The Iliad. Homer

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ were the leaders and the chiefs of Greece:

       Say, Muse, of these, who with th' Atridae came,

       Horses and men, who claim'd the highest praise.

       Of steeds, the bravest and the noblest far

       Were those Eumelus drove, Admetus' son:

       Both swift as birds, in age and colour match'd,

       Alike in height, as measur'd o'er the back;

       Both mares, by Phoebus of the silver bow

       Rear'd in Pieria, thunderbolts of war.

       Of men, while yet Achilles held his wrath,

       The mightiest far was Ajax Telamon.

       For with Achilles, and the steeds that bore

       The matchless son of Peleus, none might vie:

       But 'mid his beaked ocean-going ships

       He lay, with Agamemnon, Atreus' son,

       Indignant; while his troops upon the beach

       With quoits and jav'lins whil'd away the day,

       And feats of archery; their steeds the while

       The lotus-grass and marsh-grown parsley cropp'd,

       Each standing near their car; the well-wrought cars

       Lay all unheeded in the warriors' tents;

       They, inly pining for their godlike chief,

       Roam'd listless up and down, nor join'd the fray.

      Such was the host, which, like devouring fire,

       O'erspread the land; the earth beneath them groan'd:

       As when the Lord of thunder, in his wrath,

       The earth's foundations shakes, in Arimi,

       Where, buried deep, 'tis said, Typhoeus lies;

       So at their coming, groan'd beneath their feet

       The earth, as quickly o'er the plain they spread.

      To Troy, sent down by aegis-bearing Jove,

       With direful tidings storm-swift Iris came.

       At Priam's gate, in solemn conclave met,

       Were gather'd all the Trojans, young and old:

       Swift Iris stood amidst them, and, the voice

       Assuming of Polites, Priam's son,

       The Trojan scout, who, trusting to his speed,

       Was posted on the summit of the mound

       Of ancient AEsuetes, there to watch

       Till from their ships the Grecian troops should march;

       His voice assuming, thus the Goddess spoke:

       "Old man, as erst in peace, so still thou lov'st

       The strife of words; but fearful war is nigh.

       Full many a host in line of battle rang'd

       My eyes have seen; but such a force as this,

       So mighty and so vast, I ne'er beheld:

       In number as the leaves, or as the sand,

       Against the city o'er the plain they come.

       Then, Hector, for to thee I chiefly speak,

       This do; thou know'st how various our allies,

       Of diff'rent nations and discordant tongues:

       Let each then those command o'er whom he reigns,

       And his own countrymen in arms array."

       She said; and Hector knew the voice divine,

       And all, dissolv'd the council, flew to arms,

       The gates were open'd wide; forth pour'd the crowd,

       Both foot and horse; and loud the tumult rose.

      Before the city stands a lofty mound,

       In the mid plain, by open space enclos'd;

       Men call it Batiaea; but the Gods

       The tomb of swift Myrinna; muster'd there

       The Trojans and Allies their troops array'd.

      The mighty Hector of the glancing helm,

       The son of Priam, led the Trojan host:

       The largest and the bravest band were they,

       Bold spearmen all, who follow'd him in arms.

      Anchises' valiant son, AEneas, led

       The Dardans; him, 'mid Ida's jutting peaks,

       Immortal Venus to Anchises bore,

       A Goddess yielding to a mortal's love:

       With him, well skill'd in war, Archilochus

       And Acamas, Antenor's gallant sons.

      Who in Zeleia dwelt, at Ida's foot,

       Of Trojan race, a wealthy tribe, who drank

       Of dark AEsepus' waters, these were led

       By Pandarus, Lycaon's noble son,

       Taught by Apollo's self to draw the bow.

      Who from Adraste, and Apaesus' realm,

       From Pityeia, and the lofty hill

       Tereian came, with linen corslets girt,

       Adrastus and Amphius led; two sons

       Of Merops of Percote; deeply vers'd

       Was he in prophecy; and from the war

       Would fain have kept his sons; but they, by fate,

       Doom'd to impending death, his caution scorn'd.

      Those who from Practium and Percote came,

       And who in Sestos and Abydos dwelt,

       And in Arisba fair; those Asius led,

       The son of Hyrtacus, of heroes chief;

       Asius the son of Hyrtacus, who came

       From fair Arisba, borne by fiery steeds

СКАЧАТЬ