Book IX
  
     Thus did the Trojans watch. But Panic, comrade of blood-stained
     Rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans and their princes were all
     of them in despair. As when the two winds that blow from Thrace- the
     north and the northwest- spring up of a sudden and rouse the fury of
     the main- in a moment the dark waves uprear their heads and scatter
     their sea-wrack in all directions- even thus troubled were the
     hearts of the Achaeans. 
     
     The son of Atreus in dismay bade the heralds call the people to a
     council man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud; he made haste
     also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in their
     assembly. Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or
     cataract on the side of some sheer cliff; and thus, with many a
     heavy sigh he spoke to the Achaeans. "My friends," said he, "princes
     and councillors Of the Argives, the hand of heaven has been laid
     heavily upon me. Cruel Jove gave me his solemn promise that I should
     sack the city of Troy before returning, but he has played me false,
     and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of
     much people. Such is the will of Jove, who has laid many a proud
     city in the dust as he will yet lay others, for his power is above
     all. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say and sail back to our own
     country, for we shall not take Troy." 
     
     Thus he spoke, and the sons of the Achaeans for a long while sat
     sorrowful there, but they all held their peace, till at last Diomed
     of the loud battle-cry made answer saying, "Son of Atreus, I will
     chide your folly, as is my right in council. Be not then aggrieved
     that I should do so. In the first place you attacked me before all
     the Danaans and said that I was a coward and no soldier. The Argives
     young and old know that you did so. But the son of scheming Saturn
     endowed you by halves only. He gave you honour as the chief ruler
     over us, but valour, which is the highest both right and might he
     did not give you. Sir, think you that the sons of the Achaeans are
     indeed as unwarlike and cowardly as you say they are? If your own
     mind is set upon going home- go- the way is open to you; the many
     ships that followed you from Mycene stand ranged upon the seashore;
     but the rest of us stay here till we have sacked Troy. Nay though
     these too should turn homeward with their ships, Sthenelus and
     myself will still fight on till we reach the goal of Ilius, for for
     heaven was with us when we came." 
     
     The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause at the words of Diomed,
     and presently Nestor rose to speak. "Son of Tydeus," said he, "in
     war your prowess is beyond question, and in council you excel all
     who are of your own years; no one of the Achaeans can make light of
     what you say nor gainsay it, but you have not yet come to the end of
     the whole matter. You are still young- you might be the youngest of
     my own children- still you have spoken wisely and have counselled
     the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion; nevertheless I am
     older than you and I will tell you every" thing; therefore let no
     man, not even King Agamemnon, disregard my saying, for he that
     foments civil discord is a clanless, hearthless outlaw. 
     
     "Now, however, let us obey the behests of night and get our suppers,
     but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench that is
     without the wall. I am giving these instructions to the young men;
     when they have been attended to, do you, son of Atreus, give your
     orders, for you are the most royal among us all. Prepare a feast for
     your councillors; it is right and reasonable that you should do so;
     there is abundance of wine in your tents, which the ships of the
     Achaeans bring from Thrace daily. You have everything at your
     disposal wherewith to entertain guests, and you have many subjects.
     When many are got together, you can be guided by him whose counsel
     is wisest- and sorely do we need shrewd and prudent counsel, for the
     foe has lit his watchfires hard by our ships. Who can be other than
     dismayed? This night will either be the ruin of our host, or save
     it." 
     
     Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. The sentinels
     went out in their armour under command of Nestor's son Thrasymedes,
     a captain of the host, and of the bold warriors Ascalaphus and
     Ialmenus: there were also Meriones, Aphareus and Deipyrus, and the
     son of Creion, noble Lycomedes. There were seven captains of the
     sentinels, and with each there went a hundred youths armed with long
     spears: they took their places midway between the trench and the
     wall, and when they had done so they lit their fires and got every
     man his supper. 
     
     The son of Atreus then bade many councillors of the Achaeans to his
     quarters prepared a great feast in their honour. They laid their
     hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they
     had enough to eat and drink, old Nestor, whose counsel was ever
     truest, was the first to lay his mind before them. He, therefore,
     with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus. 
     
     "With yourself, most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon,
     will I both begin my speech and end it, for you are king over much
     people. Jove, moreover, has vouchsafed you to wield the sceptre and
     to uphold righteousness, that you may take thought for your people
     under you; therefore it behooves you above all others both to speak
     and to give ear, and to out the counsel of another who shall have
     been minded to speak wisely. All turns on you and on your commands,
     therefore I will say what I think will be best. No man will be of a
     truer mind than that which has been mine from the hour when you,
     sir, angered Achilles by taking the girl Briseis from his tent
     against my judgment. I urged you not to do so, but you yielded to
     your own pride, and dishonoured a hero whom heaven itself had
     honoured- for you still hold the prize that had been awarded to him.
     Now, however, let us think how we may appease him, both with
     presents and fair speeches that may conciliate him." 
     
     And King Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you have reproved my folly
     justly. I was wrong. I own it. One whom heaven befriends is in
     himself a host, and Jove has shown that he befriends this man by
     destroying much people of the Achaeans. I was blinded with passion
     and yielded to my worser mind; therefore I will make amends, and
     will give him great gifts by way of atonement. I will tell them in
     the presence of you all. I will give him seven tripods that have
     never yet been on the fire, and ten talents of gold. I will give him
     twenty iron cauldrons and twelve strong horses that have won races
     and carried off prizes. Rich, indeed, both in land and gold is he
     that has as many prizes as my horses have won me. I will give him
     seven excellent workwomen, Lesbians, whom I chose for myself when he
     took Lesbos- all of surpassing beauty. I will give him these, and
     with them her whom I erewhile took from him, the daughter of
     Briseus; and I swear a great oath that I never went up into her
     couch, nor have been with her after the manner of men and women. 
     
     "All these things will I give him now down, and if hereafter the
     gods vouchsafe me to sack the city of Priam, let him come when we
     Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load his ship with gold and
     bronze to his liking; furthermore let him take twenty Trojan women,
     the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when we reach Achaean
     Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall be my son-in-law and I will
     show him like honour with my own dear son Orestes, who is being
     nurtured in all abundance. I have three daughters, Chrysothemis,
     Laodice, and lphianassa, let him take the one of his choice, freely
     and without gifts of wooing, to the house of Peleus; I will add such
     dower to boot as no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give
     him seven well established cities, Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire, where
     there is grass; holy Pherae and the rich meadows of Anthea; Aepea
     also, and the vine-clad slopes of Pedasus, all near the sea, and on
     the borders of sandy Pylos. The men that dwell there are rich in
     cattle and sheep; they will honour him with gifts as though he were
     a god, and be obedient to his comfortable ordinances. All this will
     I do if he will now forgo his anger. Let him then yieldit is only
     Hades who is utterly ruthless and unyielding- and hence he is of all
     gods the one most hateful to mankind. Moreover I am older and more
     royal than himself. Therefore, let him now obey me." 
     
     Then Nestor answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men,
     Agamemnon. The gifts you offer are no small ones, let us then send
     chosen messengers, who may go to the tent of Achilles son of Peleus
     without delay. Let those go whom I shall name. Let Phoenix, dear to
     Jove, lead the way; let Ajax and Ulysses follow, and let the heralds
     Odius and Eurybates go with them. Now bring water for our hands, and
     bid all keep silence while we pray to Jove the son of Saturn, if so
     be that he may have mercy upon us." 
     
     Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well. Men-servants
     poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the
     mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving
     every man his drink-offering; then, when they had made their
     offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded, the envoys
     set out from the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus; and Nestor,
     looking first to one and then to another, but most especially at
     Ulysses, was instant with them that they should prevail with the
     noble son of Peleus. 
     
     They went their way by the shore of the sounding sea, and prayed
     earnestly to earth-encircling Neptune that the high spirit of the
     son of Aeacus might incline favourably towards them. When they
     reached the ships and tents of the Myrmidons, they found Achilles
     playing on a lyre, fair, of cunning workmanship, and its cross-bar
     was of silver. It was part of the spoils which he had taken when he
     sacked the city of Eetion, and he was now diverting himself with it
     and singing the feats of heroes. He was alone with Patroclus, who
     sat opposite to him and said nothing, waiting till he should cease
     singing. Ulysses and Ajax now came in- Ulysses leading the way -and
     stood before him. Achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still
     in his hand, and Patroclus, when he saw the strangers, rose also.
     Achilles then greeted them saying, "All hail and welcome- you must
     come upon some great matter, you, who for all my anger are still
     dearest to me of the Achaeans." 
     
