The Iliad of Homer. Homer

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СКАЧАТЬ 072 Of Atreus, Agamemnon, mighty king,

       In arms heroic, gracious in the throne,

       And, (though it shame me now to call him such,)210

       By nuptial ties a brother once to me.

      Then him the ancient King-admiring, said.

       Oh blest Atrides, happy was thy birth,

       And thy lot glorious, whom this gallant host

       So numerous, of the sons of Greece obey!215

       To vine-famed Phrygia, in my days of youth,

       I journey'd; many Phrygians there I saw,

       Brave horsemen, and expert; they were the powers

       Of Otreus and of Mygdon, godlike Chief,

       And on the banks of Sangar's stream encamp'd.220

       I march'd among them, chosen in that war

       Ally of Phrygia, and it was her day

       Of conflict with the man-defying race,

       The Amazons; yet multitudes like these

       Thy bright-eyed Greeks, I saw not even there.225

      The venerable King observing next

       Ulysses, thus inquired. My child, declare

       Him also. Shorter by the head he seems

       Than Agamemnon, Atreus' mighty son,

       But shoulder'd broader, and of ampler chest;230

       He hath disposed his armor on the plain,

       But like a ram, himself the warrior ranks

       Ranges majestic; like a ram full-fleeced

       By numerous sheep encompass'd snowy-white.

      To whom Jove's daughter Helen thus replied.235

       In him the son of old Laërtes know,

       Ulysses; born in Ithaca the rude,

       But of a piercing wit, and deeply wise.

      Then answer thus, Antenor sage return'd.

       Princess thou hast described him: hither once240

       The noble Ithacan, on thy behalf

       Ambassador with Menelaus, came:

       Beneath my roof, with hospitable fare

       Friendly I entertained them. Seeing then

       Occasion opportune, I closely mark'd245

       073 The genius and the talents of the Chiefs,

       And this I noted well; that when they stood

       Amid the assembled counsellors of Troy,

       Then Menelaus his advantage show'd,

       Who by the shoulders overtopp'd his friend.250

       But when both sat, Ulysses in his air

       Had more of state and dignity than he.

       In the delivery of a speech address'd

       To the full senate, Menelaus used

       Few words, but to the matter, fitly ranged,255

       And with much sweetness utter'd; for in loose

       And idle play of ostentatious terms

       He dealt not, thhugh he were the younger man.

       But when the wise Ulysses from his seat

       Had once arisen, he would his downcast eyes260

       So rivet on the earth, and with a hand

       That seem'd untutor'd in its use, so hold

       His sceptre, swaying it to neither side,

       That hadst thou seen him, thou hadst thought him, sure,

       Some chafed and angry idiot, passion-fixt.265

       Yet, when at length, the clear and mellow base

       Of his deep voice brake forth, and he let fall

       His chosen words like flakes of feather'd snow,

       None then might match Ulysses; leisure, then,

       Found none to wonder at his noble form.270

      The third of whom the venerable king

       Inquired, was Ajax.—Yon Achaian tall,

       Whose head and shoulders tower above the rest,

       And of such bulk prodigious—who is he?

      Him answer'd Helen, loveliest of her sex.275

       A bulwark of the Greeks. In him thou seest

       Gigantic Ajax. Opposite appear

       The Cretans, and among the Chiefs of Crete

       stands, like a God, Idomeneus. Him oft

       From Crete arrived, was Menelaüs wont280

       To entertain; and others now I see,

       Achaians, whom I could recall to mind,

       And give to each his name; but two brave youths

       074 I yet discern not; for equestrian skill

       One famed, and one a boxer never foiled;285

       My brothers; born of Leda; sons of Jove;

       Castor and Pollux. Either they abide

       In lovely Sparta still, or if they came,

       Decline the fight, by my disgrace abash'd

       And the reproaches which have fallen on me.[14]290

      She said; but they already slept inhumed

       In Lacedemon, in their native soil.

      And now the heralds, through the streets of Troy

       Charged with the lambs, and with a goat-skin filled

       With heart-exhilarating wine prepared295

       For that divine solemnity, return'd.

       Idæus in his hand a beaker bore

       Resplendent, with its fellow cups of gold,

       And thus he summon'd ancient Priam forth.

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