That happy man,[1] whom Jove still honours most,
Is more than armies, and himself a host.
Blessed in his love, this wondrous hero stands,
Heaven fights his war, and humbles all our bands.
Fain would my heart, which erred through frantic rage,
The wrathful chief and angry gods assuage.
If gifts immense his mighty soul can bow,
Hear, all ye Greeks, and witness what I vow:
Ten weighty talents of the purest gold,
And twice ten vases of refulgent mould;
Seven sacred tripods, whose unsullied frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame:[2]
Twelve steeds unmatched in fleetness and in force,
And still victorious in the dusty course:
Rich were the man whose ample stores exceed
The prizes purchased by their winged speed:
Seven lovely captives of the Lesbian line,
Skilled in each art, unmatched in form divine,
The same I chose for more than vulgar charms,
When Lesbos sunk beneath the hero's arms:
All these, to buy his friendship, shall be paid,
And joined with these the long-contested maid;
With all her charms, Briseïs I resign,
And solemn swear those charms were never mine;
Untouched she stayed, uninjured she removes,
Pure from my arms, and guiltless of my loves.
These instant shall be his; and if the powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hostile towers,
Then shall he store (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brass his loaded navy's sides.
Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love shall crown his warm embrace;
Such as himself will choose; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me farther: when our wars are o'er,
If safe we land on Argos' fruitful shore,
There shall he live my son, our honours share,
And with Orestes' self divide my care.
Yet more—three daughters in my court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed,
Laodicé and Iphigenia fair,
And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair;
Her let him choose whom most his eyes approve,
- ↑ Eustathius notices that Agamemnon "seems to fearfully avoid mentioning the name of Achilles, as if, though compelled to court his friendship, his feelings were unchanged."
- ↑ "Untouched by fire," in the original. Liddell and Scott interpret "ornamental." "New," "never brought into use," seems more likely.