     With this he led them forward, and bade them sit on seats covered
     with purple rugs; then he said to Patroclus who was close by him,
     "Son of Menoetius, set a larger bowl upon the table, mix less water
     with the wine, and give every man his cup, for these are very dear
     friends, who are now under my roof." 
     
     Patroclus did as his comrade bade him; he set the chopping-block in
     front of the fire, and on it he laid the loin of a sheep, the loin
     also of a goat, and the chine of a fat hog. Automedon held the meat
     while Achilles chopped it; he then sliced the pieces and put them on
     spits while the son of Menoetius made the fire burn high. When the
     flame had died down, he spread the embers, laid the spits on top of
     them, lifting them up and setting them upon the spit-racks; and he
     sprinkled them with salt. When the meat was roasted, he set it on
     platters, and handed bread round the table in fair baskets, while
     Achilles dealt them their portions. Then Achilles took his seat
     facing Ulysses against the opposite wall, and bade his comrade
     Patroclus offer sacrifice to the gods; so he cast the offerings into
     the fire, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were
     before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Ajax
     made a sign to Phoenix, and when he saw this, Ulysses filled his cup
     with wine and pledged Achilles. 
     
     "Hail," said he, "Achilles, we have had no scant of good cheer,
     neither in the tent of Agamemnon, nor yet here; there has been
     plenty to eat and drink, but our thought turns upon no such matter.
     Sir, we are in the face of great disaster, and without your help
     know not whether we shall save our fleet or lose it. The Trojans and
     their allies have camped hard by our ships and by the wall; they
     have lit watchfires throughout their host and deem that nothing can
     now prevent them from falling on our fleet. Jove, moreover, has sent
     his lightnings on their right; Hector, in all his glory, rages like
     a maniac; confident that Jove is with him he fears neither god nor
     man, but is gone raving mad, and prays for the approach of day. He
     vows that he will hew the high sterns of our ships in pieces, set
     fire to their hulls, and make havoc of the Achaeans while they are
     dazed and smothered in smoke; I much fear that heaven will make good
     his boasting, and it will prove our lot to perish at Troy far from
     our home in Argos. Up, then, and late though it be, save the sons of
     the Achaeans who faint before the fury of the Trojans. You will
     repent bitterly hereafter if you do not, for when the harm is done
     there will be no curing it; consider ere it be too late, and save
     the Danaans from destruction. 
     
     "My good friend, when your father Peleus sent you from Phthia to
     Agamemnon, did he not charge you saying, 'Son, Minerva and Juno will
     make you strong if they choose, but check your high temper, for the
     better part is in goodwill. Eschew vain quarrelling, and the
     Achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing so.' These
     were his words, but you have forgotten them. Even now, however, be
     appeased, and put away your anger from you. Agamemnon will make you
     great amends if you will forgive him; listen, and I will tell you
     what he has said in his tent that he will give you. He will give you
     seven tripods that have never yet been on the fire, and ten talents
     of gold; twenty iron cauldrons, and twelve strong horses that have
     won races and carried off prizes. Rich indeed both in land and gold
     is he who has as many prizes as these horses have won for Agamemnon.
     Moreover he will give you seven excellent workwomen, Lesbians, whom
     he chose for himself, when you took Lesbos- all of surpassing
     beauty. He will give you these, and with them her whom he erewhile
     took from you, the daughter of Briseus, and he will swear a great
     oath, he has never gone up into her couch nor been with her after
     the manner of men and women. All these things will he give you now
     down, and if hereafter the gods vouchsafe him to sack the city of
     Priam, you can come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and
     load your ship with gold and bronze to your liking. You can take
     twenty Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when
     we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his
     son-in-law, and he will show you like honour with his own dear son
     Orestes, who is being nurtured in all abundance. Agamemnon has three
     daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice, and Iphianassa; you may take the
     one of your choice, freely and without gifts of wooing, to the house
     of Peleus; he will add such dower to boot as no man ever yet gave
     his daughter, and will give you seven well-established cities,
     Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire where there is grass; holy Pheras and the
     rich meadows of Anthea; Aepea also, and the vine-clad slopes of
     Pedasus, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy Pylos. The
     men that dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep; they will honour
     you with gifts as though were a god, and be obedient to your
     comfortable ordinances. All this will he do if you will now forgo
     your anger. Moreover, though you hate both him and his gifts with
     all your heart, yet pity the rest of the Achaeans who are being
     harassed in all their host; they will honour you as a god, and you
     will earn great glory at their hands. You might even kill Hector; he
     will come within your reach, for he is infatuated, and declares that
     not a Danaan whom the ships have brought can hold his own against
     him." 
     
     Achilles answered, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, I should give you
     formal notice plainly and in all fixity of purpose that there be no
     more of this cajoling, from whatsoever quarter it may come. Him do I
     hate even as the gates of hell who says one thing while he hides
     another in his heart; therefore I will say what I mean. I will be
     appeased neither by Agamemnon son of Atreus nor by any other of the
     Danaans, for I see that I have no thanks for all my fighting. He
     that fights fares no better than he that does not; coward and hero
     are held in equal honour, and death deals like measure to him who
     works and him who is idle. I have taken nothing by all my hardships-
     with my life ever in my hand; as a bird when she has found a morsel
     takes it to her nestlings, and herself fares hardly, even so man a
     long night have I been wakeful, and many a bloody battle have I
     waged by day against those who were fighting for their women. With
     my ships I have taken twelve cities, and eleven round about Troy
     have I stormed with my men by land; I took great store of wealth
     from every one of them, but I gave all up to Agamemnon son of
     Atreus. He stayed where he was by his ships, yet of what came to him
     he gave little, and kept much himself. 
     
     "Nevertheless he did distribute some meeds of honour among the
     chieftains and kings, and these have them still; from me alone of
     the Achaeans did he take the woman in whom I delighted- let him keep
     her and sleep with her. Why, pray, must the Argives needs fight the
     Trojans? What made the son of Atreus gather the host and bring them?
     Was it not for the sake of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only
     men in the world who love their wives? Any man of common right
     feeling will love and cherish her who is his own, as I this woman,
     with my whole heart, though she was but a fruitling of my spear.
     Agamemnon has taken her from me; he has played me false; I know him;
     let him tempt me no further, for he shall not move me. Let him look
     to you, Ulysses, and to the other princes to save his ships from
     burning. He has done much without me already. He has built a wall;
     he has dug a trench deep and wide all round it, and he has planted
     it within with stakes; but even so he stays not the murderous might
     of Hector. So long as I fought the Achaeans Hector suffered not the
     battle range far from the city walls; he would come to the Scaean
     gates and to the oak tree, but no further. Once he stayed to meet me
     and hardly did he escape my onset: now, however, since I am in no
     mood to fight him, I will to-morrow offer sacrifice to Jove and to
     all the gods; I will draw my ships into the water and then victual
     them duly; to-morrow morning, if you care to look, you will see my
     ships on the Hellespont, and my men rowing out to sea with might and
     main. If great Neptune vouchsafes me a fair passage, in three days I
     shall be in Phthia. I have much there that I left behind me when I
     came here to my sorrow, and I shall bring back still further store
     of gold, of red copper, of fair women, and of iron, my share of the
     spoils that we have taken; but one prize, he who gave has insolently
     taken away. Tell him all as I now bid you, and tell him in public
     that the Achaeans may hate him and beware of him should he think
     that he can yet dupe others for his effrontery never fails him. 
     
     "As for me, hound that he is, he dares not look me in the face. I
     will take no counsel with him, and will undertake nothing in common
     with him. He has wronged me and deceived me enough, he shall not
     cozen me further; let him go his own way, for Jove has robbed him of
     his reason. I loathe his presents, and for himself care not one
     straw. He may offer me ten or even twenty times what he has now
     done, nay- not though it be all that he has in the world, both now
     or ever shall have; he may promise me the wealth of Orchomenus or of
     Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world, for
     it has a hundred gates through each of which two hundred men may
     drive at once with their chariots and horses; he may offer me gifts
     as the sands of the sea or the dust of the plain in multitude, but
     even so he shall not move me till I have been revenged in full for
     the bitter wrong he has done me. I will not marry his daughter; she
     may be fair as Venus, and skilful as Minerva, but I will have none
     of her: let another take her, who may be a good match for her and
     who rules a larger kingdom. If the gods spare me to return home,
     Peleus will find me a wife; there are Achaean women in Hellas and
     Phthia, daughters of kings that have cities under them; of these I
     can take whom I will and marry her. Many a time was I minded when at
     home in Phthia to woo and wed a woman who would make me a suitable
     wife, and to enjoy the riches of my old father Peleus. My life is
     more to me than all the wealth of Ilius while it was yet at peace
     before the Achaeans went there, or than all the treasure that lies
     on the stone floor of Apollo's temple beneath the cliffs of Pytho.
     Cattle and sheep are to be had for harrying, and a man buy both
     tripods and horses if he wants them, but when his life has once left
     him it can neither be bought nor harried back again. 
     
