Day 18: Achilles Calls Forth the Seer

Lines 64-69
ὅς κ' εἴποι, ὁτι τόσσον ἐχώσατο Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων
εἴ τ' ἄρ ὅ γ' εὐχωλῆς ἐπιμέμφεται εἴ θ' ἑκατόμβης,
αἴ κέν πώς ἀρῶν κνίσης αἰγῶν τε τελείων
βούλεται ἀντιάσας ἡμῖν ἀπὸ λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι."
ἦ τοι ὅ γ' ὦς εἰπων κατ' ἄρ' ἕζετο, τοῖσι δ' ἀνέστη
Κάλχας Θεστορίδης, οἰωνοπόλων ὄχ ἄριστος,

Who may say what has so enraged Phoebus Apollo,
If it was a vow unfulfilled, or a hecatomb unoffered,
Or if he desires to partake of the rich savor of unblemished
Lambs and goats to ward off our destruction."
His words thus finished, he then sat down and Calchas son of Thestor,
By far the best of seers, was made to stand

Day 17: The Words of Achilles

Lines 59-63
"Ἀτρεῑδη, νῦν ἄμμε πάλιν πλαγχθέντας ὀίω
ἂψ ἀπονοστήσειν, εἴ κε θανατόν γε φύγοιμεν
εἰ δὴ ὁμοῦ πόλεμός τε δαμᾷ καὶ λοιμὸς Ἀχαιούς.
ἀλλ' ἄγε δή τινα μάντιν ἐρείομεν ἣ ἱερῆα
ἢ καὶ ὀνειροπόλον, καὶ γάρ τ' ὄναρ ἐκ Διός ἐστιν,

"Son of Atreus, I now believe us beaten back
Toward home, may it be that we escape death
While plague and war subdue the Achaeans.
But come now, let us ask some seer or holy man
Or interpreter of dreams, for the dream is from Zeus,


A desperate Achilles begins his plea to Agamemnon for a resolution to the crisis. I often wonder why the Trojans did not launch a full scale attack at this point and push their Achaean foes into the sea. I'm guessing that Homer would give an answer that not even Zeus could fathom the whims of fate...

The hills of Carthage as promised