Ἰλιάδος Β

τε...καί here pairs θεοί and ἀνέρες, "gods" and "men," into a single joined subject.

ἱπποκορυστής, literally "horse-armed," names warriors by their gear rather than their branch of service.

νήδυμος ὕπνος, "sweet sleep," is a standing Homeric formula for restful sleep — its denial to Zeus alone marks how unusual this troubled night is.

Ἀχαιῶν here is a possessive genitive on "ships," not a second object of "destroy" — the many dead are simply men, understood from πολέας.

Zeus's βουλή, "plan," here is the deceptive Dream itself — a bitter echo of the "will of Zeus" (Διὸς βουλή) named in the poem's opening lines.

Personified as a messenger-being sent by Zeus, capitalized throughout this episode per the poem's convention for the Dream and, later, Rumor.

ἔπεα πτερόεντα, "winged words," is Homer's standing speech-formula, held to this exact wording wherever it recurs.

βάσκ' ἴθι doubles two imperatives of motion ("up, go!") into one urgent command; the translation renders the pair as a single "Go now."

κάρη κομόωντας, literally "long-haired as to the head," is the locked standing epithet "long-haired Achaeans"; κάρη itself contributes no separate word to the English.

εὐρυάγυιαν, "wide-wayed," is the locked standing epithet for Troy, distinct from the ordinary word for "city" it modifies.

ἀμφὶς φράζονται, "take counsel apart," spans this line and the next — the gods have stopped disagreeing among themselves about the war.

ὄνειρος recurs bare here without the οὖλος "baneful" epithet attached in lines 6 and 8, but still refers to the same personified Dream.

Tmesis: περὶ here is the separated preverb of περιχέω, "pour around," completed by κέχυθ' at the end of the line.

Completes the compound verb περιχέω begun by the preverb περὶ earlier in the line (tmesis).

"Neleus' son" identifies Nestor by patronymic before naming him outright in the next line — the disguise the Dream wears to gain Agamemnon's trust.

The Dream has taken Nestor's exact form (see line 20) precisely because Nestor is the elder Agamemnon trusts and honors most — a detail that makes the deception land.

ἱππόδαμος, "tamer of horses," is a standing heroic epithet applied to Atreus here, distinct from its later use for other charioteer-kings.

τε...καὶ here pairs two things entrusted to the king: the people themselves and the many cares that come with ruling them.

ἄγγελος, "messenger," is the Dream's own claim to authority — it speaks as if sent directly by Zeus, which the poem has just confirmed is true.

Part of the same locked epithet "long-haired Achaeans" as line 11; κάρη again contributes no separate English word.

ἀμφὶς φράζονται, "take counsel apart," spans this line and the next, repeating the Dream's own words to Agamemnon verbatim from lines 13-14.

ἔχε φρεσί, "keep in mind," pairs with the next line's warning against forgetfulness (μηδέ σε λήθη αἱρείτω) — the Dream is urging Agamemnon to remember its message exactly, not casting doubt on it.

ἀπεβήσετο, "departed," marks the Dream's exit from the scene; it does not reappear after delivering its message, unlike other divine visitors who linger to watch events unfold.

Dramatic irony: the poem tells us directly that Agamemnon's plan, built on the Dream's lie, is doomed before he even acts on it.

νήπιος, "fool," is the narrator's own blunt judgment on Agamemnon, breaking in to comment on the character's misplaced confidence.

Tmesis: ἐπ(ί) earlier in the line is the separated preverb of ἐπιτίθημι, "lay upon," completed by θήσειν.

τε...τε here pairs ἄλγεα and στοναχάς, "pains" and "groans," into a single doubled object.

τε...καί pairs Τρωσί and Δαναοῖσι, "Trojans" and "Danaans," as the two peoples equally destined for suffering.

θείη ὀμφή, "the divine voice," is the poem's own confirmation that the Dream truly spoke with Zeus's authority, not merely Agamemnon's imagining.

The arming-and-dressing sequence (tunic, cloak, sandals, sword, scepter) is a type-scene Homer reuses for heroes preparing to face the day, here applied to a king readying himself for council rather than battle.

Tmesis: περὶ here is the separated preverb of περιβάλλω, "cast around," completed by βάλλετο later in the line.

Completes the compound verb περιβάλλω begun by the preverb περὶ earlier in the line (tmesis).

This is the same scepter whose genealogy — Hephaestus to Zeus to Pelops to Atreus to Agamemnon — the poem traces at length later in Book 2.

χαλκοχίτων, "bronze-clad," is a separate standing epithet for the Achaeans from κάρη κομόωντας "long-haired," each held to its own wording per line.

This μέν has no close correlate particle following in the immediate lines; it marks a scene-transition ("now") rather than setting up a direct contrast.

Part of the locked epithet "long-haired Achaeans" (κάρη κομόωντας); κάρη itself contributes no separate English word.

ἷζε, "sat [in council]," begins the Achaean assembly proper — the council of elders convened before the wider army is roused, a deliberate order of operations.

Agamemnon reports the Dream to his council using the same bare word ὄνειρος the narrator used earlier, but omits that its message was false — dramatic irony the audience already knows and the elders do not.

δῖος, "godlike," is Nestor's own standing epithet, distinct from the martial epithets used for younger warriors — Nestor's honor is one of wisdom and age.

τε...τε...τε here strings together three separate points of resemblance — form, stature, build — into one triple-paired list.

πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν, literally "spoke toward a word," is a fixed idiom for addressing someone; πρὸς adds no separate word beyond "spoke...to me."

Nestor's disguised form (see line 57) repeats the Dream's opening words to Agamemnon almost verbatim from line 23 — Agamemnon is now recounting the deception word for word to the real Nestor.

τε...καὶ pairs two things entrusted to the king: the people themselves and the many cares that come with ruling them.

Part of the locked epithet "long-haired Achaeans" (κάρη κομόωντας); κάρη itself contributes no separate English word.

This is the third time within the episode that the Dream's exact command to "arm the long-haired Achaeans" has been repeated verbatim — first spoken by Zeus, then by the Dream to Agamemnon, now by Agamemnon reporting it to the council.

ἔπεσιν, "with words," signals that Agamemnon's coming test of the army (the false order to flee) is a speech-act, not a real command — the danger is that the men may take it literally, which is exactly what happens.

Agamemnon's plan to "test" the army by ordering a false retreat is his own idea, layered on top of the Dream's separate command to attack — the scheme that goes wrong later in Book 2.

ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος, literally "from another place, another [man]," is a distributive idiom collapsed into the single English phrase "from this side and that."

Tmesis: κατ(ά) here is the separated preverb of καθέζομαι, "sit down," completed by ἕζετο later in the line.

Completes the compound verb καθέζομαι begun by the preverb κατά earlier in the line (tmesis).

ἄναξ, "lord," is Nestor's title as ruler of Pylos in his own right, distinct from Agamemnon's overall command of the expedition.

ὦ is the plain vocative interjection introducing a direct address, with no separate word of its own in the English "Friends..."

This μέν sets up the contrary-to-fact contrast completed by νῦν δ' in line 82: if anyone else had reported this dream they'd distrust it, but now [it was Agamemnon himself who saw it].

φαῖμεν, "we would call [it]," is a contrary-to-fact optative — Nestor imagines a hypothetical reaction to make the actual situation (Agamemnon himself saw the dream) carry more weight.

Nestor calls Agamemnon "far the best of the Achaeans" as ruling king, a claim of primacy the poem's whole plot complicates — the actual best fighter, Achilles, is the one currently refusing to fight.

ἐξῆρχε, "led the way," marks Nestor as the senior elder whose motion to rise the others follow — the same authority the poem noted Agamemnon grants him above all other elders.

σκηπτοῦχοι βασιλῆες, "scepter-bearing kings," names the assembled leaders by their badge of office — the same scepter whose full history Agamemnon traces a few lines later.

Opens Book 2's first extended epic simile: the army streaming to assembly compared to swarms of bees, a comparison drawn from the ordinary rural world rather than from war.

This epic τε, paired with a second τε later in the line, is generalizing color typical of the "some...others" (αἳ μέν...αἳ δέ) formula, not a coordinating word of its own.

Personified as a messenger-being distinct from the Dream earlier in this book, capitalized per the poem's convention for such figures; ὄσσα is a common noun ("rumor, report"), not a proper name.

ἄγγελος, "messenger," identifies Rumor by the same word used for the Dream earlier — both are Zeus's agents for stirring the army into motion, though Rumor here works through the ranks rather than a single sleeper.

The people's difficulty settling down ("with effort... were restrained") shows an army already keyed up before Agamemnon has said a word — the crowd's mood the heralds are fighting.

κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων, "the lord Agamemnon," is his standing title throughout the poem, distinct from patronymic forms like "son of Atreus."

This μέν opens the scepter's genealogy: Hephaestus made it, then it passed Zeus–Hermes–Pelops–Atreus–Thyestes–Agamemnon, each stage marked by μέν/αὐτὰρ across the following lines rather than a single close correlate.

The genealogy's repeated δῶκε, "gave," (Hephaestus to Zeus, Zeus to Hermes, and so on) turns the scepter's descent into a formulaic chain, each transfer marked by the same verb.

Ἀργειφόντης, "slayer of Argus," is Hermes' standing epithet, referring to his killing of the hundred-eyed watchman Argus in an earlier myth.

Pelops, the mythical Lydian/Phrygian prince whose ivory shoulder and chariot race for Hippodameia begin the house of Atreus's long curse — the scepter genealogy roots Agamemnon's authority in this line.

Thyestes, Atreus's brother — their mutual rivalry, including Atreus's infamous revenge-feast, is the darkest chapter of the house's curse, left unstated here as the poem moves briskly through the genealogy.