us: whether he blames us on account of a vow [unperformed], or a hecatomb [unoffered]; and whether haply he may be willing, having partaken of the savor of lambs and unblemished goats, to avert from us the pestilence."
He indeed, thus having spoken, sat down; but to them there arose by far the best of augurs, Calchas, son of Thestor, who knew the present, the future, and the past,[1] and who guided the ships of the Greeks to Ilium, by his prophetic art, which Phœbus Apollo gave him, who, being well disposed,[2] addressed them, and said:
"O Achilles, dear to Jove, thou biddest me to declare the wrath of Apollo, the far-darting king. Therefore will I declare it; but do thou on thy part covenant, and swear to me, that thou wilt promptly assist me in word and hand. For methinks I shall irritate a man who widely rules over all the Argives, and whom the Greeks obey. For a king is more powerful[3] when he is enraged with an inferior man; for though he may repress his wrath[4] for that same day, yet he afterwards retains his anger in his heart, until he accomplishes it; but do thou consider whether thou wilt protect me."
But him swift-footed Achilles, answering, addressed: "Taking full confidence, declare the divine oracle, whatsoever thou knowest. For, by Apollo, dear to Jove, to whom thou, praying, O Calchas, dost disclose predictions to the Greeks, no one of all the Greeks, while I am alive and have sight upon the earth, shall lay heavy hands upon thee at the hollow ships; not even if thou wast to name Agamemnon, who now boasts himself to be much the most powerful of the Greeks."[5]
- ↑ A common formula in the ancient poets to express the eternity of things. Empedocles apud Pseud. Arist. de Mundo: Πάνθ' ὅσα τ' ἡν, ὁσα τ' ἐστὶ, καὶ ὅσσα τε ἕσται ὀπίσσω. Virg. Georg. iv. 392: "Novit manque omniavates, Quæ sint, quæ fuerint, quæ mox ventura trahantur".
- ↑ See Abresch. on Æschyl. p. 287. Ernesti.
- ↑ ἀγανακτοῦσι γὰρ διὰ τὴν ὑπεροχήν.—Arist. Rhet. ii. 2, quoting this verse.
- ↑ Lit. "digest his bile." Homer's distinction between χόλος and κότος is observed by Nemesius, de Nat. Hom. § 21.
- ↑ I have used "Greeks" wherever the whole army is evidently meant. In other instances I have restrained the specific names of the different confederate nations.
