Day 60: The Black Ship Returns

Lines 480-89
οἱ δ' ἱστὸν στήσαντ' ἀνά θ' ἱστία λευκὰ πέτασσαν·
ἐν δ' ἄνεμος πρῆσεν μέσον ἱστίον, ἀμφὶ δὲ κῦμα
στείρῃ παρφύρεον μεγάλ' ἴαχε νηὸς ἰούσης·
ἡ δ' ἔθεεν κατὰ κῦμα διαπρήσσουσα κέλευθον.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ' ἵκοντο κατὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν,
νῆα μὲν οἵ γε μέλαιναν ἐπ' ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν
ὑψοῦ ἐπὶ ψαμάθοις, ὑπὸ δ' ἕρματα μακρὰ τάννσσαν,
αὐτοὶ δ' ἐσκίδαντο κατὰ κλισίας τε νέας τε.

αὐτὰρ ὁ μήνιε νηυσὶ παρήμενος ὠκυπόροισιν
διογενὴς Πηλῆος υἱός, πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς.

So they stood up the sail, and thereon unfurled the shining cloth;
Then the breeze blew up its center and dark waves roared about
The stem of that sailing ship which sped over the waves,
Passing on its way. But when they came to the broad camp of the Achaeans,
They first drew the black ship upon the continent,
High up on the sandy beach, then placed it under the beams,
And the men scattered among the ships and shelters.

But he raged on sitting by the swift sailing ships,
That Zeus born son of Peleus, swift footed Achilles.



This is a gorgeous scene with the Achaeans returning to their camp from Chrysa, a fair wind from the Archer god at their back, then pulling their ship onto the beach and returning to their lives with that wretched plague now a memory. But there is that ominous picture of Achilles, raging beside the ships, which is a portent of troubles to come.

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.

Day 47: To Wash Their Filth Into the Briny Deep

Lines 304-14
ὧς τώ γ' ἀντιβίοισι μαχησαμένω ἐπέεσσιν
ἀνστήτην, λῦσαν δ' ἀγορὴν παρὰ νηυσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.
Πηλεΐδης μὲν ἐπὶ κλισίας καὶ νῆας ἐίσας
ἤιε σύν τε Μενοιτιάδῃ καὶ οἷς ἑτάροισιν,
Ἀτρεΐδης δ' ἄρα νῆα θοὴν ἅλαδε προέρυσσεν,
ἐς δ' ἐρέτας ἔκρινεν ἐείκοσιν, ἐς δ' ἑκατόμβησν
βῆσε θεῷ, ἀνὰ δὲ Χρυσηίδα καλλιπάρῃον
εἶσεν ἄγνων· ἐν δ' ἀρχὸς ἔβη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς.

οἱ μὲν ἔπειτ' ἀναβάντες ἐπέπλεον ὑγρὰ κέλευθα,
λαοὺς δ' Ἀτρεΐδης ἀπολυμαίνεσθαι ἄνωγεν.
οἱ δ' ἀπελυμαίνοντο καὶ εὶς ἅλα λύματ' ἔβαλλον,

Thus the two who battled fiercely with hostile words
stood up, then they broke up the assembly by the ships of the Achaeans.
The son of Peleus went to the huts and the well beaked ships
Along with both Menoetius' son and his comrades,
While Atreus' son launched a fast ship into the salt brined sea,
Picking out twenty oarsmen, and sending forth a hecatomb
To the god along with fair cheeked Chryseis who he led on board
And seated there; and wily Odysseus went as pilot.

And going up they thereupon sailed on their watery way,
Then the son of Atreus ordered the men to purify themselves.
So they cleansed themselves, and hurled their filth into the briny deep,


There is a brief period of peace here, beautifully illustrated by the poet with Agamemnon bending to the will of Apollo and sending back the maiden, along with a hecatomb as recompense for his misdeed, and also Odysseus who can be sure to ease any uncomfortable situation with honeyed words or even lies. This is followed by the armies purifying themselves by washing off the filth of the plague in the briny sea. One is almost tempted to forget, during these few lines, the horrible exchange of hostile words in the preceding 200 lines of poetry but of course we will be brought back to them forthwith.

Day 45: The Limits of Good Advice

Lines 269-89
καὶ μὲν τοῖσιν ἐγὼ μεθομίλεον ἐκ Πύλου ἐλθών,
τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης· καλέσαντο γὰρ αὐτοί·
καὶ μαχόμην κατ' ἔμ' αὐτὸν ἐγώ· κείνοισι δ' ἂν οὔ τις
τῶν, οἳ νῦν βροτοί εἰσιν ἐπιχθόνιοι, μαχέοιτο.
καὶ μέν μευ βουλέων ξύνιεν πείθοντό τε μύθῳ.
ἀλλὰ πίθεσθε καὶ ὔμμες, ἐπεὶ πείθεσθαι ἀμεινον.
μήτε σὺ τόνδ' ἀγαθός περ ἐὼν ἀποαίρεο κούρην,
ἀλλ' ἔα, ὥς οἱ πρῶτα δόσαν γέρας υἷες Ἀχαιῶν.
μήτε σύ, Πηλεΐδη, θέλ' ἐριζέμεναι βασιλῆι
ἀντιβίην, ἐπεὶ οὔ ποθ' ὁμοίης ἔμμορε τιμῆς
σκηπροῦχος βασιλεύς, ᾧ τε Ζεὺς κῦδος ἔδωκεν.
εἰ δὲ σὺ καρτερός ἐσσι, θεὰ δέ σε γείνατο μήτηρ,
ἀλλ' ὁδε φέρτερός ἐστιν, ἐπεὶ πλεόνεσσιν ἀνάσσει.
Ἀτρεΐδη, σὺ δε παῦε τεὸν μένος· αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε
λίσσομ' Ἀχιλλῆι μεθέμεν χόλον ὅς μέγα πᾶσιν
ἕρκος Ἀχαιοῖσιν πέλεται πολέμοιο κακοῖο."

τὸν δ' ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων·
"ναὶ δὴ ταῦτα γε πάντα, γέρον, κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπες
ἀλλ' ὅδ' ἀνὴρ ἐθέλει περὶ πάντων ἔμμεναι ἄλλων,
πάντων μὲν κρατέειν ἐθέλει, πάντεσσι δ' ανάσσειν,
πᾶσι δὲ σημαίνειν, ἅ τιν' οὐ πείσεσθαι ὀίω.

And certainly I consorted with these, coming from far Pylos,
From a distant land, for they themselves called me there,
And I myself did battle; but none of the mortal men
Who live now on earth would fight with these.
And of course those men hearkened to my counsels
And would heed my word. But obey this, since the better man hearkens to;
And you, do not deprive this one so brave of the maiden,
But let it be, since the sons of the Achaeans
Gave the prize to him first. And you, son of Peleus,
Do not seek to strive with the king in antagonism,
Since never has a scepter bearing king, to whom Zeus
Gave glory, received a similar share of honor.
And even if you are the stronger, since a goddess mother bore you,
But this one is more powerful, since he rules over many.
And you, son of Atreus, check your rage; moreover I beg it,
For Achilles' sake, give up this rage, against one who is a mighty bulwark
For all the Achaeans against evil war."

And in reply, the lord Agamemnon addressed him:
"Surely old man you have spoken all this as is fitting,
But this man desires to be above all others, certainly
He wishes to hold sway over all, and to rule all,
And to command all, I think there is one who does not obey.


An amazing scene on so many levels. First, we see the limits of wisdom, if such a thing can be said, or least of good advice. Nestor starts telling the two clashing heroes that better men than they have followed his advice so these two better do it. And he proceeds to tell them exactly what to do. One can talk all one wants about Nestor's beautiful counsels and his supposed magical ability with words, but the fact is here that this personification of ancient wisdom does not succeed, and in fact fails miserably, for Agamemnon returns straightaway to his quarrel with Achilles the moment that the old king is done speaking. One could think of better ways that Nestor could have handled the situation, such as telling a story from his youth about how such a petty conflict had destroyed a vast enterprise, but he did not do that since he was a king and not a poet. There is a certain haughtiness to his position here: I am recognized as the wisest of the wise, and have always been recognized as such by better men than you two, so you had better do what I say. How would one expect two exceedingly proud men who have just been quarrelling to react?

Time for a random historical meandering here: I was thinking over this whole experience of haughtiness and arrogance and how they are unmistakably condemned in this poem, and I was comparing them in my mind with the tales of the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible, some of which was written contemporaneously with the Iliad and the Odyssey, where those who exhibit these same qualities find equal censure. While I was mulling this over in my mind I started to ponder those late Bronze Age stellae, or monuments, left behind by the monarchs of that time, above all by the pharaohs of Egypt where by reading them one would think that Pharaoh had destroyed an entire enemy army all by himself. These things would be set up if the battle was a draw, such as Kadesh, or even if it resulted in a defeat. The king would smite an entire enemy army and wipe them from the face of the earth, only for that army to magically reincarnate the next year and for the king to smite them once again. The kingdoms of the Bronze Age fell suddenly, at the beginning of the twelfth century B.C. and I wonder if some memory of their collapse as a condemnation for this arrogance transmitted to Homer's age and on into the classical world that was to follow? For one never sees this open display of ridiculous bombast among the great powers again on a consistent basis, not even by the Romans whose empire made these Bronze Age "great kings" look like petty tribal warlords in comparison.

Day 2: The Rage of Achilles

Lines 1-5

Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεᾱ, Πηληιάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἢ μυρί' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκεν
πολλὰς δ' ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄιδι προῑαψεν
ἠρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα, Διὸς ἐτελείετο βουλή

Rage, goddess, sing the accursed rage of Peleus' son,
of Achilles, which caused countless woes for the Achaeans
and hurled many brave souls of heroes forth to Hades,
who themselves were made spoils for the dogs and
a feast for carrion birds, and the will of Zeus was being fulfilled


This epic poem begins with Rage, and this needs no comment from me as it's eloquence has been celebrated throughout the millenia. The only thing I would mention is a grammatical point which actually suprised me: the Greek word for rage μῆνις is here in the accusative case, which makes it the direct object of the verb sing ἄειδε. So, the poet is not beseeching his goddess muse to sing about Achilles' mad rage, but in fact to sing the rage itself, along with its dreadful consequences for the Achaean host. This must have given the poet's hearers a sense that the wrath of Achilles would permeate every line of the poem. I am certain they were not disappointed...