350

To him the king: How much thy years excel
In arts of council, and in speaking well!
O would the gods, in love to Greece, decree
But ten such sages as they grant in thee;
Such wisdom soon should Priam's force destroy,

355 And soon should fall the haughty towers of Troy!
But Jove forbids, who plunges those he hates
In fierce contention and in vain debates.
Now great Achilles from our aid withdraws,
By me provoked; a captive maid the cause:
360 If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall

Not such at Argos was their generous vow,
Once all their voice, but ah! forgotten now:
Ne'er to return, was then the common cry,
Till Troy's proud structures should in ashes lie.
Behold them weeping for their native shore!
What could their wives or helpless children more?
What heart but melts to leave the tender train,
And, one short month, endure the wintry main?
Few leagues removed, we wish our peaceful seat,
When the ship tosses, and the tempests beat:
Then well may this long stay provoke their tears,
The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian host I blame;
But vanquish'd! baffled! oh eternal shame!
Expect the time to Troy's destruction given,
And try the fate of Calchas and of heaven.
What pass'd at Aulis, Greece can witness bear,
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
Beside a fountain's sacred brink we raised
Our verdant altars, and the victims blazed;
("Twas where the plane-tree spread its shades around,
The altars heaved; and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon shot, of dire portent;
From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent.
Straight to the tree his sanguine spires he roll'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold.
The topmost branch a mother-bird possess'd;
Eight callow infants fill'd the mossy nest;
Herself the ninth; the serpent as he hung,

369

Must shake, and heavy will the vengeance fall:
But now, ye warriors, take a short repast;
And, well refresh'd, to bloody conflict haste.
His sharpen'd spear let every Grecian wield,
365 And every Grecian fix his brazen shield;
Let all excite the fiery steeds of war,
And all for combat fit the rattling car.
This day, this dreadful day, let each contend;
No rest, no respite, till the shades descend,
Till darkness, or till death, shall cover all
Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall;
Till bathed in sweat be every manly breast,
With the huge shield each brawny arm deprest,
Each aching nerve refuse the lance to throw,
375 And each spent courser at the chariot blow.
Who dare, inglorious, in his ships to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this signal day,
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour.
The monarch spoke; and straight a murmur rose, 470
Loud as the surges when the tempest blows,
That dash'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the stony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops dispersing bend,

380

Stretch'd his black jaws, and crash'd the crying young;
While hovering near, with miserable moan,
The drooping mother wail'd her children gone.
The mother last as round the nest she flew :
Seized by the beating wing, the monster slew:
Nor long survived; to marble turn'd he stands
A lasting prodigy on Aulis' sands.

Such was the will of Jove; and hence we dare
Trust in his omen, and support the war.

For while around we gazed with wondering eyes,
And trembling sought the powers with sacrifice,
Full of his god, the reverend Calchas cried:
Ye Grecian warriors! lay your fears aside.
This wonderous signal Jove himself displays,
Of long, long labours, but eternal praise.
As many birds as by that snake were slain,
So many years the toils of Greece remain;
But wait the tenth, for Ilion's fail decreed;
Thus spoke the prophet, thus the fates succeed.
Obey, ye Grecians: with submission wait,
Nor let your flight avert the Trojan fate.

He said the shores with loud applauses sound
The hollow ships each deafening shout rebound.
Then Nestor thus: These vain debates forbear,
Ye talk like children, not like heroes dare..
Where now are all your high resolves at last?
Your leagues concluded, your engagements past?
Vow'd with libations and with victims then,
Now vanish'd like their smoke: the faith of men!
While useless words consume the unactive hours,
No wonder Troy so long resists our powers.
Rise, great Atrides! and with courage sway;
We march to war if thou direct the way.
But leave the few that dare resist thy laws,
The mean deserters of the Grecian cause,
To grudge the conquests mighty Jove prepares,
And view with envy our successful wars.
On that great day when first the martial train,
Big with the fate of Ilion, plough'd the main;
Jove, on the right, a prosperous signal sent,
And thunder rolling shook the firmament.
Encouraged hence, maintain the glorious strife,
Till every soldier grasp a Phrygian wife,
Till Helen's woes at full revenged appear,
And Troy's proud matrons render tear for tear.
Before that day, if any Greek invite

His country's troops to base, inglorious flight:
Stand forth that Greek! and hoist his sail to fly,
And die the dastard first, who dreads to die.
But now, O monarch! all thy chiefs advise:
Nor what they offer, thou thyself despise.
Among those counsels let not mine be vain;
In tribes and nations to divide thy train;
His separate troops let every leader call,
Each strengthens each, and all encourage all.
What chief, or soldier, of the numerous band,
Or bravely fights, or ill obeys command,

385 The tires are kindled, and the smokes ascend;
With hasty feats they sacrifice, and pray
To avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A steer of five years' age large limb'd and fed,
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led;

390 There bade the noblest of the Grecian peers;
And Nestor first, as most advanced in years.
Next came Idomenus, and Tydeus' son,

Ajax the less, and Ajax Telamon;

395

Then wise Ulysses in his rank was placed;
And Menelaus came unbid, the last.

The chiefs surround the destined beast, and take

The sacred offering of the salted cake:

When thus the king prefers his solemn prayer:
Oh thou whose thunder rends the clouded air,

400 Who in the heaven of heavens hast fix'd thy throne,
Supreme of gods! unbounded and alone!
Hear! and before the burning sun descends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dust be laid yon hostile spires,

405 Be Priam's palace sunk in Grecian tires,

In Hector's breast be plunged this shining sword,
And slaughter'd heroes groan around their lord!
Thus pray'd the chief: his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refused and toss'd in empty air:
410 The god, averse, while yet the fumes arose,
Prepared new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd the chiefs the rite pursue,
The barley sprinkled, and the victim slew.
The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide,
415 The thighs, selected to the gods, divide.

On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspire,
While the fat victim feeds the sacred fire.

420 The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd,
The assistants part, tranfix, and roast the rest;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat and each receives his share.
Soon as the rage of hunger was suppress'd,
425 The generous Nestor thus the prince address'd:

Now bid thy heralds sound the loud alarms,
And call the squadrons sheath'd in brazen arms:
Now seize the occasion, now the troops survey,
And lead to war when heaven directs the way.
430 He said: the monarch issued his commands;
Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands.
The chiefs inclose their king; the host divide,
In tribes and nations rank'd on either side.
High in the midst the blue-eyed virgin flies;
From rank to rank she darts her ardent eves:
The dreadful ægis, Jove's immortal shield,
Blazed on her arm, and lighten'd all the field:
Round the vast orb a hundred serpents roll'd,
Form'd the bright fringe, and seem'd to burn in gold.

435

530

535

Their troops in thirty sable vessels sweep,
With equal oars, the hoarse-resounding deep.
The Phocians next in forty barks repair,
Epistrophus and Schedius head the war.
Prom those rich regions where Cephissus leads
His silver current through the flowery meads;
From Panopëa, Chrysa the divine,
Where Anemoria's stately turrets shine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cyparissus, stood,
And fair Lilæa views the rising flood.

540 These ranged in order on the floating tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Boeotians' side.
Fierce Ajax led the Locrian squadrons on,
Ajax the less, Oileus' valiant son;
Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in pursuit, and active in the fight.
Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend,
Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send:
Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphè's bands
And those who dwell where pleasing Augia stands,
And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Tarphe's sylvan seats reside,

With this each Grecian's manly breast she warms
Swells their bold hearts, and strings their nervous arms;
No more they sigh, inglorious to return,
But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.
As on some mountain, through the lofty grove,
The crackling flames ascend, and blaze above:
The fires expanding as the winds arise,
Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies:
So from the polish'd arms, and brazen shields,
A gleamy splendour flash'd along the fields.
Not less their number than the embodied cranes,
Or milk-white swans in Asius' watry plains,
That o'er the winding of Cäyster's springs,
Stretch their long necks, and clap their rustling wings,
Now tower aloft, and course in airy rounds;
Now light with noise: with noise the field resounds. 545
Thus numerous and confused extending wide,
The legions croud Scamander's flowery side;
With rushing troops the plains are cover'd o'er,
And thundering footsteps shake the sounding shore.
Along the river's level meads they stand,
Thick as in spring the flowers adorn the land,
Or leaves the trees; or thick as insects play,
The wandering nation of a summer's day,
That, drawn by milky steams at evening hours,
In gather'd swarms surround the rural bowers;
From pail to pail with busy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the sun.
So throng'd, so close the Grecian squadrons stood
In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his scatter'd force conjoins,
In close array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not with more ease, the skilful shepherd swain
Collects his flock from thousands on the plain.
The king of kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outshines them all:
Like some proud bull that round the pastures leads
His subject herds, the monarch of the meads.
Great as the gods, the exalted chief was seen,
His strength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien;
Jove o'er his eyes celestial glories spread,
And dawning conquest play'd around his head.
Say, virgins, seated round the throne divine,
All-knowing goddesses! immortal Nine!
Since earth's wide regions, heaven's unmeasured
And hell's abyss, hide nothing from your sight,
(We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below,
But guess by rumour, and but boast we know,
Oh say what heroes, fired by thirst of fame,
Or urged by wrongs, to Troy's destruction came?
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues,
A throat of brass, and adamantine lungs.
Daughters of Jove, assist! inspired by you,
The mighty labour dauntless I pursue:
What crowded armies, from what climes they bring,
Their names, their numbers, and their chiefs, I sing.

The Catalogue of the Ships.

The hardy warriors whom Boeotia bred,
Penelius, Leitus, Prothoënor led:
With these Arcesilaus and Clonius stand,
Equal in arms, and equal in command.
These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields
And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watry fields,
And Schoenos, Scholos, Græa near the main,
And Mycalessia's ample piny plain.
Those who in Peteon or Ilesion dwell,
Or Harma where Apollo's prophet fell;
Heleon and Hyle, which the springs o'erflow;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low;
Or in the meads of Haliartus stray,
Or Thespia sacred to the god of day.
Onchestus, Neptune's celebrated groves;
Copæ, and Thisbè, famed for silver doves,
For flocks Erythræ, Glissa for the vine;
Platea green, and Nisa the divine.

And they whom Thebe's well-built walls inclose,
Where Mydè, Eutresis, Corone rose;
And Arne rich, with purple harvests crown'd:
And Anthedon, Boeotia's utmost bound.
Full fifty ships they send, and each conveys
Twice sixty warriors through the foaming seas.
To these succeed Aspledon's martial train,
Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule the undaunted throng,
Iälmen and Ascalaphus the strong,
Sons of Astyochè, the heavenly fair,

620

625

630

635

550

In forty vessels cut the liquid tide.
Euboë next her martial sons prepares,
And sends the brave Abantes to the wars:

640

565

570

575

555 Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretría;
The Isteian fields for generous vines renown'd,
The fair Carystos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o'erlooks the plain,
560 And high Cerinthus views the neighbouring main.
Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air;
But with protended spears in fighting fields,
Pierce the tough corslets and the brazen shields.
Twice twenty ships transport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.
Full fifty more from Athens stem the main,
Led by Menestheus through the liquid plain,
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus sway'd,
That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth.
Him Pallas placed amidst her wealthy fane,
Adored with sacrifice and oxen slain;
Where, as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes resound the goddess' praise).

645

650

655

660

height,

070

No chief like thee, Menestheus! Greece could yield, 665
To marshal armies in the dusty field,
The extended wings of battle to display,
580 Or close the embodied host in firm array,
Nestor alone, improved by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise.
With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;
In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force.
Next move to war the generous Argive train,
From high Trozenè, and Maseta's plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the main :
Whom strong Tyrithe's lofty walls surround,
And Epidaure with viny harvests crown'd;
And where fair Asinen and Hermion shew
Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
590 These by the brave Euryalus were led,

Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,
But chief Tydides bore the sovereign sway;
In fourscore barks they plough the watry way.
The proud Mycené arms her martial powers,
595 Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers,
Fair Aræthyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain,
And Ægion, and Adrastus' ancient reign:
And those who dwell along the sandy shore,
And where Pellenè yields her fleecy store,

600 Where Helicè and Hypéresia lie,

And Gonoëssa's spires salute the sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred vessels in long order stand;
And crowded nations wait his dread commana,
605 High on the deck the king of men appears,
And his refulgent arms in triumph wears;
Proud of his host, unrival'd in his reign.
In silent pomp he moves along the main.
His brother follows, and to vengeance warms
610 The hardy Spartans, exercised in arms:

Phares and Brysia's valiant troops, and those
Whom Lacedæmon's lofty hills inclose:
Or Messe's towers for silver doves renown'd,
Amyclæ, Laäs, Augia's happy ground,
And those whom Etylos' low walls contain,
And Helos, on the margin of the main:

675

690

685

690

695

700

705

C

(This for Myrinne's tomb the immortals know,
Though call'd Batera in the world below);
Beneath their chiefs in martial order here,
895 The auxiliar troops and Trojan hosts appear.

900

In twenty sail the bold Perrhæbians came
From Cyphus, Guneus was their leader's name.

With these the Enians join'd, and those who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her holy trees;
Or where the pleasing Titaresins glides,

910

And into Peneus rolls his easy tides;

Yet o'er the silver surface pure they flow,
The sacred stream unmix'd with streams below,
Sacred and awful! From the dark abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of gods!
Last under Prothous the Magnesians stood,
Prothous the swift, of old Tenthedron's blood,
Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs,
Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows,
Or where through flowery Tempé Peneus stray'd,
(The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade).
In forty sable barks they stemm'd the main ;
Such were the chiefs, and such the Grecian train.
Say next, O Muse! of all Achaia breeds,
Who bravest fought, or rein'd the noblest steeds?
Eumelus' mares were foremost in the chase,
As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race:
Bred where Pieria's fruitful fountains flow,
And train'd by him who bears the silver bow.
Fierce in the fight their nostrils breath'd a flame,
Their height, their colour, and their age the same;
O'er fields of death they whirl the rapid car,
And break the ranks, and thunder through the war.
Ajax in arms the first renown acquired,
While stern Achilles in his wrath retired;
(His was the strength that mortal might exceeds,
And his the unrival'd race of heavenly steeds.)
But Thetis' son now shines in arms no more:
His troops, neglected on the sandy shore,
In empty air their sportive javelins throw,
Or whirl the disk, or bend an idle bow:
Unstain'd with blood his cover'd chariots stand;
The immortal coursers graze along the strand;
But the brave chiefs the inglorious life deplored,
And wandering o'er the camp, required their lord.
Now like a deluge, covering all around,
The shining armies swept along the ground;
Swift as a food of fire, when storms arise,
Floats the wide field, and blazes to the skies.
Earth groan'd beneath them; as when angry Jove
Hurls down the forky lightning from above,
On Arimé when he the thunder throws,
And fires Typhæus with redoubled blows,
Where Typhon, press'd beneath the burning load,
Still feels the fury of the avenging god.

But various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,
Speeds on the wings of winds through liquid air:
In Priam's porch the Trojan chiefs she found,
The old consulting, and the youths around.
Polites' shape, the monarch's son, she chose,
Who from Esetes' tomb observed the foes,
High on the mound; from whence in prospect lay
The fields, the tents, the navy, and the bay.
In this dissembled form, she hastes to bring
The unwelcome message to the Phrygian king.
Cease to consult, the time for action calls,
War, horrid war, approaches to your walls!
Assembled armies oft have I beheld,
But ne'er till now such numbers charged a field.
Thick as autumnal leaves or driving sand,
The moving squadrons blacken all the strand.
Thou, godlike Hector! all thy force employ,
Assemble all the united bands of Troy;
In just array lét every leader call

The foreign troops: this day demands them all.
The voice divine the mighty chief alarms;
The council breaks, the warriors rush to arms.
The gates unfolding pour forth all their train,
Nations on nations fill the dusky plain.

The godlike Hector, high above the rest,
Shakes his huge spear, and nods his plumy crest :
In throngs around his native bands repair,
And groves and lances glitter in the air.
Divine Æneas brings the Dardan race,
Anchises' son by Venus' stolen embrace,
Born in the shades of Ida's secret grove
(A mortal mixing with the queen of love).
Archilochus and Acamas divide

905 The warrior's toils, and combat by his side.
Who fair Zeleia's wealthy valleys till,
Fast by the foot of Ida's sacred hill;
Or drink, sepus, of thy sable flood;
Were led by Pandarus of royal blood;
To whom his art Apollo deign'd to shew,
Graced with the present of his shafts and bow.
From rich Apæsus and Adrestia's towers,
High Teree's summits, and Pityea's bowers;
From these the congregated troops obey
Young Amphius and Adrastus' equal sway:
Old Merops' sons; whom, skill'd in fates to come,
The sire forewarn'd, and prophesied their doom:
Fate urged them on; the sire forewarn'd in vain,
They rush'd to war, and perish'd on the plain.
From Practius' stream, Percoté's pasture lands,
And Sestos and Abydos' neighbouring strands,
From great Arisba's walls and Sellé's coast,
Asius Hyrtacides conducts his host:
High on his car he shakes the flowing reins,
925 His fiery coursers thunder o'er the plains.

915

920

The fierce Pelasgi next, in war renown'd,
March from Larissa's ever-fertile ground:
In equal arms their brother leaders shine,
Hippothous bold, and Pyleus the divine.

985

990

995

1000

1005

1010

1015

1020

930

935

Next Acamas and Pyrous lead their hosts,
In dread array, from Thracia's wintry coasts;
Round the bleak realms where Hellespontus roars,
And Boreas beats the hoarse-resounding shores.
With great Euphemus the Ciconians move,
Sprung from Trozenian Ceus, loved by Jove.
Pyræchmes the Pæonian troops attend,
Skill'd in the fight, their crooked bows to bend :
From Axius' ample bed he leads them on,
Axius, that laves the distant Amydou;

1025

1030

940 Axius, that swells with all his neighbouring rills,
And wide around the floating region fills.
The Paphlagonians Pyloemenes rules,
Where rich Henetia breeds her savage mules,
Where Erythinus' rising cliffs are seen,

1035

There, mighty Chromis led the Mysian train,
And augur Ennomus, inspired in vain,
For stern Achilles lopp'd his sacred head,
Roll'd down Scamander with the vulgar dead.
Phoreys and brave Ascanius here unite
The Ascanian Phrygians, eager for the fight.
Of those who round Mæonia's realms reside,
Or whom the vales in shade of Tmolus hide,
Mestles and Antiphus the charge partake;
Born on the banks of Gyges' silent lake.
There, from the fields where wild Mæander flows,
965 High Mycalé, and Latmos' shady brows,

1050

The Duel of Menelaus and Paris.

The armies being ready to engage, a single combat is agreed upon between Menelaus and Paris (by the intervention of Hector) for the determination of the war. Iris is sent to call Helena to behold the fight. She leads her to the walls of Troy, where Priam sat with his counsellors, observing the Grecian leaders on the plain below, to whom Helen gives an account of the chief of them. The kings on either part take the solemn oath for the conditions of the combat. The duel ensues, wherein Paris being overcome, is snatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his apartment. She then calls Helen from the walls, and brings the lovers together. Agamemnon, on the part of the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen, and the performance of the articles.

The three-and-twentieth day still continues throughout this book. The scene is sometimes in the fields before Troy, and sometimes in Troy itself.