Book 3
Late Antiquity Quintus Smyrnaeus Greek- But when the light of fair-throned Dawn arose, then the spearmen of Pylos bore the corpse of Antilochus to the ships, greatly groaning for their lord, and gave him burial beside the shores of the Hellespont, sore grieving; and round about the mighty sons of the Argives mourned; for a pitiless grief held them all as they honoured Nestor; yet he was not greatly broken in spirit; for it belongs to a prudent man to endure grief at heart bravely, and not to bow down in dejected sorrow. But Peleus' son, in wrath for his comrade Antilochus, grimly armed against the Trojans; and they too, even trembling before the good spearman Achilles, poured forth from the wall eagerly, because upon them the Fates cast boldness in their breasts; for indeed many were destined to go down to Hades whence there is no return, beneath the hands of Aeacus' warlike descendant, who himself too was destined to perish likewise before the city of Priam. And swiftly from both sides they came together into one place, the many tribes of the Trojans and the steadfast Argives, raging for war as the battle was roused. And Peleus' son among them brought low a great host of the foe; and everywhere the life-giving earth was wet with blood, and the streams of Xanthus and Simoeis were choked with corpses; and pursuing he made havoc even to the city, since fear held the peoples. And now he would have slain them all, and thrust the gates to the ground, tearing them from their hinges, or shattered the bars crashing in sidelong, and made for the Danaans a way into Priam's city, and sacked the prosperous town, had not Phoebus been wroth against him with a pitiless heart, when he saw the countless tribes of heroes slaughtered. And straightway from Olympus he came down, like a wild beast, bearing on his shoulders his quiver and the unhealing arrows; and he stood facing Aeacus' descendant; and round about him his quiver and bow rang loud; and from his eyes fire flashed unceasing; and the earth trembled beneath his feet. And terribly the great god cried, that Achilles he might turn from the war, dreading the divine voice of the god, and so save the Trojans from death: "Draw back, son of Peleus, far from the Trojans, for it is not seemly that you should hurl evil doom upon the foe any longer, lest one of the immortals from Olympus harm you." So he spoke; but he feared not at all the god's immortal voice; for already the pitiless Fates flitted about him; therefore he heeded not the god, but cried loud against him: "Phoebus, why do you stir me to fight against the gods, though I am unwilling, defending the overweening Trojans? For already before this you turned me from the tumult, beguiling me, when first you saved from destruction Hector, in whom the Trojans greatly boasted through the city. But draw back far and go to the seat of the other blessed ones, lest I strike you, immortal though you are." So saying, he left the god aside, and went against the Trojans, who still were fleeing ever before the city, and he drove them on; but Phoebus, vexed in his heart, spoke this word within his own soul: "Alas, how he rages in his wits; but neither the son of Cronos himself will any longer ward off from him, nor any other, since he raves thus and faces the gods." So he spoke, and he was made unseen together with the clouds; and clad in mist he sent forth a hateful shaft, and swiftly struck him on the ankle; and at once anguish sank beneath his heart; and he fell back like a tower, which the force of a whirlwind, by a subterranean eddy, shatters above the ground when the deep earth quakes; so the goodly body of Aeacus' descendant sank to the earth. And glancing round, deadly and . . . . . . he shouted a word that came to nothing: "Who now has sent a dread arrow against me in secret? Let him dare to come against me into the open, that his dark blood and all his bowels may be poured out about my spear, and that he may go to grievous Hades; for I know that no man, coming near, can subdue me with the spear among the heroes upon earth, not even if he has a heart all dauntless in his breast, a heart all dauntless and were he of bronze; but cowards in secret ever lie in wait for the nobler. Let him come against me, even if he boasts to be a god in wrath against the Danaans, since indeed my heart hopes that this is Apollo, veiled in grievous gloom. For so to me of old my dear mother declared, that beneath his shafts I should wretchedly perish about the Scaean gates; and it was not idle." So he spoke, and the deadly arrow with pitiless hands he drew from the unhealing wound; and from it the blood gushed as he was worn; and doom subdued his heart. And in vexation he cast away the shaft; and at once the winds, coming, snatched it up, and gave it to Apollo as he went to the holy floor of Zeus; for it was not seemly that an immortal shaft should be lost, come from a god. And receiving it, he came swiftly to high Olympus, to the gathering of the other immortals, where most of all they had assembled in full force, beholding the battle of men; for some longed to grant victory to the Trojans, and others again to the Argives, and devising apart from one another they watched men slaying and being slain in the tumult. And when the prudent consort of Zeus perceived him, straightway she rebuked him with grievous words: "Phoebus, why did you do this reckless deed on this day, forgetting that man, whose wedding we immortals ourselves joined for godlike Peleus? And you among us in the midst sang as we feasted, how silver-footed Thetis Peleus led home as his wife, leaving the great gulf of the sea, and as you played the lyre the gathered tribes came on, beasts and birds and the deep-cliffed hills and the rivers, and all the deep-shaded forest came. But you forgot all this, and having done a pitiless deed you have slain a godlike man, for whom, among the other immortals, pouring libation of nectar, you prayed that a child should be born from Thetis to Peleus; but you forgot your prayer, doing a kindness to the people of mighty Laomedon, beside whom you tended cattle; and he, though you were immortal, mortal though he was, distressed you; yet you, witless in your heart, do a kindness to the Trojans, forgetting all you suffered. Wretch, you know nothing in your grievous wits, neither who is wicked and deserves to suffer woes, nor who is honoured by the immortals; for truly Achilles was kindly to us and was of our race. But not, I think, will the toil of the Trojans be lighter now Aeacus' descendant has fallen, since his son from Scyros swiftly to the grim strife will come as a helper to the Argives, like in valour to his father; and to many of the foe he will bring evil. Or does the woe of the Trojans not trouble you, but of Achilles were you jealous for his valour, since he was the best of men? Fool, how will you any longer in your eyes the Nereid behold among the immortals, coming to the house of Zeus, she who before this honoured you and looked on you as a dear son?" Thus, greatly rebuking the son of mighty Zeus, spoke Hera in her grief; but he answered her not with a word; for he held in awe the consort of his unwearied father; nor had he the strength to look upon her face to face with his eyes, but apart from the immortals who are forever he sat with downcast look; and ceaselessly were wroth with him the immortals throughout Olympus, all who defended the Danaans; but all who longed to grant victory to the Trojans, they honoured him, exulting in their hearts in secret from Hera; for all the Sons of Heaven, face to face, held her in awe in her vexation. But Peleus' son not yet forgot his fury, for still in his unconquerable limbs his dark blood boiled, longing to fight. Nor did any of the Trojans dare to come near him, struck though he was, but they stood apart, as about a lion the country-folk in the thickets stand amazed, whom a hunter has struck, and he, though pierced to the heart by the dart, forgets not his manhood, but turns his savage eye terribly, roaring beneath his grim jaws; so the wrath of Peleus' son and the deadly wound greatly stirred his spirit; but the god's shaft subdued him. Yet even so he sprang up and leapt upon the foe, brandishing his mighty spear; and he slew noble Orythaon, Hector's good comrade, striking him within the temple; for his helmet held not the long spear of one so fierce, but straight through it swiftly, and within the bone, it reached the sinews of the brain, and scattered his blooming life. And Hipponous he subdued, driving the spear beneath the brow to the foundation of the eye; and the eyeball fell to the ground from the lid; and his soul flew down to Hades. And then through the jaw of Alcathous passing, he sliced his whole tongue across; and he fell to the floor of earth breathing out his life, and the point appeared through his ear. And these he slew as they rushed against him, that noble man; and of many others too he loosed the spirit as they fled; for still in his breast his blood boiled. But when his limbs grew cold and his spirit departed, he stood leaning upon his spear; and they flew in full force in terror, while he cried to them thus: "Ah, wretched Trojans and Dardanians, not even in death shall you escape my pitiless spear, but all together you shall pay dread destruction to my Avenging Spirits." So he spoke; and they, hearing, trembled, as in the mountains fawns tremble at the voice of a loud-roaring lion, the wretched ones, fleeing the great beast in terror; so the peoples of the horse-driving Trojans and the foreign allies trembled before the last cry of Achilles, deeming him yet unwounded. But he, beneath his doom, his daring spirit and his mighty limbs weighed down, fell among the corpses, like a long mountain; and the earth resounded beneath, and his armour rang unspeakably as the blameless son of Peleus fell. And still in their hearts the foe, beholding him, trembled boundlessly; as when, when a fierce wild beast is subdued by young men, the sheep tremble round about it, beholding it beside the fold struck down, and have no heart to pass near it, but shudder at the corpse as though it lived; so the Trojans feared Achilles, even now he was no more. But even so Paris greatly heartened the people with words, since in his heart he rejoiced; for indeed he hoped that the Argives would cease from the desperate tumult now Peleus' son had fallen; for he was the strength of the Danaans: "O friends, if in truth you aid me in good will, let us either die today, subdued by the Argives, or, being saved, drag back to Ilios with the horses of Hector the fallen son of Peleus, who, since my brother's death, bear me into battle grieving, longing for their own master; with these, if somehow we drag away Achilles slain, we shall grant great glory to the horses and also to Hector himself, if there is for men in Hades any mind or any rights; for he devised evil for the Trojans. And the women of Troy, greatly exulting in their hearts, will stand about him throughout the city, like grim panthers wroth for their young, or lionesses against a much-toiling man, the knower of the grievous chase; so the women of Troy about the corpse of Achilles slain will rush in throngs, raging boundlessly, some wroth for their parents, some for their husbands, others for their children, and others for honoured kinsfolk. And most of all my father will rejoice, and the old men, all whom against their will old age keeps within the city, if we drag this man to the town and give him as food to the high-flying birds." So he spoke; and the corpse of the strong-hearted son of Aeacus they swiftly bestrode, who before had fled before him, Glaucus and Aeneas and strong-hearted Agenor and others skilled in the deadly fray, eager to drag him to the sacred city of Ilios. But Ajax, like to the gods, neglected him not, but swiftly strode round him; and all with his long spear he thrust back from the corpse. Yet they ceased not from the strife, but fought about him, standing round and rushing on, ever in close ranks, like long-stinged bees, which boundless about their hive fly forth warding off a man, and he, heeding not those that come on, cuts out the honey-coloured combs, and they are grieved by the rush of smoke and by the man, but even so they dart in his face, and he reckons not of them at all; so Ajax reckoned not at all of those rushing on, but first he slew, striking above the nipple, the Maeonian Agelaus, and then noble Thestor. And he took Ocythous and Agestratus and Aganippus and Zorus and Nissus and renowned Erymas, who had come from Lycia under great-hearted Glaucus, and dwelt in steep Melanippion, sacred to Athena, over against Massicytus, near the Chelidonian headland, which the sailors in the sea greatly dread, amazed, when they round its very harsh rocks. And at his death the renowned son of Hippolochus was chilled at heart, since he had been his comrade; and swiftly he struck Ajax on the ox-hide shield, yet drove it not at all into his fair flesh; for the hides of oxen guarded him, and beneath the shield the corselet, which was fitted about his unwearied limbs. But Glaucus ceased not from the cruel tumult, longing to subdue Ajax, descendant of Aeacus, and boasting greatly he threatened with witless heart: "Ajax, since they say you are far beyond the others of the Argives, and that you above all are minded exceedingly, like warlike Achilles, with him slain I think you too shall die upon this day." So he spoke, sending forth an idle word; nor did he know how much better a man was he against whom he wielded the spear. And looking grimly upon him the steadfast Ajax spoke: "Ah, wretch, you know nothing of how much better Hector was than you in war; yet he shunned the fury and the spear of me; for he had a prudent spirit along with his might. But your mind is set toward the gloom, you who have dared to come into battle with me, far the better born; for you boast not to be my father's guest-friend, nor with gifts beguiling me from war will you turn me aside, as you did the mighty son of Tydeus; but even if you escaped his fury, I at least will not let you go alive from the war. Or do you trust in the others in the tumult, who along with you, like worthless flies, dart about the corpse of blameless Achilles? But to them too, rushing on, I shall give death and the dark Fates." So saying, he turned among the Trojans, like a lion among hunting dogs through the long glens and the wood. And many at once he subdued, eager to win glory, the Trojans together with the Lycians; and round about the peoples trembled, as fishes in the sea when there comes the grievous sea-monster or the great sea-bred dolphin; so the Trojans feared the might of the son of Telamon ever rushing on through the tumult; yet even so they fought, and about the corpse of Achilles, here and there, countless in the dust, like boars about a lion, they were slain; and a deadly strife arose about them. There too the warlike son of Hippolochus was subdued by strong-hearted Ajax; and he fell backward over Achilles, as in the mountains a bush over a firm oak; so he, subdued by the spear, fell over the son of Peleus, struck down; and about him the strong son of Anchises, toiling much with his war-loving comrades, dragged him to the Trojans, and to the sacred city of Ilios gave him to bear to his comrades, sore grieving at heart. And he himself fought about Achilles; but him with his spear warlike Ajax wounded above the muscle of the right hand; and he swiftly sprang away from the deadly war, and went at once into the city; and round about him the wise healers toiled, who cleansed the blood from his wound, and did all else that heals the deadly pains of the wounded. But Ajax fought on ever, like the lightning flashes, slaying one here and one there, since he was greatly worn at heart, grieving in his soul within for his slain cousin. And near at hand the blameless son of warlike Laertes fought against the foe; and the peoples greatly fled before him. And he slew the swift and warlike son of Peisander, Maenalus, who dwelt in the renowned land of Abydos; and after him he slew noble Atymnius, whom once the Nymph Pegasis of the fair hair bore to mighty Emathion beside the stream of the river Granicus; and about him he cut down the son of Proteus, Oresbius, who beneath the high ridges of Ida used to dwell, nor did his mother, the renowned Panaceia, receive him on his return, but he was subdued by the hands of Odysseus, who of many others too loosed the spirit with his raging spear, slaying whomever he met about the corpse. But Alcon, son of war-swift Megacles, struck him with the spear beside the right knee; and round about the shining greave the dark blood gushed; but he reckoned not of the wound, but straightway evil came upon him who struck him, for the man, eager for war, he wounded through the shield with his spear; and he thrust him with great force and the strength of his hand backward to the ground; and his armour rang round about him as he was struck in the dust, and about his limbs the corselet was wet with crimson gore; and he drew the deadly spear out from his flesh and the shield, and following the point his spirit left his limbs, and his immortal life forsook him. And though wounded, Odysseus rushed upon his comrades, nor ceased from the grim battle. And so too the others, all the Danaans together, mingling about great Achilles, fought eagerly, and a great host beneath their hands they swiftly cut down with their well-polished ashen spears. As when the winds scatter the swift leaves upon the ground, falling fiercely upon the wooded groves at the beginning of the year, when the fruits wither; so the steadfast Danaans struck them with their spears; for the death of Achilles was a care to all, and beyond all to warlike Ajax; therefore the more he cut down the Trojans in throngs, like to evil Doom. And against him Paris stretched his bow; but he, swiftly perceiving it, cast a stone at his head, and the deadly stone crushed the double-plumed helmet; and about him night seized him. And he fell in the dust, nor did his arrows avail him in his eagerness; but they were scattered here and there in the dust, and the empty quiver lay stretched out; and the bow flew from his hands. And his friends, snatching him up, bore him on the horses of Hector to the Trojan city, still barely breathing and groaning grievously; nor did they leave the arms of their prince far off, but these too they brought from the plain, bearing them to their king. And against him Ajax cried aloud, vexed at heart: "O dog, how heavily you escaped the strength of death today; but soon shall your last day come upon you, either beneath the hands of some Argive or of myself. But now other things are my care at heart, how the corpse of Achilles I may save for the Danaans out of the grievous slaughter." So saying, he hurled evil doom upon the foe, who still fought about the corpse of Peleus' son. And when they beheld, beneath his strong hands, many breathing out their lives, they trembled and no longer stayed, like worthless vultures, which the eagle frightens, the foremost of birds, when in the mountains they devour flocks slain by wolves; so them, here and there, bold Ajax scattered with swift stones and with the sword and his own fury. And they, greatly trembling, fled from the war in full force, like starlings, which a hawk, cutting them down, pursues, and they in flocks one upon another thickly dart, avoiding the great woe; so they from the war to the city of Priam fled wretchedly, clad in inglorious flight, trembling before the cry of great Ajax, who followed, his hands stained with the blood of men. And now indeed he would have destroyed them all, one after another, had they not, through the opened gates, poured into the city scarce drawing breath, since fear reached their hearts; and having penned them within the town, as a herdsman pens the nimble sheep, he went into the plain, nor did his feet touch the ground as he trod upon armour and blood and the slain; for a wide throng lay upon the boundless earth even to the Hellespont from the spacious city, of warriors slain, as many as the doom of the god allotted. As when the dry corn falls beneath the reapers, being thick, and many sheaves lie there on the spot, laden with ears, and the heart rejoices at the work of the man who looks on, who holds the famous land; so they, on both sides subdued by evil destruction, lay forgetful of the much-lamented battle, face down; nor did the noblest sons of the Achaeans strip the Trojans slain in the dust and blood, before they gave Peleus' son to the pyre, who was a help to them in war, raging greatly in his might. Therefore the kings, drawing him from the war, toiled boundlessly about the corpse, and bearing him well laid him in the huts before the swift ships; and gathering round him all greatly groaned, grieving at heart; for he was the strength of the Achaeans, and now in the huts, forgetful