     "My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may
     meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but
     my name will live for ever: whereas if I go home my name will die,
     but it will be long ere death shall take me. To the rest of you,
     then, I say, 'Go home, for you will not take Ilius.' Jove has held
     his hand over her to protect her, and her people have taken heart.
     Go, therefore, as in duty bound, and tell the princes of the
     Achaeans the message that I have sent them; tell them to find some
     other plan for the saving of their ships and people, for so long as
     my displeasure lasts the one that they have now hit upon may not be.
     As for Phoenix, let him sleep here that he may sail with me in the
     morning if he so will. But I will not take him by force." 
     
     They all held their peace, dismayed at the sternness with which he
     had denied them, till presently the old knight Phoenix in his great
     fear for the ships of the Achaeans, burst into tears and said,
     "Noble Achilles, if you are now minded to return, and in the
     fierceness of your anger will do nothing to save the ships from
     burning, how, my son, can I remain here without you? Your father
     Peleus bade me go with you when he sent you as a mere lad from
     Phthia to Agamemnon. You knew nothing neither of war nor of the arts
     whereby men make their mark in council, and he sent me with you to
     train you in all excellence of speech and action. Therefore, my son,
     I will not stay here without you- no, not though heaven itself
     vouchsafe to strip my years from off me, and make me young as I was
     when I first left Hellas the land of fair women. I was then flying
     the anger of father Amyntor, son of Ormenus, who was furious with me
     in the matter of his concubine, of whom he was enamoured to the
     wronging of his wife my mother. My mother, therefore, prayed me
     without ceasing to lie with the woman myself, that so she hate my
     father, and in the course of time I yielded. But my father soon came
     to know, and cursed me bitterly, calling the dread Erinyes to
     witness. He prayed that no son of mine might ever sit upon knees-
     and the gods, Jove of the world below and awful Proserpine,
     fulfilled his curse. I took counsel to kill him, but some god stayed
     my rashness and bade me think on men's evil tongues and how I should
     be branded as the murderer of my father: nevertheless I could not
     bear to stay in my father's house with him so bitter a against me.
     My cousins and clansmen came about me, and pressed me sorely to
     remain; many a sheep and many an ox did they slaughter, and many a
     fat hog did they set down to roast before the fire; many a jar, too,
     did they broach of my father's wine. Nine whole nights did they set
     a guard over me taking it in turns to watch, and they kept a fire
     always burning, both in the cloister of the outer court and in the
     inner court at the doors of the room wherein I lay; but when the
     darkness of the tenth night came, I broke through the closed doors
     of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer court after passing
     quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the women
     servants. I then fled through Hellas till I came to fertile Phthia,
     mother of sheep, and to King Peleus, who made me welcome and treated
     me as a father treats an only son who will be heir to all his
     wealth. He made me rich and set me over much people, establishing me
     on the borders of Phthia where I was chief ruler over the Dolopians.
     
     
     "It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; I loved you with all
     my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you had gone
     out elsewhere, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up the
     dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine-cup to your
     lips. Many a time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness
     over my shirt; I had infinite trouble with you, but I knew that
     heaven had vouchsafed me no offspring of my own, and I made a son of
     you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might protect me. Now,
     therefore, I say battle with your pride and beat it; cherish not
     your anger for ever; the might and majesty of heaven are more than
     ours, but even heaven may be appeased; and if a man has sinned he
     prays the gods, and reconciles them to himself by his piteous cries
     and by frankincense, with drink-offerings and the savour of burnt
     sacrifice. For prayers are as daughters to great Jove; halt,
     wrinkled, with eyes askance, they follow in the footsteps of sin,
     who, being fierce and fleet of foot, leaves them far behind him, and
     ever baneful to mankind outstrips them even to the ends of the
     world; but nevertheless the prayers come hobbling and healing after.
     If a man has pity upon these daughters of Jove when they draw near
     him, they will bless him and hear him too when he is praying; but if
     he deny them and will not listen to them, they go to Jove the son of
     Saturn and pray that he may presently fall into sin- to his ruing
     bitterly hereafter. Therefore, Achilles, give these daughters of
     Jove due reverence, and bow before them as all good men will bow.
     Were not the son of Atreus offering you gifts and promising others
     later- if he were still furious and implacable- I am not he that
     would bid you throw off your anger and help the Achaeans, no matter
     how great their need; but he is giving much now, and more hereafter;
     he has sent his captains to urge his suit, and has chosen those who
     of all the Argives are most acceptable to you; make not then their
     words and their coming to be of none effect. Your anger has been
     righteous so far. We have heard in song how heroes of old time
     quarrelled when they were roused to fury, but still they could be
     won by gifts, and fair words could soothe them. 
     
