Speaker 1: Book twenty two. Thus the Trojans in the city, scared
Speaker 1: like fawns, wiped the sweat from off them, and drank
Speaker 1: to quench their thirst, leaning against the goodly battlements, while
Speaker 1: the Achaeans, with their shields laid upon their shoulders, drew
Speaker 1: close up to the walls. But stern Fate bade Hector
Speaker 1: stay where he was before Ilius and the Scaean gates.
Speaker 1: Then Phoebus Apollo spoke to the son of Pelias, saying, why,
Speaker 1: son of Pelias, do you, who are but man, give
Speaker 1: chase to me, who am immortal? Have you not yet
Speaker 1: found out that it is a god whom you pursue
Speaker 1: so furiously? You did not harass the Trojans whom you
Speaker 1: had routed, and now they are within their walls, while
Speaker 1: you have been decoyed. Hither away from them. Me you
Speaker 1: cannot kill, for death can take no hold upon me.
Speaker 1: Achilles was greatly angered and said, you have bulked me
Speaker 1: far data most malicious of all gods, and have drawn
Speaker 1: me away from the wall, where many another man would
Speaker 1: have bitten the dust ere he got within Ilius. You
Speaker 1: have robbed me of great glory and have saved the
Speaker 1: Trojans at no risk to yourself, for you have nothing
Speaker 1: to fear. But I would indeed have my revenge if
Speaker 1: it were in my power to do so. On this
Speaker 1: with fell intent he made towards the city, and, as
Speaker 1: the winning horse in a chariot race, strains every nerve
Speaker 1: when he is flying over the plane, even so fast
Speaker 1: and furiously did the limbs of Achilles bear him onwards.
Speaker 1: King Priam was first to note him as he scoured
Speaker 1: the plane, all radiant as the star which men call
Speaker 1: Orion's hound, and whose beams blaze forth in time of harvest,
Speaker 1: more brilliantly than those of any other that shines by night,
Speaker 1: brightest of them all. Though he be, he yet bodes
Speaker 1: ill for mortals, for he brings fire and fever in
Speaker 1: his train. Even so did Achilles's armor gleam on his
Speaker 1: breast as he sped onwards. Priam raised a cry and
Speaker 1: beat his head with his hands as he lifted them up,
Speaker 1: and shouted out to his dear son, imploring him to return.
Speaker 1: But Hector still stayed before the gates, for his heart
Speaker 1: was set upon doing battle with Achilles. The old man
Speaker 1: reached out his arms towards him and bade him for
Speaker 1: pity's sake, Come within the walls, hector, he cried, my son,
Speaker 1: stay not to face this man alone and unsupported, or
Speaker 1: you will meet death at the hands of the son
Speaker 1: of Pelias. For he is mightier than you. Monster that
Speaker 1: he is, would indeed that the gods loved him no
Speaker 1: better than I do, For so dogs and vultures would
Speaker 1: soon devour him as he lay stretched on earth, and
Speaker 1: a load of grief would be lifted from my heart.
Speaker 1: For many a brave son has he reft from me,
Speaker 1: either by killing them or selling them away in the
Speaker 1: islands that are beyond the sea. Even now I miss
Speaker 1: two sons from among the Trojans who have thronged within
Speaker 1: the city, like Chaon and Polydorus, whom Layothepyiris among women
Speaker 1: bore me. Should they be still alive and in the
Speaker 1: hands of the Achaeans, we will ransom them with gold
Speaker 1: and bronze, of which we have store, for the old
Speaker 1: man Altes endowed his daughter richly. But if they are
Speaker 1: already dead and in the house of Hades, sorrow will
Speaker 1: it be to us two who were their parents? Albeit
Speaker 1: the grief of others will be more short lived, Unless you,
Speaker 1: too perish at the hands of Achilles. Come then my
Speaker 1: son within the city, to be the guardian of Trojan
Speaker 1: men and Trojan women, or you will both lose your
Speaker 1: own life and afford a mighty triumph to the son
Speaker 1: of Pelias. Have pity also on your unhappy father, while
Speaker 1: life yet remains to him, On me, whom the son
Speaker 1: of Saturn will destroy by a terrible doom on the
Speaker 1: threshold of old age. After I have seen my son slain,
Speaker 1: and my daughters hailed away as captives, my bridal chambers, pillaged,
Speaker 1: little children dashed to earth amid the rage of battle,
Speaker 1: and my son's wives dragged away by the cruel hands
Speaker 1: of the Achaeans. In the end, fierce hounds will tear
Speaker 1: me in pieces at my own gates, after someone has
Speaker 1: beaten the life out of my body with sword or
Speaker 1: spear hounds that I myself reared and fed at my
Speaker 1: own table to guard my gates. But who will yet
Speaker 1: lap my blood and then lie all distraught at my doors.
Speaker 1: When a young man falls by the sword in battle,
Speaker 1: he may lie where he is, and there is nothing
Speaker 1: unseemly let what will be seen. All is honorable in death.
Speaker 1: But when an old man is slain. There is nothing
Speaker 1: in this world more pitiable than that dogs should defile
Speaker 1: his gray hair and beard, and all that men hide
Speaker 1: for shame. The old man tore his gray hair as
Speaker 1: he spoke, but he moved not the heart of Hector.
Speaker 1: His mother hard By, wept and moaned aloud as she
Speaker 1: bared her bosom and pointed to the breast which had
Speaker 1: suckled him Hector. She cried, weeping bitterly, the while Hector,
Speaker 1: my son, spurn not this breast. But have pity upon
Speaker 1: me too. If I have ever given you comfort from
Speaker 1: my own bosom, Think on it now, dear son, and
Speaker 1: come within the wall to protect us from this man.
Speaker 1: Stand not without to meet him. Should the wretch kill you,
Speaker 1: Neither I nor your richly doured wife shall ever weep,
Speaker 1: dear offshoot of myself, over the bed on which you lie,
Speaker 1: for dogs will devour you at the ships of the Achaeans.
Speaker 1: Thus did the two, with many tears, implore their son,
Speaker 1: But they moved not the heart of Hector, and he
Speaker 1: stood his ground, awaiting huge Achilles. As he drew nearer
Speaker 1: towards him. A serpent in its den upon the mountains,
Speaker 1: full fed with deadly poisons waits for the approach of man.
Speaker 1: He is filled with fury, and his eyes glare terribly
Speaker 1: as he goes writhing round his den. Even so, Hector
Speaker 1: leaned his shield against a tower that jutted out from
Speaker 1: the wall, and stood where he was undaunted. Alas said
Speaker 1: he to himself, in the heaviness of his heart, if
Speaker 1: I go within the gates, Polydamus will be the first
Speaker 1: to heap reproach upon me, For it was he that
Speaker 1: urged me to lead the Trojans back to the city
Speaker 1: on that awful night when Achilles again came forth against us.
Speaker 1: I would not listen. But it would have been indeed
Speaker 1: better if I had done so. Now that my folly
Speaker 1: has destroyed the host, I dare not look Trojan men
Speaker 1: and Trojan women in the face, lest a worse man
Speaker 1: should say Hector has ruined us by his self confidence.
Speaker 1: Surely it would be better for me to return after
Speaker 1: having fought Achilles and slain him, or to die gloriously
Speaker 1: here before the city. What again, if were to lay
Speaker 1: down my shield and helmet, lean my spear again since
Speaker 1: the wall, and go straight up to noble Achilles. What
Speaker 1: if I were to promise to give up Helen, who
Speaker 1: was the fountain head of all this war, and all
Speaker 1: the treasure that Alexandras brought with him in his ships
Speaker 1: to Troy. I and to let the Achaeans divide the
Speaker 1: half of everything that the city contains among themselves. I
Speaker 1: might make the Trojans, by the mouths of their princes,
Speaker 1: take a solemn oath that they would hide nothing, but
Speaker 1: would divide into two shares all that is within the city.
Speaker 1: But why argue with myself in this way? Were I
Speaker 1: to go up to him, he would show me no
Speaker 1: kind of mercy. He would kill me then and there,
Speaker 1: as easily as though I were a woman, when I
Speaker 1: had off my armor. There is no parleying with him
Speaker 1: from some rock or oak tree, as young men and
Speaker 1: maidens prattle with one another. Better fight him at once
Speaker 1: and learn to which of us Jove will vouchsay victory.
Speaker 1: Thus did he stand and ponder, But Achilles came up
Speaker 1: to him, as it were Mars himself, plumed lord of battle.
Speaker 1: From his right shoulder he brandished his terrible spear of
Speaker 1: Pelian ash, and the bronze gleamed around him like flashing
Speaker 1: fire or the rays of the rising sun. Fear fell
Speaker 1: upon Hector as he beheld him, and he dared not
Speaker 1: stay longer where he was, but fled in dismay from
Speaker 1: before the gates, while Achilles darted after him at his
Speaker 1: utmost speed, as a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds,
Speaker 1: swoops down upon some cowering dove. The dove flies before him,
Speaker 1: but the falcon, with a shrill scream, follows close after,
Speaker 1: resolved to have her. Even so did Achilles make straight
Speaker 1: for Hector with all his might, while Hector fled under
Speaker 1: the Trojan wall as fast as his limbs could take
Speaker 1: him on. They flew along the wagon road that ran
Speaker 1: hard by under the wall, past the lookout station, and
Speaker 1: passed the weather beaten wild fig tree till they came
Speaker 1: to two fair springs which feed the rivers. Commander. One
Speaker 1: of these two springs is warm, and steam rises from
Speaker 1: it as smoke from a burning fire. But the other,
Speaker 1: even in summer, is as cold as hail or snow,
Speaker 1: or the ice that forms on water. Here hard by
Speaker 1: the springs are the goodly washing troughs of stone, where,
Speaker 1: in the time of peace before the coming of the Achaeans,
Speaker 1: the wives and fair daughters of the Trojans used to
Speaker 1: wash their clothes. Past these did they fly, the one
Speaker 1: in front and the other giving har behind him. Good
Speaker 1: was the man that fled, but better far was he
Speaker 1: that followed after. And swiftly indeed did they run for
Speaker 1: the prize. Was no mere beast for sacrifice, or bullock's hide,
Speaker 1: as it might be for a common foot race. But
Speaker 1: they ran for the life of Hector. As horses in
Speaker 1: a chariot race speed round the turning posts when they
Speaker 1: are running for some great prize, a tripod or woman
Speaker 1: at the gate, as in honor of some dead hero.
Speaker 1: So did these two run full speed three times round
Speaker 1: the city of Priam. All the gods watched them, and
Speaker 1: the sire of gods and men was the first to
Speaker 1: speak alas said he, my eyes behold a man who
Speaker 1: is dear to me, being pursued round the walls of Troy.
Speaker 1: My heart is full of pity for Hector, who has
Speaker 1: burned the thigh bones of many a heifer in my honor,
Speaker 1: at one while on thee of Many valied Ida, and
Speaker 1: again on the citadel of Troy. And now I see
Speaker 1: Noble Achilles in full pursuit of him round the city
Speaker 1: of Priam, what say you consider among yourselves and decide
Speaker 1: whether we shall now save him or let him fall?
Speaker 1: Valiant though he be before Achilles, son of Pelias. Then
Speaker 1: Minerva said, father, wielder of the lightning, lord of cloud
Speaker 1: and storm, what mean you would you pluck this mortal,
Speaker 1: whose doom has long been decreed out of the jaws
Speaker 1: of death. Do as you will, but we others shall
Speaker 1: not be of a mind with you. And Jove answered
Speaker 1: my child tritoborn. Take heart, I did not speak in
Speaker 1: full earnest, and I will let you have your way.
Speaker 1: Do without let or hindrance, as you are minded. Thus
Speaker 1: did he urge Minerva, who was already eager, and down
Speaker 1: she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus. Achilles was
Speaker 1: still in full pursuit of Hector, as a hound chasing
Speaker 1: a fawn which he has started from its covert on
Speaker 1: the mountains and hunts through glade and thicket. The fawn
Speaker 1: may try to elude him by crouching under cover of
Speaker 1: a bush, but he will scent her out and follow
Speaker 1: her up until he gets her. Even so, there was
Speaker 1: no escape for Hector from the fleet, son of Pelias.
Speaker 1: Whenever he made a set to get near the Dardanian
Speaker 1: gates and under the walls, that his people might help
Speaker 1: him by showering down weapons from above. Achilles would gain
Speaker 1: on him and head him back towards the plane, keeping
Speaker 1: himself always on the city side. As a man in
Speaker 1: a dream who fails to lay hands upon another whom
Speaker 1: he is pursuing, the one cannot escape nor the other overtake.
Speaker 1: Even so, neither could Achilles come up with Hector, nor
Speaker 1: Hector break away from Achilles. Nevertheless, he might even yet
Speaker 1: have escaped death, had not the time come when Apollo,
Speaker 1: who thus far had sustained his strength and nerved his running,
Speaker 1: was now no longer to stay by him. Achilles made
Speaker 1: signs to the Achaean host, and shook his head to
Speaker 1: show that no man was to aim a dart at Hector,
Speaker 1: lest another might win the glory of having hit him,
Speaker 1: and he might himself come in second. Then, at last,
Speaker 1: as they were nearing the fountains for the fourth time,
Speaker 1: the Father of All balanced his golden scales and placed
Speaker 1: a doom in each of them, one for Achilles and
Speaker 1: the other for Hector. As he held the scales by
Speaker 1: the middle, the doom of Hector fell down deep into
Speaker 1: the house of Hades, and then Phoebus Apollo left him
Speaker 1: thereon Minerva went close up to the son of Pelias
Speaker 1: and said, Noble Achilles, favored of Heaven, we two shall
Speaker 1: surely take back to the ships a triumph for the
Speaker 1: Achaeans by slaying Hector for all his lust of battle.
Speaker 1: Do what Apollo may, as he lies groveling before his
Speaker 1: father egis bearing jove. Hector cannot escape us longer. Stay
Speaker 1: here and take breath, while I go up to him
Speaker 1: and persuade him to make a stand and fight you.
Speaker 1: Thus spoke Minerva. Achilles obeyed her gladly and stood still,
Speaker 1: leaning on his bronze, pointed ash and spear, while Minerva
Speaker 1: left him and went after Hector in the form and
Speaker 1: with the voice of Diphobus. She came close up to
Speaker 1: him and said, dear brother, I see you are hard
Speaker 1: pressed by Achilles, who is chasing you at full speed
Speaker 1: round the city of Priam. Let us await his onset
Speaker 1: and stand on our deffect. Hence, and Hector answered, Dave, Phoebus,
Speaker 1: you have always been dearest to me of all my brothers,
Speaker 1: children of Hecuba and Priam, but henceforth I shall rate
Speaker 1: you yet more highly, inasmuch as you have ventured outside
Speaker 1: the wall for my sake, when all the others remain inside.
Speaker 1: Then Minerva said, dear brother, My father and mother went
Speaker 1: down on their knees and implored me, as did all
Speaker 1: my comrades, to remain inside. So great a fear has
Speaker 1: fallen upon them all. But I was in an agony
Speaker 1: of grief when I beheld you. Now therefore, let us
Speaker 1: too make a stand and fight, and let there be
Speaker 1: no keeping our spears in reserve, that we may learn
Speaker 1: whether Achilles shall kill us and bear off our spoils
Speaker 1: to the ships, or whether he shall fall before you.
Speaker 1: Thus did Minerva inveigel him by her cunning, And when
Speaker 1: the two were now close to one another, great Hector
Speaker 1: was first to speak, I will no longer fly you,
Speaker 1: son of Pelias, said he as I have been doing hitherto.
Speaker 1: Three times have I fled round the mighty city of
Speaker 1: Priam without daring to withstand you. But now let me
Speaker 1: either slay or be slain, for I am in the
Speaker 1: mind to face you. Let us then give pledges to
Speaker 1: one another by our gods, who are the fittest witnesses
Speaker 1: and guardians of all covenants. Let it be agreed between
Speaker 1: us that if Jove vouchsafes me the longest stay, and
Speaker 1: I take your life, I am not to treat your
Speaker 1: dead body in any unseemly fashion. But when I have
Speaker 1: stripped you of your armor, I am to give up
Speaker 1: your body to the Achaeans. And do you likewise? Achilles
Speaker 1: glared at him and answered, fool, prate not to me
Speaker 1: about covenants. There can be no covenance between men and lions.
Speaker 1: Wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but
Speaker 1: hate each other out and out and through. Therefore there
Speaker 1: can be no understanding between you and me, Nor may
Speaker 1: there be any covenance between us, till one or other
Speaker 1: shall fall, and glut grim Mars, with his life's blood,
Speaker 1: put forth all your strength you have need now to
Speaker 1: prove yourself indeed a bold soldier and man of war.
Speaker 1: You have no more chance, and Pallas Minerva will forthwith
Speaker 1: vanquish you. By my spear. You shall now pay me
Speaker 1: in full for the grief you have caused me, on
Speaker 1: account of my comrades, whom you have killed in battle.
Speaker 1: He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it.
Speaker 1: Hector saw it coming and avoided it. He watched it
Speaker 1: and crouched down so that it flew over his head
Speaker 1: and stuck in the ground beyond. Minerva then snatched it
Speaker 1: up and gave it back to Achilles without Hector's seeing her.
Speaker 1: Hector thereon said to the son of Pelias, you have
Speaker 1: missed your aim. Achilles, peer of the gods, and Jove
Speaker 1: has not yet revealed to you the hour of my doom,
Speaker 1: though you made sure that he had done so. You
Speaker 1: were a false tongued liar when you deemed that I
Speaker 1: should forget my valor and quail before you. You shall
Speaker 1: not drive spear into the back of a runaway drive
Speaker 1: it should heaven, so grant you power drive it into
Speaker 1: me as I make straight towards you. And now, for
Speaker 1: your own part, avoid my spear if you can, would
Speaker 1: that you might receive the whole of it into your body.
Speaker 1: If you were once dead, the Trojans would find the
Speaker 1: war an easier matter, for it is you who have
Speaker 1: harmed them most. He poised his spear as he spoke
Speaker 1: and hurled it. His aim was true, for he hit
Speaker 1: the middle of Achilles's shield, but the spear rebounded from
Speaker 1: it and did not pierce it. Hector was angry when
Speaker 1: he saw that the weapon had sped from his hand
Speaker 1: in vain, and stood there in dismay, for he had
Speaker 1: no second spear. With a loud cry, he called Diphobus
Speaker 1: and asked him for one, but there was no man.
Speaker 1: Then he saw the truth and said to himself, alas
Speaker 1: the gods have lured me on to my destruction. I
Speaker 1: deemed that the hero Dephobus was by my side, But
Speaker 1: he is within the wall, and Minerva has inveigled me.
Speaker 1: Death is now indeed exceedingly near at hand, and there
Speaker 1: is no way out of it, for so Jove and
Speaker 1: his son Apollo the far data have willed it. Though
Speaker 1: heretofore they have been ever ready to protect me. My
Speaker 1: doom has come upon me. Let me not then die
Speaker 1: ingloriously and without a struggle, But let me first do
Speaker 1: some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter,
Speaker 1: as he spoke, he drew the keen blade that hung
Speaker 1: so great and strong by his side, and, gathering himself together,
Speaker 1: be sprang on Achilles, like a soaring eagle which swoops
Speaker 1: down from the clouds onto some lamb or timid hair.
Speaker 1: Even so did Hector brandish his sword and spring upon Achilles. Achilles,
Speaker 1: mad with rage, darted towards him, with his wondrous shield
Speaker 1: before his breast, and his gleaming helmet, made with four
Speaker 1: layers of metal, nodding fiercely forward. The thick tresses of
Speaker 1: gold be which Vulcan had crested the helmet floated round it,
Speaker 1: And as the evening star that shines brighter than all
Speaker 1: others through the stillness of night, even such was the
Speaker 1: gleam of the spear which Achilles poised in his right hand.
Speaker 1: Fraught with the death of noble Hector, he eyed his
Speaker 1: fair flesh over and over to see where he could
Speaker 1: best wound it. But all was protected by the goodly
Speaker 1: armor of which Hector had spoiled Patroclus after he had
Speaker 1: slain him, save only the throat, where the collar bones
Speaker 1: divide the neck from the shoulders, and this is a
Speaker 1: most deadly place. Here, then, did Achilles strike him as
Speaker 1: he was coming on towards him, and the point of
Speaker 1: his spear went right through the fleshy part of the neck,
Speaker 1: but it did not sever his windpipe, so that he
Speaker 1: could still speak. Hector fell headlong, and Achilles vaunted over him, saying, Hector,
Speaker 1: you deemed that you should come off scatheless when you
Speaker 1: were spoiling Patroclus and wrecked, not of myself, who was
Speaker 1: not with him, fool that you were. For I his comrade,
Speaker 1: mightier far than he was still left behind him at
Speaker 1: the ships. And now I have laid you low. The
Speaker 1: Achaeans shall give him all due funeral rites, while dogs
Speaker 1: and vultures shall work their will upon yourself. Then Hector said,
Speaker 1: as the life ebbed out of him, I pray you,
Speaker 1: by your life and knees, and by your parents. Let
Speaker 1: not dogs devour me at the ships of the Achaeans.
Speaker 1: But accept the rich treasure of gold and bronze which
Speaker 1: my father and mother will offer you, And send my
Speaker 1: body home that the Trojans and their wives may give
Speaker 1: me my dues of when I am dead. Achilles glared
Speaker 1: at him and answered, dog talk not to me. Neither
Speaker 1: of knees nor parents would that I could be as
Speaker 1: sure of being able to cut your flesh into pieces
Speaker 1: and eat it raw. For the ill have done me
Speaker 1: as I am. That nothing shall save you from the dogs.
Speaker 1: It shall not be though they bring ten or twentyfold ransom,
Speaker 1: and weigh it out for me on the spot, with
Speaker 1: promise of yet more hereafter, though Priam's son of Dardiness
Speaker 1: should bid them offer me your weight in gold. Even
Speaker 1: so your mother shall never lay you out and make
Speaker 1: lament over the sun, she bore, but dogs and vultures
Speaker 1: shall eat you utterly up. Hector, with his dying breath,
Speaker 1: then said, I know you what you are, and was
Speaker 1: sure that I should not move you, for your heart
Speaker 1: is hard as iron. Look to it that I bring
Speaker 1: not Heaven's anger upon you on the day when Paris
Speaker 1: and Phoebus Apollo, valiant though you be, shall slay you
Speaker 1: at the scay and gates. When he had thus said,
Speaker 1: the shrouds of death enfolded him, whereon his soul went
Speaker 1: out of him and flew down to the house of Hades,
Speaker 1: lamenting its sad fate, that it should enjoy youth and
Speaker 1: strength no longer. But Achilles said, speaking to the dead body,
Speaker 1: die for my part. I will accept my fate whensoever
Speaker 1: Jove and the other gods see fit to send it.
Speaker 1: As he spoke, he drew his spear from the body
Speaker 1: and set it on one side. Then he stripped the
Speaker 1: blood stained armor from Hector's shoulders, while the other Achaeans
Speaker 1: came running up to view his wondrous strength and beauty,
Speaker 1: and no one came near him without giving him a
Speaker 1: fresh wound. Then would one turn to his neighbor and say,
Speaker 1: it is easier to handle Hector now than when he
Speaker 1: was flinging fire onto our ships, And as he spoke,
Speaker 1: he would thrust his spear into him. Anew Achilles had done,
Speaker 1: spoiling Hector of his armor. He stood among the archives
Speaker 1: and said, my friends, princes and counselors of the archives,
Speaker 1: now that Heaven has vouchsafed us to overcome this man
Speaker 1: who has done us more hurt than all the others together,
Speaker 1: consider whether we should not attack the city in force
Speaker 1: and discover in what mind the Trojans may be. We
Speaker 1: should thus learn whether they will desert their city now
Speaker 1: that Hector has fallen, or will still hold out even
Speaker 1: though he is no longer living. But why argue with
Speaker 1: myself in this way while Patroclus is still lying at
Speaker 1: the ships, unburied and unmourned, He whom I can never forget,
Speaker 1: so long as I am alive, and my strength fails.
Speaker 1: Not though men forget their dead when once they are
Speaker 1: within the House of Hades. Yet not even there will
Speaker 1: I forget the comrade whom I have lost. Now therefore
Speaker 1: are keen youths. Let us raise the song of victory
Speaker 1: and go back to the ships, taking this man along
Speaker 1: with us, For we have achieved a mighty triumph and
Speaker 1: have slain noble Hector, to whom the Trojans prayed throughout
Speaker 1: their city as though he were a god. On this
Speaker 1: he treated the body of Hector with Contumely, he pierced
Speaker 1: the sinews at the back of both his feet from
Speaker 1: heel to ankle, and passed thongs of ox hide through
Speaker 1: the slits he had made. Thus he made the body
Speaker 1: fast to his chariot, letting the head trail upon the ground. Then,
Speaker 1: when he had put the goodly armor on the chariot
Speaker 1: and had himself mounted, he lashed his horses on, and
Speaker 1: they flew forward. Nothing loth. The dust rose from Hector
Speaker 1: as he was being dragged along. His dark hair flew
Speaker 1: all abroad, and his head, once so comely, was laid
Speaker 1: low on earth. For Jove had now delivered him into
Speaker 1: the hands of his foes, to do him outrage in
Speaker 1: his own land. Thus was the head of Hector being
Speaker 1: dishonored in the dust. His mother tore her hair and
Speaker 1: flung her veil from her with a loud cry. As
Speaker 1: she looked upon her son. His father made piteous moan,
Speaker 1: and throughout the city the people fell to weeping and wailing.
Speaker 1: It was as though the whole of frowning Ilius was
Speaker 1: being smirched with fire. Hardly could the people hold Priam back.
Speaker 1: In his hot haste to rush without the gates of
Speaker 1: the city. He groveled in the mire and besought them,
Speaker 1: calling each one of them by his name. Let be
Speaker 1: my friends, he cried, And for all your sorrow suffer
Speaker 1: me to go single handed to the ships of the Achaeans.
Speaker 1: Let me beseech this cruel and terrible man, if maybe
Speaker 1: he will respect the feeling of his fellow men and
Speaker 1: have compassion on my old age. His own father is
Speaker 1: even such another as myself, Pelias, who bred him and
Speaker 1: reared him to be the bane of us Trojans, and
Speaker 1: of myself, more than of all others. Many a son
Speaker 1: of mine has he slain in the flower of his youth.
Speaker 1: And yet grieve for these as I may I do
Speaker 1: so for one Hector more than for them all, and
Speaker 1: the bitterness of my sorrow will bring me down to
Speaker 1: the house of Hades. Would that he had died in
Speaker 1: my arms, for so both his ill starred mother who
Speaker 1: bore him, and myself should have had the comfort of
Speaker 1: weeping and mourning over him. Thus did he speak with
Speaker 1: many tears, and all the people of the city joined
Speaker 1: in his lament. Hecuba then raised the cry of wailing
Speaker 1: among the Trojans. Alas my son, she cried, what have
Speaker 1: I left to live? For now that you are no more?
Speaker 1: Night and day did I glory in you throughout the city,
Speaker 1: For you were a tower of strength to all in Troy,
Speaker 1: and both men and women alike hailed you as a god.
Speaker 1: So long as you lived, you were their pride. But
Speaker 1: now death and destruction have fallen upon you. Hector's wife
Speaker 1: had as yet heard nothing, for no one had come
Speaker 1: to tell her that her husband had remained without the gates.
Speaker 1: She was at her loom in an inner part of
Speaker 1: the house, weaving a double purple web and embroidering it
Speaker 1: with many flowers. She told her maids to set a
Speaker 1: large tripod on the fire so as to have a
Speaker 1: warm bath ready for Hector when he came out of battle.
Speaker 1: Poor woman, she knew not that he was now beyond
Speaker 1: the reach of baths, and that Minerva had laid him
Speaker 1: low by the hands of Achilles. She heard the cry
Speaker 1: coming as from the wall, and trembled in every limb.
Speaker 1: The shuttle fell from her hands, and again she spoke
Speaker 1: to her waiting women. Two of you, she said, come
Speaker 1: with me, that I may learn what it is that
Speaker 1: has befallen. I heard the voice of my husband's honored mother.
