The chiefs were seated, and the soldiers forma circle round them. Then Ajax, the approvedlord of the seven-fold shield, arose and spoke.Impatient in his wrath, he looked with stern,set features, out over Sigaean shores,and over the fleet of ships upon the beach,and, stretching out his hands, he said,“We plead,O Jupiter, our cause before the ships,—Ulysses vies with me! He did not shrinkfrom giving way before the flames of Hector,when I withstood them and I saved the fleet.'Tis safer then to fight with lying wordsthan with his hands. I am not prompt to speak,nor he to act. I am as good in warand deadly battle as he is in talk.Pelasgians, I do not suppose my deedsmust here be mentioned: you have witnessed thembut let Ulysses tell of deeds which heperformed without a witness and which Nightalone is conscious of. I own the prizewe seek is great, but such a rival makesit small. To Ajax there s no cause for pridein having any prize, however great,for which Ulysses hoped. But he has wonreward enough already. He can boast,when vanquished, that he strove with me.“I, even if my merit were in doubtshould still excell in birth. I am the sonof Telamon, who with great Herculesbrought low the power of Troy and in the shipof Jason voyaged even to the Colchian shores.His father, Aeacus, now is a judgeamong the silent shades—where Sisyphustoils and is mocked forever with the stone.Great Jove himself calls Aeacus his son.Thus, Ajax is the third from Jupiter.But, Greeks, let not this line of my descentavail me, if I do not share it withmy cousin, great Achilles. I demandthese arms now due me as a cousin. Whyshould this one, from the blood of Sisyphus,and like him for his thefts and frauds, intrudethe names of that loathed family uponhonored descendants of brave Aeacus?“Will you deny me arms because I tookarms earlier, no man prompting me,and call this man the better, who last of alltook up arms, and, pretending he was mad,declined war, till the son of Napliusmore shrewd than he (but to his future cost)discovered the contrivance of the fraudand had the coward dragged forth to the armshe had avoided. And shall this man havethe world's best arms, who wanted none?Shall I lack honor and my cousin's giftbecause I faced the danger with the first?“Would that his madness had been real, orhad been accepted as realityand that he never had attended us,as our companion to the Phrygian towers,this counsellor of evil! Then, good sonof Poeas, Lemnos would not hold you now,exposed through guilt of ours! You, as men say,hidden in forest lairs, are moving with your groansthe very rocks and asking for Ulysseswhat he so well deserves—what, if indeedthere still are gods, you shall not ask in vain.And now, one of our leaders, he that wassworn to the same arms with ourselves! by whomthe arrows of great Hercules are used,as his successor; broken by diseaseand famine, clothed with feathers, now must feedon birds and squander for his wretched farethe arrows destined for the wreck of Troy.“At least he lives, because he has not stayedtoo near Ulysses. Hapless Palamedesmight wish that he too had been left behind,then he would live or would have met a deathwithout dishonor. For this man, who wellremembered the unfortunate discoveryof his feigned madness, made a fraudulentattack on Palamedes, who he saidbetrayed the Grecian interest. He provedhis false charge to the Greeks by showing themthe gold which he himself hid in the ground.By exile or by death he has decreasedthe true strength of the Greeks. And so he fights,for such things men have cause to fear Ulysses!“Should he excel the faithful Nestor byhis eloquence, I'd yet be well convincedthe way he forsook Nestor was a crime,old Nestor, who implored in vain his aid,when he was hindered by his wounded steedand wearied with the years of his old age,was then deserted by that scheming man.The charge that I have made is strictly true,and the son of Tydeus knows it all too well;for he at that time called him by his name,rebuked him and upbraided his weak friendfor coward flight.“The gods above beholdthe affairs of men with justice. That same manwho would not help a friend now calls for help;he who forsook a friend, should be forsaken,the law he made returns upon himself.He called aloud on his companions;I came and saw him trembling, pale with fear,and shuddering, at the thought of coming death.I held my shield above him where he lay,and that way saved the villain's dastard life,and little praise I have deserved for that.If you still wish to claim this armor, letus both return to that place and restorethe enemy, your wound, and usual fear—there hide behind my shield, and under thatcontend with me! Yet, when I faced the foe,he, whom his wound had left no power to stand,forgot the wound and took to headlong flight.“Hector approached, and brought the gods with himto battle; and, wherever he rushed on,not only this Ulysses was alarmed,but even the valiant, for so great the fearhe caused them. Hector, proud in his successin blood and slaughter, I then dared to meetand with a huge: stone from a distance hurledI laid him flat. When he demanded oneto fight with, I engaged him quite alone,for you my Greek friends, prayed the lotmight fall upon me, and your prayers prevailed.If you should ask me of this fight, I willdeclare I was not vanquished there by him.“Behold, the Trojans brought forth fire and swordand Jove, as well, against the Grecian fleet,where now has eloquent Ulysses gone?Truly, I did protect a thousand shipswith my breast, saving the hopes of your return.—for all these many ships, award me arms!But, let me speak the truth, the arms will gainmore fame than I, for they will share my glory.And they need Ajax, Ajax needs not them.
Consedere duces, et vulgi stante coronasurgit ad hos clipei dominus septemplicis Aiax,utque erat impatiens irae, Sigeia torvolitora respexit classemque in litore vultuintendensque manus “agimus, pro Iuppiter!” inquit“ante rates causam, et mecum confertur Ulixes!At non Hectoreis dubitavit cedere flammis,quas ego sustinui, quas hac a classe fugavi.Tutius est igitur fictis contendere verbis,quam pugnare manu! Sed nec mihi dicere promptum,nec facere est isti: quantumque ego Marte ferociquantum acie valeo, tantum valet iste loquendo.Nec memoranda tamen vobis mea facta, Pelasgi,esse reor: vidistis enim. Sua narret Ulixes,quae sine teste gerit, quorum nox conscia sola est.Praemia magna peto, fateor; sed demit honoremaemulus: Aiaci non est tenuisse superbum,sit licet hoc ingens, quidquid speravit Ulixes.Iste tulit pretium iam nunc temptaminis huius,quod, cum victus erit, mecum certasse feretur.Atque ego, si virtus in me dubitabilis esset,nobilitate potens essem, Telamone creatus,moenia qui forti Troiana sub Hercule cepitlitoraque intravit Pagasaea Colcha carina.Aeacus huic pater est, qui iura silentibus illicreddit, ubi Aeoliden saxum grave Sisyphon urget.Aeacon agnoscit summus prolemque fateturIuppiter esse suam: sic a Iove tertius Aiax.Nec tamen haec series in causam prosit, Achivi,si mihi cum magno non est communis Achille:frater erat, fraterna peto! Quid sanguine cretusSisyphio furtisque et fraude simillimus illiinseris Aeacidis alienae nomina gentis?An quod in arma prior nulloque sub indice veni,arma neganda mihi, potiorque videbitur ille,ultima qui cepit detrectavitque furoremilitiam ficto, donec sollertior istoet sibi inutilior timidi commenta retexitNaupliades animi vitataque traxit ad arma?Optima num sumat, quia sumere noluit ulla:nos inhonorati et donis patruelibus orbi,obtulimus quia nos ad prima pericula, simus?Atque utinam aut verus furor ille, aut creditus esset,nec comes hic Phrygias umquam venisset ad arceshortator scelerum. Non te, Poeantia proles,expositum Lemnos nostro cum crimine haberet!Qui nunc, ut memorant, silvestribus abditus antrissaxa moves gemitu Laertiadaeque precarisquae meruit: quae, si di sunt, non vana precaris!Et nunc ille eadem nobis iuratus in arma,heu! pars una ducum, quo successore sagittaeHerculis utuntur, fractus morboque famequevelaturque aliturque avibus, volucresque petendodebita Troianis exercet spicula fatis.Ille tamen vivit, quia non comitavit Ulixen;mallet et infelix Palamedes esse relictus:viveret aut certe letum sine crimine haberet!Quem male convicti nimium memor iste furorisprodere rem Danaam finxit fictumque probavitcrimen et ostendit, quod iam praefoderat, aurum.Ergo aut exsilio vires subduxit Achivis,aut nece: sic pugnat, sic est metuendus Ulixes.Qui licet eloquio fidum quoque Nestora vincat,haud tamen efficiet, desertum ut Nestora crimenesse rear nullum. Qui cum imploraret Ulixemvulnere tardus equi fessusque senilibus annis,proditus a socio est. Non haec mihi crimina fingiscit bene Tydides, qui nomine saepe vocatumcorripuit trepidoque fugam exprobravit amico.Adspiciunt oculis superi mortalia iustis!En eget auxilio, qui non tulit, utque reliquit,sic linquendus erat: legem sibi dixerat ipse.Conclamat socios: adsum videoque trementempallentemque metu et metuentem morte futura;opposui molem clipei texique iacentemservavique animam (minimum est hic laudis) inertem.Si perstas certare, locum redeamus in illum:redde hostem vulnusque tuum solitumque timorempost clipeumque late et mecum contende sub illo!At postquam eripui, cui standi vulnera viresnon dederant, nullo tardatus vulnere fugit.Hector adest secumque deos in proelia ducit,quaque ruit, non tu tantum terreris, Ulixe,sed fortes etiam: tantum trahit ille timoris.Hunc ego sanguineae successu caedis ovantememinus ingenti resupinum pondere fudi,hunc ego poscentem, cum quo concurreret, unussustinui, sortemque meam vovistis, Achivi,et vestrae valuere preces! Si quaeritis huiusfortunam pugnae, non sum superatus ab illo.Ecce ferunt Troes ferrumque ignesque Iovemquein Danaas classes: ubi nunc facundus Ulixes?Nempe ego mille meo protexi pectore puppes,spem vestri reditus: date pro tot navibus arma!Quod si vera licet mihi dicere, quaeritur istis,quam mihi, maior honos, coniunctaque gloria nostra est,atque Aiax armis, non Aiaci arma petuntur.
Let the Ithacan compare with deeds like minehis sleeping Rhesus, his unwarlike Dolon,Helenus taken, and Pallas gained by theft—all done by night and all with Diomed.If you must give these arms for deeds so mean,then give the greater share to Diomed.“Why give arms to Ulysses, who by stealthand quite unarmed, has always done his work,deceiving his unwary enemyby stratagems? This brilliant helmet, richwith sparkling gold, will certainly betrayhis plans, and will discover him when hid.His soft Dulichian head beneath the helmof great Achilles will not bear the weight;Achilles' heavy spear from Pelion mustbe burdensome for his unwarlike hands:nor will the shield, graven with the vasty worldbeseem a dastard left hand, smooth for theft.“Why caitiff, will you beg them for a gift,which will but weaken you? If by mistake,the Grecian people should award you this,it would not fright the foe but offer spoilsand that swift flight (in which alone you haveexcelled all others, dastard wretch!) would soongrow laggard, dragging such a weight. And thatgood shield of yours, which has but rarely felta conflict, is unhurt; for mine, agapewith wounds a thousand from swift-striking darts,a new one must be found.“In short, what needis there for words? Let us be tried in war.Let all the arms of brave Achilles nowbe thrown among the foe; order them allto be retrieved; and decorate for warwhoever brings them back, a worthy prize.”Ajax, the son of Telamon, stopped speech,and murmuring among the multitudefollowed his closing words, until Ulysses,Laertian hero, stood up there and fixedhis eyes a short time on the ground; then raisedthem towards the chiefs; and with his opening words,which they awaited, the grace of his artwas not found wanting to his eloquence.“If my desire and yours could have prevailed,O noble Greeks, the man who should receivea prize so valued, would not be in doubt,and you would now enjoy your arms, and weenjoy you, great Achilles. Since unjustfate has denied him both to me and you,(and here he wiped his eyes dry with his hands,as though then shedding tears,) who could succeedthe great Achilles better than the onethrough whom the great Achilles joined the Greeks?Let Ajax win no votes because he seemsto be as stupid as the truth declares.Let not my talents, which were always usedfor service of the Greeks, increase my harm:and let this eloquence of mine (if suchwe call it) which is pleading now for me,as it has pleaded many times for you,awake no envy. Let each man show his best.“Now as for ancestors and noble birthand deeds we have not done ourselves, all theseI hardly call them ours. But, if he boastsbecause he is the great grandson of Jove,the founder of my family, you know,is Jupiter; by birth I am just the samedegree removed from Jupiter as he.Laertes is my father, my grandsire isArcesius; and my great grandsire is Jove,and my line: has no banished criminal.My mother's grandsire, Mercury, would giveme further claims of birth—on either side a god.“But not because my mother's line is betterand not because my father certainly,is innocent of his own brother's blood,have I advanced my claim to own those arms.Let personal merit weigh the cause alone.Let Ajax win no credit from the factthat Telamon, was brother unto Peleus.Let not his merit be that he is near by blood,may honor of manhood weigh in your award!“But, if you seek the heir and next of kin,Peleus is father, and Pyrrhus is the sonof great Achilles. Where is Ajax then?These arms might go to Phthia or to Scyros!Teucer might claim the prize because he isAchilles' cousin. Does he seek these arms?And, if he did, would you allow his claim?“Since then the contest lies in deeds alone,though I have done more than may be well told,I will recall them as they have occurred.“Achilles' Nereid mother, who foresawhis death, concealed her son by change of dress.By that disguise Ajax, among the rest,was well deceived. I showed with women's waresarms that might win the spirit of a man.The hero still wore clothing of a girl,when, as he held a shield and spear, I said‘Son of a goddess! Pergama but waitsto fall by you, why do you hesitateto assure the overthrow of mighty Troy?’With these bold words, I laid my hand on him—and to: brave actions I sent forth the brave:his deeds of Bravery are therefore mineit was my power that conquered Telephus,as he fought with his lance; it was through methat, vanquished and suppliant? he at last was healed.I caused the fall of Thebes; believe me, Itook Lesbos, Tenedos, Chryse and Cilla—the cities of Apollo; and I tookScyros; think too, of the Lyrnesian wallas shaken by my hand, destroyed, and throwndown level with the ground. Let this suffice:I found the man who caused fierce Hector's death,through me the famous Hector now, lies low!And for those arms which made Achilles knownI now demand these arms. To him aliveI gave them—at his death they should be mine.“After the grief of one had reached all Greece,and ships a thousand, filled Euboean Aulis;the breezes long expected would not blowor adverse held the helpless fleet ashore.Then ruthless oracles gave their command,that Agamemnon should make sacrificeof his loved daughter and so satisfyDiana's cruel heart. The father stoodup resolute, enraged against the gods,a parent even though a king. I turned,by tactful! words, a father's tender heartto the great issue of the public weal.I will confess it, and when I have confessed,may the son of Atreus pardon: I had to pleada difficult case before a partial judge.The people's good, his brother's, and stern duty,that followed his great office, won his ear,till royal honor outweighed claims of blood.I sought the mother, who could not be wonby pleading but must be deceived by craft.Had Ajax gone to her, our thousand sailswould still droop, waiting for the favoring breeze.“As a bold envoy I was even sentoff to the towers of Ilium, and thereI saw the senate-house of lofty Troy,and, fearless, entered it, while it was fullof heroes. There, undaunted, I spoke forthe cause which all the Greeks had given me.Accusing Paris, I demanded backthe gold and stolen Helen, and I movedboth Priam and Antenor. All the whileParis, his brothers, and their robber crewcould scarce withhold their wicked hands from me.And all this, Menelaus, is well known to you:that was the first danger I shared with you.
Conferat his Ithacus Rhesum imbellemque DolonaPriamidenque Helenum rapta cum Pallade captum:luce nihil gestum est, nihil est Diomede remoto.Si semel ista datis meritis tam vilibus arma,dividite, et pars sit maior Diomedis in illis!Quo tamen haec Ithaco, qui clam, qui semper inermisrem gerit et furtis incautum decipit hostem?Ipse nitor galeae claro radiantis ab auroinsidias prodet manifestabitque latentem.Sed neque Dulichius sub Achillis casside vertexpondera tanta feret, nec non onerosa gravisquePelias hasta potest imbellibus esse lacertis,nec clipeus vasti concretus imagine mundiconveniet timidae nataeque ad furta sinistrae:debilitaturum quid te petis, Improbe, munus?Quod tibi si populi donaverit error Achivi,cur spolieris, erit, non cur metuaris ab hoste,et fuga, qua sola cunctos, timidissime, vincis,tarda futura tibi est gestamina tanta trahenti.Adde quod iste tuus, tam raro proelia passus,integer est clipeus: nostro, qui tela ferendomille patet plagis, novus est successor habendus.Denique (quid verbis opus est?) spectemur agendo!Arma viri fortis medios mittantur in hostes:inde iubete peti et referentem ornate relatis?”Finierat Telamone satus vulgique secutumultima murmur erat, donec Laertius herosadstitit atque oculos paulum tellure moratossustulit ad proceres exspectatoque resolvitora sono; neque abest facundis gratia dictis.“Si mea cum vestris valuissent vota, Pelasgi,non foret ambiguus tanti certaminis heres,tuque tuis armis, nos te poteremur, Achille.Quem quoniam non aequa mihi vobisque negaruntfata” (manuque simul veluti lacrimantia tersitlumina), “quis magno melius succedit Achilli,quam per quem magnus Danais successit Achilles?Huic modo ne prosit, quod, uti est, hebes esse videtur,neve mihi noceat, quod vobis semper, Achivi,profuit ingenium, meaque haec facundia, siqua est,quae nunc pro domino, pro vobis saepe locuta est,invidia careat, bona nec sua quisque recuset.Nam genus et proavos et quae non fecimus ipsi,vix ea nostra voco; sed enim quia rettulit Aiaxesse Iovis pronepos, nostri quoque sanguinis auctorIuppiter est, totidemque gradus distamus ab illo.Nam mihi Laertes pater est, Arcesius illi,Iuppiter huic, neque in his quisquam damnatus et exsul.Est quoque per matrem Cyllenius addita nobisaltera nobilitas: deus est in utroque parente.Sed neque materno quod sum generosior ortu,nec mihi quod pater est fraterni sanguinis insons,proposita arma peto: meritis expendite causam,dummodo, quod fratres Telamon Peleusque fuerunt,Aiacis meritum non sit nec sanguinis ordo,sed virtutis honor spoliis quaeratur in istis!Aut si proximitas primusque requiritur heres,est genitor Peleus, est Pyrrhus filius illi.Quis locus Aiaci? Phthiam haec Scyrumve ferantur!Nec minus est isto Teucer patruelis Achilli:num petit ille tamen? num si petat, auferat illa?Ergo operum quoniam nudum certamen habetur:plura quidem feci, quam quae comprendere dictisin promptu mihi sit; rerum tamen ordine ducar.Praescia venturi genetrix Nereia letidissimulat cultu natum, et deceperat omnes,in quibus Aiacem, sumptae fallacia vestis.Arma ego femineis animum motura virilemmercibus inserui, neque adhuc proiecerat herosvirgineos habitus, cum parmam hastamque tenenti“nate dea,” dixi “tibi se peritura reservantPergama! quid dubitas ingentem evertere Troiam?”iniecique manum fortemque ad fortia misi.Ergo opera illius mea sunt: ego Telephon hastapugnantem domui, victum orantemque refeci;quod Thebae cecidere, meum est, me credite Lesbon,me Tenedon Chrysenque et Cillan, Apollinis urbes,et Scyrum cepisse, mea concussa putateprocubuisse solo Lyrnesia moenia dextra,utque alias taceam, qui saevum perdere possetHectora, nempe dedi: per me iacet inclitus Hector.Illis haec armis, quibus est inventus Achilles,arma peto: vivo dederam, post fata reposco. —Ut dolor unius Danaos pervenit ad omnesAulidaque Euboicam complerunt mille carinae,exspectata diu, nulla aut contraria classiflamina erant, duraeque iubent Agamemnona sortesinmeritam saevae natam mactare Dianae.Denegat hoc genitor divisque irascitur ipsisatque in rege tamen pater est. Ego mite parentisingenium verbis ad publica commoda verti.Nunc equidem (fateor, fassoque ignoscat Atrides!)difficilem tenui sub iniquo iudice causam.Hunc tamen utilitas populi fraterque datiquesumma movet sceptri, laudem ut cum sanguine penset.Mittor et ad matrem, quae non hortanda, sed astudecipienda fuit: quo si Telamonius isset,orba suis essent etiamnum lintea ventis.Mittor et Iliacas audax orator ad arces,visaque et intrata est altae mihi curia Troiae(plenaque adhuc erat illa viris), interritus egi,quam mihi mandarat communis Graecia causam,accusoque Parim praedamque Helenamque reposcoet moveo Priamum Priamoque Antenora iunctum.At Paris et fratres et qui rapuere sub illo,ni tenuere manus (scis hoc, Menelae) nefandas,primaque lux nostri tecum fuit illa pericli.
“I need not linger over the many thingswhich by my counsel and my braveryI have accomplished through this long-drawn war.“A long time, after the first battle clash,the foe lay quiet within city walls,giving no challenge for an open fight—he stood nine years of siege before we foughtwhat were you doing all that tedious time,what use were you, good only in a fight?If you will make inquiry of my deeds:I fashioned ambuscades for enemies;and circled our defenses with a trench;I cheered allies so they might all endurewith patient minds a long, protracted war;I showed how our own army might subsistand how it could be armed; and I was sentwherever the necessity required.“Then, at the wish of Jove, our king, deceiveby A false dream, bids us give up the war—he could excuse his order by the cause.Let Ajax tell him Troy must be laid lowor let him fight—at least he can do that!Why does he fail to stop the fugitives?Why not take arms and tell the wavering crowdto rally round him? Would that be too muchfor one who never speaks except to boast?But now words fail me: Ajax turns and flees!I witnessed it and was ashamed to seeyou turn disgraced, preparing sails for flight.With exclamations and without delay,I said, ‘What are you doing? O my friends,has madness seized you that you will quit Troy,which is as good as taken? What can youbear home, after ten years, but your disgrace?’“With these commanding words, which grief itselfgave eloquence, I brought resisting Greeksback from their purposed flight. Atrides calledtogether his allies, all terror struck.Even then, Ajax the son of Telamondared not vouchsafe one word. But impudentThersites hurled vile words against the kings,and, thanks to me, he did not miss reproof.I rose and spoke to my disheartened friends,reviving their lost courage with my wordsfrom that time forth, whatever deeds this man,my rival, may have done, belong to me.'Twas I who stayed his flight and brought him back.“Which of the noble Greeks has given you praiseor sought your company? Yet Diomedhas shared his deeds with me and praises me,and, while Ulysses is with him, is braveand confident. 'Tis worthy of regard,when out of many thousands of the Greeks,a man becomes the choice of Diomed!“It was not lot that ordered me to go;and yet, despising dangers of the night,despising dangers of the enemy,I slew one, Dolon, of the Phrygian race,who dared to do the very things we dared,but not before I had prevailed on himto tell me everything, by which I learnedperfidious actions which Troy had designed.“Of such things now, I had discovered allthat should be found out, and I might have thenreturned to enjoy the praise I had deserved.But not content with that, I sought the tentof Rhesus, and within his camp I slewhim and his proved attendants. Having thusgained as a conqueror my own desires,I drove back in a captured chariot,—a joyous triumph. Well, deny me, then.The arms of him whose steeds the enemydemanded as the price of one night's aid.Ajax himself has been more generous.“Why should I name Sarpedon's Lycian troopsamong whom I made havoc with my sword?I left Coeranos dead and streaming blood,with the sword I killed Alastor, Chromius,Alcander, Prytanis, Halius, and Noemon,Thoon and Charops with Chersidamas,and Ennomus—all driven by cruel fate,not reckoning humbler men whom I laid low,battling beneath the shadow of the city walls.And fellow citizens, I have my woundshonorable in the front. Do not believemy word alone. Look for yourselves and see!”Then with one hand, he drew his robe aside.“Here is a breast,” he cried, “that bled for you!But Ajax never shed a drop of bloodto aid his friends, in all these many years,and has a body free of any wound.“What does it prove, if he declares that hefought for our ships against both Troy and Jove?I grant he did, for it is not my wontwith malice to belittle other's deeds.But let him not claim for himself alonean honor in which all may have a share,let him concede some credit due to you.Disguised within the fear inspiring armsof great Achilles, Actor's son drove backthe host of Trojans from our threatened fleetor ships and Ajax would have burned together.“Unmindful of the king, the chiefs, and me,he dreams that he alone dared to engagein single fight with Hector—he the ninthto volunteer and chosen just by lot.But yet, O brave chief! What availed the fight?Hector returned, not injured by a wound.“Ah, bitter fate, with how much grief I amcompelled to recollect the time, when braveAchilles, bulwark of the Greeks, was slain.Nor tears, nor grief, nor fear, could hinder me:I carried his dead body from the ground,uplifted on these shoulders, I repeat,upon these shoulders from that groundI bore off dead Achilles, and those armswhich now I want to bear away again.I have the strength to walk beneath their weight,I have a mind to understand their worth.Did the hero's mother, goddess of the sea,win for her son these arms, made by a god,a work of wondrous art, to have them clothea rude soldier, who has no mind at all?He never could be made to understandthe rich engravings, pictured on the shield—the ocean, earth, and stars in lofty skies;the Pleiades, and Hyades, the Bear,which touches not the ocean, far beyondthe varied planets, and the fire-bright swordof high Orion. He demands a prize,which, if he had it, would be lost on him.“What of his taunting me, because I shrankfrom hardships of this war and I was slowto join the expedition? Does he not see,that he reviles the great Achilles too?Was my pretense a crime? then so was his.Was our delay a fault? mine was the less,for I came sooner; me a loving wifedetained from war, a loving mother him.Some hours we gave to them, the rest to you.Why should I be alarmed, if now I amunable to defend myself againstthis accusation, which is just the sameas you have brought against so great a man?Yet he was found by the dexterityof me, Ulysses, and Ulysses wasnot found by the dexterity of Ajax.“It is no wonder that he pours on mereproaches of his silly tongue, becausehe charges you with what is worthy shame.Am I depraved because this Palamedes hasimproperly been charged with crime by me?Then was it honorable for all of you,if you condemned him? Only think, that he,the son of Naplius, made no defenceagainst the crime, so great, so manifest:nor did you only hear the charges broughtagainst him, but you saw the proof yourselves,and in the gold his villainy was shown.
