Day 22: The Oath of Achilles

Lines 86-92
οὐ μὰ γὰρ Ἀπόλλωνα διίφιλον, ᾧ τε σύ, Καλχαν,
εὐχόμενος Δαναοῖσι θεοπροπίας ἀναφαίνεις,
οὔ τις ἐμεῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐπὶ χθονὶ δερκομένοιο
σοὶ κοίλῃς παρὰ νηυσὶ βαρείας χεῖρας ἐποίσει
συμπάντων Δαναῶν, οὐδ' ἢν Ἀγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς,
ὅς νῦν πολλὸν ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν εὔχεται εἶναι."
καὶ τότε δὴ θάρσησε καὶ ηὔδα μάντις ἀμύμων·

For I swear by Apollo who is dear to Zeus,
And to whom you pray Calchas, reveal the oracle
To the Danaans and while I live and look upon the earth
No Danaan will lay heavy hands upon you by the hollow ships,
Even if you should say Agamemnon,
Who now often boasts of being the best of the Achaeans."
From then the noble seer took heart and spoke:


Happy New Year to all. This is a magnificent passage of the poem with Achilles making his dramatic oath before the seer. This changes the entire course of the epic for the seer now has the courage and the backing to reveal the oracle which robs Agamemnon of his prize and will divide the two chiefs for the remainder of the tale. I appreciate the ancient bard's decision here to put a slight towards Agamemnon on the lips of the Achilles at the end of his oath to forshadow the coming conflict.

Day 19: The Seer Speaks

Lines 70-75
ὅς ᾔδη τά τ' ἐόντα τά τ' ἐσσόμενα πρό τ' ἐόντα,
καὶ νήεσς' ἠγήσατ' Ἀχαιῶν Ἴλιον εἴσω
ἥν διὰ μαντοσύνην, τήν οἱ πορε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.
ὅ σφιν ἐὺ φρονέων ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·
"ὦ Ἀχιλεῦ, κέλεαί με, διίφιλε μυθήσασθαι
μῆνιν Ἀπόλλωνος, ἑκατηβελέταο ἄνακτος·

Who knows what is, what shall be, and what was,
and led the ships of the Achaeans to Ilium
Through the gift of prophecy that Phoebus Apollo gave to him;
He rose, and thinking things through, addressed them:
"O Achilles dear to Zeus, you command me to declare
The rage of the lord Apollo who strikes from the far off heavens: