Now come, and forth into the great salt sea
Launch a black ship, and muster on the deck
Men skilled to row, and put a hecatomb

On board, and let the fair-cheeked maid embark,
Chryseis. Send a prince to bear command,—
Ajax, Idomeneus, or the divine

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Ulysses;
;—or thyself, Pelides, thou

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Most terrible of men, that with due rites

Thou soothe the anger of the archer-god."

Achilles the swift-footed, with stern look,
Thus answered: “Ha, thou mailed in impudence
And bent on lucre! Who of all the Greeks
Can willingly obey thee, on the march,
Or bravely battling with the enemy?
I came not to this war because of wrong
Done to me by the valiant sons of Troy.
No feud had I with them; they never took
My beeves or horses, nor, in Phthia's realm,
Deep-soiled and populous, spoiled my harvest fields.
For many a shadowy mount between us lies,
And waters of the wide-resounding sea.

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Man unabashed! we follow thee that thou

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Mayst glory in avenging upon Troy
The grudge of Menelaus and thy own,

Thou shameless one! and yet thou hast for this

Nor thanks nor care.

Thou threatenest now to take

From me the prize for which I bore long toils

In battle; and the Greeks decreed it mine.

I never take an equal share with thee

Of booty when the Grecian host has sacked

Some populous Trojan town. My hands perform
The harder labors of the field in all

The tumult of the fight; but when the spoil

Is shared, the largest share of all is thine,
While I, content with little, seek my ships,

Weary with combat. I shall now go home

To Phthia; better were it to be there

With my beaked ships; but here, where I am held

In little honor, thou wilt fail, I think,

To gather, in large measure, spoil and wealth.”

Him answered Agamemnon, king of men: "Desert, then, if thou wilt; I ask thee not

To stay
for me;
To do me honor yet, and, best of all,
The all-providing Jove is with me still.
Thee I detest the most of all the men
Ordained by him to govern; thy delight

there will be others left

Is in contention, war, and bloody frays.

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If thou art brave, some deity, no doubt,

Hath thus endowed thee. Hence, then, to thy home,

With all thy ships and men! there domineer

Over thy Myrmidons; I heed thee not,

Nor care I for thy fury. Thus, in turn,

I threaten thee; since Phœbus takes away
Chryseis, I will send her in my ship

And with my friends, and, coming to thy tent,
Will bear away the fair-cheeked maid, thy prize,
Briseis, that thou learn how far I stand

Above thee, and that other chiefs may fear

To measure strength with me and brave my power."
The rage of Peleus' son, as thus he spake,

Grew fiercer; in that shaggy breast his heart
Took counsel, whether from his thigh to draw

The trenchant sword, and, thrusting back the rest,
Smite down Atrides, or subdue his wrath

And master his own spirit. While he thus

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Debated with himself, and half unsheathed

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The ponderous blade, Pallas Athene came,

Sent from on high by Juno, the white-armed,

Who loved both warriors and watched over both.
Behind Pelides, where he stood, she came,

And plucked his yellow hair. The hero turned

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In wonder, and at once he knew the look
Of Pallas and the awful-gleaming eye,

And thus accosted her with winged words:-
"Why com'st thou hither, daughter of the god
Who bears the ægis? Art thou here to see
The insolence of Agamemnon, son

Of Atreus?

Let me tell thee what I deem

Will be the event. That man may lose his life,

And quickly too, for arrogance like this."

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Then thus the goddess, blue-eyed Pallas, spake :- 265 "I came from heaven to pacify thy wrath,

If thou wilt heed my counsel. I am sent

By Juno the white-armed, to whom ye both
Are dear, who ever watches o'er you both.
Refrain from violence; let not thy hand
Unsheathe the sword, but utter with thy tongue
Reproaches, as occasion may arise,

For I declare what time shall bring to pass;
Threefold amends shall yet be offered thee,
In gifts of princely cost, for this day's wrong.
Now calm thy angry spirit, and obey."

Achilles, the swift-footed, answered thus:"O goddess, be the word thou bring'st obeyed, However just my anger; for to him

Who hearkens to the gods, the gods give ear."

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So speaking, on the silver hilt he stayed
His strong right hand, and back into its sheath
Thrust his good sword, obeying. She, meantime,
Returned to heaven, where ægis-bearing Jove
Dwells with the other gods. And now again
Pelides, with opprobrious words, bespake
The son of Atreus, venting thus his wrath:—
"Wine-bibber, with the forehead of a dog
And a deer's heart! Thou never yet hast dared
To arm thyself for battle with the rest,
Nor join the other chiefs prepared to lie
In ambush,—such thy craven fear of death.
Better it suits thee, midst the mighty host
Of Greeks, to rob some warrior of his prize
Who dares withstand thee. King thou art, and yet

Devourer of thy people.

A spiritless race, else this

Thou dost rule

day's insolence,

And now I say,

Atrides, were thy last. And now

And bind my saying with a mighty oath:
By this my sceptre, which can never bear

A leaf or twig, since first it left its stem

Among the mountains, for the steel has pared
Its boughs and bark away, to sprout no more,—
And now the Achaian judges bear it,—they

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