Day 56: Chryses' Moment of Supreme Satisfaction

Lines 436-49
ἐκ δ' εὐνὰς ἔβαλον, κατὰ δὲ πρυμνήσι' ἔδησαν·
ἐκ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ βαῖνον ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης,
ἐκ δ' ἑκατόμβην βῆσαν ἑκηβόλῳ Ἀπόλλωνι·
ἐκ δὲ Χρυσηὶς νηὸς βῆ ποντοπόροιο.
τὴν μὲν ἔπειτ' ἐπὶ βωμὸν ἄγων πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεὺς
πατρὶ φίλῳ ἐν χερσὶ τίθει, καί μιν προσέειπεν·
"ὦ Χρύση, πρό μ' ἔπεμψεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων
παῖδα τε σοὶ ἀγέμεν, Φοίβῳ θ' ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην
ῥέξαι ὑπὲρ Δαναῶν, ὄφρ' ἱλασόμεθα ἄνακτα
ὅς νῦν Ἀργείοισι πολύσονα κήδε ἐφῆκεν."

ὧς εἰπὼν ἐν χερσὶ τίθει, ὁ δὲ δέξατο χαίρων
παῖδα φίλην. τοὶ δ' ὦκα θεῷ ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην
ἐξείης ἔστησαν ἐύδμητον περὶ βωμόν,
χερνίψαντο δ' ἔπειτα καὶ οὐλοκύτας ἀνέλοντο.


Then they hurled forth the anchorstone
And tied down the stern cable,
And they themselves went upon the shore of the sea,
And moved out the hecatomb for farshooting Apollo;
And Chryseis went out from the sea going ship.
Threupon wise Odysseus, leading her to the altar
And her dear father, placed her in his hands
And addressed him: "O Chryses, Agamemnon
The lord of men sends me before you to bring the child
To you, and a sacred hecatomb for Phoebus
To sacrifice for the sake of the Danaans,
So that we might appease the high lord,
Who sends woes upon the Argives
Causing many groans."

Thus speaking, he placed her in his arms,
and the man accepted his dear child rejoicing.
Then in turn they quickly stood the god's sacred hecatomb
Around the well built altar, and purified themselves with water,
Then took up even the poured out barley corn.



The smile on Chryses' face must have been incredible here. I think that it is interesting to note that the entire theme of the Iliad is of the losses that a mortal man must suffer, leading up to the loss of his own life. Chryses is the only significant character in the poem to avert the pain of loss by getting his daughter back with the help of a god by causing great harm to the Achaeans. It almost seems like black magic. I doubt that this is a coincidence and I often wonder what was in the poet's mind as he constructed this passage.

Day 43: The Oldest Man in the World Speaks

Lines 250-59
τῷ δ' ἤδη δύο μὲν γενεαὶ μερόπων ἀνθρώπων
ἐφθίαθ, οἵ οἱ πρόσθεν ἅμα τράφεν ἠδὲ γένοντο
ἐν Πύλῳ ἠγαθέῃ, μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν.
ὅ σφιν ἐὺ φρονέων ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·
"ὢ πόποι, ἦ μέγα πένθος Ἀχαιίδα γαῖαν ἱκάνει·
ἦ κεν γηθήσαι Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες,
ἄλλοι τε Τρῶες μέγα κεν κεχαροίατο θυμῷ
εἰ σφῶιν τάδε πάντα πυθοίατο μαρναμένοιιν,
οἳ περὶ μὲν βουλήν Δαναῶν, περὶ δ' ἐστὲ μάχεσθαι.
ἀλλὰ πίθεσθ'· ἄμφω δὲ νεωτέρω ἐστὸν ἐμεῖο.

And for him already two generations of mortal men
Had wasted away, who were born and brought up with him
Before in most sacred Pylos, and he ruled then among the third.
He who was well disposed to them spoke up and addressed them:
"Oh dear me, indeed a great woe comes upon the Achaean land;
Surely Priam and the children of Priam would rejoice
And the other Trojans would be so glad at heart
If they were to learn all this of you two in contention,
You who excel the Danaans in cousel and in battle.
But heed this: since both of you are younger than I.


The opening lines of this section remind of a scene in Lord of the Rings where the wizard Gandalf complained that he had dwelt on earth three hundred lives of men and now he had no time. I'm sure the similarity wasn't lost on Tolkien as fluent as he was in classical languages and literature.
But truly this is a remarkable scene: Nestor here is the personification of ancient wisdom, both in the sense that one's elders should be respected for their age and experience but also he is wisom itself which, as we shall see, is an aged creature and cannot always withstand the impulses of younger men.

Day 23: The Oracle of the God

Lines 93-100

"οὔτ ἄρ ὅ γ' εὐχωλῆς ἐπιμέμφεται οὔθ' ἑκατόμβης
ἀλλ' ἕνεκ' ἀρητῆρος, ὃν ἠτίμης' Ἀγαμέμνων,
οὐδ' ἀπέλυσε θύγατρα καὶ οὐκ ἀπεδέξατ' ἄποινα
τούνεκ' ἄρ' ἄλγε' ἔδωκεν ἑκηβόλος ἠδ' ἔτι δώσει.
οὐδ' ὁ γε πρὶν Δαναοῖσιν ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀπώσει
πρίν γ' ἀπὸ πατρὶ φίλῳ δόμεναι ἑλικώπιδα κούρην
ἀπριάτην ἀνάποινον, ἄγειν θ' ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην
ἐς Χρύσην· τότε κέν μιν ἱλασσάμενοι πεπίθοιμεν."

"He finds fault neither for a vow, nor a hecatomb
But on account of the priest, whom Agamemnon dishonored,
He neither freed his daughter not accepted the ransoms
And it is for this then that the god who strikes from afar
Grants these woes, and will grant still more. He will not drive off this unseemly plague
For the Danaans before the bright eyed maiden is restored
Unransomed and unbought to her dear father and a hecatomb is led
Into sacred Chrysa: only then we may win over and appease him."


Line 100! It may seem like a small accomplishment, but making it throught the first 100 lines of this great epic in the original language feels like a triumph, and though being able to truly understand this poem the way it was first written is truly the work of a lifetime, I can say that I feel like I am off to a decent start.

One thing I wanted to comment on in this passage is Homer's use of the infinitive when he employs the verb δόμεναι meaning to give, or in this case to restore. It is an example of the seer's artful way of speaking, even though his safety has been assured by Achilles, in not wanting to go too far with Agamemnon and seem to be issuing him some sort of command. The infinitive makes the subject vague and could be construed as a command or possibly not. In fact everyone knew what action was required bu the seer would not impose on them who should take it.

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 14: The Arrows and the Mouse

Lines 38-42
Κίλλαν τε ζαθέην, Τενεδοιό τε ἶφι ἀνασσεις
Σμινθεῦ, εἴ ποτέ τοι χαρίεντ' ἐπὶ νηὸν ἔρεψα,
ἢ εἰ δή ποτέ τοι κατὰ πίονα μηρί' ἔκηα
ταύρων ἠδ' αἰγῶν, τόδε μοι κρήνον ἐέλδωρ.
τίσειαν Δαναοὶ ἐμὰ δάκρυα σοῖσι βέλεσσιν."

And most sacred Cilla, and rules over Tenedos mightily
Smintheus, lord of mice, if ever I roofed your pleasing temple,
or if ever I burned for you rich thigh pieces
Of bulls and goats, fulfill my heart's desire.
May the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows."


Pharr makes an excellent point here about the Greeks noticing early a connection between mice and plagues long before science proved this tobe fact. This accounts for the priest invoking Apollo by the epithet of Smintheus, the lord of mice, as he had invoked him in the previous section as the lord of the silver bow, thus combining the god's arrows and the mouse to create disaster for the Achaeans.