Longa referre mora est, quae consilioque manuqueutiliter feci spatiosi tempore belli.Post acies primas urbis se moenibus hostescontinuere diu, nec aperti copia Martisulla fuit: decimo demum pugnavimus anno.Quid facis interea, qui nil nisi proelia, nosti?Quis tuus usus erat? Nam si mea facta requiris,hostibus insidior, fossas munimine cingo,consolor socios, ut longi taedia bellimente ferant placida, doceo, quo simus alendiarmandique modo, mittor, quo postulat usus.Ecce Iovis monitu, deceptus imagine somni,rex iubet incepti curam dimittere belli.Ille potest auctore suam defendere vocem:non sinat hoc Aiax delendaque Pergama poscat,quodque potest, pugnet! Cur non remoratur ituros?Cur non arma capit? det, quod vaga turba sequatur!Non erat hoc nimium numquam nisi magna loquenti.Quid quod et ipse fugit? Vidi, puduitque videre,cum tu terga dares inhonestaque vela parares.Nec mora, “quid facitis? quae vos dementia” dixi“concitat, o socii? captam dimittite Troiam!Quidve domum fertis decimo, nisi dedecus, anno?”Talibus atque aliis, in quae dolor ipse disertumfecerat, aversos profuga de classe reduxi.nec Telamoniades etiam nunc hiscere quicquamaudet, at ausus erat reges incessere dictisThersites etiam, per me haud impune protervus!Erigor et trepidos cives exhortor in hostemamissamque mea virtutem voce reposco.Tempore ab hoc, quodcumque potest fecisse viderifortiter iste, meum est, qui dantem terga retraxi.Denique de Danais quis te laudatve petitve?At sua Tydides mecum communicat acta,me probat et socio semper confidit Ulixe.Est aliquid, de tot Graiorum milibus unuma Diomede legi (nec me sors ire iubebat!),si tamen et spreto noctisque hostisque pericloausum eadem, quae nos, Phrygia de gente Dolonainterimo, non ante tamen, quam cuncta coegiprodere, et edidici, quid perfida Troia pararet.Omnia cognoram, nec, quod specularer, habebam,et iam promissa poteram cum laude reverti.Haud contentus eo petii tentoria Rhesiinque suis ipsum castris comitesque peremiatque ita captivo victor votisque potitusingredior curru laetos imitante triumphos;cuius equos pretium pro nocte poposcerat hostis,arma negate mihi, fueritque benignior Aiax!Quid Lycii referam Sarpedonis agmina ferrodevastata meo? Cum multo sanguine fudiCoeranon Iphitiden et Alastoraque ChromiumqueAlcandrumque Haliumque Noemonaque Prytanimque,exitioque dedi cum Chersidamante Thoonaet Charopem fatisque inmitibus Ennomon actumquique minus celebres nostra sub moenibus urbisprocubuere manu. Sunt et mihi vulnera, cives,ipso pulchra loco; nec vanis credite verbis:adspicite en!” vestemque manu deduxit et “haec suntpectora semper” ait “vestris exercita rebus.At nil impendit per tot Telamonius annossanguinis in socios et habet sine vulnere corpus!Quid tamen hoc refert, si se pro classe Pelasgaarma tulisse refert contra Troasque Iovemque?Confiteorque, tulit (neque enim benefacta malignedetractare meum est), sed ne communia solusoccupet atque aliquem vobis quoque reddat honorem,reppulit Actorides sub imagine tutus AchillisTroas ab arsuris cum defensore carinis.Ausum etiam Hectoreis solum concurrere telisse putat, oblitus regisque ducumque meique,nonus in officio et praelatus munere sortis.Sed tamen eventus vestrae, fortissime, pugnaequis fuit? Hector abit violatus vulnere nullo!Me miserum, quanto cogor meminisse doloretemporis illius, quo Graium murus, Achillesprocubuit! Nec me lacrimae luctusque timorquetardarunt, quin corpus humo sublime referrem.His umeris, his, inquam, umeris ego corpus Achillis.et simul arma tuli, quae nunc quoque ferre laboro!Sunt mihi, quae valeant in talia pondera, vires,est animus certe vestros sensurus honores.Scilicet idcirco pro nato caerula materambitiosa suo fuit, ut caelestia dona,artis opus tantae, rudis et sine pectore milesindueret? neque enim clipei caelamina novit,Oceanum et terras cumque alto sidera caeloPleiadasque hyadasque inmunemque aequoris arctondiversasque urbes nitidumque Orionis ensem:Quid quod me duri fugientem munera belliarguit incepto serum accessisse labori,nec se magnanimo maledicere sentit Achilli?Si simulasse vocas crimen, simulavimus ambo;si mora pro culpa est, ego sum maturior illo.Me pia detinuit coniunx, pia mater Achillem,primaque sunt illis data tempora, cetera vobis.Haud timeo, si iam nequeam defendere, crimencum tanto commune viro: deprensus Ulixisingenio tamen ille, at non Aiacis Ulixes!Neve in me stolidae convicia fundere linguaeadmiremur eum, vobis quoque digna pudoreobicit. An falso Palameden crimine turpe estaccusasse mihi, vobis damnasse decorum?Sed neque Naupliades facinus defendere tantumtamque patens valuit, nec vos audistis in illocrimina: vidistis, pretioque obiecta patebant.
“Nor am I to be blamed, if Vulcan's isleof Lemnos has become the residenceof Philoctetes. Greeks, defend yourselves,for you agreed to it! Yes, I admitI urged him to withdraw from toils of warand those of travel and attempt by restto ease his cruel pain. He took my adviceand lives! The advice was not alone well meant(that would have been enough) but it was wise.Because our prophets have declared, he mustlead us, if we may still maintain our hopefor Troy's destruction—therefore, you must notintrust that work to me. Much better, sendthe son of Telamon. His eloquencewill overcome the hero's rage, most fiercefrom his disease and anger: or else hisinvention of some wile will skilfullydeliver him to us.—The Simoiswill first flow backward, Ida stand withoutits foliage, and Achaia promise aidto Troy itself; ere, lacking aid from me,the craft of stupid Ajax will avail.“Though, Philoctetes, you should be enragedagainst your friends, against the king and me;although you curse and everlastinglydevote my head to harm; although you wish,to ease your anguish, that I may be giveninto your power, that you may shed my blood;and though you wait your turn and chance at me;still I will undertake the quest and willtry all my skill to bring you back with me.If my good fortune then will favor me,I shall obtain your arrows; as I madethe Trojan seer my captive, as I learnedthe heavenly oracles and fate of Troy,and as I brought back through a host of foesMinerva's image from the citadel.“And is it possible, Ajax may nowcompare himself with me? Truly the Fateswill hold Troy from our capture, if we leavethe statue. Where is valiant Ajax now,where are the boasts of that tremendous man?Why are you trembling, while Ulysses daresto go beyond our guards and brave the night?In spite of hostile swords, he goes withinnot only the strong walls of Troy but eventhe citadel, lifts up the goddess fromher shrine, and takes her through the enemy!If I had not done this, Telamon's sonwould bear his shield of seven bull hides in vain.That night I gained the victory over Troy—'Twas then I won our war with Pergama,because I made it possible to win.“Stop hinting by your look and muttered wordsthat Diomed was my partner in the deed.The praise he won is his. You, certainlyfought not alone, when you held up your shieldto save the allied fleet: a multitudewas with you, but a single man gave mehis valued help.“And if he did not knowa fighting man can not gain victoryso surely as the wise man, that the prizeis given to something rarer than a brave right hand,he would himself be a contender nowfor these illustrious arms. Ajax the lesswould have come forward too, so would the fierceEurypylus, so would Andraemon's son.Nor would Idomeneus withhold his claim,nor would his countryman Meriones.Yes, Menelaus too would seek the prize.All these brave men, my equals in the field,have yielded to my wisdom.“Your right handis valuable in war, your temper standsin need of my direction. You have strengthwithout intelligence; I look out forthe future. You are able in the fight;I help our king to find the proper time.Your body may give service, and my mindmust point the way: and just as much as hewho guides the ship must be superiorto him who rows it; and we all agreethe general is greater than the soldier; so,do I excel you. In the body livesan intellect much rarer than a hand,by that we measure human excellence.“O chieftains, recompense my vigilance!For all these years of anxious care, awardthis honor to my many services.Our victory is in sight; I have removedthe opposing fates and, opening wide the wayto capture Pergama, have captured it.Now by our common hopes, by Troy's high wallsalready tottering and about to fall,and by the gods that I won from the foe,by what remains for wisdom to deviseor what may call for bold and fearless deeds—if you think any hope is left for Troy,remember me! Or, if you do not givethese arms to me, then give them all to her!”And he pointed to Minerva's fateful head.The assembled body of the chiefs was moved;and then, appeared the power of eloquence:the fluent man received, amid applause,the arms of the brave man. His rival, whoso often when alone, stood firm againstgreat Hector and the sword, and flames and Jove,stood not against a single passion, wrath.The unconquerable was conquered by his grief.He drew his sword, and said:—“This is at leastmy own; or will Ulysses also claimthis, for himself. I must use this againstmyself—the blade which often has been wet,dripping with blood of Phrygians I have slain,.Will drip with his own master's: blood,lest any man but Ajax vanquish Ajax.”Saying this, he turned toward the vital spotin his own breast, which never had felt a wound,the fated sword and plunged it deeply in.though many sought to aid, no hand had strengthto draw that steel—deep driven. The blood itselfunaided drove it out. The ensanguined earthsprouted from her green turf that purple flowerwhich grew of old from Hyacinthine blood.Its petals now are charged with double freight—the warrior's name, Apollo's cry of woe.
Nec Poeantiaden quod habet Vulcania Lemnos,esse reus merui: factum defendite vestrum,consensistis enim. Nec me suasisse negabo,ut se subtraheret bellique viaeque laboritemptaretque feros requie finire dolores.Paruit et vivit! Non haec sententia tantumfida, sed et felix, cum sit satis esse fidelem.Quem quoniam vates delenda ad Pergama poscunt,ne mandate mihi: melius Telamonius ibiteloquioque virum morbis iraque furentemmolliet aut aliqua producet callidus arte.Ante retro Simois fluet et sine frondibus Idestabit et auxilium promittet Achaia Troiae,quam, cessante meo pro vestris pectore rebus,Aiacis stolidi Danais sollertia prosit!Sis licet infestus sociis regique mihique,dure Philoctete, licet exsecrere meumquedevoveas sine fine caput cupiasque dolentime tibi forte dari nostrumque haurire cruorem,te tamen adgrediar mecumque reducere nitar,tamque tuis potiar (faveat Fortuna!) sagittis,quam sum Dardanio, quem cepi, vate potitus,quam responsa deum Troianaque fata retexi,quam rapui Phrygiae signum penetrale Minervaehostibus e mediis. Et se mihi comparat Aiax?Nempe capi Troiam prohibebant fata sine illo:fortis ubi est Aiax? Ubi sunt ingentia magniverba viri? Cur hic metuis? cur audet Ulixesire per excubias et se committere noctiperque feros enses non tantum moenia Troum,verum etiam summas arces intrare suaqueeripere aede deam raptamque adferre per hostes?Quae nisi fecissem, frustra Telamone creatusgestasset laeva taurorum tergora septem.Illa nocte mihi Troiae victoria parta est,Pergama tunc vici, cum vinci posse coegi!Desine Tydiden vultuque et murmure nobisostentare meum: pars est sua laudis in illo.Nec tu, cum socia clipeum pro classe tenebas,solus eras: tibi turba comes, mihi contigit unus.Qui nisi pugnacem sciret sapiente minoremesse nec indomitae deberi praemia dextrae,ipse quoque haec peteret, peteret moderatior AiaxEurypylusque ferox claroque Andraemone natus,nec minus Idomeneus patriaque creatus eademMeriones, peteret maioris frater Atridae:quippe manu fortes nec sunt tibi Marte secundi,consiliis cessere meis. Tibi dextera belloutilis: ingenium est, quod eget moderamine nostro;tu vires sine mente geris, mihi cura futuri;tu pugnare potes, pugnandi tempora mecumeligit Atrides; tu tantum corpore prodes,nos animo; quantoque ratem qui temperat, anteitremigis officium, quanto dux milite maior,tantum ego te supero; nec non in corpore nostropectora sunt potiora manu: vigor omnis in illis.At vos, o proceres, vigili date praemia vestro,proque tot annorum cura, quibus anxius egi,hunc titulum meritis pensandum reddite nostris.Iam labor in fine est: obstantia fata removialtaque posse capi faciendo Pergama cepi.Per spes nunc socias casuraque moenia Troumperque deos oro, quos hosti nuper ademi,per siquid superest, quod sit sapienter agendum,siquid adhuc audax ex praecipitique petendum est,este mei memores! Aut si mihi non datis arma,huic date!” — et ostendit signum fatale Minervae.Mota manus procerum est, et quid facundia posset,re patuit, fortisque viri tulit arma disertus.Hectora qui solus, qui ferrum ignesque Iovemquesustinuit totiens, unam non sustinet iram,invictumque virum vicit dolor: arripit ensemet “meus hic certe est! an et hunc sibi poscit Ulixes?Hoc” ait “utendum est in me mihi, quique cruoresaepe Phrygum maduit, domini nunc caede madebit,ne quisquam Aiacem possit superare nisi Aiax.”Dixit et in pectus tum demum vulnera passum,qua patuit ferro, letalem condidit ensem.Nec valuere manus infixum educere telum:expulit ipse cruor, rubefactaque sanguine telluspurpureum viridi genuit de caespite florem,qui prius Oebalio fuerat de vulnere natus;littera communis mediis pueroque viroqueincripta est foliis, haec nominis, illa querellae.
The conqueror, Ulysses, now set sail,for Lemnos, country of Hypsipyle,and for the land of Thoas, famed afar,those regions infamous in olden days,where women slew their husbands. So he wentthat he might capture and bring back with himthe arrows of brave Hercules. When thesewere given back to the Greeks, their lord with them,a final hand at last prevailed to endthat long fought war. Both Troy and Priam fell,and Priam's wretched wife lost all she had,until at last she lost her human form.Her savage barkings frightened foreign lands,where the long Hellespont is narrowed down.Great Troy was burning: while the fire still raged,Jove's altar drank old Priam's scanty blood.The priestess of Apollo then, alas!Was dragged by her long hair, while up towards heavenshe lifted supplicating hands in vain.The Trojan matrons, clinging while they couldto burning temples and ancestral gods,victorious Greeks drag off as welcome spoil.Astyanax was hurled down from the very towerfrom which he often had looked forth and seenhis father, by his mother pointed out,when Hector fought for honor and his country's weal.Now Boreas counsels to depart. The sails,moved by a prosperous breeze, resound and wave—the Trojan women cry,—“Farewell to Troy!Ah, we are hurried off!” and, falling down,they kiss the soil, and leave the smoking roofsof their loved native land. The last to goon board the fleet was Hecuba, a sightmost pitiful. She was found among the tombsof her lost sons. While she embraced each urnand fondly kissed their bones, Ulysses camewith ruthless hands and bore her off, his prizeshe in her bosom took away the urnof Hector only, and upon his graveshe left some white hair taken from her head,a meager gift, her white hair and her tears.Across the strait from Troy, there is a landclaimed by Bistonian men, and in that landwas a rich palace, built there by a kingnamed Polymnestor. To him the Phrygian kingin secret gave his youngest son to rear,his Polydorus, safe from Troy and war,a prudent course, if he had not sent goldarousing greed, incitement to a crime.Soon, when the fortunes of the Trojans fell,that wicked king of Thrace took his own sword,and pierced the throat of his poor foster sonand then, as if the deed could be concealed,if he removed the body, hurled the boyfrom a wild cliff into the waves below.Until the sea might be more calm, and galesof wind might be subdued, Atrides mooredhis fleet of ships upon the Thracian shore;there, from wide gaping earth, Achilles rose,as large as when he lived, with look as fierce,as when his sword once threatened Agamemnon.