TLines 334-47
"χαίρετε, κήρυκες, Διὸς ἄγγελοι ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν·
ἆσσον ἴτ'· οὔ τί μοι ὕμμες ἐπαίτιοι, ἀλλ' Ἀγαμέμνων,
ὅ σφῶι προΐει Βρισηίδος εἵνεκα κούρης.
ἀλλ' ἄγε, διογενὲς Πατρόκλεις, ἔξαγε κούρην
καί σφωιν δὸς ἄγειν. τὼ δ' αὐτὼ μάρτυροι ἔστων
πρός τε θεῶν μακάρων πρός τε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων
καὶ πρὸς τοῦ βασιλῆος ἀπνέος, εἴ ποτε δὴ αὖτε
χρειὼ ἐμεῖο γένηται ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι
τοῖς ἄλλοῖς. ἦ γὰρ ὅ γ' ὀλοιῇσι φρεσὶ θύει,
οὐδέ τι οἶδε νοῆσαι ἅμα πρόσσω καὶ ὀπίσσω,
ὅππως οἱ παρὰ νηυσὶ σόοι μαχεοίατ' Ἀχαιοί."
ὧς γάτο, Πάτροκλος δὲ φίλῳ ἐπιπείθεθ' ἑταίρῳ,
ἐκ δ' ἄγαγε κλισίης Βρισηίδα καλλιπάρῃον,
δῶκε δ' ἄγειν. τὼ δ' αὖτις ἴτην παρὰ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν,
"Be welcome heralds, you messengers from Zeus, as well as men;
Come here. Neither of you is responsible, but Agamemnon,
Who sent you here on account of the maiden Briseis.
But come now, Zeus born Patroclus, bring forth the girl
And give her away to these two. And let they themselves be witnesses
Before the blessed gods, and before mortal men,
And before that cruel king, if ever there should arise
A need for me to ward off grievous destruction for these others.
For indeed he rages about in his accursed mind,
And does not even consider any of this,
Rushing backwards and forwards at the same time
By the safe ships, so that the Achaeans would do battle for him."
Thus he finished, and Patroclus obeyed his beloved comrade,
So he led fair cheeked Briseis forth from the hut and gave her up.
The two at once went off along the ships of the Achaeans,
I do not know if I got the sense right for Achilles last words to the heralds.
I think that it is commenting on Agamemnon's sitting in the safety of the ships raging about in his mind while others do the fighting for him. If anyone who happens to read this has a better understanding I would appreciate hearing it. If not I guess I'll check Fagles once again. Thank you.
Showing posts with label Talthybius. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talthybius. Show all posts
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Day 48: A Sticky Situation for Talthybius and Eurybates
Lines 315-33
ἔρδον δ' Απόλλωνι τελήεσσας ἑκατόμβας
ταύρων ἠδ' αἰγῶν παρὰ θῖν' ἁλὸς ἀτυργέτοιο·
κνίση δ' οὐρανὸν ἷκεν ἐλισσομένη περὶ καπνῷ.
ὧς οἱ μὲν τὰ πένοντο κατὰ στρατόν· οὐδ' Ἀγαμέμνων
λῆγ' ἔριδος, τὴν πρῶτον ἐπηπείλης' Ἀχιλῆι,
ἀλλ' ὅ γε Ταλθύβιον τε καὶ Εὐρυβάτην προσέειπεν,
τώ οἱ ἔσαν κήρυκε καὶ ὀτρηρὼ θεράποντε·
"ἔρεχεσθον κλισίην Πηληιάδεω Ἀχιλῆος·
χειρὸς ἑλόντ ἀγέμεν Βρισηίδα καλλιπάρῃον·
εἰ δέ κε μή δώῃσιν, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι
ἐλθὼν σὺν πλεόνεσσι· τό οἱ καὶ ῥιγιον ἔσται."
ὧς εἰπὼν προΐει κρατερὸν δ' ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλεν.
τὼ δ' ἀέκοντε βάτην παρὰ θῖν' ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο,
Μυρμιδόνων δ' ἐπί τε κλισίας καὶ νῆας ἵκεσθην.
τὸν δ' εὗρον παρά τε κλισίῃ καὶ νηὶ μελαίνῃ
ἥμενον. οὐδ' ἄρα ώ γε ἰδὼν γήθησεν' Ἀχιλλεύς.
τὼ μὲν παρβήσαντε καὶ αἰδομένω βασιλῆα
στήτην, οὐδέ τί μιν προσεθώνεον οὐδ' ἐρέοντο·
αὐτὰρ ὁ ἔγνων ᾗσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φώνησέν τε·
And they sacrificed to Apollo perfect hecatombs of bulls
And goats by the along the shore of the restless, briny sea;
So the savor went to the heavens twisting around in smoke.
Thus the men busied themselves about the camp, and Agamemnon
Did not cease from strife, having first threatened this to Achilles,
But he addressed then Talthybius and Eurybates, who were his heralds
And ready attendants:
"Go to the hut of Peleus' son Achilles,
Seize fair cheeked Briseis by the hand and lead her off.
And if he should not give her up, then I myself may take her,
Going along with many men; and this will be the worse for him."
Thus speaking he sent them forth, and imparted a harsh command.
So the two went unwilling along the shore of the barren, briny deep,
And they came to the tents and ships of the Myrmidons.
They found him sitting beside his tent and a black ship.
And seeing those two Achilles of course did not rejoice.
They revered the chief and stood in terror, and neither did they
Address him nor make an inquiry; but he perceived their hearts
And spoke up:
This is a difficult situation for these two men. Essentially Agamemnon has sent them as cannon fodder to see how Achilles will react to his threats. The two men are terrified since everyone, and most especially Achilles, knows why they are there. The two heralds are terror struck when they see him sitting by his tent, probably imagining that he is about to remove some vital organ from their bodies, but he does not do that. He understands their predicament and speaks to them. Yet another example of how Achilles is not just the mindless and brutish psycophath that he is often portrayed as.
On a linguistic note this is a great section for teaching a unique feature of Homeric grammar known as the dual. Most languages have a singular form of nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives for one item and plural for more than one. Homeric Greek has an additional form for two items. This feature was largely lost by the age of Plato and Aristotle so it is unique to the epic tradition and the only modern language that I know of where it exists is in literary Arabic. Since there are two heralds going to find Achilles and take the girl in this section this form is used repeatedly and it works well as a refresher.
ἔρδον δ' Απόλλωνι τελήεσσας ἑκατόμβας
ταύρων ἠδ' αἰγῶν παρὰ θῖν' ἁλὸς ἀτυργέτοιο·
κνίση δ' οὐρανὸν ἷκεν ἐλισσομένη περὶ καπνῷ.
ὧς οἱ μὲν τὰ πένοντο κατὰ στρατόν· οὐδ' Ἀγαμέμνων
λῆγ' ἔριδος, τὴν πρῶτον ἐπηπείλης' Ἀχιλῆι,
ἀλλ' ὅ γε Ταλθύβιον τε καὶ Εὐρυβάτην προσέειπεν,
τώ οἱ ἔσαν κήρυκε καὶ ὀτρηρὼ θεράποντε·
"ἔρεχεσθον κλισίην Πηληιάδεω Ἀχιλῆος·
χειρὸς ἑλόντ ἀγέμεν Βρισηίδα καλλιπάρῃον·
εἰ δέ κε μή δώῃσιν, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι
ἐλθὼν σὺν πλεόνεσσι· τό οἱ καὶ ῥιγιον ἔσται."
ὧς εἰπὼν προΐει κρατερὸν δ' ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλεν.
τὼ δ' ἀέκοντε βάτην παρὰ θῖν' ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο,
Μυρμιδόνων δ' ἐπί τε κλισίας καὶ νῆας ἵκεσθην.
τὸν δ' εὗρον παρά τε κλισίῃ καὶ νηὶ μελαίνῃ
ἥμενον. οὐδ' ἄρα ώ γε ἰδὼν γήθησεν' Ἀχιλλεύς.
τὼ μὲν παρβήσαντε καὶ αἰδομένω βασιλῆα
στήτην, οὐδέ τί μιν προσεθώνεον οὐδ' ἐρέοντο·
αὐτὰρ ὁ ἔγνων ᾗσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φώνησέν τε·
And they sacrificed to Apollo perfect hecatombs of bulls
And goats by the along the shore of the restless, briny sea;
So the savor went to the heavens twisting around in smoke.
Thus the men busied themselves about the camp, and Agamemnon
Did not cease from strife, having first threatened this to Achilles,
But he addressed then Talthybius and Eurybates, who were his heralds
And ready attendants:
"Go to the hut of Peleus' son Achilles,
Seize fair cheeked Briseis by the hand and lead her off.
And if he should not give her up, then I myself may take her,
Going along with many men; and this will be the worse for him."
Thus speaking he sent them forth, and imparted a harsh command.
So the two went unwilling along the shore of the barren, briny deep,
And they came to the tents and ships of the Myrmidons.
They found him sitting beside his tent and a black ship.
And seeing those two Achilles of course did not rejoice.
They revered the chief and stood in terror, and neither did they
Address him nor make an inquiry; but he perceived their hearts
And spoke up:
This is a difficult situation for these two men. Essentially Agamemnon has sent them as cannon fodder to see how Achilles will react to his threats. The two men are terrified since everyone, and most especially Achilles, knows why they are there. The two heralds are terror struck when they see him sitting by his tent, probably imagining that he is about to remove some vital organ from their bodies, but he does not do that. He understands their predicament and speaks to them. Yet another example of how Achilles is not just the mindless and brutish psycophath that he is often portrayed as.
On a linguistic note this is a great section for teaching a unique feature of Homeric grammar known as the dual. Most languages have a singular form of nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives for one item and plural for more than one. Homeric Greek has an additional form for two items. This feature was largely lost by the age of Plato and Aristotle so it is unique to the epic tradition and the only modern language that I know of where it exists is in literary Arabic. Since there are two heralds going to find Achilles and take the girl in this section this form is used repeatedly and it works well as a refresher.
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