of spears, he lay beside the shores of the loud-roaring Hellespont, even as overweening Tityos fell, when Leto, going to Pytho, he sought to ravish, and in wrath swiftly Apollo, tireless though he was, subdued him with his nimble shafts, and in grievous gore he lay over many acres upon the wide-floored earth of his mother; and she wailed over her fallen son hated by the blessed; but lady Leto laughed; such was Aeacus' descendant, fallen upon the earth of the foe, bearing joy to the Trojans, but unceasing lamentation to the Achaeans as the host mourned; and around the depths of the sea roared. And at once the dear heart within all was broken, expecting to perish in the strife beneath the Trojans; and remembering their dear parents beside the ships, whom they had left in their halls, and their newly-wedded wives, who somewhere mourning waste away on empty beds with their little children, awaiting their dear husbands, they groaned the more; and a yearning for lament fell upon their hearts; and they wept unceasingly upon the deep sands, poured out face down about the great son of Peleus, tearing the hair from their heads by the roots, and pouring sand they fouled their heads abundantly. Such as is the wailing from war, when men are penned within a wall, when the foe, raging, burn a great city, and slay the peoples in full force, and everywhere are borne off through the spoil; such a cry arose beside the ships of the Achaeans, because the helper of the Danaans, the son of Aeacus, lay great beside the ships, struck by god-wrought shafts, like Ares, when the dread goddess of mighty sire brought him low in the Trojan plain with a much-healing stone. And the Myrmidons ceaselessly groaned for Achilles, thronging about the corpse of their blameless prince, the gentle one, who before was an equal comrade to all; for he was not overweening to men nor evil-minded, but in prudence and might he excelled in all. And Ajax among the first, greatly groaning, cried aloud, yearning for his father's brother's dear son, struck down by a god; yet by no mortal was he struck, of all who dwell upon the wide-floored earth. For him then, grieving at heart, the glorious Ajax lamented, now going into the huts of the slain son of Peleus, now again beside the sands of the sea poured out at great length, and lamented a word like this: "O Achilles, great bulwark of the strong Argives, you have died in Troy, far from wide-floored Phthia, struck from some unforeseen quarter by a deadly shaft, which cowardly men aim in battle; for no man trusting to wield a great shield and skilfully about his temples for the war to set his helmet well, and in his palm to brandish a spear, and to cut the bronze about the breasts of foes, fights with arrows, rushing away from afar; for if that man who struck you had come against you face to face, he would not have escaped unwounded the rush of your spear; but Zeus, perchance, devised to destroy all these things, and makes our deeds vain amid our toils; for now to the Trojans against the Argives soon victory he will grant, since he has taken away so great a bulwark of the Achaeans. Alas, how utterly old Peleus in his halls will grieve with great sorrow, meeting joyless old age; the very report will soon shatter his spirit; and so it were better for him swiftly to forget his misery; but if the evil tale of his son does not destroy him, ah, wretched, in grievous griefs he will mar his old age, ever beside the hearth wasting his life in anguish, Peleus, who was beyond measure dear to the blessed; but the gods do not accomplish all things for wretched mortals." So he, in vexation, lamented Peleus' son. And the old man Phoenix in turn wailed boundlessly, clasping the goodly body of the bold son of Aeacus; and grievously he cried, sore grieving in his prudent heart: "You are dead to me, dear child, and to me a grief ever inescapable you have left; would that the heaped earth had covered me before I beheld your pitiless doom; for to me at least no other worse woe ever came into my mind, not when I left my homeland and my gentle parents fleeing to Peleus through Hellas, who received me, and gave me gifts, and made me lord over the Dolopians; and he, carrying you in his arms about the hall, laid you in my bosom and earnestly bade me to tend you as a babe, as though you were my own dear son; and I obeyed; and you, rejoicing about my breast, often called me father, prattling still with broken words from your lips, and in your childishness drenched abundantly my breast and my tunics; and I held you in my hands greatly exulting, since indeed my heart hoped to rear a guardian of my life and a defence of my old age. And these things, for a little time, were all as I hoped. But now you are gone, unseen, beneath the gloom; and about my heart grief comes wretchedly, since indeed sorrow assails me grievous; would that it might destroy me lamenting before blameless Peleus learns it, who, I think, will wail unceasingly, when the tale reaches him about you; for most piteous to us both, over you, will be the grief, to your father and to me, who, sore grieving for your death, shall soon go beneath the earth, by the unbearable doom of Zeus, swiftly; and far better it were than to live apart from our helper." So spoke the old man, nursing unceasing grief in his heart. And beside him the son of Atreus lamented, shedding tears; and he groaned in his anguish, his heart greatly burning within: "You are dead, son of Peleus, far the best of all the Danaans, you are dead, and you have made the wide host of the Achaeans defenceless; and now you are slain, they are easier prey for the foe; but you, fallen, have made great joy for the Trojans, who before feared you as the nimble sheep fear a lion; but now beside the swift ships they will eagerly do battle. Father Zeus, do you too beguile mortals with false words, you who nodded assent to me that the city of king Priam I should sack; but now you fulfil not what you promised, but greatly have deceived my mind; for I do not think to find an end of war now Achilles is slain." So he spoke, grieving at heart within; and round about the peoples wailed from the heart for the bold son of Peleus; and to them the ships re-echoed as they mourned around; and a boundless sound rose through the unwearied air. As when the long waves, by the force of a great wind rising from the sea, are borne toward the shores terribly, and on every side, as the sea breaks ever, the headlands together with the surf cry out boundlessly; such a dread groan arose about the corpse from the Danaans mourning unceasingly for the fearless son of Peleus. And dark night would soon have come upon them as they lamented, had not the son of Neleus addressed the son of Atreus, Nestor, who held in his heart a measureless grief remembering his own wise son Antilochus: "O sceptred Agamemnon, greatly ruling over the Argives, let us now cease from grievous lament at once today; for no one hereafter will restrain the Achaeans from being sated with weeping, mourning many days. But come, let us wash the dread gore of the fearless son of Aeacus and lay him upon a bier; for it is not seemly long to dishonour the dead by neglect." And thus commanded the prudent son of Neleus; and he, urging on his comrades, bade them set cauldrons of cold water over the fire at once and warm it and wash the corpse, and clothe him about with raiment fair, which his mother gave to her dear son, sea-purple, when he went up to Troy. And swiftly they obeyed their prince; and earnestly, doing all in due order, they laid in the huts the fallen son of Peleus. And beholding him the prudent Tritogeneia pitied him; and she dropped ambrosia upon his head, which they say long keeps fresh the flesh of those subdued by death; and she made him dewy and like one breathing; and a grim frown she set upon him, dead though he was, such as, in his wrath for his slain comrade Patroclus, lay upon his grim face; and she made his body heavier and goodlier to behold. And amazement seized the Argives in throngs as they beheld Peleus' son all like to one living, who upon the bier lay poured out at length, like one deep in sleep. And about him the wretched captive women, whom once he himself, holy Lemnos and the steep city of the Cilicians, Thebe of Eetion taking, had carried off as maidens, standing, wailed, tearing their fair flesh, and smiting their breasts with both their palms groaned from the heart for the wise son of Peleus; for he honoured them, though they were of the foe; but beyond all of them, grieving exceedingly at heart, Briseis, the bedfellow of the warlike Achilles, moved about the corpse, and with both her palms tearing her fair flesh she cried aloud; and from her tender breast the bloody welts rose up as she was struck; you would say that blood was poured upon milk, crimson; and a loveliness, even in her grievous grief, shone desirable; and grace clad her form; and she spoke this wretched word, lamenting: "Ah me, having suffered dread things beyond all, for no other woe ever came upon me so great, neither for my brothers nor for my spacious homeland, as for your death; since you were to me a holy day and the light of the sun and a gentle life and the hope of good and a boundless defence against sorrow, and beyond all my splendour, and beyond my parents you were; for you alone were all to me, slave though I was; and you made me your wife, taking me from slavish toils. But now another among the ships of the Achaeans will lead me to deep-soiled Sparta or to thirsty Argos; and now, serving, I shall endure evil sorrows, parted from you, ill-fated; would that the heaped earth had covered me, before I beheld your doom." So she lamented the subdued son of Peleus, together with the wretched slave-women and the grieving Achaeans, mourning both her lord and her man; and her grievous tear never dried, but flowed down to the ground from her eyelids, as the dark water from a spring of rock, over which much frost and snow is poured upon the rugged ground, and round about the rime melts alike by the east wind and the sun's rays. And then indeed they heard the rising lament, the daughters of Nereus, all who hold the great deep; and on all of them grievous grief fell upon their hearts; and piteously they groaned, and the Hellespont re-echoed; and veiling their flesh in dark robes they swiftly sped where was the host of the Achaeans, in full force, through the gray swell; and round about them as they went the sea parted; and