“Forgetting me do you depart, O Greeks?”He said, “And is your grateful! memoryof all my worth interred with my bones?Do not do so. And that my sepulchremay have due worship, let Polyxenabe immolated to appease the ghost:of dead Achilles.” Fiercely so he spoke.The old friends of Achilles all obeyedhis unforgiving shade; and instantlythe noble and unhappy virgin—brave,more like a man than woman—was torn fromher mother's bosom, cherished more by her,since widowed and alone. And then they ledthe virgin as a sacrifice from thereup to the cruel altar. When the maidobserved the savage rites prepared for her,and when she noticed Neoptolemusstand by her with his cruel sword in hand,his fixed eyes on her countenance; she said:—“Do not delay my generous gift of blood,with no resistance thrust the ready steelinto my throat or breast!” And then she laidboth throat and bosom bare. “Polyxenawould never wish to live in slavery.And such rites win no favor from a god.Only I fondly wish my mother mightnot know that I have died. My love of hertakes from my joy in death and gives me fear.Not my death truly, but her own sad lifeshould be the most lamented in her tears.Now let your men stand back, that I may gowith dignity down to the Stygian shades,and, if my plea is just, let no man's handtouch my pure virgin body. A nobler giftto him, whoever he may be, whom youdesire to placate with my death today,shall be a free maid's blood. But, if my words—my parting wish, has power to touch your hearts,(King Priam's daughter, not a captive, pleads)freely return my body to my mother,let her not pay with gold for the sad rightto bury me—but only with her tears!Yes, when she could, she also paid with gold.”After she said these words, the people couldno more restrain their tears; but no one sawher shed one tear. Even the priest himself,reluctantly and weeping, drove the steelinto her proffered breast. On failing kneesshe sank down to the earth; but still maintaineda countenance undaunted to the last:and, even unto death, it was her careto cover all that ought to be concealed,and save the value of chaste modesty.The Trojan matrons took her and recalled,lamenting, all the sons of Priam dead,the wealth of blood one house had shed for all.And they bewailed the chaste Polyxenaand you, her mother, only lately calleda royal mother and a royal wife,—the soul of Asia's fair prosperity,;now lowest fallen in all the wreck of Troy.The conquering Ulysses only claimedher his because she had brought Hector forth:and Hector hardly found a master forhis mother. She continued to embracethe body of a soul so brave, and shedher tears, as she had shed them often beforefor country lost, for sons, for royal mate.She bathed her daughter's wounds with tears and kissedthem with her lips and once more beat her breast.Her white hair streamed down in the clotting blood,she tore her breast, and this and more she said:
Victor ad Hypsipyles patriam clarique Thoantiset veterum terras infames caede virorumvela dat, ut referat Tirynthia tela, sagittas.Quae postquam ad Graios, domino comitante, revexit,imposita estque fero tandem manus ultima bello,Ilion ardebat, neque adhuc consederat ignis,exiguumque senis Priami Iovis ara cruoremcombiberat tracta atque comis antistita Phoebinon profecturas tendebat ad aethera palmas.Dardanidas matres patriorum signa deorum,dum licet, amplexas succensaque templa tenentesinvidiosa trahunt victores praemia Grai.Mittitur Astyanax illis de turribus, undepugnantem pro se proavitaque regna tuentemsaepe videre patrem monstratum a matre solebat.Iamque viam suadet boreas, flatuque secundocarbasa mota sonant, iubet uti navita ventis.“Troia, vale! rapimur” clamant, dant oscula terraeTroades et patriae fumantia tecta relinquunt.Ultima conscendit classem (miserabile visu!)in mediis Hecube natorum inventa sepulcris:prensantem tumulos atque ossibus oscula dantemDulichiae traxere manus, tamen unius hausitinque sinu cineres secum tulit Hectoris haustos;Hectoris in tumulo canum de vertice crinem,inferias inopes, crinem lacrimasque reliquit.Est, ubi Troia fuit, Phrygiae contraria tellus,Bistoniis habitata viris: Polymestoris illicregia dives erat, cui te commisit alendumclam, Polydore, pater Phrygiisque removit ab armis,consilium sapiens, sceleris nisi praemia magnasadiecisset opes, animi inritamen avari.Ut cecidit fortuna Phrygum, capit impius ensemrex Thracum iuguloque sui demisit alumniet, tamquam tolli cum corpore crimina possent,exanimem scopulo subiectas misit in undas.Litore Threicio classem religarat Atrides,dum mare pacatum, dum ventus amicior esset.Hic subito, quantus cum viveret esse solebat,exit humo late rupta similisque minantitemporis illius vultum referebat Achilles,quo ferus iniustum petiit Agamemnona ferro,“inmemores” que “mei disceditis” inquit “Achivi,obrutaque est mecum virtutis gratia nostrae?Ne facite! utque meum non sit sine honore sepulcrum,placet Achilleos mactata Polyxena manes!”Dixit, et inmiti sociis parentibus umbrae,rapta sinu matris, quam iam prope sola fovebat,fortis et infelix et plus quam femina virgoducitur ad tumulum diroque fit hostia busto.Quae memor ipsa sui, postquam crudelibus arisadmota est sensitque sibi fera sacra parari,utque Neoptolemum stantem ferrumque tenentemutque suo vidit figentem lumina vultu,utere iamdudum generoso sanguine!” dixit,“nulla mora est: aut tu iugulo vel pectore telumconde meo! (iugulumque simul pectusque retexit)Mors tantum vellem matrem mea fallere posset!Mater obest minuitque necis mihi gaudia, quamvisnon mea mors illi, verum sua vita gemenda est.Vos modo, ne Stygios adeam non libera manes,ite procul, si iusta peto, tactuque virilesvirgineo removete manus! Acceptior illi,quisquis is est, quem caede mea placare paratis,liber erit sanguis. Siquos tamen ultima nostriverba movent oris (Priami vos filia regis,nunc captiva rogat), genetrici corpus inemptumreddite, neve auro redimat ius triste sepulcri,sed lacrimis! Tunc, cum poterat, redimebat et auro.”Dixerat, at populus lacrimas, quas illa tenebat,non tenet; ipse etiam flens invitusque sacerdospraebita coniecto rupit praecordia ferro.Illa super terram defecto poplite labenspertulit intrepidos ad fata novissima vultus.Tunc quoque cura fuit partes velare tegendas,cum caderet, castique decus servare pudoris.Troades excipiunt deploratosque recensentPriamidas et quid dederit domus una cruoris,teque gemunt, virgo, teque, o modo regia coniunx,regia dicta parens, Asiae florentis imago,nunc etiam praedae mala sors, quam victor Ulixesesse suam nollet, nisi quod tamen Hectora partuedideras: dominum matri vix repperit Hector!Quae corpus complexa animae tam fortis inane,quas totiens patriae dederat natisque viroque,huic quoque dat lacrimas lacrimas in vulnera funditosculaque ore tegit consuetaque pectora plangitcanitiemque suam concreto in sanguine verrensplura quidem, sed et haec laniato pectore dixit: