Homer,
Iliad
Translated by A. T. Murray
Loeb Classical Library,
London 1924
[Sample
from the Opening of the Poem]
The
wrath do thou sing, O goddess, of Peleus'son, Achilles, that baneful wrath
whichbrought countless woes upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many
valiant souls of warriors, and made themselves to be a spoil for dogs and all
manner of birds; and thus the will of Zeus was being brought to fulfilment; ósing
thou thereof from the time when at the first there parted in strife Atreus'son,
king of men, and goodly Achilles.
Who
then of the gods was it that brought these two together to contend? The son of
Leto and Zeus; for he in wrath against the king roused throughout the host an
evil pestilence, and the folk were perishing, for that upon the man Chryses, his
priest, had the son of Atreus wrought dishonour. For he had come to the swift
ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and he bore with him ransom past
counting; and in his hands he held the fillets of Apollo, that smiteth afar, on
a staff of gold, and he made prayer to all the Achaeans, but most of all to the
two sons of Atreus, the marshallers of the host: "Ye sons of Atreus, and ye
other well-greaved Achaeans, to you may the gods who havehomes upon Olympus
grant that ye sack the city of Priam, and return safe to your homes; but my dear
child do ye set free for me, and accept the ransom out of awe for the son of
Zeus, Apollo, that smiteth afar."
Then
all the rest of the Achaeans shouted assent, bidding reverence the priest and
accept the glorious ransom, yet the thing pleased not the heart of Agamemnon,
son of Atreus, but he sent him away harshly, and laid upon him a stern command:
"Let me not find thee, old man, by the hollow ships, either tarrying now or
coming back hereafter, lest thy staff and the fillet of the god protect thee
not. But her will I not set free: ere that shall old age come upon her in our
house, in Argos, far from her country, as she walks to and fro before the loom
and tends my couch. Nay, get thee gone; anger me not, that so thou mayest go the
safer."
So
he spake, and the old man was seized with fear and hearkened to his word. Forth
he went in silence along the shore of the loud-resounding sea, and earnestly
thereafter, when he had gone apart, did the old man pray to the prince, Apollo,
whom fair-haired Leto bare: “Hear me, thou of the silver bow, who dost stand
over Chryse and holy Cilla, and dost rule mightily over Tenedos, thou Sminthian,
if ever I roofed over
a shrine to thy pleasing, or if ever I
burned to thee fat thigh-pieces of bulls or goats, fulfil thou for me this
prayer: let the Danaans pay for my tears by thy shafts."
So
he spake in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. Down from the peaks of Olympus
he strode, wroth at heart, bearing on his shoulders his bow and covered quiver.
The arrows rattled on the shoulders of the angry god, as he moved; and his
coming was like the night. Then he sate him down apart from the ships and let
fly a shaft: terrible was the twang of the silver bow. The mules he assailed
first and the swift dogs, but thereafter on the men themselves he let fly his
stinging arrows, and smote; and ever did the pyres of the dead burn thick.
Review
Comment
This
volume from the excellent Loeb Classical Library is the text of choice for those
who want the English translation with the Greek on a facing page. Murray’s
prose is not particularly remarkable, but it is well suited to the purposes of
the series, which is aimed especially at those who wish to read the Greek with
an accurate and clear (if not very inspiring) English translation close at hand
(the text has recently been revised). Those
who require only the English text should look elsewhere, if for no other reason
than the (alas) increasing expense of these famous and useful texts.
Readers
who would like to look through Murray’s complete translation should use the
following link: Murray
Iliad.
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