Day 25: The Lord of Men makes a choice

Lines 109-117
καὶ νῦν ἐν Δαναοῖσι θεοπροπέων ἀγορεύεις,
ὡς δὴ τοῦδ' ἑνεκά σφιν ἑκηβόλος ἄλγεα τεύχει,
οὕνεκ' ἐγὼ κούρης Χρυσηίδος ἀγλά' ἄποινα
οὐκ ἔθελον δέξασθαι, - ἐπεὶ πολὺ βούλομαι αὐτὴν
οἴκοι ἔχειν. καὶ γάρ ῥα Κλυταιμνήστρης προβέβουλα,
κουριδίης ἀλόχου, ἐπεὶ οὔ ἑθέν ἐστι χερείων,
οὐ δέμας οὐδὲ φυὴν οὔτ' ἂρ φρένας οὔτε τι ἔργα.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧς ἐθέλω δόμεναι πάλιν, εἰ τό γ' ἄμεινον·
βούλομ' ἐγὼ λαὸν σόον ἔμμεναι ἢ ἀπολέσθαι.

And now you harangue the Danaans in this assembly,
Prophesying how it is on account of this that
The god who strikes from afar makes these woes for us
Because I was not willing to accept the shining ransoms for Chryseis,
Since I greatly desired to have her at home.
For I greatly prefer her to Clytamnestra, my wedded wife,
Since she is inferior neither in form nor beauty, nor spirit, nor in her works.
But even so, I am willing to give her back, if that is better;
I desire that the men be safe, rather than destroyed.


I had trouble with several lines of this section. Not so much with the language but with the meter. There are supposed to be six syllabic feet in each line consisting of either two long syllables or a long syllable followed by two shorts. A couple of the lines seemed to have more than six feet and this puzzles me. I can't see that I am counting wrong but I suppose that it is possible since I am hardly a master. Anyone who has any advice please fill me in.

Otherwise, this is a great scene. You can hear Agamemnon in his head screaming: I want her! I want her and there is no way that I'm going to give her back! But then he senses a political opportunity and a way to win favor with his men. He will give up something of immense value to himself in order to provide a benefit for his army. But he will demand a price...