοντας ὁρᾶτο.  
for she cared for the Danaans, seeing them die.

**57** οἳ δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τε γένοντο,  
Now when they had gathered and were all assembled,

**58** τοῖσι δʼ ἀνιστάμενος μετέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·  
swift-footed Achilles rose among them and spoke:
> Swift-footed Achilles: This is the standing epithet-name unit's first appearance in the running text of the poem (the proem used the plainer "godlike Achilles" instead). It recurs verbatim whenever Achilles is introduced as a speaker in this register; see also the fuller ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς, "swift-footed godlike Achilles," later in this chunk.

**59** Ἀτρεΐδη νῦν ἄμμε παλιμπλαγχθέντας ὀΐω  
Son of Atreus, now I think that we, driven back again,

**60** ἂψ ἀπονοστήσειν, εἴ κεν θάνατόν γε φύγοιμεν,  
shall return home, if indeed we escape death at all,

**61** εἰ δὴ ὁμοῦ πόλεμός τε δαμᾷ καὶ λοιμὸς Ἀχαιούς·  
since war and plague together are wasting the Achaeans;

**62** ἀλλʼ ἄγε δή τινα μάντιν ἐρείομεν ἢ ἱερῆα  
but come, let us ask some seer or priest,

**63** ἢ καὶ ὀνειροπόλον, καὶ γάρ τʼ ὄναρ ἐκ Διός ἐστιν,  
or even a reader of dreams — for a dream too comes from Zeus —

**64** ὅς κʼ εἴποι ὅ τι τόσσον ἐχώσατο Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,  
who might tell why Phoebus Apollo is so enraged,

**65** εἴτʼ ἄρʼ ὅ γʼ εὐχωλῆς ἐπιμέμφεται ἠδʼ ἑκατόμβης,  
whether he finds fault with a vow or a hecatomb,

**66** αἴ κέν πως ἀρνῶν κνίσης αἰγῶν τε τελείων  
if perhaps, accepting the fat-smoke of lambs and unblemished goats,

**67** βούλεται ἀντιάσας ἡμῖν ἀπὸ λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι.  
he might be willing to ward the destruction from us.

**68** ἤτοι ὅ γʼ ὣς εἰπὼν κατʼ ἄρʼ ἕζετο· τοῖσι δʼ ἀνέστη  
So he spoke, and sat down; and among them rose up

**69** Κάλχας Θεστορίδης οἰωνοπόλων ὄχʼ ἄριστος,  
Calchas, son of Thestor, far the best of augurs,

**70** ὃς ᾔδη τά τʼ ἐόντα τά τʼ ἐσσόμενα πρό τʼ ἐόντα,  
who knew what is, and what is to come, and what has been before,
> The seer's tricolon of knowledge: "The things that are, the things to come, and the things that were before" is a fixed formula of comprehensive knowledge, applied here to a seer; Hesiod uses the same threefold structure for what the Muses grant a poet. It signals that Calchas's authority spans past, present, and future alike.

**71** καὶ νήεσσʼ ἡγήσατʼ Ἀχαιῶν Ἴλιον εἴσω  
and who had guided the ships of the Achaeans into Ilion

**72** ἣν διὰ μαντοσύνην, τήν οἱ πόρε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων·  
through that art of prophecy which Phoebus Apollo gave him;

**73** ὅ σφιν ἐὺ φρονέων ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·  
he, with good will toward them, addressed them and spoke:

**74** ὦ Ἀχιλεῦ κέλεαί με Διῒ φίλε μυθήσασθαι  
"O Achilles, dear to Zeus, you bid me tell

**75** μῆνιν Ἀπόλλωνος ἑκατηβελέταο ἄνακτος·  
the wrath of far-shooting Apollo, the lord;
> μῆνις returns, now on a god: The poem's opening word, μῆνις, recurs here applied to Apollo rather than Achilles — a reminder that this towering wrath is not exclusively human; the gods too can hold it, and it is Apollo's μῆνις that has been killing the Achaeans for nine days.
> A third "far-shooting" epithet: ἑκατηβελέτης is a metrical variant synonymous with ἑκηβόλος (both built on the idea of striking from afar), and is rendered the same way, "far-shooting." It is a different word from ἑκάεργος, "far-working" (locked as "the far-worker" elsewhere in this chunk) — that word shares the far-off sense but is built on ἔργον, "work," not on shooting/striking, so it keeps its own distinct English rendering.

**76** τοὶ γὰρ ἐγὼν ἐρέω· σὺ δὲ σύνθεο καί μοι ὄμοσσον  
that I will tell you; but listen, and swear to me

**77** ἦ μέν μοι πρόφρων ἔπεσιν καὶ χερσὶν ἀρήξειν·  
that you will stand by me eagerly, with words and with hands;

**78** ἦ γὰρ ὀΐομαι ἄνδρα χολωσέμεν, ὃς μέγα πάντων  
for I think I shall anger a man who greatly

**79** Ἀργείων κρατέει καί οἱ πείθονται Ἀχαιοί·  
rules over the Argives, and whom the Achaeans obey;

**80** κρείσσων γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὅτε χώσεται ἀνδρὶ χέρηϊ·  
for a king is stronger than a lesser man, when he is angry;

**81** εἴ περ γάρ τε χόλον γε καὶ αὐτῆμαρ καταπέψῃ,  
even if he swallows his anger down that very day,

**82** ἀλλά τε καὶ μετόπισθεν ἔχει κότον, ὄφρα τελέσσῃ,  
still afterward he keeps the grudge, until he pays it,

**83** ἐν στήθεσσιν ἑοῖσι· σὺ δὲ φράσαι εἴ με σαώσεις.  
deep in his own breast; consider, then, whether you will save me."

**84** τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·  
Then swift-footed Achilles answered him and said:
> Speech-formula: "answered him and said": This whole-line formula ("him then, answering, X spoke to") introduces a reply with the speaker's name and epithet. It is rendered "Then [name] answered him and said:" every time it recurs, kept distinct from the shorter τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα formula ("Then [name] answered him:"), which appears later in this chunk — Homer treats the two as metrically interchangeable, but our English holds each to its own fixed wording.

**85** θαρσήσας μάλα εἰπὲ θεοπρόπιον ὅ τι οἶσθα·  
"Take heart, and speak out whatever prophecy you know;

**86** οὐ μὰ γὰρ Ἀπόλλωνα Διῒ φίλον, ᾧ τε σὺ Κάλχαν  
for by Apollo, beloved of Zeus, to whom you, Calchas,

**87** εὐχόμενος Δαναοῖσι θεοπροπίας ἀναφαίνεις,  
pray, and to the Danaans make known his prophecies,

**88** οὔ τις ἐμεῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐπὶ χθονὶ δερκομένοιο  
no man, while I live and see the light upon this earth,

**89** σοὶ κοίλῃς παρὰ νηυσί βαρείας χεῖρας ἐποίσει  
shall lay heavy hands on you beside the hollow ships,

**90** συμπάντων Δαναῶν, οὐδʼ ἢν Ἀγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς,  
of all the Danaans — not even if you name Agamemnon,

**91** ὃς νῦν πολλὸν ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν εὔχεται εἶναι.  
who now boasts he is far the best of the Achaeans."

**92** καὶ τότε δὴ θάρσησε καὶ ηὔδα μάντις ἀμύμων·  
Then indeed the blameless seer took heart and spoke:
> "Blameless" as generic praise: ἀμύμων, "blameless" or "excellent," is a common Homeric epithet applied to many admirable figures, not a formula unique to Calchas; it marks his good standing rather than describing any particular deed.

**93** οὔ τʼ ἄρ ὅ γʼ εὐχωλῆς ἐπιμέμφεται οὐδʼ ἑκατόμβης,  
"He does not fault us, then, for a vow or a hecatomb,

**94** ἀλλʼ ἕνεκʼ ἀρητῆρος ὃν ἠτίμησʼ Ἀγαμέμνων,  
but for the priest, whom Agamemnon dishonored,

**95** οὐδʼ ἀπέλυσε θύγατρα καὶ οὐκ ἀπεδέξατʼ ἄποινα,  
and did not free his daughter, and did not take the ransom —

**96** τοὔνεκʼ ἄρʼ ἄλγεʼ ἔδωκεν ἑκηβόλος ἠδʼ ἔτι δώσει·  
for this the far-shooter has given us pains, and will give more still;

**97** οὐδʼ ὅ γε πρὶν Δαναοῖσιν ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀπώσει  
nor will he ward off shameful ruin from the Danaans,

**98** πρίν γʼ ἀπὸ πατρὶ φίλῳ δόμεναι ἑλικώπιδα κούρην  
until we give back to her dear father the bright-eyed girl,

**99** ἀπριάτην ἀνάποινον, ἄγειν θʼ ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην  
unbought and unransomed, and lead a holy hecatomb

**100** ἐς Χρύσην· τότε κέν μιν ἱλασσάμενοι πεπίθοιμεν.  
to Chryse; then, appeasing him, we might win him over."

**101** ἤτοι ὅ γʼ ὣς εἰπὼν κατʼ ἄρʼ ἕζετο· τοῖσι δʼ ἀνέστη  
So he spoke, and sat down; and among them rose up

**102** ἥρως Ἀτρεΐδης εὐρὺ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων  
the hero, son of Atreus, the wide-ruling lord Agamemnon,
> Locking Agamemnon's ruling epithets: εὐρὺ κρείων, "widely powerful" or "wide-ruling," is a fuller epithet than the bare κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων that appears later in this chunk. We render εὐρὺ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων as "the wide-ruling lord Agamemnon" and the bare κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων as "the lord Agamemnon," reserving "Agamemnon, lord of men" strictly for ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων — three distinct Greek phrases, three distinct fixed renderings.

**103** ἀχνύμενος· μένεος δὲ μέγα φρένες ἀμφιμέλαιναι  
grieving; his dark heart within was filled full

**104** πίμπλαντʼ, ὄσσε δέ οἱ πυρὶ λαμπετόωντι ἐΐκτην·  
with rage, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

**105** Κάλχαντα πρώτιστα κάκʼ ὀσσόμενος προσέειπε·  
And first, with a look of ill omen, he spoke to Calchas:
> "Boding evil": the malicious glance: ὀσσόμενος, from a verb of seeing tied to omen and foreboding, with the neuter plural κακά as its object, describes a look that itself carries menace — not merely an angry glance but one that seems to portend harm, fitting for a king about to threaten a seer.

**106** μάντι κακῶν οὐ πώ ποτέ μοι τὸ κρήγυον εἶπας·  
"Seer of evils, never yet have you spoken good to me;

**107** αἰεί τοι τὰ κάκʼ ἐστὶ φίλα φρεσὶ μαντεύεσθαι,  
evil things are always dear to your heart to foretell,

**108** ἐσθλὸν δʼ οὔτέ τί πω εἶπας ἔπος οὔτʼ ἐτέλεσσας·  
but never yet have you spoken a good word, nor brought one to pass;

**109** καὶ νῦν ἐν Δαναοῖσι θεοπροπέων ἀγορεύεις  
and now, prophesying among the Danaans, you declare

**110** ὡς δὴ τοῦδʼ ἕνεκά σφιν ἑκηβόλος ἄλγεα τεύχει,  
that the far-shooter brings them pains for this,

**111** οὕνεκʼ ἐγὼ κούρης Χρυσηΐδος ἀγλάʼ ἄποινα  
because I would not accept the splendid ransom for the girl Chryseis,

**112** οὐκ ἔθελον δέξασθαι, ἐπεὶ πολὺ βούλομαι αὐτὴν  
since I much prefer to keep her

**113** οἴκοι ἔχειν· καὶ γάρ ῥα Κλυταιμνήστρης προβέβουλα  
at home; for I esteem her above Clytemnestra,

**114** κουριδίης ἀλόχου, ἐπεὶ οὔ ἑθέν ἐστι χερείων,  
my wedded wife, since she is nothing inferior to her,

**115** οὐ δέμας οὐδὲ φυήν, οὔτʼ ἂρ φρένας οὔτέ τι ἔργα.  
not in form nor in stature, not in mind nor in handiwork.

**116** ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧς ἐθέλω δόμεναι πάλιν εἰ τό γʼ ἄμεινον·  
Yet even so I am willing to give her back, if that is better;

**117** βούλομʼ ἐγὼ λαὸν σῶν ἔμμεναι ἢ ἀπολέσθαι·  
I would rather the people be safe than perish;

**118** αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ γέρας αὐτίχʼ ἑτοιμάσατʼ ὄφρα μὴ οἶος  
but make ready a prize for me at once, so that I alone

**119** Ἀργείων ἀγέραστος ἔω, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ ἔοικε·  
of the Argives may not be without one; for that is not fitting —

**120** λεύσσετε γὰρ τό γε πάντες ὅ μοι γέρας ἔρχεται ἄλλῃ.  
you all see this, that my prize is going elsewhere."

**121** τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·  
Then swift-footed godlike Achilles answered him:
> Speech-formula: "answered him": The shorter reply-formula, without the participle ἀπαμειβόμενος, is held to its own fixed English wording, "Then [name] answered him:" — distinct from the fuller "answered him and said:" formula used earlier in this chunk (line 84), even though both introduce a spoken reply.

**122** Ἀτρεΐδη κύδιστε φιλοκτεανώτατε πάντων,  
"Son of Atreus, most glorious, most grasping of all men,

**123** πῶς γάρ τοι δώσουσι γέρας μεγάθυμοι Ἀχαιοί;  
for how shall the great-hearted Achaeans give you a prize?

**124** οὐδέ τί που ἴδμεν ξυνήϊα κείμενα πολλά·  
we know of no great common store laid up;

**125** ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν πολίων ἐξεπράθομεν, τὰ δέδασται,  
but what we plundered from the cities has been divided,

**126** λαοὺς δʼ οὐκ ἐπέοικε παλίλλογα ταῦτʼ ἐπαγείρειν.  
and it is not fitting to call it back from the people.

**127** ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν νῦν τήνδε θεῷ πρόες· αὐτὰρ Ἀχαιοὶ  
But you, give this girl up now to the god; and we, the Achaeans,

**128** τριπλῇ τετραπλῇ τʼ ἀποτείσομεν, αἴ κέ ποθι Ζεὺς  
will repay it threefold and fourfold, if ever Zeus

**129** δῷσι πόλιν Τροίην εὐτείχεον ἐξαλαπάξαι.  
grants us to lay waste the well-walled city of Troy."

**130** τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων·  
Then the lord Agamemnon answered him and said:

**131** μὴ δʼ οὕτως ἀγαθός περ ἐὼν θεοείκελʼ Ἀχιλλεῦ  
"Do not, brave though you are, godlike Achilles,

**132** κλέπτε νόῳ, ἐπεὶ οὐ παρελεύσεαι οὐδέ με πείσεις.  
try to outwit me in your mind; you will not get past me, nor persuade me.

**133** ἦ ἐθέλεις ὄφρʼ αὐτὸς ἔχῃς γέρας, αὐτὰρ ἔμʼ αὔτως  
Do you wish that you yourself may keep your prize, while I

**134** ἧσθαι δευόμενον, κέλεαι δέ με τήνδʼ ἀποδοῦναι;  
sit here in want, and you bid me give this girl back?

**135** ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν δώσουσι γέρας μεγάθυμοι Ἀχαιοὶ  
Well: if the great-hearted Achaeans will give me a prize,

**136** ἄρσαντες κατὰ θυμὸν ὅπως ἀντάξιον ἔσται·  
suiting it to my heart, so that it is worth as much —

**137** εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώωσιν ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι  
but if they do not, I myself will go and take it,

**138** ἢ τεὸν ἢ Αἴαντος ἰὼν γέρας, ἢ Ὀδυσῆος  
either your prize, or Ajax's, or Odysseus',

**139** ἄξω ἑλών· ὃ δέ κεν κεχολώσεται ὅν κεν ἵκωμαι.  
and carry it off; and whoever I come to will rage.

**140** ἀλλʼ ἤτοι μὲν ταῦτα μεταφρασόμεσθα καὶ αὖτις,  
But we will take counsel on these things again hereafter;

**141** νῦν δʼ ἄγε νῆα μέλαιναν ἐρύσσομεν εἰς ἅλα δῖαν,  
but now, come, let us drag a black ship down to the bright sea,

**142** ἐν δʼ ἐρέτας ἐπιτηδὲς ἀγείρομεν, ἐς δʼ ἑκατόμβην  
and gather able rowers for it, and load a hecatomb

**143** θείομεν, ἂν δʼ αὐτὴν Χρυσηΐδα καλλιπάρῃον  
on board, and bring fair-cheeked Chryseis herself
> Fair-cheeked: καλλιπάρῃος, "fair-cheeked," is a standing epithet applied to young women of high standing; it recurs later in this chunk for Briseis and is rendered "fair-cheeked" every time.

**144** βήσομεν· εἷς δέ τις ἀρχὸς ἀνὴρ βουληφόρος ἔστω,  
to embark her; and let some counselor-man be its leader,

**145** ἢ Αἴας ἢ Ἰδομενεὺς ἢ δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς  
either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or godlike Odysseus,

**146** ἠὲ σὺ Πηλεΐδη πάντων ἐκπαγλότατʼ ἀνδρῶν,  
or you, son of Peleus, most terrible of all men,

**147** ὄφρʼ ἥμιν ἑκάεργον ἱλάσσεαι ἱερὰ ῥέξας.  
that offering sacrifice you may appease the far-worker for us.
> "Far-worker," a second epithet of Apollo: ἑκάεργος, "far-working" or "working from afar," is a distinct Greek epithet from ἑκηβόλος, "far-shooting," already locked for this poem. Both describe Apollo's power to act at a distance, but they are different words, so we hold a different English word, "far-worker," for this one rather than collapsing it into "far-shooting."

**148** τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·  
Then, glaring at him from under his brows, swift-footed Achilles spoke:
> The hupodra formula: glaring from under the brows: ὑπόδρα ἰδών, literally "having looked from under," is Homer's formula for a hostile, simmering glare — the look that precedes an angry retort. It recurs across the poem whenever a speaker answers in fury and is locked to this exact wording, "glaring at him from under his brows," every time.

**149** ὤ μοι ἀναιδείην ἐπιειμένε κερδαλεόφρον  
"Ah, clothed in shamelessness, crafty for gain,
> "Clothed in shamelessness": Homer's insult is a literal clothing metaphor: Agamemnon is pictured as having put on shamelessness the way one puts on a garment. The image is kept concrete in English rather than smoothed into an abstract "shameless one."

**150** πῶς τίς τοι πρόφρων ἔπεσιν πείθηται Ἀχαιῶν  
how shall any of the Achaeans obey your words readily,

**151** ἢ ὁδὸν ἐλθέμεναι ἢ ἀνδράσιν ἶφι μάχεσθαι;  
either to go on a raid, or to fight men with force?

**152** οὐ γὰρ ἐγὼ Τρώων ἕνεκʼ ἤλυθον αἰχμητάων  
For I did not come here to fight for the sake of the spearmen of Troy,

**153** δεῦρο μαχησόμενος, ἐπεὶ οὔ τί μοι αἴτιοί εἰσιν·  
since they are nothing to blame toward me;

**154** οὐ γὰρ πώποτʼ ἐμὰς βοῦς ἤλασαν οὐδὲ μὲν ἵππους,  
for they never once drove off my cattle, nor my horses,

**155** οὐδέ ποτʼ ἐν Φθίῃ ἐριβώλακι βωτιανείρῃ  
nor ever in deep-soiled Phthia, nurse of men,

**156** καρπὸν ἐδηλήσαντʼ, ἐπεὶ ἦ μάλα πολλὰ μεταξὺ  
did they ravage the harvest — for many things lie between us,

**157** οὔρεά τε σκιόεντα θάλασσά τε ἠχήεσσα·  
shadowy mountains and the echoing sea;

**158** ἀλλὰ σοὶ ὦ μέγʼ ἀναιδὲς ἅμʼ ἑσπόμεθʼ ὄφρα σὺ χαίρῃς,  
but you, great shameless one, we followed, so that you might rejoice,

**159** τιμὴν ἀρνύμενοι Μενελάῳ σοί τε κυνῶπα  
winning honor for Menelaus, and for you, dog-face,
> "Dog-face": a Homeric insult: κυνῶπα, literally "dog-eyed" or "dog-face," is one of the harshest terms of abuse in Homer, aimed here by Achilles at Agamemnon. The word is kept at full force in English rather than softened, per the fidelity mandate against euphemizing what Homer says plainly.

**160** πρὸς Τρώων· τῶν οὔ τι μετατρέπῃ οὐδʼ ἀλεγίζεις·  
from the Trojans — of this you take no heed, nor care at all;

**161** καὶ δή μοι γέρας αὐτὸς ἀφαιρήσεσθαι ἀπειλεῖς,  
and now you yourself threaten to take away my prize,

**162** ᾧ ἔπι πολλὰ μόγησα, δόσαν δέ μοι υἷες Ἀχαιῶν.  
for which I toiled hard, and which the sons of the Achaeans gave me.

**163** οὐ μὲν σοί ποτε ἶσον ἔχω γέρας ὁππότʼ Ἀχαιοὶ  
I never have a prize equal to yours, whenever the Achaeans

**164** Τρώων ἐκπέρσωσʼ εὖ ναιόμενον πτολίεθρον·  
sack some well-peopled stronghold of the Trojans;

**165** ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πλεῖον πολυάϊκος πολέμοιο  
but the greater part of the furious war

**166** χεῖρες ἐμαὶ διέπουσʼ· ἀτὰρ ἤν ποτε δασμὸς ἵκηται,  
my hands take on; yet whenever the sharing comes,

**167** σοὶ τὸ γέρας πολὺ μεῖζον, ἐγὼ δʼ ὀλίγον τε φίλον τε  
your prize is far the larger, and I, with a small thing yet dear,

**168** ἔρχομʼ ἔχων ἐπὶ νῆας, ἐπεί κε κάμω πολεμίζων.  
go back to the ships, when I have grown weary with fighting.

**169** νῦν δʼ εἶμι Φθίην δʼ, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερόν ἐστιν  
Now I will go to Phthia, since it is far better

**170** οἴκαδʼ ἴμεν σὺν νηυσὶ κορωνίσιν, οὐδέ σʼ ὀΐω  
to go home with my beaked ships; nor do I intend,

**171** ἐνθάδʼ ἄτιμος ἐὼν ἄφενος καὶ πλοῦτον ἀφύξειν.  
dishonored here, to pile up wealth and riches for you."

**172** τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων·  
Then Agamemnon, lord of men, answered him:

**173** φεῦγε μάλʼ εἴ τοι θυμὸς ἐπέσσυται, οὐδέ σʼ ἔγωγε  
"Run, indeed, if your heart drives you to it; I myself will not

**174** λίσσομαι εἵνεκʼ ἐμεῖο μένειν· πάρʼ ἔμοιγε καὶ ἄλλοι  
beg you to stay on my account; I have others at my side

**175** οἵ κέ με τιμήσουσι, μάλιστα δὲ μητίετα Ζεύς.  
who will honor me, and above all Zeus, the counselor.

**176** ἔχθιστος δέ μοί ἐσσι διοτρεφέων βασιλήων·  
You are the most hateful to me of the kings that Zeus has nurtured;

**177** αἰεὶ γάρ τοι ἔρις τε φίλη πόλεμοί τε μάχαι τε·  
for strife is always dear to you, and wars and battles;

**178** εἰ μάλα καρτερός ἐσσι, θεός που σοὶ τό γʼ ἔδωκεν·  
if you are very strong, surely some god gave you that;

**179** οἴκαδʼ ἰὼν σὺν νηυσί τε σῇς καὶ σοῖς ἑτάροισι  
go home with your ships and your companions,

**180** Μυρμιδόνεσσιν ἄνασσε, σέθεν δʼ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀλεγίζω,  
and rule over the Myrmidons; I care nothing for you,

**181** οὐδʼ ὄθομαι κοτέοντος· ἀπειλήσω δέ τοι ὧδε·  
nor do I heed your anger; but I will threaten you thus:

**182** ὡς ἔμʼ ἀφαιρεῖται Χρυσηΐδα Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,  
since Phoebus Apollo takes Chryseis from me,

**183** τὴν μὲν ἐγὼ σὺν νηΐ τʼ ἐμῇ καὶ ἐμοῖς ἑτάροισι  
her I will send away with my own ship and my companions;

**184** πέμψω, ἐγὼ δέ κʼ ἄγω Βρισηΐδα καλλιπάρῃον  
but I myself will come and take fair-cheeked Briseis,

**185** αὐτὸς ἰὼν κλισίην δὲ τὸ σὸν γέρας ὄφρʼ ἐῢ εἰδῇς  
going myself to your hut — your own prize — so that you may know well

**186** ὅσσον φέρτερός εἰμι σέθεν, στυγέῃ δὲ καὶ ἄλλος  
how much mightier I am than you, and another too may shrink
> Subjunctive in a purpose clause: στυγέῃ, present subjunctive of στυγέω, "to shrink from, dread," continues the purpose clause begun with ὄφρʼ εἰδῇς in the line before ("so that you may know... and [so that] another may shrink"): the subjunctive marks both verbs as the intended result of Agamemnon's coming to seize Briseis himself.

**187** ἶσον ἐμοὶ φάσθαι καὶ ὁμοιωθήμεναι ἄντην.  
from claiming to be my equal, and likening himself to me, face to face."

**188** ὣς φάτο· Πηλεΐωνι δʼ ἄχος γένετʼ, ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ  
So he spoke, and grief came upon the son of Peleus, and within his heart

**189** στήθεσσιν λασίοισι διάνδιχα μερμήριξεν,  
in his shaggy breast he pondered two ways,

**190** ἢ ὅ γε φάσγανον ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ  
whether to draw the sharp sword from beside his thigh

**191** τοὺς μὲν ἀναστήσειεν, ὃ δʼ Ἀτρεΐδην ἐναρίζοι,  
and make the others rise, and cut down the son of Atreus,

**192** ἦε χόλον παύσειεν ἐρητύσειέ τε θυμόν.  
or check his rage and restrain his spirit.

**193** ἧος ὃ ταῦθʼ ὥρμαινε κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν,  
While he weighed this in his mind and heart,

**194** ἕλκετο δʼ ἐκ κολεοῖο μέγα ξίφος, ἦλθε δʼ Ἀθήνη  
and was drawing the great sword from its sheath, Athena came

**195** οὐρανόθεν· πρὸ γὰρ ἧκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη  
down from heaven; for white-armed Hera sent her forth,

**196** ἄμφω ὁμῶς θυμῷ φιλέουσά τε κηδομένη τε·  
loving both men alike in her heart and caring for them.

**197** στῆ δʼ ὄπιθεν, ξανθῆς δὲ κόμης ἕλε Πηλεΐωνα  
She stood behind him, and seized the son of Peleus by his golden hair,

**198** οἴῳ φαινομένη· τῶν δʼ ἄλλων οὔ τις ὁρᾶτο·  
appearing to him alone; none of the others saw her.

**199** θάμβησεν δʼ Ἀχιλεύς, μετὰ δʼ ἐτράπετʼ, αὐτίκα δʼ ἔγνω  
Achilles was amazed, and turned, and at once knew

**200** Παλλάδʼ Ἀθηναίην· δεινὼ δέ οἱ ὄσσε φάανθεν·  
Pallas Athena; for her eyes shone terribly.
> Dual eyes: ὄσσε, "the two eyes," is a genuine dual noun, and δεινὼ agrees with it in the dual; the plural verb φάανθεν that follows is a common Homeric mixing of dual subject with plural agreement. The construction marks the eyes as a natural pair, the same grammatical logic seen with the dual verbs of Book 1's opening quarrel.

**201** καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·  
And speaking to her he addressed her with winged words:
> Winged words: ἔπεα πτερόεντα, "winged words," is one of Homer's most famous formulas, introducing direct speech throughout both poems. The image is of words that fly swiftly from speaker to hearer.

**202** τίπτʼ αὖτʼ αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος εἰλήλουθας;  
"Why have you come again, child of Zeus who bears the aegis?

**203** ἦ ἵνα ὕβριν ἴδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονος Ἀτρεΐδαο;  
Is it to see the outrage of Agamemnon, son of Atreus?

**204** ἀλλʼ ἔκ τοι ἐρέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τελέεσθαι ὀΐω·  
But I will tell you plainly, and I think this will be fulfilled:

**205** ᾗς ὑπεροπλίῃσι τάχʼ ἄν ποτε θυμὸν ὀλέσσῃ.  
by his own arrogance he may soon lose his life."

**206** τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·  
Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:
> Bright-eyed Athena: γλαυκῶπις, "bright-eyed" or "gleaming-eyed," is Athena's standing epithet, locked to this same rendering throughout the Odyssey; it recurs here at her first extended appearance in the Iliad.

**207** ἦλθον ἐγὼ παύσουσα τὸ σὸν μένος, αἴ κε πίθηαι,  
"I have come to check your fury, if you will obey,

**208** οὐρανόθεν· πρὸ δέ μʼ ἧκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη  
down from heaven; for white-armed Hera sent me forth,

**209** ἄμφω ὁμῶς θυμῷ φιλέουσά τε κηδομένη τε·  
loving both of you alike in her heart and caring for you.

**210** ἀλλʼ ἄγε λῆγʼ ἔριδος, μηδὲ ξίφος ἕλκεο χειρί·  
Come, cease from strife, and do not go on drawing the sword with your hand;
> Present imperatives: stop an action in progress: λῆγε and ἕλκεο are present imperatives negated by μηδέ, the regular Greek way to tell someone to stop doing something already underway ("quit your quarreling," "quit drawing that sword"). This differs from the aorist subjunctive prohibition (μή with an aorist, as at Book 1 line 26's μή...κιχείω), which forbids a single act not yet begun.

**211** ἀλλʼ ἤτοι ἔπεσιν μὲν ὀνείδισον ὡς ἔσεταί περ·  
but rebuke him instead with words, as indeed it shall be.

**212** ὧδε γὰρ ἐξερέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται·  
For thus I tell you, and this shall be brought to pass:

**213** καί ποτέ τοι τρὶς τόσσα παρέσσεται ἀγλαὰ δῶρα  
one day three times as many splendid gifts shall be given you

**214** ὕβριος εἵνεκα τῆσδε· σὺ δʼ ἴσχεο, πείθεο δʼ ἡμῖν.  
because of this outrage; but hold back, and obey us."

**215** τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·  
Then swift-footed Achilles answered her and said:

**216** χρὴ μὲν σφωΐτερόν γε θεὰ ἔπος εἰρύσσασθαι  
"Goddess, it is right to heed the word of you both,

**217** καὶ μάλα περ θυμῷ κεχολωμένον· ὧς γὰρ ἄμεινον·  
however angered a man may be at heart — for so it is better.

**218** ὅς κε θεοῖς ἐπιπείθηται μάλα τʼ ἔκλυον αὐτοῦ.  
Whoever obeys the gods, to him they gladly listen."

**219** ἦ καὶ ἐπʼ ἀργυρέῃ κώπῃ σχέθε χεῖρα βαρεῖαν,  
So he spoke, and stayed his heavy hand upon the silver hilt,

**220** ἂψ δʼ ἐς κουλεὸν ὦσε μέγα ξίφος, οὐδʼ ἀπίθησε  
and thrust the great sword back into its sheath, and did not disobey

**221** μύθῳ Ἀθηναίης· ἣ δʼ Οὔλυμπον δὲ βεβήκει  
the word of Athena; and she had gone to Olympus,

**222** δώματʼ ἐς αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους.  
to the house of Zeus who bears the aegis, among the other gods.

**223** Πηλεΐδης δʼ ἐξαῦτις ἀταρτηροῖς ἐπέεσσιν  
But the son of Peleus once more with bitter words

**224** Ἀτρεΐδην προσέειπε, καὶ οὔ πω λῆγε χόλοιο·  
addressed the son of Atreus, and had not yet ceased from his rage:

**225** οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματʼ ἔχων, κραδίην δʼ ἐλάφοιο,  
"You, heavy with wine, with the eyes of a dog and the heart of a deer,

**226** οὔτέ ποτʼ ἐς πόλεμον ἅμα λαῷ θωρηχθῆναι  
never once have you dared to arm for battle with the host,

**227** οὔτε λόχον δʼ ἰέναι σὺν ἀριστήεσσιν Ἀχαιῶν  
nor go into ambush with the bravest of the Achaeans;

**228** τέτληκας θυμῷ· τὸ δέ τοι κὴρ εἴδεται εἶναι.  
that seems to you like death itself.

**229** ἦ πολὺ λώϊόν ἐστι κατὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν  
Far easier it is, throughout the wide camp of the Achaeans,

**230** δῶρʼ ἀποαιρεῖσθαι ὅς τις σέθεν ἀντίον εἴπῃ·  
to strip the gifts from any man who speaks against you.

**231** δημοβόρος βασιλεὺς ἐπεὶ οὐτιδανοῖσιν ἀνάσσεις·  
People-devouring king, since you rule over men of nothing!
> People-devouring: δημοβόρος is a compound of δῆμος ("people") and the root of βιβρώσκω ("devour"): a king who "eats up" his own people. Achilles hurls it as one of the poem's sharpest insults, accusing Agamemnon of feeding on those he should protect.

**232** ἦ γὰρ ἂν Ἀτρεΐδη νῦν ὕστατα λωβήσαιο.  
Otherwise, son of Atreus, this would be the last outrage you commit.
> Commit outrage: λωβάομαι means to inflict outrage or violent insult, the same root behind the noun λώβη. The aorist optative with ἄν here expresses a near-certain result: Achilles is telling Agamemnon this would be the last such outrage he commits.

**233** ἀλλʼ ἔκ τοι ἐρέω καὶ ἐπὶ μέγαν ὅρκον ὀμοῦμαι·  
But I will tell you plainly, and swear a great oath upon it:

**234** ναὶ μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον, τὸ μὲν οὔ ποτε φύλλα καὶ ὄζους  
by this scepter — which shall never again put forth leaves and boughs,

**235** φύσει, ἐπεὶ δὴ πρῶτα τομὴν ἐν ὄρεσσι λέλοιπεν,  
since first it left its stump behind on the mountains,

**236** οὐδʼ ἀναθηλήσει· περὶ γάρ ῥά ἑ χαλκὸς ἔλεψε  
nor will it bloom again, for the bronze has stripped it round

**237** φύλλά τε καὶ φλοιόν· νῦν αὖτέ μιν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν  
of leaf and bark; and now the sons of the Achaeans

**238** ἐν παλάμῃς φορέουσι δικασπόλοι, οἵ τε θέμιστας  
carry it in their palms as judges, who guard the ordinances

**239** πρὸς Διὸς εἰρύαται· ὃ δέ τοι μέγας ἔσσεται ὅρκος·  
that come from Zeus — and this shall be my great oath to you:

**240** ἦ ποτʼ Ἀχιλλῆος ποθὴ ἵξεται υἷας Ἀχαιῶν  
one day a longing for Achilles will come upon the sons of the Achaeans,

**241** σύμπαντας· τότε δʼ οὔ τι δυνήσεαι ἀχνύμενός περ  
all of them; and then, grieving as you are, you will have no power

**242** χραισμεῖν, εὖτʼ ἂν πολλοὶ ὑφʼ Ἕκτορος ἀνδροφόνοιο  
to help them, when many fall dying beneath man-slaying Hector

**243** θνήσκοντες πίπτωσι· σὺ δʼ ἔνδοθι θυμὸν ἀμύξεις  
and are cut down; and you will tear at your heart within you,

**244** χωόμενος ὅ τʼ ἄριστον Ἀχαιῶν οὐδὲν ἔτισας.  
raging that you paid no honor to the best of the Achaeans."

**245** ὣς φάτο Πηλεΐδης, ποτὶ δὲ σκῆπτρον βάλε γαίῃ  
So the son of Peleus spoke, and dashed the scepter to the ground,

**246** χρυσείοις ἥλοισι πεπαρμένον, ἕζετο δʼ αὐτός·  
studded with golden nails, and sat down himself;

**247** Ἀτρεΐδης δʼ ἑτέρωθεν ἐμήνιε· τοῖσι δὲ Νέστωρ  
and on the other side the son of Atreus raged. Then among them Nestor
> A second wrath: ἐμήνιε is built on the same root as μῆνις, the poem's opening word for Achilles' wrath. Here it describes Agamemnon: the poem's governing term for towering rage is not confined to its hero alone.

**248** ἡδυεπὴς ἀνόρουσε λιγὺς Πυλίων ἀγορητής,  
the honey-voiced rose up, the clear-toned speaker of the Pylians,
> Honey-voiced: ἡδυεπής, "sweet-worded," is Nestor's introductory epithet, reinforced by the simile that follows (his speech flows "sweeter than honey"). It marks him as the assembly's premier orator, an elder whose persuasive skill compensates for his fading strength in battle.

**249** τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή·  
from whose tongue speech flowed sweeter than honey.

**250** τῷ δʼ ἤδη δύο μὲν γενεαὶ μερόπων ἀνθρώπων  
For him already two generations of mortal men

**251** ἐφθίαθʼ, οἵ οἱ πρόσθεν ἅμα τράφεν ἠδʼ ἐγένοντο  
had perished, who had been born and reared alongside him before,

**252** ἐν Πύλῳ ἠγαθέῃ, μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν·  
in sacred Pylos, and now he ruled among the third.

**253** ὅ σφιν ἐὺ φρονέων ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·  
he, with good will toward them, addressed them and spoke:

**254** ὦ πόποι ἦ μέγα πένθος Ἀχαιΐδα γαῖαν ἱκάνει·  
"Ah, truly a great sorrow comes upon the land of Achaea.

**255** ἦ κεν γηθήσαι Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες  
Surely Priam and the sons of Priam would rejoice,

**256** ἄλλοι τε Τρῶες μέγα κεν κεχαροίατο θυμῷ  
and the rest of the Trojans would be glad at heart,

**257** εἰ σφῶϊν τάδε πάντα πυθοίατο μαρναμένοιϊν,  
if they should learn all this of you two contending,

**258** οἳ περὶ μὲν βουλὴν Δαναῶν, περὶ δʼ ἐστὲ μάχεσθαι.  
you who surpass the Danaans in counsel and surpass them in battle.

**259** ἀλλὰ πίθεσθʼ· ἄμφω δὲ νεωτέρω ἐστὸν ἐμεῖο·  
But listen to me; both of you are younger than I am.

**260** ἤδη γάρ ποτʼ ἐγὼ καὶ ἀρείοσιν ἠέ περ ὑμῖν  
For once already I moved among better men than you,

**261** ἀνδράσιν ὡμίλησα, καὶ οὔ ποτέ μʼ οἵ γʼ ἀθέριζον.  
and they never once made light of me.

**262** οὐ γάρ πω τοίους ἴδον ἀνέρας οὐδὲ ἴδωμαι,  
Never have I seen such men, nor shall I see them again,

**263** οἷον Πειρίθοόν τε Δρύαντά τε ποιμένα λαῶν  
as Pirithous, and Dryas shepherd of the people,

**264** Καινέα τʼ Ἐξάδιόν τε καὶ ἀντίθεον Πολύφημον  
Caeneus and Exadius, and godlike Polyphemus,

**265** Θησέα τʼ Αἰγεΐδην, ἐπιείκελον ἀθανάτοισιν·  
and Theseus, son of Aegeus, the equal of the immortals.

**266** κάρτιστοι δὴ κεῖνοι ἐπιχθονίων τράφεν ἀνδρῶν·  
Mightiest of earthly men were they, reared as such;

**267** κάρτιστοι μὲν ἔσαν καὶ καρτίστοις ἐμάχοντο  
mightiest they were, and with the mightiest they fought,

**268** φηρσὶν ὀρεσκῴοισι καὶ ἐκπάγλως ἀπόλεσσαν.  
the mountain-dwelling beasts, and terribly destroyed them.

**269** καὶ μὲν τοῖσιν ἐγὼ μεθομίλεον ἐκ Πύλου ἐλθὼν  
And I moved among them, having come from Pylos,

**270** τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης· καλέσαντο γὰρ αὐτοί·  
from a distant land far off; for they themselves had called me.

**271** καὶ μαχόμην κατʼ ἔμʼ αὐτὸν ἐγώ· κείνοισι δʼ ἂν οὔ τις  
And I fought there in my own right; and with those men not one

**272** τῶν οἳ νῦν βροτοί εἰσιν ἐπιχθόνιοι μαχέοιτο·  
of the mortals now living upon the earth could fight.

**273** καὶ μέν μευ βουλέων ξύνιεν πείθοντό τε μύθῳ·  
And they took in my counsels and obeyed my word.

**274** ἀλλὰ πίθεσθε καὶ ὔμμες, ἐπεὶ πείθεσθαι ἄμεινον·  
So obey me, you too, since it is better to obey.

**275** μήτε σὺ τόνδʼ ἀγαθός περ ἐὼν ἀποαίρεο κούρην,  
Do not you, valiant though you are, take away the girl from him,

**276** ἀλλʼ ἔα ὥς οἱ πρῶτα δόσαν γέρας υἷες Ἀχαιῶν·  
but let her be, as the sons of the Achaeans first gave her as his prize;

**277** μήτε σὺ Πηλείδη ἔθελʼ ἐριζέμεναι βασιλῆϊ  
and do not you, son of Peleus, wish to strive with the king

**278** ἀντιβίην, ἐπεὶ οὔ ποθʼ ὁμοίης ἔμμορε τιμῆς  
face to face, since a scepter-holding king has never had a share of equal honor —

**279** σκηπτοῦχος βασιλεύς, ᾧ τε Ζεὺς κῦδος ἔδωκεν.  
not one to whom Zeus himself has given glory.

**280** εἰ δὲ σὺ καρτερός ἐσσι θεὰ δέ σε γείνατο μήτηρ,  
And if you are the stronger, and a goddess mother bore you,

**281** ἀλλʼ ὅ γε φέρτερός ἐστιν ἐπεὶ πλεόνεσσιν ἀνάσσει.  
yet he is the greater, since he rules over more men.

**282** Ἀτρεΐδη σὺ δὲ παῦε τεὸν μένος· αὐτὰρ ἔγωγε  
Son of Atreus, you, put an end to your fury; and I myself

**283** λίσσομʼ Ἀχιλλῆϊ μεθέμεν χόλον, ὃς μέγα πᾶσιν  
beg Achilles to let go his anger, he who is a great

**284** ἕρκος Ἀχαιοῖσιν πέλεται πολέμοιο κακοῖο.  
bulwark for all the Achaeans against the evil of war."

**285** τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων·  
Then the lord Agamemnon answered him and said:

**286** ναὶ δὴ ταῦτά γε πάντα γέρον κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπες·  
"Yes, old man, all this you have spoken rightly and in due order.

**287** ἀλλʼ ὅδʼ ἀνὴρ ἐθέλει περὶ πάντων ἔμμεναι ἄλλων,  
But this man wishes to be above all others;

**288** πάντων μὲν κρατέειν ἐθέλει, πάντεσσι δʼ ἀνάσσειν,  
he wishes to rule over all, and to be lord of all,

**289** πᾶσι δὲ σημαίνειν, ἅ τινʼ οὐ πείσεσθαι ὀΐω·  
and to give commands to all — and I think one man will not obey him.

**290** εἰ δέ μιν αἰχμητὴν ἔθεσαν θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες  
And if the gods who are forever made him a spearman,
> Rhetorical conditional: Agamemnon's εἰ ("if") clause is not a real doubt — of course the gods made Achilles a warrior — but a rhetorical concession used to set up a biting question: does martial prowess license insolence? The construction lets him grant the premise while attacking the conclusion.

**291** τοὔνεκά οἱ προθέουσιν ὀνείδεα μυθήσασθαι;  
is that why reproaches rush forth for him to speak?"

**292** τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑποβλήδην ἠμείβετο δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·  
Then breaking in, godlike Achilles answered him:
> Breaking in: ὑποβλήδην, "interruptingly," marks Achilles cutting off Agamemnon before his speech is finished — a rare Homeric notation of overlapping, real-time speech rather than the usual orderly turn-taking of the assembly.

**293** ἦ γάρ κεν δειλός τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καλεοίμην  
"Surely I would be called a coward and a man of nothing,

**294** εἰ δὴ σοὶ πᾶν ἔργον ὑπείξομαι ὅττί κεν εἴπῃς·  
if I yield to you in every deed, whatever you say.

**295** ἄλλοισιν δὴ ταῦτʼ ἐπιτέλλεο, μὴ γὰρ ἔμοιγε  
Give these orders to others, but not to me;

**296** σήμαινʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγʼ ἔτι σοὶ πείσεσθαι ὀΐω.  
command me no longer, for I do not intend to obey you any more.

**297** ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω, σὺ δʼ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ βάλλεο σῇσι·  
And I will tell you another thing, and lay it to heart:

**298** χερσὶ μὲν οὔ τοι ἔγωγε μαχήσομαι εἵνεκα κούρης  
I will not fight with my hands for the girl's sake,

**299** οὔτε σοὶ οὔτέ τῳ ἄλλῳ, ἐπεί μʼ ἀφέλεσθέ γε δόντες·  
neither with you nor with any other, since you take away what you gave.

**300** τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ἅ μοί ἐστι θοῇ παρὰ νηῒ μελαίνῃ  
But of all else that is mine beside my swift black ship,

**301** τῶν οὐκ ἄν τι φέροις ἀνελὼν ἀέκοντος ἐμεῖο·  
of that you shall carry off nothing, taking it against my will.

**302** εἰ δʼ ἄγε μὴν πείρησαι ἵνα γνώωσι καὶ οἵδε·  
Come, try it, that these men here may know as well:

**303** αἶψά τοι αἷμα κελαινὸν ἐρωήσει περὶ δουρί.  
your dark blood will soon come streaming round my spear."

**304** ὣς τώ γʼ ἀντιβίοισι μαχεσσαμένω ἐπέεσσιν  
So when the two of them had fought with opposing words,

**305** ἀνστήτην, λῦσαν δʼ ἀγορὴν παρὰ νηυσὶν Ἀχαιῶν·  
they rose, and broke up the assembly beside the ships of the Achaeans.

**306** Πηλεΐδης μὲν ἐπὶ κλισίας καὶ νῆας ἐΐσας  
The son of Peleus went to his huts and his balanced ships

**307** ἤϊε σύν τε Μενοιτιάδῃ καὶ οἷς ἑτάροισιν·  
with the son of Menoetius and his companions;

**308** Ἀτρεΐδης δʼ ἄρα νῆα θοὴν ἅλα δὲ προέρυσσεν,  
and the son of Atreus drew a swift ship down into the sea,

**309** ἐν δʼ ἐρέτας ἔκρινεν ἐείκοσιν, ἐς δʼ ἑκατόμβην  
and chose twenty oarsmen for it, and put aboard a hecatomb

**310** βῆσε θεῷ, ἀνὰ δὲ Χρυσηΐδα καλλιπάρῃον  
for the god, and led fair-cheeked Chryseis

**311** εἷσεν ἄγων· ἐν δʼ ἀρχὸς ἔβη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς.  
and set her aboard; and as leader went resourceful Odysseus.
> Resourceful Odysseus: πολύμητις, "of many counsels, resourceful," is Odysseus's signature epithet, rendered the same way throughout the Odyssey; this is his first appearance in the Iliad draft.

**312** οἳ μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἀναβάντες ἐπέπλεον ὑγρὰ κέλευθα,  
So they went aboard, and sailed the watery ways,

**313** λαοὺς δʼ Ἀτρεΐδης ἀπολυμαίνεσθαι ἄνωγεν·  
and the son of Atreus bade the people purify themselves.

**314** οἳ δʼ ἀπελυμαίνοντο καὶ εἰς ἅλα λύματα βάλλον,  
So they purified themselves, and cast the defilement into the sea,

**315** ἕρδον δʼ Ἀπόλλωνι τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας  
and offered up to Apollo perfect hecatombs

**316** ταύρων ἠδʼ αἰγῶν παρὰ θῖνʼ ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο·  
of bulls and goats along the shore of the barren sea;

**317** κνίση δʼ οὐρανὸν ἷκεν ἑλισσομένη περὶ καπνῷ.  
and the savor rose to heaven, curling amid the smoke.

**318** ὣς οἳ μὲν τὰ πένοντο κατὰ στρατόν· οὐδʼ Ἀγαμέμνων  
So they were busy with these tasks throughout the camp; but Agamemnon

**319** λῆγʼ ἔριδος τὴν πρῶτον ἐπηπείλησʼ Ἀχιλῆϊ,  
did not let go the quarrel he had first threatened against Achilles,

**320** ἀλλʼ ὅ γε Ταλθύβιόν τε καὶ Εὐρυβάτην προσέειπε,  
but he called out to Talthybius and Eurybates,

**321** τώ οἱ ἔσαν κήρυκε καὶ ὀτρηρὼ θεράποντε·  
who were his heralds and brisk attendants:

**322** ἔρχεσθον κλισίην Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος·  
"Go, the two of you, to the hut of Peleus' son Achilles;
> Dual imperative: ἔρχεσθον is a second-person dual present imperative of ἔρχομαι, "go," the command form used because Agamemnon is addressing exactly two men, Talthybius and Eurybates. The dual number was taught earlier for verbs and participles (Book 1, line 6); here it appears in the imperative mood itself.

**323** χειρὸς ἑλόντʼ ἀγέμεν Βρισηΐδα καλλιπάρῃον·  
take fair-cheeked Briseis by the hand, and lead her away;

**324** εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώῃσιν ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι  
and if he will not give her, I myself will come and take her

**325** ἐλθὼν σὺν πλεόνεσσι· τό οἱ καὶ ῥίγιον ἔσται.  
with more men beside me; that will be the harsher for him."

**326** ὣς εἰπὼν προΐει, κρατερὸν δʼ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε·  
So saying, he sent them off, laying on them a stern command;
> A recurring half-line: "laying on him a stern command": This exact half-line closed line 25, when Agamemnon dismissed Chryses with the same harsh authority. Homer reuses it here verbatim for the heralds; our English holds the same fixed wording, "laying on him/them a stern command," adjusting only the pronoun for number.

**327** τὼ δʼ ἀέκοντε βάτην παρὰ θῖνʼ ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο,  
and the two of them went unwilling along the shore of the barren sea,

**328** Μυρμιδόνων δʼ ἐπί τε κλισίας καὶ νῆας ἱκέσθην,  
and came to the huts and ships of the Myrmidons,

**329** τὸν δʼ εὗρον παρά τε κλισίῃ καὶ νηῒ μελαίνῃ  
and found him beside his hut and his black ship,

**330** ἥμενον· οὐδʼ ἄρα τώ γε ἰδὼν γήθησεν Ἀχιλλεύς.  
sitting there; and Achilles was not glad to see them.

**331** τὼ μὲν ταρβήσαντε καὶ αἰδομένω βασιλῆα  
The two of them, in fear and in awe of the king,

**332** στήτην, οὐδέ τί μιν προσεφώνεον οὐδʼ ἐρέοντο·  
stood there, and neither spoke to him nor questioned him;

**333** αὐτὰρ ὃ ἔγνω ᾗσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φώνησέν τε·  
but he understood it in his own heart, and spoke to them:

**334** χαίρετε κήρυκες Διὸς ἄγγελοι ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν,  
"Welcome, heralds, messengers of Zeus and of men;

**335** ἆσσον ἴτʼ· οὔ τί μοι ὔμμες ἐπαίτιοι ἀλλʼ Ἀγαμέμνων,  
come nearer. You are not to blame in my eyes, but Agamemnon,

**336** ὃ σφῶϊ προΐει Βρισηΐδος εἵνεκα κούρης.  
who sends the two of you here for the sake of the girl Briseis.

**337** ἀλλʼ ἄγε διογενὲς Πατρόκλεες ἔξαγε κούρην  
But come, Patroclus, sprung from Zeus, lead out the girl

**338** καί σφωϊν δὸς ἄγειν· τὼ δʼ αὐτὼ μάρτυροι ἔστων  
and give her to them to lead away; and let the two of them themselves be witnesses

