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1—17.
ILIAD. XXIII.
417

BOOK THE TWENTY-THIRD.

ARGUMENT.

Achilles, admonished in a dream by the ghost of his friend, celebrates the funeral of Patroclus.

Thus they indeed were mourning through the city; but the Greeks, as soon as they reached the ships and the Hellespont, were separated each to his own ship. But Achilles did not permit the Myrmidons to be dispersed, but he spoke among his warlike companions [thus]:

"Ye swift-horsed Myrmidons, comrades dear to me, let us not yet loose the solid-hoofed steeds from under our chariots, but with the very horses and chariots, going near, let us bewail Patroclus; for this is the honor of the dead. But when we have indulged[1] sad lamentation, unyoking our steeds, we will all sup here."

Thus he spoke; but they mourned in a body; and Achilles led the way. Thrice they drove their fair-maned steeds around the body,[2] grieving; and among them Thetis kindled a longing for lamentation. Moistened were the sands, and moistened were the arms of the men with tears; for so brave a master of the flight they longed. But among them the son

  1. Excellently paraphrased by Gaza: Ἐπειδὰν δὲ τοῦ ὀλεθρίου θρήνου ἀπολαύσομεν. Ernesti well observes that τεταρπώμεσθα implies "delight mingled with satiety."
  2. This was a frequent rite at funerals. Cf. Apollon. Rh. i. 1059; Virg. Æn. xi. 188, sqq.; Heliodor. Ethiop. iii. p. 136: Ἐπειδὴ τὸ μνῆμα τοῦ Νεοπτολέμου περιεστοιχήσατο ἡ πομπὴ, καὶ τρίτον οἱ ἕφηβοι τὴν ἱππον περιήλασαν, ὠλολύξαν αἱ γυναὶκες, ἠλάλαξαν δὲ οἱ ἄνδρες. Among the Romans this rite was called decursio. Cf. Liv. xxv. 17: Tacit. Ann. ii. 7; Sueton. Claud. § 1. According to Plutarch, Alexander the Great performed the same honors at the tomb of Achilles that Achilles had bestowed upon the manes of his friend Patroclus. See also Bernart on Stat. Thob. vi. 217.
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