     "I have an old story in my mind- a very old one- but you are all
     friends and I will tell it. The Curetes and the Aetolians were
     fighting and killing one another round Calydon- the Aetolians
     defending the city and the Curetes trying to destroy it. For Diana
     of the golden throne was angry and did them hurt because Oeneus had
     not offered her his harvest first-fruits. The other gods had all
     been feasted with hecatombs, but to the daughter of great Jove alone
     he had made no sacrifice. He had forgotten her, or somehow or other
     it had escaped him, and this was a grievous sin. Thereon the archer
     goddess in her displeasure sent a prodigious creature against him- a
     savage wild boar with great white tusks that did much harm to his
     orchard lands, uprooting apple-trees in full bloom and throwing them
     to the ground. But Meleager son of Oeneus got huntsmen and hounds
     from many cities and killed it- for it was so monstrous that not a
     few were needed, and many a man did it stretch upon his funeral
     pyre. On this the goddess set the Curetes and the Aetolians fighting
     furiously about the head and skin of the boar. 
     
     "So long as Meleager was in the field things went badly with the
     Curetes, and for all their numbers they could not hold their ground
     under the city walls; but in the course of time Meleager was angered
     as even a wise man will sometimes be. He was incensed with his
     mother Althaea, and therefore stayed at home with his wedded wife
     fair Cleopatra, who was daughter of Marpessa daughter of Euenus, and
     of Ides the man then living. He it was who took his bow and faced
     King Apollo himself for fair Marpessa's sake; her father and mother
     then named her Alcyone, because her mother had mourned with the
     plaintive strains of the halcyon-bird when Phoebus Apollo had
     carried her off. Meleager, then, stayed at home with Cleopatra,
     nursing the anger which he felt by reason of his mother's curses.
     His mother, grieving for the death of her brother, prayed the gods,
     and beat the earth with her hands, calling upon Hades and on awful
     Proserpine; she went down upon her knees and her bosom was wet with
     tears as she prayed that they would kill her son- and Erinys that
     walks in darkness and knows no ruth heard her from Erebus. 
     
     "Then was heard the din of battle about the gates of Calydon, and
     the dull thump of the battering against their walls. Thereon the
     elders of the Aetolians besought Meleager; they sent the chiefest of
     their priests, and begged him to come out and help them, promising
     him a great reward. They bade him choose fifty plough-gates, the
     most fertile in the plain of Calydon, the one-half vineyard and the
     other open plough-land. The old warrior Oeneus implored him,
     standing at the threshold of his room and beating the doors in
     supplication. His sisters and his mother herself besought him sore,
     but he the more refused them; those of his comrades who were nearest
     and dearest to him also prayed him, but they could not move him till
     the foe was battering at the very doors of his chamber, and the
     Curetes had scaled the walls and were setting fire to the city. Then
     at last his sorrowing wife detailed the horrors that befall those
     whose city is taken; she reminded him how the men are slain, and the
     city is given over to the flames, while the women and children are
     carried into captivity; when he heard all this, his heart was
     touched, and he donned his armour to go forth. Thus of his own
     inward motion he saved the city of the Aetolians; but they now gave
     him nothing of those rich rewards that they had offered earlier, and
     though he saved the city he took nothing by it. Be not then, my son,
     thus minded; let not heaven lure you into any such course. When the
     ships are burning it will be a harder matter to save them. Take the
     gifts, and go, for the Achaeans will then honour you as a god;
     whereas if you fight without taking them, you may beat the battle
     back, but you will not be held in like honour." 
     
     And Achilles answered, "Phoenix, old friend and father, I have no
     need of such honour. I have honour from Jove himself, which will
     abide with me at my ships while I have breath in my body, and my
     limbs are strong. I say further- and lay my saying to your heart-
     vex me no more with this weeping and lamentation, all in the cause
     of the son of Atreus. Love him so well, and you may lose the love I
     bear you. You ought to help me rather in troubling those that
     trouble me; be king as much as I am, and share like honour with
     myself; the others shall take my answer; stay here yourself and
     sleep comfortably in your bed; at daybreak we will consider whether
     to remain or go." 
     
     On this she nodded quietly to Patroclus as a sign that he was to
     prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take their
     leave. Ajax son of Telamon then said, "Ulysses, noble son of
     Laertes, let us be gone, for I see that our journey is vain. We must
     now take our answer, unwelcome though it be, to the Danaans who are
     waiting to receive it. Achilles is savage and remorseless; he is
     cruel, and cares nothing for the love his comrades lavished upon him
     more than on all the others. He is implacable- and yet if a man's
     brother or son has been slain he will accept a fine by way of amends
     from him that killed him, and the wrong-doer having paid in full
     remains in peace among his own people; but as for you, Achilles, the
     gods have put a wicked unforgiving spirit in your heart, and this,
     all about one single girl, whereas we now offer you the seven best
     we have, and much else into the bargain. Be then of a more gracious
     mind, respect the hospitality of your own roof. We are with you as
     messengers from the host of the Danaans, and would fain he held
     nearest and dearest to yourself of all the Achaeans." 
     
     "Ajax," replied Achilles, "noble son of Telamon, you have spoken
     much to my liking, but my blood boils when I think it all over, and
     remember how the son of Atreus treated me with contumely as though I
     were some vile tramp, and that too in the presence of the Argives.
     Go, then, and deliver your message; say that I will have no concern
     with fighting till Hector, son of noble Priam, reaches the tents of
     the Myrmidons in his murderous course, and flings fire upon their
     ships. For all his lust of battle, I take it he will be held in
     check when he is at my own tent and ship." 
     
     On this they took every man his double cup, made their
     drink-offerings, and went back to the ships, Ulysses leading the
     way. But Patroclus told his men and the maid-servants to make ready
     a comfortable bed for Phoenix; they therefore did so with
     sheepskins, a rug, and a sheet of fine linen. The old man then laid
     himself down and waited till morning came. But Achilles slept in an
     inner room, and beside him the daughter of Phorbas lovely Diomede,
     whom he had carried off from Lesbos. Patroclus lay on the other side
     of the room, and with him fair Iphis whom Achilles had given him
     when he took Scyros the city of Enyeus. 
     
     When the envoys reached the tents of the son of Atreus, the Achaeans
     rose, pledged them in cups of gold, and began to question them. King
     Agamemnon was the first to do so. Tell me, Ulysses," said he, "will
     he save the ships from burning, or did be refuse, and is he still
     furious?" 
     
     Ulysses answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon,
     Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely angry than ever,
     and spurns both you and your gifts. He bids you take counsel with
     the Achaeans to save the ships and host as you best may; as for
     himself, he said that at daybreak he should draw his ships into the
     water. He said further that he should advise every one to sail home
     likewise, for that you will not reach the goal of Ilius. 'Jove,' he
     said, 'has laid his hand over the city to protect it, and the people
     have taken heart.' This is what he said, and the others who were
     with me can tell you the same story- Ajax and the two heralds, men,
     both of them, who may be trusted. The old man Phoenix stayed where
     he was to sleep, for so Achilles would have it, that he might go
     home with him in the morning if he so would; but he will not take
     him by force." 
     
     They all held their peace, sitting for a long time silent and
     dejected, by reason of the sternness with which Achilles had refused
     them, till presently Diomed said, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of
     men, Agamemnon, you ought not to have sued the son of Peleus nor
     offered him gifts. He is proud enough as it is, and you have
     encouraged him in his pride am further. Let him stay or go as he
     will. He will fight later when he is in the humour, and heaven puts
     it in his mind to do so. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say; we
     have eaten and drunk our fill, let us then take our rest, for in
     rest there is both strength and stay. But when fair rosy-fingered
     morn appears, forthwith bring out your host and your horsemen in
     front of the ships, urging them on, and yourself fighting among the
     foremost." 
     
     Thus he spoke, and the other chieftains approved his words. They
     then made their drink-offerings and went every man to his own tent,
     where they laid down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep.