Day 40: A Scepter That Bears Neither Leaf Nor Branch

Lines 233-39
ἀλλ' ἐκ τοι ἐρέω καὶ ἐπὶ μέγαν ὅρκον ὀμοῦμαι·
ναὶ μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον· τὸ μὲν οὔ ποτε φύλλα καὶ ὄζους
φύσει, ἐπεὶ δὴ πρῶτα τομὴν ἐν ὄρεσσι λέλοιπεν,
οὐδ' ἀναθηλήσει· περὶ γάρ ῥα ἑ χαλκὸς ἔλεψεν
φύλλα τε καὶ φλοιόν· νῦν αὖτέ μιν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν
ἐν παλάμῃς φορέουσι δικασπόλοι, οἵ τε θέμιστας
πρὸς Διὸς εἰρύαται· ὁ δέ τοι μέγας ἔσσεται ὅρκος·

But I will declare and I shall swear a great oath to you from now:
Truly, by this scepter, that shall never produce leaves nor branches,
Nor shall it bud anew, since it has now forsaken its stump
In the mountains and all around bronze has shed its leaves
And bark as well; and now again the sons of the Achaeans,
Arbiters of justice who draw their laws from Zeus,
Bear it in their hands; so this shall be my great oath to you:


Achilles about to make another oath, the definitive oath which will define the course of the rest of the poem. And the object by which he swears is a scepter that will bear neither leaf nor branch, which is ironic on so many levels.

Day 39: The Face of a Dog and the Heart of a Deer

Lines 223-32
Πηλεΐδης δ' ἐξαῦτις ἀταρτηροῖς ἐπέεσσιν
Ἀτρεΐδην προσέειπε, καὶ οὔ πω λῆγε χόλοιο·
"οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ' ἔχων, κραδίην δ' ἐλάφοιο,
οὔτε ποτ' ἐς πόλεμον ἅμα λαῷ θωρηχθῆναι
οὔτε λόχονδ' ἰέναι σὺν ἀριστήεσσιν Ἀχαιῶν
τέτληκας θυμῷ· τὸ δέ τοι κὴρ εἴδεται εἶναι.
ἦ πολὺ λώιόν ἐστι κατὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν
δῶρ' ἀποαιρεῖσθαι, ὅς τις σεθεν ἀντίον εἴπῃ·
δημοβόρος βασιλεύς, ἐπεὶ οὐτιδανοῖσιν ἀνάσσεις·
ἦ γὰρ ἄν, Ἀτρεΐδη, νῦν ὕστατα λωβήσαιο.

The son of Peleus addressed anew Atreus' son
With bitter words, and did not in any way slacken
His rage: "You drunken sot, who has the face of a dog
And heart of a deer, never arming for war with the host,
Nor having the courage in his heart to go on ambush
With the chiefs of the Achaeans; since this seems to be death
For you. Indeed it is far superior down through the broad camp
Of the Achaeans for gifts to be seized than for those who might
Speak against you, a king who devours the goods of his people,
Since you rule over worthless men: For now indeed son of Atreus,
You may have insulted for the last time.


Achilles heeds Athena's warning not to harm Agamemnon and instead directs a venomous verbal onslaught against him. I cannot imagine a great insult in a society that valued both individual prowess in battle and physical beauty that to tell a man who is supposed to be the greatest among the assembled kings than to tell him that he has the face of a dog and the heart of a deer...

Day 38: The Sword Is Sheathed

Lines 212-22
ὧδε γὰρ ἐξερέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται·
καί ποτέ τοι τρὶς τόσσα παρέσσεται ἀγλαὰ δῶρα
ὕβριος εἵνεκα τῆσδε· σὺ δ' ἴσχεο, πείθεο δ' ἡμῖν."
τὴν δ' ἀπαμειβόμενος προέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·
"χρὴ μὲν σφωίτερόν γε, θεά, ἔπος εἰρύσασθαι,
καὶ μάλα περ θυμῷ κεχολωμένον· ὧς γὰρ ἄμεινον·
ὅς κε θεοῖς ἐπιπείθηται, μάλα τ' ἔκλυον αὐτοῦ."
ἦ καὶ ἐπ' ἀργυρέῃ κώπῃ σχέθε χεῖρα βαρεῖαν,
ἂψ δ' ἐς κουλεὸν ὦσε μέγα ξίφος, οὐδ' ἀπίθησεν
μύθῳ Ἀθηναίης· ἡ δ' Οὐλυμθόνδε βεβήκειν
δώματ' ἐς αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους.

Thus I shall declare it, and even so it shall be fulfilled:
And at one point there will be for you three times more
Shining gifts on account of this insolence; but check yourself,
And obey us." And answering, swift footed Achilles addressed her:
"Goddess, my duty is to you and I give you my word,
Though I rage greatly at heart, for this is better:
He who would obey the gods, him they hear especially."
And then he held heavy hands upon the silver hilt,
And thrust the great sword back into its sheath,
Not disobeying the command of Athena; and she was gone
To Olympus, to the halls of aegis bearing Zeus,
Among the other divinities.

Day 37: Achilles Speaks and Athena Answers

Lines 201-11
καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
"τίπτ' αὖτ', αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος, εἰλήλουθας;
ἦ ἵνα ὕβριν ἴδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονος Ἀτρεΐδαο;
ἀλλ' ἔκ τοι ἐρέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τελέεσθαι ὀίω·
ἧς ὑπεροπλίῃσι τάχ' ἄν ποτε θυμὸν ὀλέσσῃ."
τὸν δ' αὖτε προσέειπε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
"ἦλθον ἐγὼ παύσουσα τὸ σὸν μένος, αἴ κε πίθηαι,
οὐρανόθεν· πρὸ δέ μ' ἧκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη,
ἄμφω ὁμῶς θυμῷ φιλέουσά τε κηδομένη τε.
ἀλλ' ἄγε λῆγ' ἔριδος, μηδὲ ξίφος ἕκεο χειρί·
ἀλλ' ἦ το ἔπεσιν μὲν ὀνείδισον, ὡς ἔσεται περ.

And he addressed her, speaking winged words:
"Why on earth do you come now, child of aeigis bearing Zeus?
So that you might know the insolence of Atreus' son Agamemnon?
But I ask you this, though I know how this should be accomplished:
Perhaps he may lose his spirit at once through this arrogance."
And the goddess, flashing eyed Athena, addressed him in turn:
"I came from the heavens to check your anger,
If you should obey; for the goddess, white armed Hera,
Who loves and cares for you both in equal measure in her heart,
Sent me here. But come now, cease from strife, and do not
Draw that sword in your hands. But revile him with words,
When the chance comes.



There is an interesting comment on this scene in Bernard Knox's introduction to Robert Fagles translation of the Iliad. He speaks of how it often is stated that the gods are the ones who decided things in the poem and that human agency counts for naught. What Knox points out so eloquently is that Athena only commands Achilles to do something that he had already thought of in the previous section. In fact this is an excellent example of Homer's skillful employment of the uneasy confluence of human and divine wills in this world.

The Marauder Odysseus?

Relief of the Sea Peoples taken prisoner by the Egyptians; from the Medinet Habu temple in Upper Egypt of the Pharaoh Rameses III who reigned in the early part of the twelfth century B.C. and defeated two invasions of the Sea Peoples, one by land and one by sea, in the year 8 (c.a. 1179 B.C.) of his reign.

Day 36: Enter Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom

Lines 193-200
ἧος ὁ ταῦθ' ὥρμαινε κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν,
ἕλκετο δ' ἐκ κολεοῖομμέγα ξίφος, ἦλθε δ' Αθήνη
οὐρανόθεν· πρὸ γὰρ ἧκε θεά, λευκώλενος Ἥρη,
ἄμφω ὁμῶς θυμῷ φιλέουσά τε κηδομένη τε.
στῆ δ' ὄπιθεν, ξανθῆς δὲ κόμης ἕλε Πηλεΐωνα,
οἴῳ φαινομένη, τῶν δ' ἄλλων οὔ τις ὁρᾶτο.
θάμβησεν δ' Ἀχιλεύς, μετὰ δ' ἐτράπετ, αὐτίκα δ' ἔγνω
Παλλάδ' Ἀθηναίην· δεὶνω δέ οἱ ὄσσε φάανθεν.

While he turned this over in his mind and spirit
He was drawing a great sword from its scabbard,
Then from the sky came Athena, for the goddess,
White armed Hera, sent her there, loving and caring
For them both, in equal measure, in her heart.
She stood behind him and seized the son of Peleus
By his tawny locks, appearing to him alone,
And not one of the others could see this.
Then Achilles stood in wonder, and, turning 'round,
Recognized at once Pallas Athena; her eyes flashing terribly at him.



Those terrible flashing eyes of the goddess of war and wisdom indicate that she is not a being to be trifled with. A popular Homeric epithet for this goddess is "owl eyed", and anyone who has ever seen an owl in the forest at night knows full well the effect of that stare on anyone who wanders too late and too far into the dark and terrible wood...

Day 35: A Dagger Not Quite Drawn

Lines 182-92
ὡς ἔμ' ἀφαιρεῖται Χρυσηίδα Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,
τὴν μὲν ἐγὼ σὺν νηί τ' ἐμῇ καὶ ἐμοῖς ἑτάροισιν
πεύψω, ἐγὼ δέ κ' ἄγω Βρισηίδα καλλιπάρῃον
αὐτὸς ἰὼν κλισίηνδε, τὸ σὸν γέρας, ὄφρ' ἐὺ εἴδῃς
ὅσον φέρτερος εἰμι σέθεν, στυγέῃ δὲ καὶ ἄλλος
ἶσον ἐμοὶ φάσθαι καὶ ὁμοιωθήμεναι ἄντην."
ὧς φάτο· Πηλεΐωνι ὤχος γένετ, ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ
στήθεσσιν λασίοισι διάνδιχα μερμήριξεν,
ἢ ὅ γε φάσγανον ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ
τοὺς μὲν ἀναστήσειεν, ὁ δ' Ἀτρεΐδην ἐναρίζοι,
ἦε χόλον παύσειεν ἐρητύσειέ τε θυμόν.

Thus Phoebus Apollo deprives me of Chryseis,
So I will send her along with my ship and my comrades,
But I myself perhaps wil go to your tent and lead off your prize,
The fair cheeked Briseis, so that you should know
How much mightier I am than you, and then another
May loathe to say he is my equal and before my face
To liken himself to me."
Thus he finished; grief rose up in Peleus' son, and his heart,
In a rough and hairy chest, pondered two divergent paths:
Whether to draw the sharp sword from his thigh,
Rousing them to their feet, and slay the son of Atreus,
Or to check his anger and keep back his desire?



Marvelous scene. Achilles is about to draw his sword, but then comes the part that everyone seems to forget about when they comment on Achilles' character; he ponders whether or not this a good idea. And then we see what happens next...