they were borne on with a cry, like swift cranes foreboding a great storm; and the sea-monsters groaned grievously about them as they mourned; and at once they were where they swam, wailing for the strong-hearted son of their sister exceedingly. And the Muses swiftly, leaving Helicon, came, bearing in their breasts an unforgotten grief, gaining honour for the bright-eyed Nereid; and Zeus cast great and fearless courage into the Argives, that they might not dread the noble company of goddesses beholding them openly throughout the host; and they about Achilles' corpse groaned, immortal though they were, all alike; and the shores of the Hellespont re-echoed; and all the earth about the corpse of Aeacus' descendant was wet with tears; so great a grief they groaned aloud; and round about of the peoples mourning with tears all the armour was fouled and the huts and the ships, since a great grief had arisen. And his mother, clasping him, kissed the mouth of Peleus' son, her own child, and spoke this word, shedding tears: "Let rose-robed Dawn rejoice through the heaven, let her rejoice in her heart, putting away her wrath, that of Asteropaeus, worthy of the broad stream, and the offspring of Priam; but I will go to Olympus, and about the feet of immortal Zeus will lie, greatly groaning, because, against my will, he gave me to be subdued to a man, a man, whom soon pitiless old age has seized about, and the Fates are near, bringing the end of death. Yet I care not so much for him as for Achilles, whom Zeus promised me in the halls of Aeacus' descendant to make mighty, since the bed in no way pleased me; but now I was a gusty wind, now water, now like a bird or the rush of fire; nor could a mortal man subdue me in the bed as I appeared, in all that earth and heaven enclose, until the Olympian promised me a godlike son, to make him terrible and warlike. And these things, indeed, he truly accomplished; for he was the best of men; but he made him short-lived and grieved me. Therefore I go to heaven; and going to the house of Zeus I will wail for my dear son, and all that I before suffered about him and his children, vilely worn, I will recall in my grief, that I may stir his heart within." So spoke, dreadly wailing, sea-born Thetis; and to her Calliope herself spoke a word, steadying her spirit: "Cease from wailing, goddess Thetis, nor in your distraction for your son be wroth against the ruler of gods and men; for the sons of Zeus the loud-thundering lord likewise perished, subdued by an evil fate; and my own son died, immortal though I am, Orpheus, whom in his songs all the forest followed, and every rugged rock and the streams of rivers and the breaths of shrill winds blowing fiercely and the birds darting on swift wings; yet I endured great grief, since it befits not a god to grieve the heart with grievous sorrows and pain. Therefore let lament for your noble son leave you, grieving though you are; for to him the singers among men forever will sing his glory and his might, by my will and that of the other Pierides; nor do you in dark grief subdue your heart, lamenting like mortal women. Or do you not hear that upon all who dwell on earth, upon men, deadly inexorable Doom is spread, heeding not even the gods? So great a power has she alone obtained; who even now the city of Priam rich in gold will sack, destroying both Trojans and Argives, whatever men she will; and none of the gods will restrain her." So spoke Calliope, devising wise things in her heart. And the sun sank into the streams of Ocean, and dark night arose over the great air, which even to grieving mortals is a help. And there upon the sands the sons of the Achaeans slept in throngs about the corpse, weighed down by great affliction; but sleep seized not the goddess Thetis; and near her son she sat with the immortal Nereids; and round about the Muses, grieving at heart, by turns one after another, much comforted her, that she might forget her lament. But when, exulting, Dawn came through the upper air bearing the brightest light to all the Trojans and to Priam—but the Danaans, sore grieving for Achilles, wept many days, and the long shores of the sea groaned around, and great Nereus lamented, doing a kindness to his daughter the Nereid, and with him the other sea gods mourned for slain Achilles— then indeed the corpse of the great son of Peleus the Argives gave to the fire, heaping up unspeakable timber, which bearing from the Idaean mountain all alike toiled, since urging them on the sons of Atreus had sent them to bring boundless wood, that the corpse of slain Achilles might swiftly burn. And about the pyre they heaped much armour of slain warriors, and many they cast upon it, slaying alike the beautiful sons of the Trojans and neighing horses and strong bulls together, and they cast on sheep and swine laden with fat; and raiment from the chests the slave-women brought, boundless, wailing, and cast all above the pyre, and heaped gold and amber upon it; and their hair the Myrmidons shore, and covered the corpse of their prince; and Briseis herself, grieving about the corpse, shearing her tresses, gave a last gift to her lord. And many jars of oil they poured around, and others about the pyre they set, of honey and of wine sweet, whose pleasant draught smelled like nectar. And many other fragrant things they cast on, a marvel to mortals, all the good things the earth bears and all the divine sea. But when at last they had set the pyre fully in order, footmen together with horsemen in their arms wheeled round about the much-wept pyre. And from somewhere out of Olympus Zeus poured droplets over the corpse of Aeacus' descendant, of ambrosia, and doing honour to the divine Nereid he sent Hermes to Aeolus, that he might call the sacred fury of the swift winds; for indeed the corpse of Aeacus' descendant was to be burned. And at his swift coming Aeolus disobeyed not; and calling up grievous Boreas swiftly and the fierce blast of Zephyrus he sent them to Troy raging in a swift storm; and they swiftly sped to be borne over the sea with a boundless rush; and about them as they hastened the sea together with the land cried out; and overhead were driven all the clouds darting through the great air. And they, by the counsels of Zeus, about slain Achilles swiftly rushed upon the pyre, gathered together, and the breath rose up of fierce Hephaestus; and unceasing lament arose of the Myrmidons; and the winds, though rushing in a storm, all day and night about the corpse busily burned it, blowing fiercely alike; and there rose up a great smoke into the divine air, and the boundless wood groaned all subdued by fire, and the ash grew black. And they, the tireless winds, when they had greatly accomplished their task, each was borne to his own cave together with the clouds. And the Myrmidons, when the giant prince, last of all, the destroying fire had consumed, with the slain about the corpse, of horses and warriors, and all else that, weeping, the Achaeans had set about the mighty corpse as treasures, then they quenched the pyre with wine; and his bones appeared full plainly, since they were not like the others' bones, but like those of a tireless Giant, nor were the others mingled with them, since the oxen and the horses and the children of the Trojans, mingled with the slain and others, lay a little apart about the corpse, while he in the midst subdued by the rush of Hephaestus lay alone. And his bones too, all of them, his comrades, groaning around, gathered into a coffer, capacious and strong, of silver, and it was all wrought with shining gold; and the daughters of Nereus drenched them wholly with ambrosia and unguents, doing great honour to Achilles, and into the fat of oxen they set them, pouring it all together with warm honey; and his mother gave him a jar, which before Dionysus had given as a gift, a famous work of kindly Hephaestus; in it they laid the bones of great-hearted Achilles; and about it a tomb the Argives and a vast barrow heaped on the topmost headland beside the depths of the Hellespont, wailing for the bold king of the Myrmidons. Nor did the immortal horses of the fearless son of Aeacus stay tearless beside the ships, but they too mourned for their slain king, nor would they any longer mingle with wretched men nor with horses of the Argives, holding deadly grief, but over the streams of Ocean and the caves of Tethys they longed to be borne, far from wretched men, where of old divine Podarge bore them both, swift as the wind, mingling with loud-sounding Zephyrus. And now indeed they would have swiftly accomplished what their heart desired, had not the will of the gods restrained them, until from Scyros the swift son of Achilles should come, whom they too would receive, when he came to the host, since for them, at their birth, the daughters of holy Chaos, the Fates, spun decrees, immortal though they were, first to be subdued to Poseidon, and then to bold Peleus and tireless Achilles, and fourth after these to great-hearted Neoptolemus, whom hereafter they were to bear to the Elysian field, by the prompting of Zeus, to the land of the blessed. Therefore, stricken at heart with hateful grief, they stayed beside the ships, their lord in their hearts, grieving for the one, and longing to behold the other. And then, leaving the mighty swell of the loud-roaring sea, the Earth-shaker came to the shores; nor did men behold him, but he stood beside the Nereid goddesses; and he addressed Thetis, still grieving for Achilles: "Cease now from boundless lament for your son; for he will not be among the dead, but among the gods, like noble Dionysus and the might of Heracles; for no dread doom shall hold him forever beneath the gloom, nor Hades, but swiftly he shall come to the light of Zeus; and I myself will grant him a god-haunted island in the Euxine sea, where your son shall be a god forever; and round about, the tribes of the neighbouring peoples greatly honouring him with lovely sacrifices, equal to me, shall worship him; do you cease from wailing swiftly, and grieve not your heart at all with sorrow." So saying, he went away over the sea like a breeze, beguiling Thetis with words; and in her heart her spirit breathed again a little; and these things the god accomplished for her. And the Argives, mourning, went away, each to where his ships were, which they had led from Hellas; and to Helicon the Pierides departed, and into the sea the Nereids plunged, groaning for the wise son of Peleus.