Day 59: Early, Rosy Fingered Dawn

Lines 471-79
νώμησαν δ' ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν,
οἱ δὲ πανημέριοι μολπῇ θεὸν ἱλάσκοντο,
καλὸν ἀείδοντες παιήονα, κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν,
μέλποντες ἑκάερτον· ὁ δὲ φρένα τέρπετ' ἀκούων.
ἦμος δ' ἠέλιος κατέδυ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθεν,
δὴ τότε κοιμήσαντο παρὰ πρυνήσια νηός.
ἦμος δ' ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠως,
καὶ τότ' ἔπειτ' ἀνάγοντο μετὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν·
τοῖσιν δ' ἴκυμενον οὖρον ἵει ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων.

Then they apportioned it to all and each let fall
A drop of wine from their cup, and all day
They propitiated the god with their dance,
Singing well the Striker's hymn, the Achaean youths,
And dancing the dance of that far stiking god;
And this delighted his spirit that hearkened to it.
Then when the sun set and the gloom of night came on,
They fell to slumber along the stern of their ship.
And when early, rosy fingered dawn appeared,
They set out for the broad camp of the Achaeans;
And far striking Apollo sent a fair wind for them.


So this is the end of the Chryseis drama with her being returned to her beloved father and the Achaeans spending the day in Chrysa feasting in honor of Apollo. His anger now appeased he puts the wind at Odysseus' back so that he can return to the war. I find this last part a little incredulous since Apollo was firmly in the camp of the Trojans. But, I suppose that if one honors a god sufficiently then his favor can be won.

My favorite Homeric epithet makes its first appearance here: early, rosy fingered dawn. These were the first words that stuck in my memory on reading the Iliad, or attempting to read the Iliad, for the first time several years ago. These epithets are the key I think to the resiliency
of the Homeric epics throughout the millenia. They have the feel of some sort of magic charm to them. Fast ships sailing on a wine dark sea...