The Iliad of Homer | Page 2

the priest should be reverenced, and the splendid ransoms accepted; yet was it not pleasing in his mind to Agamemnon, son of Atreus; but he dismissed him evilly, and added a harsh mandate:
"Let me not find thee, old man, at the hollow barks, either now loitering, or hereafter returning, lest the staff and fillet of the god avail thee not.[5] For her I will not set free; sooner shall old age come upon her, at home in Argos, far away from her native land, employed in offices of the loom, and preparing[6] my bed. But away! irritate me not, that thou mayest return the safer."
[Footnote 5: Of [Greek: chraismein], Buttmann, Lexil. p. 546, observes that "it is never found in a positive sense, but remained in ancient usage in negative sentences only; as, 'it is of no use to thee,' or, 'it helps thee not,' and similar expressions."]
[Footnote 6: The old mistake of construing [Greek: antio?san] "sharing," which still clings to the translations, is exploded by Buttm. Lex. p. 144. Eust. and Heysch. both give [Greek: eutrepizonsan] as one of the interpretations; and that such is the right one is evident from the collateral phrase [Greek: porsynein lechos] in Od. iii. 403. [Greek: Lyphizezkas] is the perfect tense, but with the force of the present.]
Thus he spoke; but the old man was afraid, and obeyed the command. And he went in silence along the shore of the loud-resounding sea; but then, going apart, the aged man prayed much to king Apollo, whom fair-haired Latona bore:
"Hear me, god of the silver bow, who art wont to protect Chrysa and divine Cilla, and who mightily rulest over Tenedos: O Sminthius,[7] if ever I have roofed[8] thy graceful temple, or if, moreover, at any time I have burned to thee the fat thighs of bulls or of goats, accomplish this entreaty for me. Let the Greeks pay for my tears, by thy arrows."
[Footnote 7: An epithet derived from [Greek: sminthos], the Phrygian name for a mouse: either because Apollo had put an end to a plague of mice among that people, or because a mouse was thought emblematical of augury.--Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. i. p. 68, observes that this "worship of Sminthian Apollo, in various parts of the Troad and its neighbouring territory, dates before the earliest period of ?olic colonization." On the Homeric description of Apollo, see M��ller, Dorians, vol. i. p. 315.]
[Footnote 8: Not "crowned," as Heyne says; for this was a later custom.--See Anthon and Arnold.]
Thus he spoke praying; but to him Phoebus Apollo hearkened. And he descended from the summits of Olympus, enraged in heart, having upon his shoulders his bow and quiver covered on all sides. But as he moved, the shafts rattled forthwith[9] upon the shoulders of him enraged; but he went along like unto the night. Then he sat down apart from the ships, and sent among them an arrow, and terrible arose the clang of the silver bow. First he attacked the mules, and the swift[10] dogs; but afterwards despatching a pointed arrow against [the Greeks] themselves, he smote them, and frequent funeral-piles of the dead were continually burning. Nine days through the army went the arrows of the god; but on the tenth, Achilles called the people to an assembly; for to his mind the white-armed goddess Juno had suggested it; for she was anxious concerning the Greeks, because she saw them perishing. But when they accordingly were assembled, and were met together, swift-footed footed Achilles, rising up amidst them, [thus] spoke:
"O son of Atreus! now do I think that we would consent to return, having been defeated in our purpose, if we should but escape death, since at the same time[11] war and pestilence subdue the Greeks. But come now, let us consult some prophet, or priest, or even one who is informed by dreams (for dream also is from Jove),[12] who would tell us on what account Phoebus Apollo is so much enraged with us: whether he blames us on account of a vow [unperformed], or a hecatomb [unoffered]; and whether haply he may be willing, having partaken of the savour of lambs and unblemished goats, to avert from us the pestilence."
[Footnote 9: The force of [Greek: ara] is noticed by N?gelsbach.]
[Footnote 10: Or "white." Hesych. [Greek: tacheis, leykous].]
[Footnote 11: Ammonius, p. 14, foolishly supposes that [Greek: amou] here denotes place, [Greek: in Troia]. Valcknaer justly supports the ordinary interpretation.]
[Footnote 12: Cf. Plin. Ep. i. 18, and Duport, Gnom. Hom. p. 3, sq.]
He indeed, thus having spoken, sat down; but to them there arose by far the best of augurs, Calchas, son of Thestor, who knew the present, the future, and the past,[13] and who guided the ships of the Greeks to Ilium, by his prophetic art, which Phoebus Apollo gave