**339** πρός τε θεῶν μακάρων πρός τε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων  
before the blessed gods and before mortal men,

**340** καὶ πρὸς τοῦ βασιλῆος ἀπηνέος εἴ ποτε δʼ αὖτε  
and before that pitiless king himself, if ever again

**341** χρειὼ ἐμεῖο γένηται ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι  
there should come need of me to ward off shameful ruin

**342** τοῖς ἄλλοις· ἦ γὰρ ὅ γʼ ὀλοιῇσι φρεσὶ θύει,  
from the rest — for indeed he rages with a ruinous mind,

**343** οὐδέ τι οἶδε νοῆσαι ἅμα πρόσσω καὶ ὀπίσσω,  
and does not know how to look at once forward and back,

**344** ὅππως οἱ παρὰ νηυσὶ σόοι μαχέοιντο Ἀχαιοί.  
so that the Achaeans might fight safely for him beside the ships."

**345** ὣς φάτο, Πάτροκλος δὲ φίλῳ ἐπεπείθεθʼ ἑταίρῳ,  
So he spoke, and Patroclus obeyed his dear companion,

**346** ἐκ δʼ ἄγαγε κλισίης Βρισηΐδα καλλιπάρῃον,  
and led fair-cheeked Briseis out of the hut,

**347** δῶκε δʼ ἄγειν· τὼ δʼ αὖτις ἴτην παρὰ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν·  
and gave her to them to lead away; and the two of them went back beside the ships of the Achaeans;

**348** ἣ δʼ ἀέκουσʼ ἅμα τοῖσι γυνὴ κίεν· αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς  
and the woman went with them unwilling. But Achilles,

**349** δακρύσας ἑτάρων ἄφαρ ἕζετο νόσφι λιασθείς,  
weeping, at once sat apart, withdrawn from his companions,

**350** θῖνʼ ἔφʼ ἁλὸς πολιῆς, ὁρόων ἐπʼ ἀπείρονα πόντον·  
on the shore of the gray sea, gazing out over the boundless deep;

**351** πολλὰ δὲ μητρὶ φίλῃ ἠρήσατο χεῖρας ὀρεγνύς·  
and stretching out his hands, he prayed fervently to his dear mother:

**352** μῆτερ ἐπεί μʼ ἔτεκές γε μινυνθάδιόν περ ἐόντα,  
"Mother, since you bore me to be short-lived, however brief my life,

**353** τιμήν πέρ μοι ὄφελλεν Ὀλύμπιος ἐγγυαλίξαι  
honor at least the Olympian ought to have granted me,

**354** Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης· νῦν δʼ οὐδέ με τυτθὸν ἔτισεν·  
Zeus who thunders on high; but now he has not honored me even a little;

**355** ἦ γάρ μʼ Ἀτρεΐδης εὐρὺ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων  
for indeed the son of Atreus, the wide-ruling lord Agamemnon,

**356** ἠτίμησεν· ἑλὼν γὰρ ἔχει γέρας αὐτὸς ἀπούρας.  
has dishonored me; for he has seized my prize and keeps it, having taken it for himself."

**357** ὣς φάτο δάκρυ χέων, τοῦ δʼ ἔκλυε πότνια μήτηρ  
So he spoke, weeping, and his queenly mother heard him,

**358** ἡμένη ἐν βένθεσσιν ἁλὸς παρὰ πατρὶ γέροντι·  
sitting in the depths of the sea beside her aged father;

**359** καρπαλίμως δʼ ἀνέδυ πολιῆς ἁλὸς ἠΰτʼ ὀμίχλη,  
and swiftly she rose from the gray sea like a mist,
> "Like a mist": Thetis rising: ἠΰτε, "as, like," introduces a brief simile — Thetis emerges from the sea the way mist rises off water, a quiet image of a sea-goddess made visible for a moment before she sits beside her weeping son.

**360** καί ῥα πάροιθʼ αὐτοῖο καθέζετο δάκρυ χέοντος,  
and sat down before him as he wept,

**361** χειρί τέ μιν κατέρεξεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·  
and stroked him with her hand, and spoke to him, and called him by name:

**362** τέκνον τί κλαίεις; τί δέ σε φρένας ἵκετο πένθος;  
"My child, why do you weep? What grief has come upon your heart?

**363** ἐξαύδα, μὴ κεῦθε νόῳ, ἵνα εἴδομεν ἄμφω.  
Speak out, do not hide it in your mind, so that we both may know."

**364** τὴν δὲ βαρὺ στενάχων προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·  
Groaning heavily, swift-footed Achilles answered her:

**365** οἶσθα· τί ἤ τοι ταῦτα ἰδυίῃ πάντʼ ἀγορεύω;  
"You know it. Why then should I tell you everything, when you know it all already?

**366** ᾠχόμεθʼ ἐς Θήβην ἱερὴν πόλιν Ἠετίωνος,  
We went to Thebe, the sacred city of Eëtion,

**367** τὴν δὲ διεπράθομέν τε καὶ ἤγομεν ἐνθάδε πάντα·  
and we sacked it, and brought everything back here;

**368** καὶ τὰ μὲν εὖ δάσσαντο μετὰ σφίσιν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν,  
and the sons of the Achaeans divided it well among themselves,

**369** ἐκ δʼ ἕλον Ἀτρεΐδῃ Χρυσηΐδα καλλιπάρῃον.  
and set apart fair-cheeked Chryseis for the son of Atreus.

**370** Χρύσης δʼ αὖθʼ ἱερεὺς ἑκατηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος  
Then Chryses, priest of far-shooting Apollo,
> A metrical variant of "far-shooting": ἑκατηβόλος is a lengthened metrical variant of ἑκηβόλος, already locked as "far-shooting"; the two forms mean the same thing and are rendered the same way.

**371** ἦλθε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων  
came to the swift ships of the bronze-clad Achaeans,
> Bronze-clad Achaeans: χαλκοχίτων, "bronze-tunicked," names the Achaeans by their armor, like ἐϋκνήμιδες "well-greaved" earlier — another concrete, gear-naming standing epithet rather than a vague honorific.

**372** λυσόμενός τε θύγατρα φέρων τʼ ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα,  
to free his daughter, bringing boundless ransom,
> Achilles' retelling repeats the narrator's own words: Lines 372–379 repeat lines 13–16 and 22–25 nearly word for word — Achilles, retelling the quarrel to his mother, uses the very lines the narrator used to open the poem. Where the Greek is identical, our English is held to the same fixed wording used in the opening scene, matching Homer's own repetition rather than varying it for style.

**373** στέμματʼ ἔχων ἐν χερσὶν ἑκηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος  
holding in his hands the wreaths of far-shooting Apollo

**374** χρυσέῳ ἀνὰ σκήπτρῳ, καὶ λίσσετο πάντας Ἀχαιούς,  
upon a golden staff, and he besought all the Achaeans,

**375** Ἀτρεΐδα δὲ μάλιστα δύω κοσμήτορε λαῶν.  
but above all the two sons of Atreus, marshals of the people:

**376** ἔνθʼ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες ἐπευφήμησαν Ἀχαιοὶ  
Then all the rest of the Achaeans cried out their assent,

**377** αἰδεῖσθαί θʼ ἱερῆα καὶ ἀγλαὰ δέχθαι ἄποινα·  
to respect the priest and accept the splendid ransom;

**378** ἀλλʼ οὐκ Ἀτρεΐδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονι ἥνδανε θυμῷ,  
but this did not please the heart of Atreus' son Agamemnon,

**379** ἀλλὰ κακῶς ἀφίει, κρατερὸν δʼ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε·  
and he sent him away harshly, laying on him a stern command:

**380** χωόμενος δʼ ὁ γέρων πάλιν ᾤχετο· τοῖο δʼ Ἀπόλλων  
enraged, the old man went back again; and Apollo

**381** εὐξαμένου ἤκουσεν, ἐπεὶ μάλα οἱ φίλος ἦεν,  
heard him as he prayed, since he was very dear to him,

**382** ἧκε δʼ ἐπʼ Ἀργείοισι κακὸν βέλος· οἳ δέ νυ λαοὶ  
and let fly an evil shaft against the Argives; and the people

**383** θνῇσκον ἐπασσύτεροι, τὰ δʼ ἐπῴχετο κῆλα θεοῖο  
kept dying, one after another, and the god's arrows ranged

**384** πάντῃ ἀνὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν· ἄμμι δὲ μάντις  
everywhere throughout the wide camp of the Achaeans; and a seer

**385** εὖ εἰδὼς ἀγόρευε θεοπροπίας ἑκάτοιο.  
who knew it well declared to us the prophecies of the far-shooter.
> A third epithet of Apollo: "the far one": ἕκατος, "the far one" or "far-shooter," is a distinct Homeric byname of Apollo used here as a substantive, standing in for the god's own name — a third form alongside ἑκηβόλος "far-shooting" and ἑκάεργος "the far-worker," already locked. We hold "the far-shooter" for this one, keeping all three Greek words distinct in English.

**386** αὐτίκʼ ἐγὼ πρῶτος κελόμην θεὸν ἱλάσκεσθαι·  
At once I was the first to urge that we appease the god;

**387** Ἀτρεΐωνα δʼ ἔπειτα χόλος λάβεν, αἶψα δʼ ἀναστὰς  
but then anger seized the son of Atreus, and rising up at once

**388** ἠπείλησεν μῦθον ὃ δὴ τετελεσμένος ἐστί·  
he spoke a threat that has now been fulfilled;

**389** τὴν μὲν γὰρ σὺν νηῒ θοῇ ἑλίκωπες Ἀχαιοὶ  
for the one girl the bright-eyed Achaeans, with a swift ship,
> "Bright-eyed," now applied to the Achaeans: ἑλίκωψ shares its root with ἑλικῶπις, the epithet rendered "bright-eyed" for Chryseis at line 98; there it described one girl, here the same root — declined for a whole army rather than one woman — is held to the same English word, "bright-eyed."

**390** ἐς Χρύσην πέμπουσιν, ἄγουσι δὲ δῶρα ἄνακτι·  
are sending to Chryse, and bringing gifts to the lord;

**391** τὴν δὲ νέον κλισίηθεν ἔβαν κήρυκες ἄγοντες  
and the other, just now, heralds went from my hut and led away —

**392** κούρην Βρισῆος τήν μοι δόσαν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν.  
the daughter of Briseus, whom the sons of the Achaeans gave me.
> Briseis: named for her father: Like Χρυσηΐς, "Chryseis," Βρισηΐς, "Briseis," is formed as a patronymic — literally "daughter of Briseus." Neither woman is given a name of her own in the poem; both are identified only through the men who claim them.

**393** ἀλλὰ σὺ εἰ δύνασαί γε περίσχεο παιδὸς ἑῆος·  
But you, if you are able, stand by your own son;

**394** ἐλθοῦσʼ Οὔλυμπον δὲ Δία λίσαι, εἴ ποτε δή τι  
go to Olympus and beseech Zeus, if ever indeed

**395** ἢ ἔπει ὤνησας κραδίην Διὸς ἠὲ καὶ ἔργῳ.  
you gladdened his heart, either by word or by deed.

**396** πολλάκι γάρ σεο πατρὸς ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἄκουσα  
For often I have heard you, in the halls of my father,

**397** εὐχομένης ὅτʼ ἔφησθα κελαινεφέϊ Κρονίωνι  
declaring, when you spoke to the dark-clouded son of Cronos,

**398** οἴη ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι,  
that you alone among the immortals warded off shameful ruin from him,

**399** ὁππότε μιν ξυνδῆσαι Ὀλύμπιοι ἤθελον ἄλλοι  
when the other Olympians wished to bind him,

**400** Ἥρη τʼ ἠδὲ Ποσειδάων καὶ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη·  
Hera, and Poseidon, and Pallas Athena;

**401** ἀλλὰ σὺ τόν γʼ ἐλθοῦσα θεὰ ὑπελύσαο δεσμῶν,  
but you, goddess, went and freed him from his bonds,

**402** ὦχʼ ἑκατόγχειρον καλέσασʼ ἐς μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον,  
quickly calling the hundred-handed one to tall Olympus,

**403** ὃν Βριάρεων καλέουσι θεοί, ἄνδρες δέ τε πάντες  
whom the gods call Briareus, but all men

**404** Αἰγαίωνʼ, ὃ γὰρ αὖτε βίην οὗ πατρὸς ἀμείνων·  
call Aegaeon — for he is greater in strength than his own father;

**405** ὅς ῥα παρὰ Κρονίωνι καθέζετο κύδεϊ γαίων·  
and he sat down beside the son of Cronos, exulting in his glory;

**406** τὸν καὶ ὑπέδεισαν μάκαρες θεοὶ οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἔδησαν.  
and the blessed gods were afraid of him, and did not bind Zeus after all.

**407** τῶν νῦν μιν μνήσασα παρέζεο καὶ λαβὲ γούνων  
Remind him of these things now, and sit beside him, and clasp his knees,

**408** αἴ κέν πως ἐθέλῃσιν ἐπὶ Τρώεσσιν ἀρῆξαι,  
in case he might be willing to help the Trojans,

**409** τοὺς δὲ κατὰ πρύμνας τε καὶ ἀμφʼ ἅλα ἔλσαι Ἀχαιοὺς  
and to pen the Achaeans in against their ships' sterns and the sea,

**410** κτεινομένους, ἵνα πάντες ἐπαύρωνται βασιλῆος,  
as they are slaughtered, so that all may have their profit of their king,

**411** γνῷ δὲ καὶ Ἀτρεΐδης εὐρὺ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων  
and the son of Atreus, the wide-ruling lord Agamemnon, may know

**412** ἣν ἄτην ὅ τʼ ἄριστον Ἀχαιῶν οὐδὲν ἔτισεν.  
his own blind folly, that he paid no honor to the best of the Achaeans."

**413** τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα Θέτις κατὰ δάκρυ χέουσα·  
Then Thetis, shedding tears, answered him:

**414** ὤ μοι τέκνον ἐμόν, τί νύ σʼ ἔτρεφον αἰνὰ τεκοῦσα;  
"Ah, my child, why did I rear you, having borne you to such sorrow?

**415** αἴθʼ ὄφελες παρὰ νηυσὶν ἀδάκρυτος καὶ ἀπήμων  
Would that you might sit beside the ships without tears and without harm,

**416** ἧσθαι, ἐπεί νύ τοι αἶσα μίνυνθά περ οὔ τι μάλα δήν·  
since your fate is brief indeed, not long at all;

**417** νῦν δʼ ἅμα τʼ ὠκύμορος καὶ ὀϊζυρὸς περὶ πάντων  
but now you are at once short-fated and, beyond all others, most sorrowful —
> "Short-fated": ὠκύμορος, a compound of ὠκύς "swift" and μόρος "fate, doom," names Achilles' central condition in one word: his life is fated to be brief. It is not a passing complaint but the fact that shapes every choice he makes in the poem.

**418** ἔπλεο· τώ σε κακῇ αἴσῃ τέκον ἐν μεγάροισι.  
such you have become; for this I bore you to an evil fate in my halls.

**419** τοῦτο δέ τοι ἐρέουσα ἔπος Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ  
But to carry this word to Zeus who delights in thunder,

**420** εἶμʼ αὐτὴ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀγάννιφον αἴ κε πίθηται.  
I myself will go to snowy Olympus, in case he may be persuaded.

**421** ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν νῦν νηυσὶ παρήμενος ὠκυπόροισι  
But you, for now, sit beside your swift-faring ships,

**422** μήνιʼ Ἀχαιοῖσιν, πολέμου δʼ ἀποπαύεο πάμπαν·  
nurse your wrath against the Achaeans, and hold back from war entirely;
> μῆνις returns as a verb: μήνιε (elided μήνι') is the present imperative of μηνίω, "to hold a towering wrath," the verb built directly on μῆνις, the poem's opening word. Thetis does not merely tell Achilles to be angry — she commands him, in the same root, to keep holding the very wrath the poem set out to sing.

**423** Ζεὺς γὰρ ἐς Ὠκεανὸν μετʼ ἀμύμονας Αἰθιοπῆας  
for Zeus has gone to Oceanus, to the blameless Ethiopians,

**424** χθιζὸς ἔβη κατὰ δαῖτα, θεοὶ δʼ ἅμα πάντες ἕποντο·  
went yesterday to a feast, and all the gods together followed him;

**425** δωδεκάτῃ δέ τοι αὖτις ἐλεύσεται Οὔλυμπον δέ,  
and on the twelfth day he will come back again to Olympus,

**426** καὶ τότʼ ἔπειτά τοι εἶμι Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶ,  
and then I will go to the bronze-floored house of Zeus,

**427** καί μιν γουνάσομαι καί μιν πείσεσθαι ὀΐω.  
and clasp his knees, and I think I shall persuade him."

**428** ὣς ἄρα φωνήσασʼ ἀπεβήσετο, τὸν δὲ λίπʼ αὐτοῦ  
So speaking, she went away, and left him there,

**429** χωόμενον κατὰ θυμὸν ἐϋζώνοιο γυναικὸς  
enraged at heart for the fair-girdled woman's sake,

**430** τήν ῥα βίῃ ἀέκοντος ἀπηύρων· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς  
whom they had taken from him by force, against his will; but Odysseus

**431** ἐς Χρύσην ἵκανεν ἄγων ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην.  
he came to Chryse, leading the holy hecatomb.

**432** οἳ δʼ ὅτε δὴ λιμένος πολυβενθέος ἐντὸς ἵκοντο  
And when they had come within the deep harbor,

**433** ἱστία μὲν στείλαντο, θέσαν δʼ ἐν νηῒ μελαίνῃ,  
they furled the sail, and stowed it in the black ship,

**434** ἱστὸν δʼ ἱστοδόκῃ πέλασαν προτόνοισιν ὑφέντες  
and lowering the forestays, they brought the mast down to its socket

**435** καρπαλίμως, τὴν δʼ εἰς ὅρμον προέρεσσαν ἐρετμοῖς.  
swiftly, and rowed her forward into the anchorage with oars.

**436** ἐκ δʼ εὐνὰς ἔβαλον, κατὰ δὲ πρυμνήσιʼ ἔδησαν·  
They threw out the mooring stones, and made fast the stern-cables;

**437** ἐκ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ βαῖνον ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης,  
and they themselves stepped out upon the breaking surf of the sea,

**438** ἐκ δʼ ἑκατόμβην βῆσαν ἑκηβόλῳ Ἀπόλλωνι·  
and led out the hecatomb for far-shooting Apollo;

**439** ἐκ δὲ Χρυσηῒς νηὸς βῆ ποντοπόροιο.  
and Chryseis stepped out from the sea-crossing ship.

**440** τὴν μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἐπὶ βωμὸν ἄγων πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεὺς  
Then Odysseus of many wiles, leading her to the altar,
> "Of many wiles" — Odysseus' epithet: πολύμητις, "of many wiles / much resourcefulness," is one of Odysseus' standing epithets, already fixed in our Odyssey drafts as "Odysseus of many wiles." This is his first appearance under it in the Iliad, and we hold the same English wording across both poems.

**441** πατρὶ φίλῳ ἐν χερσὶ τίθει καί μιν προσέειπεν·  
placed her in her dear father's hands, and spoke to him:

**442** ὦ Χρύση, πρό μʼ ἔπεμψεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων  
"O Chryses, Agamemnon, lord of men, has sent me before him

**443** παῖδά τε σοὶ ἀγέμεν, Φοίβῳ θʼ ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην  
to bring you your daughter, and to offer to Phoebus a holy hecatomb

**444** ῥέξαι ὑπὲρ Δαναῶν ὄφρʼ ἱλασόμεσθα ἄνακτα,  
on behalf of the Danaans, that we may propitiate the lord,

**445** ὃς νῦν Ἀργείοισι πολύστονα κήδεʼ ἐφῆκεν.  
who has now sent grievous sorrows upon the Argives."

**446** ὣς εἰπὼν ἐν χερσὶ τίθει, ὃ δὲ δέξατο χαίρων  
So speaking, he placed her in his hands, and he received her, rejoicing,

**447** παῖδα φίλην· τοὶ δʼ ὦκα θεῷ ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην  
his dear daughter; and they swiftly set the holy hecatomb for the god

**448** ἑξείης ἔστησαν ἐΰδμητον περὶ βωμόν,  
in order around the well-built altar,

**449** χερνίψαντο δʼ ἔπειτα καὶ οὐλοχύτας ἀνέλοντο.  
and then washed their hands and took up the barley grains.

**450** τοῖσιν δὲ Χρύσης μεγάλʼ εὔχετο χεῖρας ἀνασχών·  
Then Chryses, lifting up his hands, prayed aloud for them:

**451** κλῦθί μευ ἀργυρότοξʼ, ὃς Χρύσην ἀμφιβέβηκας  
"Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stand guard over Chryse
> The prayer repeated verbatim: Lines 451-452 repeat lines 37-38 word for word — the same invocation of Apollo as guardian of Chryse, Cilla, and Tenedos. Homer's oral style reuses whole formulaic units; our English mirrors the repetition exactly, using the same wording as the earlier prayer.

**452** Κίλλαν τε ζαθέην Τενέδοιό τε ἶφι ἀνάσσεις·  
and holy Cilla, and rule Tenedos with your might,

**453** ἦ μὲν δή ποτʼ ἐμεῦ πάρος ἔκλυες εὐξαμένοιο,  
truly before now you heard me when I prayed;

**454** τίμησας μὲν ἐμέ, μέγα δʼ ἴψαο λαὸν Ἀχαιῶν·  
you honored me, and struck hard the host of the Achaeans;

**455** ἠδʼ ἔτι καὶ νῦν μοι τόδʼ ἐπικρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·  
and now too grant me this desire once more:

**456** ἤδη νῦν Δαναοῖσιν ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἄμυνον.  
ward off at last from the Danaans this shameful ruin."

**457** ὣς ἔφατʼ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δʼ ἔκλυε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.  
So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him.

**458** αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ εὔξαντο καὶ οὐλοχύτας προβάλοντο,  
And when they had prayed, and cast forward the barley grains,

**459** αὐέρυσαν μὲν πρῶτα καὶ ἔσφαξαν καὶ ἔδειραν,  
first they drew back the victims' heads, and cut their throats, and flayed them,

**460** μηρούς τʼ ἐξέταμον κατά τε κνίσῃ ἐκάλυψαν  
and cut out the thigh-pieces and covered them with fat,

**461** δίπτυχα ποιήσαντες, ἐπʼ αὐτῶν δʼ ὠμοθέτησαν·  
making a double fold, and laid raw flesh upon them;

**462** καῖε δʼ ἐπὶ σχίζῃς ὁ γέρων, ἐπὶ δʼ αἴθοπα οἶνον  
and the old man burned them on the split wood, and poured over them gleaming wine;

**463** λεῖβε· νέοι δὲ παρʼ αὐτὸν ἔχον πεμπώβολα χερσίν.  
and the young men beside him held five-pronged forks in their hands.

**464** αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ μῆρε κάη καὶ σπλάγχνα πάσαντο,  
But when the thigh-pieces were burned, and they had tasted the inner parts,

**465** μίστυλλόν τʼ ἄρα τἆλλα καὶ ἀμφʼ ὀβελοῖσιν ἔπειραν,  
they cut up the rest and pierced it on spits,

**466** ὤπτησάν τε περιφραδέως, ἐρύσαντό τε πάντα.  
and roasted it with care, and drew all of it off.

**467** αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ παύσαντο πόνου τετύκοντό τε δαῖτα  
And when they had ceased from their labor and made ready the feast,

**468** δαίνυντʼ, οὐδέ τι θυμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης.  
they feasted, and no heart lacked its share of the fair-shared feast.

**469** αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,  
But when they had put from them the desire for drink and food,

**470** κοῦροι μὲν κρητῆρας ἐπεστέψαντο ποτοῖο,  
the young men crowned the mixing bowls with drink,

**471** νώμησαν δʼ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν·  
and, having poured the first drops, served it out to all in cups;

**472** οἳ δὲ πανημέριοι μολπῇ θεὸν ἱλάσκοντο  
and all day long they propitiated the god with song,

**473** καλὸν ἀείδοντες παιήονα κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν  
the young men of the Achaeans singing a beautiful paean,

**474** μέλποντες ἑκάεργον· ὃ δὲ φρένα τέρπετʼ ἀκούων.  
chanting to the far-worker; and his heart was glad as he listened.

**475** ἦμος δʼ ἠέλιος κατέδυ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθε,  
And when the sun went down and the darkness came on,

**476** δὴ τότε κοιμήσαντο παρὰ πρυμνήσια νηός·  
then they lay down to sleep beside the stern-cables of the ship;

**477** ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,  
When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,
> The dawn formula, locked: "When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered" is Homer's whole-line formula marking daybreak; it recurs verbatim throughout both poems. We hold it to the same wording and word order established in our Odyssey drafts, so the formula reads identically across both works.

**478** καὶ τότʼ ἔπειτʼ ἀνάγοντο μετὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν·  
then at last they put out to sea, toward the wide camp of the Achaeans;

**479** τοῖσιν δʼ ἴκμενον οὖρον ἵει ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων·  
and the far-worker Apollo sent them a favoring wind;
> The favoring-wind formula: ἴκμενον οὖρον, "a favoring wind," is a standing nautical formula marking a god's aid to sailors — the same phrase recurs at departures throughout the Odyssey. Its arrival right after the paean shows Apollo answering the hecatomb with fair weather for the voyage home.

**480** οἳ δʼ ἱστὸν στήσαντʼ ἀνά θʼ ἱστία λευκὰ πέτασσαν,  
they raised the mast and spread the white sail,

**481** ἐν δʼ ἄνεμος πρῆσεν μέσον ἱστίον, ἀμφὶ δὲ κῦμα  
and the wind filled the belly of the sail, and around the stem the dark wave

**482** στείρῃ πορφύρεον μεγάλʼ ἴαχε νηὸς ἰούσης·  
roared loudly as the ship went on her way;

**483** ἣ δʼ ἔθεεν κατὰ κῦμα διαπρήσσουσα κέλευθον.  
and she ran on over the wave, completing her path.

**484** αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἵκοντο κατὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν,  
But when they had come to the wide camp of the Achaeans,

**485** νῆα μὲν οἵ γε μέλαιναν ἐπʼ ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν  
they drew the black ship up onto the mainland,

**486** ὑψοῦ ἐπὶ ψαμάθοις, ὑπὸ δʼ ἕρματα μακρὰ τάνυσσαν·  
high upon the sand, and stretched long props beneath her;

**487** αὐτοὶ δʼ ἐσκίδναντο κατὰ κλισίας τε νέας τε.  
and they themselves scattered among the huts and the ships.

**488** αὐτὰρ ὃ μήνιε νηυσὶ παρήμενος ὠκυπόροισι  
But he nursed his wrath, sitting beside the swift-faring ships,

**489** διογενὴς Πηλῆος υἱὸς πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·  
the Zeus-sprung son of Peleus, swift-footed Achilles;

**490** οὔτέ ποτʼ εἰς ἀγορὴν πωλέσκετο κυδιάνειραν  
he would never go to the assembly that glorifies men,
> Iterative imperfect (-σκε forms): The suffix -σκε on these three imperfects marks habitual, repeated action — "he used to go... he used to waste away... he used to long for" — rather than a single occasion. Achilles' withdrawal is not one afternoon's sulk but his settled, ongoing state through these twelve days.

**491** οὔτέ ποτʼ ἐς πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ φθινύθεσκε φίλον κῆρ  
nor ever to war, but would waste his own heart

**492** αὖθι μένων, ποθέεσκε δʼ ἀϋτήν τε πτόλεμόν τε.  
remaining there, yearning for the war cry and the battle.

**493** ἀλλʼ ὅτε δή ῥʼ ἐκ τοῖο δυωδεκάτη γένετʼ ἠώς,  
But when from that time the twelfth dawn had come,

**494** καὶ τότε δὴ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἴσαν θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες  
then the gods who are forever went back to Olympus

**495** πάντες ἅμα, Ζεὺς δʼ ἦρχε· Θέτις δʼ οὐ λήθετʼ ἐφετμέων  
all together, and Zeus led the way; nor did Thetis forget the charge

**496** παιδὸς ἑοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἥ γʼ ἀνεδύσετο κῦμα θαλάσσης.  
of her son, but rose up from the wave of the sea.

**497** ἠερίη δʼ ἀνέβη μέγαν οὐρανὸν Οὔλυμπόν τε.  
and at early dawn she went up to great heaven and Olympus.

**498** εὗρεν δʼ εὐρύοπα Κρονίδην ἄτερ ἥμενον ἄλλων  
She found the wide-thundering son of Cronos sitting apart from the rest,
> "Wide-thundering" Zeus: εὐρύοπα, literally "wide-voiced," is a standing epithet of Zeus tied to his thunder, not his sight; we render it "wide-thundering" and hold this wording for the Iliad.

**499** ἀκροτάτῃ κορυφῇ πολυδειράδος Οὐλύμποιο·  
upon the topmost peak of many-ridged Olympus;

**500** καί ῥα πάροιθʼ αὐτοῖο καθέζετο, καὶ λάβε γούνων  
and she sat down before him, and clasped his knees
> Genitive with a verb of touching: γούνων, "of the knees," stands in the genitive because Greek verbs of touching, grasping, and taking hold govern a partitive genitive rather than a plain accusative object — she takes hold *of* his knees, not simply "his knees" outright.

**501** σκαιῇ, δεξιτερῇ δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπʼ ἀνθερεῶνος ἑλοῦσα  
with her left hand, and with her right she took him beneath the chin,

**502** λισσομένη προσέειπε Δία Κρονίωνα ἄνακτα·  
and in supplication spoke to lord Zeus, son of Cronos:

**503** Ζεῦ πάτερ εἴ ποτε δή σε μετʼ ἀθανάτοισιν ὄνησα  
"Father Zeus, if ever among the immortals I gave you aid,

**504** ἢ ἔπει ἢ ἔργῳ, τόδε μοι κρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·  
whether in word or deed, grant me now this desire:

**505** τίμησόν μοι υἱὸν ὃς ὠκυμορώτατος ἄλλων  
honor my son, who has become the most short-fated
> Superlative of ὠκύμορος: ὠκυμορώτατος is the superlative of ὠκύμορος, "short-fated," already introduced for Achilles at line 417 (Thetis' own words). Here the superlative sharpens the claim: not merely short-fated, but the most short-fated of all.

**506** ἔπλετʼ· ἀτάρ μιν νῦν γε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων  
of all others; yet now Agamemnon, lord of men,

**507** ἠτίμησεν· ἑλὼν γὰρ ἔχει γέρας αὐτὸς ἀπούρας.  
has dishonored him; for he has seized his prize and keeps it, having taken it for himself.

**508** ἀλλὰ σύ πέρ μιν τῖσον Ὀλύμπιε μητίετα Ζεῦ·  
"But you, honor him yourself, Olympian, Zeus the counselor;
> "Zeus the counselor": μητίετα, "of counsel, the counselor," is a standing epithet of Zeus already fixed in our Odyssey drafts as "Zeus the counselor"; we hold the same wording for its first appearance in the Iliad.

**509** τόφρα δʼ ἐπὶ Τρώεσσι τίθει κράτος ὄφρʼ ἂν Ἀχαιοὶ  
and meanwhile give strength to the Trojans, until the Achaeans

**510** υἱὸν ἐμὸν τίσωσιν ὀφέλλωσίν τέ ἑ τιμῇ.  
honor my son, and increase him with glory."

**511** ὣς φάτο· τὴν δʼ οὔ τι προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς,  
So she spoke; but Zeus the cloud-gatherer said nothing to her,

**512** ἀλλʼ ἀκέων δὴν ἧστο· Θέτις δʼ ὡς ἥψατο γούνων  
but sat silent for a long while; and Thetis, just as she had clasped his knees,

**513** ὣς ἔχετʼ ἐμπεφυυῖα, καὶ εἴρετο δεύτερον αὖτις·  
so she held on, clinging fast, and asked him once more:

**514** νημερτὲς μὲν δή μοι ὑπόσχεο καὶ κατάνευσον  
"Promise me now, unfailingly, and bow your head in assent,

**515** ἢ ἀπόειπʼ, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι ἔπι δέος, ὄφρʼ ἐῢ εἰδέω  
or else refuse me — since no fear touches you — that I may know well

**516** ὅσσον ἐγὼ μετὰ πᾶσιν ἀτιμοτάτη θεός εἰμι.  
how far, among all the gods, I am the most dishonored."

**517** τὴν δὲ μέγʼ ὀχθήσας προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·  
Then, greatly troubled, Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her:

**518** ἦ δὴ λοίγια ἔργʼ ὅ τέ μʼ ἐχθοδοπῆσαι ἐφήσεις  
"Truly this is a ruinous business, since you will set me at odds

**519** Ἥρῃ ὅτʼ ἄν μʼ ἐρέθῃσιν ὀνειδείοις ἐπέεσσιν·  
with Hera, whenever she provokes me with her taunting words;

**520** ἣ δὲ καὶ αὔτως μʼ αἰεὶ ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι  
and she, even without cause, forever among the immortal gods

**521** νεικεῖ, καί τέ μέ φησι μάχῃ Τρώεσσιν ἀρήγειν.  
quarrels with me, and says that I aid the Trojans in battle.

**522** ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν νῦν αὖτις ἀπόστιχε μή τι νοήσῃ  
But go back now, so that Hera may notice nothing;

**523** Ἥρη· ἐμοὶ δέ κε ταῦτα μελήσεται ὄφρα τελέσσω·  
and I myself will see to it that these things are accomplished.

**524** εἰ δʼ ἄγε τοι κεφαλῇ κατανεύσομαι ὄφρα πεποίθῃς·  
Come, then — I will bow my head to you, that you may trust me;

**525** τοῦτο γὰρ ἐξ ἐμέθεν γε μετʼ ἀθανάτοισι μέγιστον  
for this, from me, is the greatest sign among the immortals,

**526** τέκμωρ· οὐ γὰρ ἐμὸν παλινάγρετον οὐδʼ ἀπατηλὸν  
that pledge; for nothing of mine is revocable, or deceitful,
> The pledge that cannot be recalled: τέκμωρ names a fixed sign or guarantee — here, Zeus's own word says that whatever he confirms with a nod is irrevocable, undeceiving, and certain to be carried out. No other god's word in the poem carries this absolute finality.

**527** οὐδʼ ἀτελεύτητον ὅ τί κεν κεφαλῇ κατανεύσω.  
or unfulfilled, once I have bowed my head to it."

**528** ἦ καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπʼ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων·  
So he spoke, and the son of Cronos bowed his head, his dark brows lowering;

**529** ἀμβρόσιαι δʼ ἄρα χαῖται ἐπερρώσαντο ἄνακτος  
and the god's ambrosial locks swept forward
> "Swept forward" — a disputed verb: ἐπερρώσαντο (from ἐπιρρώομαι, "to sway or stream to and fro") describes the motion of Zeus's hair as his head tips down in the nod; translators split between a swaying/shaking sense ("swung," "shook") and a surging, directional sense ("streamed," "swept forward"). We take the more dynamic reading to match the force of the gesture, but the verb's precise motion is genuinely disputed among commentators.

**530** κρατὸς ἀπʼ ἀθανάτοιο· μέγαν δʼ ἐλέλιξεν Ὄλυμπον.  
from his immortal head; and he made great Olympus quake.

**531** τώ γʼ ὣς βουλεύσαντε διέτμαγεν· ἣ μὲν ἔπειτα  
So the two of them, having so resolved, parted; she then
> Dual number, once more: βουλεύσαντε is a dual participle and διέτμαγεν a dual aorist verb, marking Zeus and Thetis together as a pair of exactly two, the same grammatical device used earlier for Agamemnon and Achilles (line 6) and for the two heralds (line 322). Here it marks the moment the two of them, having settled the matter between them, go their separate ways.

**532** εἰς ἅλα ἆλτο βαθεῖαν ἀπʼ αἰγλήεντος Ὀλύμπου,  
leapt into the deep sea from gleaming Olympus,

**533** Ζεὺς δὲ ἑὸν πρὸς δῶμα· θεοὶ δʼ ἅμα πάντες ἀνέσταν  
and Zeus went to his own house; and all the gods together rose up

**534** ἐξ ἑδέων σφοῦ πατρὸς ἐναντίον· οὐδέ τις ἔτλη  
From their seats, before their father; and no one dared

**535** μεῖναι ἐπερχόμενον, ἀλλʼ ἀντίοι ἔσταν ἅπαντες.  
to remain seated as he approached, but all stood up to face him.

**536** ὣς ὃ μὲν ἔνθα καθέζετʼ ἐπὶ θρόνου· οὐδέ μιν Ἥρη  
So he sat down there upon his throne; and Hera did not

**537** ἠγνοίησεν ἰδοῦσʼ ὅτι οἱ συμφράσσατο βουλὰς  
fail to notice, having seen, that with him had taken counsel together —
> Litotes: denying the opposite: ἠγνοίησεν, "she failed to notice," negated by the preceding οὐδέ, produces litotes — an emphatic statement made by denying its opposite. "She did not fail to notice" means, more strongly, that Hera noticed at once.

**538** ἀργυρόπεζα Θέτις θυγάτηρ ἁλίοιο γέροντος.  
silver-footed Thetis, daughter of the old man of the sea.

**539** αὐτίκα κερτομίοισι Δία Κρονίωνα προσηύδα·  
At once she addressed Zeus, son of Cronos, with taunting words:

**540** τίς δʼ αὖ τοι δολομῆτα θεῶν συμφράσσατο βουλάς;  
"Which of the gods, crafty one, has plotted counsel with you now?
> "Crafty one": Hera's taunt: δολομῆτα, a vocative meaning roughly "crafty-minded" or "schemer," is Hera's sarcastic address to Zeus. It twists an honorific epithet into an accusation, the sharpest word she has for him.

**541** αἰεί τοι φίλον ἐστὶν ἐμεῦ ἀπὸ νόσφιν ἐόντα  
It is always dear to you, when you are apart from me,

**542** κρυπτάδια φρονέοντα δικαζέμεν· οὐδέ τί πώ μοι  
to devise things in secret and render your judgments; and never yet to me

**543** πρόφρων τέτληκας εἰπεῖν ἔπος ὅττι νοήσῃς.  
have you willingly brought yourself to tell whatever you contrive.

**544** τὴν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·  
Then the father of men and gods answered her:

**545** Ἥρη μὴ δὴ πάντας ἐμοὺς ἐπιέλπεο μύθους  
"Hera, do not hope to know all

**546** εἰδήσειν· χαλεποί τοι ἔσοντʼ ἀλόχῳ περ ἐούσῃ·  
my words; they will be hard for you, though you are my wife.

**547** ἀλλʼ ὃν μέν κʼ ἐπιεικὲς ἀκουέμεν οὔ τις ἔπειτα  
But whatever word is fitting to hear, no one then,

**548** οὔτε θεῶν πρότερος τὸν εἴσεται οὔτʼ ἀνθρώπων·  
neither god nor man, will know it before you;

**549** ὃν δέ κʼ ἐγὼν ἀπάνευθε θεῶν ἐθέλωμι νοῆσαι  
but whatever I wish to consider apart from the gods,

**550** μή τι σὺ ταῦτα ἕκαστα διείρεο μηδὲ μετάλλα.  
do not ask about each of these things, nor inquire."

**551** τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη·  
Then ox-eyed queenly Hera answered him:
> Ox-eyed queenly Hera: βοῶπις, "ox-eyed," paired with πότνια, "queenly," is Hera's other standing epithet, distinct from λευκώλενος "white-armed" (first met at Book 1, line 55). Homer alternates the two by metrical need; ours renders each the same way whenever it recurs.

**552** αἰνότατε Κρονίδη ποῖον τὸν μῦθον ἔειπες;  
"Most dread son of Cronos, what a word you have spoken!

**553** καὶ λίην σε πάρος γʼ οὔτʼ εἴρομαι οὔτε μεταλλῶ,  
Indeed, before now, I neither ask nor question you,

**554** ἀλλὰ μάλʼ εὔκηλος τὰ φράζεαι ἅσσʼ ἐθέλῃσθα.  
but very much at ease you ponder whatever you wish.

**555** νῦν δʼ αἰνῶς δείδοικα κατὰ φρένα μή σε παρείπῃ  
But now I terribly fear in my heart that she has won you over —

**556** ἀργυρόπεζα Θέτις θυγάτηρ ἁλίοιο γέροντος·  
silver-footed Thetis, daughter of the old man of the sea;

**557** ἠερίη γὰρ σοί γε παρέζετο καὶ λάβε γούνων·  
for early this morning she sat beside you and clasped your knees;

**558** τῇ σʼ ὀΐω κατανεῦσαι ἐτήτυμον ὡς Ἀχιλῆα  
to her, I believe, you truly bowed your head in assent, that Achilles

**559** τιμήσῃς, ὀλέσῃς δὲ πολέας ἐπὶ νηυσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.  
you will honor, and destroy many beside the ships of the Achaeans."

**560** τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·  
Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her and said:

**561** δαιμονίη αἰεὶ μὲν ὀΐεαι οὐδέ σε λήθω·  
"Strange one, you are always suspecting, and I cannot escape you;

**562** πρῆξαι δʼ ἔμπης οὔ τι δυνήσεαι, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ θυμοῦ  
but you will accomplish nothing by it; you will only be further from

**563** μᾶλλον ἐμοὶ ἔσεαι· τὸ δέ τοι καὶ ῥίγιον ἔσται.  
my heart, and that will be the more grievous for you.

**564** εἰ δʼ οὕτω τοῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἐμοὶ μέλλει φίλον εἶναι·  
But if this is so, it is as I wish it to be.

**565** ἀλλʼ ἀκέουσα κάθησο, ἐμῷ δʼ ἐπιπείθεο μύθῳ,  
Sit down in silence, then, and obey my word,

**566** μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμωσιν ὅσοι θεοί εἰσʼ ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ  
lest all the gods that are on Olympus not protect you,
> An echo of Chryses' prayer: This half-line formula, "lest ... not protect you," recurred already at Book 1, line 28, when Agamemnon warned Chryses that his staff and wreath would not protect him. Zeus now levels the same formula at Hera — the menace that opened the poem's human quarrel resurfaces inside the gods' own marriage.

**567** ἆσσον ἰόνθʼ, ὅτε κέν τοι ἀάπτους χεῖρας ἐφείω.  
when I come near and lay my irresistible hands upon you."
> "Irresistible hands": ἄαπτος, from alpha-privative + ἅπτω "touch, grasp," means literally "not to be laid hold of" — hence "irresistible" rather than simply "invincible." χεῖρας ἀάπτους is a recurring Homeric formula for overwhelming physical force (it recurs later in the poem); locked here as "irresistible hands" for consistency wherever it appears again.

**568** ὣς ἔφατʼ ἔδεισεν δὲ βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη,  
So he spoke, and ox-eyed queenly Hera was afraid,

**569** καί ῥʼ ἀκέουσα καθῆστο ἐπιγνάμψασα φίλον κῆρ·  
and sat down in silence, curbing her own heart;

**570** ὄχθησαν δʼ ἀνὰ δῶμα Διὸς θεοὶ Οὐρανίωνες·  
but the heavenly gods were troubled throughout the house of Zeus.

**571** τοῖσιν δʼ Ἥφαιστος κλυτοτέχνης ἦρχʼ ἀγορεύειν  
Then Hephaestus, the famed craftsman, began to speak among them,
> Hephaestus, "famed craftsman": κλυτοτέχνης, "famed for his craft," is a standing epithet belonging to Hephaestus alone, the smith-god. It is held distinct from περικλυτὸς ἀμφιγυήεις, a different epithet pairing for the same god that appears at line 607.

**572** μητρὶ φίλῃ ἐπίηρα φέρων λευκωλένῳ Ἥρῃ·  
seeking to please his own dear mother, white-armed Hera:
> "Bringing what pleases": an idiom for placating: ἐπίηρα φέρειν, literally "to bring pleasing things," is a fixed Homeric idiom for placating someone. It recurs almost verbatim at line 578, once of Hephaestus toward Hera and once of Hera toward Zeus, tying the whole peacemaking scene together with the same phrase.

**573** ἦ δὴ λοίγια ἔργα τάδʼ ἔσσεται οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἀνεκτά,  
"Surely these will be ruinous things, no longer bearable,

**574** εἰ δὴ σφὼ ἕνεκα θνητῶν ἐριδαίνετον ὧδε,  
if you two are to quarrel so, for the sake of mortals,
> Dual again: "you two quarrel": ἐριδαίνετον and ἐλαύνετον (line 575) are second-person dual verbs — Hephaestus addresses Zeus and Hera together as a pair, the same dual number first taught at Book 1, line 6, for Agamemnon and Achilles. The grammar itself frames the Olympian couple's quarrel as a two-person quarrel, just like the mortal one that opened the poem.

**575** ἐν δὲ θεοῖσι κολῳὸν ἐλαύνετον· οὐδέ τι δαιτὸς  
and stir up uproar among the gods; nor will there be any joy

**576** ἐσθλῆς ἔσσεται ἦδος, ἐπεὶ τὰ χερείονα νικᾷ.  
in the good feast, since the worse is winning out.

**577** μητρὶ δʼ ἐγὼ παράφημι καὶ αὐτῇ περ νοεούσῃ  
I counsel my mother, though she herself perceives it,

**578** πατρὶ φίλῳ ἐπίηρα φέρειν Διί, ὄφρα μὴ αὖτε  
to please our own dear father Zeus, so that he may not again

**579** νεικείῃσι πατήρ, σὺν δʼ ἡμῖν δαῖτα ταράξῃ.  
rebuke her, and throw our feast into confusion.

**580** εἴ περ γάρ κʼ ἐθέλῃσιν Ὀλύμπιος ἀστεροπητὴς  
For if the Olympian, lord of the lightning, should wish

**581** ἐξ ἑδέων στυφελίξαι· ὃ γὰρ πολὺ φέρτατός ἐστιν.  
to hurl us from our seats — for he is by far the strongest —

**582** ἀλλὰ σὺ τὸν ἐπέεσσι καθάπτεσθαι μαλακοῖσιν·  
then you must address him with gentle words;

**583** αὐτίκʼ ἔπειθʼ ἵλαος Ὀλύμπιος ἔσσεται ἡμῖν.  
then at once the Olympian will be gracious to us."

**584** ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη καὶ ἀναΐξας δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον  
So he spoke, and springing up, he set a two-handled cup

**585** μητρὶ φίλῃ ἐν χειρὶ τίθει καί μιν προσέειπε·  
in his own mother's hand, and spoke to her:

**586** τέτλαθι μῆτερ ἐμή, καὶ ἀνάσχεο κηδομένη περ,  
"Endure it, my mother, and bear up, grieved though you are,

**587** μή σε φίλην περ ἐοῦσαν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἴδωμαι  
lest I see you, dear as you are, before my eyes

**588** θεινομένην, τότε δʼ οὔ τι δυνήσομαι ἀχνύμενός περ  
struck down; and then, grieved though I would be, I would not be able

**589** χραισμεῖν· ἀργαλέος γὰρ Ὀλύμπιος ἀντιφέρεσθαι·  
to help you; for the Olympian is hard to stand against.

**590** ἤδη γάρ με καὶ ἄλλοτʼ ἀλεξέμεναι μεμαῶτα  
For once before, when I was eager to defend you,

**591** ῥῖψε ποδὸς τεταγὼν ἀπὸ βηλοῦ θεσπεσίοιο,  
he seized me by the foot and hurled me from the divine threshold,

**592** πᾶν δʼ ἦμαρ φερόμην, ἅμα δʼ ἠελίῳ καταδύντι  
and all day long I fell, and with the setting of the sun

**593** κάππεσον ἐν Λήμνῳ, ὀλίγος δʼ ἔτι θυμὸς ἐνῆεν·  
I fell down on Lemnos, and little life was left in me.

**594** ἔνθά με Σίντιες ἄνδρες ἄφαρ κομίσαντο πεσόντα.  
There the Sintian men at once took me up as I fell."

**595** ὣς φάτο, μείδησεν δὲ θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη,  
So he spoke, and the goddess white-armed Hera smiled,

**596** μειδήσασα δὲ παιδὸς ἐδέξατο χειρὶ κύπελλον·  
and smiling, she took the cup from her son's hand.

**597** αὐτὰρ ὃ τοῖς ἄλλοισι θεοῖς ἐνδέξια πᾶσιν  
Then he, going to the right, poured for all the other gods

**598** οἰνοχόει γλυκὺ νέκταρ ἀπὸ κρητῆρος ἀφύσσων·  
sweet nectar, drawing it from the mixing bowl;

**599** ἄσβεστος δʼ ἄρʼ ἐνῶρτο γέλως μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν  
and unquenchable laughter rose among the blessed gods
> "Unquenchable laughter": ἄσβεστος γέλως, literally "inextinguishable laughter," is one of Homer's most famous phrases — the gods' shared, helpless mirth at watching Hephaestus bustle through the hall. The adjective elsewhere describes fire that cannot be put out, so the laughter becomes a kind of blaze.

**600** ὡς ἴδον Ἥφαιστον διὰ δώματα ποιπνύοντα.  
as they saw Hephaestus bustling through the halls.

**601** ὣς τότε μὲν πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα  
So then, the whole day long, until the sun went down,

**602** δαίνυντʼ, οὐδέ τι θυμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης,  
they feasted, and no heart lacked its share of the fair-shared feast,
> The "fair-shared feast": δαὶς ἐΐση, "the equal feast," is a recurring Homeric formula for a banquet where every guest receives a fair portion. Its appearance here, right after the gods have made peace, underlines that harmony has been restored to the table.

**603** οὐ μὲν φόρμιγγος περικαλλέος ἣν ἔχʼ Ἀπόλλων,  
nor of the beautiful lyre that Apollo held,

**604** Μουσάων θʼ αἳ ἄειδον ἀμειβόμεναι ὀπὶ καλῇ.  
nor of the Muses, who sang in turn with beautiful voice.

**605** αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατέδυ λαμπρὸν φάος ἠελίοιο,  
But when the bright light of the sun had set,

**606** οἳ μὲν κακκείοντες ἔβαν οἶκον δὲ ἕκαστος,  
they went, each to his own house, to lie down and sleep,

**607** ἧχι ἑκάστῳ δῶμα περικλυτὸς ἀμφιγυήεις  
where the renowned god, lame in both legs,
> "Lame in both legs": a disputed epithet: ἀμφιγυήεις is traditionally read as "lame in both legs," from γυῖα, "limbs," matching the fall from Olympus told at lines 590–594. Some scholars instead derive it from a root meaning "strong-limbed," praising his craftsmanship rather than naming his lameness; we follow the traditional reading, since Homer elsewhere calls him lame outright, but the etymology is genuinely contested.

**608** Ἥφαιστος ποίησεν ἰδυίῃσι πραπίδεσσι·  
Hephaestus, had built a house for each with cunning skill.

**609** Ζεὺς δὲ πρὸς ὃν λέχος ἤϊʼ Ὀλύμπιος ἀστεροπητής,  
But Zeus, the Olympian, lord of the lightning, went to his own bed,

**610** ἔνθα πάρος κοιμᾶθʼ ὅτε μιν γλυκὺς ὕπνος ἱκάνοι·  
where he had always slept before, whenever sweet sleep came upon him;

**611** ἔνθα καθεῦδʼ ἀναβάς, παρὰ δὲ χρυσόθρονος Ἥρη.  
there he went up and slept, and beside him, golden-throned Hera.
> Golden-throned Hera: χρυσόθρονος, "golden-throned," is a further standing epithet of Hera, distinct from βοῶπις πότνια, "ox-eyed queenly" (line 551), and λευκώλενος, "white-armed" (line 55). Locked here as "golden-throned Hera" for every recurrence; the book closes on this quiet domestic image, Zeus and Hera side by side in bed, with no comment added beyond what Homer gives.

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Source text: public domain (Homer, ancient; Greek per the Murray text via the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 3.0). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original line-aligned draft, pending editorial review. Word-by-word morphology and syntax derived from the Perseus Ancient Greek Dependency Treebank (CC BY-SA 3.0); English glosses and notes © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.