Speaker 1: My own heart beats as though it would come into
Speaker 1: my mouth, and my limbs refused to carry me. Some
Speaker 1: great misfortune for Priam's children must be at hand. May
Speaker 1: I never live to hear it. But I greatly fear
Speaker 1: that Achilles has cut off the retreat of brave Hector
Speaker 1: and has chased him onto the plain where he was
Speaker 1: single handed. I fear he may have put an end
Speaker 1: to the reckless daring which possessed my husband, who would
Speaker 1: never remain with the body of his men, but would
Speaker 1: dash on far in front for most of them all
Speaker 1: in valor. Her heart beat fast, and as she spoke
Speaker 1: she flew from the house like a maniac, with her
Speaker 1: waiting women following after. When she reached the battlements and
Speaker 1: the crowd of people, she stood looking out upon the
Speaker 1: wall and saw Hector being borne away in front of
Speaker 1: the city, the horses dragging him without heed or care,
Speaker 1: over the ground towards the ships of the Achaeans. Her
Speaker 1: eyes were then shrouded as with the darkness of night,
Speaker 1: and she fell fainting backwards. She tore the tiring from
Speaker 1: her head and flung it from her the frontlet and
Speaker 1: net with its platted band, and the veil which Golden
Speaker 1: Venus had given her on the day when Hector took
Speaker 1: her with him from the house of Etian, after having
Speaker 1: given countless gifts of wooing for her sake. Her husband's
Speaker 1: sisters and the wire of his brothers crowded round her
Speaker 1: and supported her, for she was fain to die in
Speaker 1: her distraction. When she again presently breathed and came to herself,
Speaker 1: she sobbed and made lament among the Trojans, saying, woe
Speaker 1: is me, o Hector, woe indeed that to share a
Speaker 1: common lot. We were born you at Troy in the
Speaker 1: house of Priam, and I at thebes under the wooded
Speaker 1: mountain of Placus in the house of Etian, who brought
Speaker 1: me up when I was a child. Ill starred sire
Speaker 1: of an ill starred daughter, would that he had never
Speaker 1: begotten me. You are now going into the house of Hades,
Speaker 1: under the secret places of the earth, and you leave
Speaker 1: me a sorrowing widow in your house. The child of
Speaker 1: whom you and I are the unhappy parents, is as
Speaker 1: yet a mere infant. Now that you are gone, O hector,
Speaker 1: you can do nothing for him, nor he for you.
Speaker 1: Even though he escaped the horrors of this woeful war
Speaker 1: with the Achaeans. Yet shall his life henceforth be one
Speaker 1: of labor and sorrow, for others will seize his lands.
Speaker 1: The day that robs a child of his parents severs
Speaker 1: him from his own kind. His head is bowed, his
Speaker 1: cheeks are wet with tears, and he will go about
Speaker 1: destitute among the friends of his father, plucking one by
Speaker 1: the cloak and another by the shirt. Someone or other
Speaker 1: of these may so far pity him as to hold
Speaker 1: the cup for a moment towards him, and let him
Speaker 1: moisten his lips. But he must not drink enough to
Speaker 1: wet the roof of his mouth. Then one whose parents
Speaker 1: are alive, will drive him from the table with blows
Speaker 1: and angry words. Out with you. He will say, you
Speaker 1: have no father here, and the child will go crying
Speaker 1: back to his widowed mother. He Astyanax, who a while
Speaker 1: would sit upon his father's knees and have none but
Speaker 1: the daintiest and choicest morsels set before him. When he
Speaker 1: had played till he was tired and went to sleep,
Speaker 1: he would lie in a bed in the arms of
Speaker 1: his nurse, on a soft couch, knowing neither want nor care.
Speaker 1: Whereas now that he has lost his father, his lot
Speaker 1: will be full of hardship. He whom the Trojans name Astianax,
Speaker 1: because you, o Hector, were the only defense of their
Speaker 1: gates and battlements. The wriggling, writhing worms will now eat
Speaker 1: you at the ships, far from your parents. When the
Speaker 1: dogs have glutted themselves upon you, you will lie naked, although
Speaker 1: in your house you have fine and goodly raiment made
Speaker 1: by hands of women. This will I now burn. It
Speaker 1: is of no use to you, for you can never
Speaker 1: again wear it, and thus you will have respect shown
Speaker 1: you by the Trojans, both men and women. In such
Speaker 1: wise did she cry aloud amid her tears, and the
Speaker 1: women joined in her lament.