The Iliad - 05

Total number of words is 4798
Total number of unique words is 1577
42.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words
62.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
73.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
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prepared to learn; though I fear no judges so little as our best poets,
who are most sensible of the weight of this task. As for the worst,
whatever they shall please to say, they may give me some concern as
they are unhappy men, but none as they are malignant writers. I was
guided in this translation by judgments very different from theirs, and
by persons for whom they can have no kindness, if an old observation be
true, that the strongest antipathy in the world is that of fools to men
of wit. Mr. Addison was the first whose advice determined me to
undertake this task; who was pleased to write to me upon that occasion
in such terms as I cannot repeat without vanity. I was obliged to Sir
Richard Steele for a very early recommendation of my undertaking to the
public. Dr. Swift promoted my interest with that warmth with which he
always serves his friend. The humanity and frankness of Sir Samuel
Garth are what I never knew wanting on any occasion. I must also
acknowledge, with infinite pleasure, the many friendly offices, as well
as sincere criticisms, of Mr. Congreve, who had led me the way in
translating some parts of Homer. I must add the names of Mr. Rowe, and
Dr. Parnell, though I shall take a further opportunity of doing justice
to the last, whose good nature (to give it a great panegyric), is no
less extensive than his learning. The favour of these gentlemen is not
entirely undeserved by one who bears them so true an affection. But
what can I say of the honour so many of the great have done me; while
the first names of the age appear as my subscribers, and the most
distinguished patrons and ornaments of learning as my chief
encouragers? Among these it is a particular pleasure to me to find,
that my highest obligations are to such who have done most honour to
the name of poet: that his grace the Duke of Buckingham was not
displeased I should undertake the author to whom he has given (in his
excellent Essay), so complete a praise:
“Read Homer once, and you can read no more;
For all books else appear so mean, so poor,
Verse will seem prose: but still persist to read,
And Homer will be all the books you need.”

That the Earl of Halifax was one of the first to favour me; of whom it
is hard to say whether the advancement of the polite arts is more owing
to his generosity or his example: that such a genius as my Lord
Bolingbroke, not more distinguished in the great scenes of business,
than in all the useful and entertaining parts of learning, has not
refused to be the critic of these sheets, and the patron of their
writer: and that the noble author of the tragedy of “Heroic Love” has
continued his partiality to me, from my writing pastorals to my
attempting the Iliad. I cannot deny myself the pride of confessing,
that I have had the advantage not only of their advice for the conduct
in general, but their correction of several particulars of this
translation.
I could say a great deal of the pleasure of being distinguished by the
Earl of Carnarvon; but it is almost absurd to particularize any one
generous action in a person whose whole life is a continued series of
them. Mr. Stanhope, the present secretary of state, will pardon my
desire of having it known that he was pleased to promote this affair.
The particular zeal of Mr. Harcourt (the son of the late Lord
Chancellor) gave me a proof how much I am honoured in a share of his
friendship. I must attribute to the same motive that of several others
of my friends: to whom all acknowledgments are rendered unnecessary by
the privileges of a familiar correspondence; and I am satisfied I can
no way better oblige men of their turn than by my silence.
In short, I have found more patrons than ever Homer wanted. He would
have thought himself happy to have met the same favour at Athens that
has been shown me by its learned rival, the University of Oxford. And I
can hardly envy him those pompous honours he received after death, when
I reflect on the enjoyment of so many agreeable obligations, and easy
friendships, which make the satisfaction of life. This distinction is
the more to be acknowledged, as it is shown to one whose pen has never
gratified the prejudices of particular parties, or the vanities of
particular men. Whatever the success may prove, I shall never repent of
an undertaking in which I have experienced the candour and friendship
of so many persons of merit; and in which I hope to pass some of those
years of youth that are generally lost in a circle of follies, after a
manner neither wholly unuseful to others, nor disagreeable to myself.


THE ILIAD.


BOOK I.

ARGUMENT.[40]

THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON.

In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighbouring
towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseïs and
Briseïs, allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles.
Chryses, the father of Chryseïs, and priest of Apollo, comes to the
Grecian camp to ransom her; with which the action of the poem opens, in
the tenth year of the siege. The priest being refused, and insolently
dismissed by Agamemnon, entreats for vengeance from his god; who
inflicts a pestilence on the Greeks. Achilles calls a council, and
encourages Chalcas to declare the cause of it; who attributes it to the
refusal of Chryseïs. The king, being obliged to send back his captive,
enters into a furious contest with Achilles, which Nestor pacifies;
however, as he had the absolute command of the army, he seizes on
Briseïs in revenge. Achilles in discontent withdraws himself and his
forces from the rest of the Greeks; and complaining to Thetis, she
supplicates Jupiter to render them sensible of the wrong done to her
son, by giving victory to the Trojans. Jupiter, granting her suit,
incenses Juno: between whom the debate runs high, till they are
reconciled by the address of Vulcan.
The time of two-and-twenty days is taken up in this book: nine
during the plague, one in the council and quarrel of the princes,
and twelve for Jupiter’s stay with the Æthiopians, at whose return
Thetis prefers her petition. The scene lies in the Grecian camp,
then changes to Chrysa, and lastly to Olympus.

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurl’d to Pluto’s gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.[41]
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove![42]
Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour[43]
Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power
Latona’s son a dire contagion spread,[44]
And heap’d the camp with mountains of the dead;
The king of men his reverent priest defied,[45]
And for the king’s offence the people died.
For Chryses sought with costly gifts to gain
His captive daughter from the victor’s chain.
Suppliant the venerable father stands;
Apollo’s awful ensigns grace his hands:
By these he begs; and lowly bending down,
Extends the sceptre and the laurel crown.
He sued to all, but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings, of Atreus’ royal race[46]
“Ye kings and warriors! may your vows be crown’d,
And Troy’s proud walls lie level with the ground.
May Jove restore you when your toils are o’er
Safe to the pleasures of your native shore.
But, oh! relieve a wretched parent’s pain,
And give Chryseïs to these arms again;
If mercy fail, yet let my presents move,
And dread avenging Phœbus, son of Jove.”
The Greeks in shouts their joint assent declare,
The priest to reverence, and release the fair.
Not so Atrides; he, with kingly pride,
Repulsed the sacred sire, and thus replied:
“Hence on thy life, and fly these hostile plains,
Nor ask, presumptuous, what the king detains:
Hence, with thy laurel crown, and golden rod,
Nor trust too far those ensigns of thy god.
Mine is thy daughter, priest, and shall remain;
And prayers, and tears, and bribes, shall plead in vain;
Till time shall rifle every youthful grace,
And age dismiss her from my cold embrace,
In daily labours of the loom employ’d,
Or doom’d to deck the bed she once enjoy’d.
Hence then; to Argos shall the maid retire,
Far from her native soil and weeping sire.”

[Illustration: ] HOMER INVOKING THE MUSE

The trembling priest along the shore return’d,
And in the anguish of a father mourn’d.
Disconsolate, not daring to complain,
Silent he wander’d by the sounding main;
Till, safe at distance, to his god he prays,
The god who darts around the world his rays.
“O Smintheus! sprung from fair Latona’s line,[47]
Thou guardian power of Cilla the divine,[48]
Thou source of light! whom Tenedos adores,
And whose bright presence gilds thy Chrysa’s shores.
If e’er with wreaths I hung thy sacred fane,[49]
Or fed the flames with fat of oxen slain;
God of the silver bow! thy shafts employ,
Avenge thy servant, and the Greeks destroy.”
Thus Chryses pray’d:—the favouring power attends,
And from Olympus’ lofty tops descends.
Bent was his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound;[50]
Fierce as he moved, his silver shafts resound.
Breathing revenge, a sudden night he spread,
And gloomy darkness roll’d about his head.
The fleet in view, he twang’d his deadly bow,
And hissing fly the feather’d fates below.
On mules and dogs the infection first began;[51]
And last, the vengeful arrows fix’d in man.
For nine long nights, through all the dusky air,
The pyres, thick-flaming, shot a dismal glare.
But ere the tenth revolving day was run,
Inspired by Juno, Thetis’ godlike son
Convened to council all the Grecian train;
For much the goddess mourn’d her heroes slain.[52]
The assembly seated, rising o’er the rest,
Achilles thus the king of men address’d:
“Why leave we not the fatal Trojan shore,
And measure back the seas we cross’d before?
The plague destroying whom the sword would spare,
’Tis time to save the few remains of war.
But let some prophet, or some sacred sage,
Explore the cause of great Apollo’s rage;
Or learn the wasteful vengeance to remove
By mystic dreams, for dreams descend from Jove.[53]
If broken vows this heavy curse have laid,
Let altars smoke, and hecatombs be paid.
So Heaven, atoned, shall dying Greece restore,
And Phœbus dart his burning shafts no more.”
He said, and sat: when Chalcas thus replied;
Chalcas the wise, the Grecian priest and guide,
That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view,
The past, the present, and the future knew:
Uprising slow, the venerable sage
Thus spoke the prudence and the fears of age:
“Beloved of Jove, Achilles! would’st thou know
Why angry Phœbus bends his fatal bow?
First give thy faith, and plight a prince’s word
Of sure protection, by thy power and sword:
For I must speak what wisdom would conceal,
And truths, invidious to the great, reveal,
Bold is the task, when subjects, grown too wise,
Instruct a monarch where his error lies;
For though we deem the short-lived fury past,
’Tis sure the mighty will revenge at last.”
To whom Pelides:—“From thy inmost soul
Speak what thou know’st, and speak without control.
E’en by that god I swear who rules the day,
To whom thy hands the vows of Greece convey.
And whose bless’d oracles thy lips declare;
Long as Achilles breathes this vital air,
No daring Greek, of all the numerous band,
Against his priest shall lift an impious hand;
Not e’en the chief by whom our hosts are led,
The king of kings, shall touch that sacred head.”
Encouraged thus, the blameless man replies:
“Nor vows unpaid, nor slighted sacrifice,
But he, our chief, provoked the raging pest,
Apollo’s vengeance for his injured priest.
Nor will the god’s awaken’d fury cease,
But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,
Till the great king, without a ransom paid,
To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.[54]
Perhaps, with added sacrifice and prayer,
The priest may pardon, and the god may spare.”
The prophet spoke: when with a gloomy frown
The monarch started from his shining throne;
Black choler fill’d his breast that boil’d with ire,
And from his eye-balls flash’d the living fire:
“Augur accursed! denouncing mischief still,
Prophet of plagues, for ever boding ill!
Still must that tongue some wounding message bring,
And still thy priestly pride provoke thy king?
For this are Phœbus’ oracles explored,
To teach the Greeks to murmur at their lord?
For this with falsehood is my honour stain’d,
Is heaven offended, and a priest profaned;
Because my prize, my beauteous maid, I hold,
And heavenly charms prefer to proffer’d gold?
A maid, unmatch’d in manners as in face,
Skill’d in each art, and crown’d with every grace;
Not half so dear were Clytæmnestra’s charms,
When first her blooming beauties bless’d my arms.
Yet, if the gods demand her, let her sail;
Our cares are only for the public weal:
Let me be deem’d the hateful cause of all,
And suffer, rather than my people fall.
The prize, the beauteous prize, I will resign,
So dearly valued, and so justly mine.
But since for common good I yield the fair,
My private loss let grateful Greece repair;
Nor unrewarded let your prince complain,
That he alone has fought and bled in vain.”
“Insatiate king (Achilles thus replies),
Fond of the power, but fonder of the prize!
Would’st thou the Greeks their lawful prey should yield,
The due reward of many a well-fought field?
The spoils of cities razed and warriors slain,
We share with justice, as with toil we gain;
But to resume whate’er thy avarice craves
(That trick of tyrants) may be borne by slaves.
Yet if our chief for plunder only fight,
The spoils of Ilion shall thy loss requite,
Whene’er, by Jove’s decree, our conquering powers
Shall humble to the dust her lofty towers.”
Then thus the king: “Shall I my prize resign
With tame content, and thou possess’d of thine?
Great as thou art, and like a god in fight,
Think not to rob me of a soldier’s right.
At thy demand shall I restore the maid?
First let the just equivalent be paid;
Such as a king might ask; and let it be
A treasure worthy her, and worthy me.
Or grant me this, or with a monarch’s claim
This hand shall seize some other captive dame.
The mighty Ajax shall his prize resign;[55]
Ulysses’ spoils, or even thy own, be mine.
The man who suffers, loudly may complain;
And rage he may, but he shall rage in vain.
But this when time requires.—It now remains
We launch a bark to plough the watery plains,
And waft the sacrifice to Chrysa’s shores,
With chosen pilots, and with labouring oars.
Soon shall the fair the sable ship ascend,
And some deputed prince the charge attend:
This Creta’s king, or Ajax shall fulfil,
Or wise Ulysses see perform’d our will;
Or, if our royal pleasure shall ordain,
Achilles’ self conduct her o’er the main;
Let fierce Achilles, dreadful in his rage,
The god propitiate, and the pest assuage.”

[Illustration: ] MARS

At this, Pelides, frowning stern, replied:
“O tyrant, arm’d with insolence and pride!
Inglorious slave to interest, ever join’d
With fraud, unworthy of a royal mind!
What generous Greek, obedient to thy word,
Shall form an ambush, or shall lift the sword?
What cause have I to war at thy decree?
The distant Trojans never injured me;
To Phthia’s realms no hostile troops they led:
Safe in her vales my warlike coursers fed;
Far hence removed, the hoarse-resounding main,
And walls of rocks, secure my native reign,
Whose fruitful soil luxuriant harvests grace,
Rich in her fruits, and in her martial race.
Hither we sail’d, a voluntary throng,
To avenge a private, not a public wrong:
What else to Troy the assembled nations draws,
But thine, ungrateful, and thy brother’s cause?
Is this the pay our blood and toils deserve;
Disgraced and injured by the man we serve?
And darest thou threat to snatch my prize away,
Due to the deeds of many a dreadful day?
A prize as small, O tyrant! match’d with thine,
As thy own actions if compared to mine.
Thine in each conquest is the wealthy prey,
Though mine the sweat and danger of the day.
Some trivial present to my ships I bear:
Or barren praises pay the wounds of war.
But know, proud monarch, I’m thy slave no more;
My fleet shall waft me to Thessalia’s shore:
Left by Achilles on the Trojan plain,
What spoils, what conquests, shall Atrides gain?”
To this the king: “Fly, mighty warrior! fly;
Thy aid we need not, and thy threats defy.
There want not chiefs in such a cause to fight,
And Jove himself shall guard a monarch’s right.
Of all the kings (the god’s distinguish’d care)
To power superior none such hatred bear:
Strife and debate thy restless soul employ,
And wars and horrors are thy savage joy,
If thou hast strength, ’twas Heaven that strength bestow’d;
For know, vain man! thy valour is from God.
Haste, launch thy vessels, fly with speed away;
Rule thy own realms with arbitrary sway;
I heed thee not, but prize at equal rate
Thy short-lived friendship, and thy groundless hate.
Go, threat thy earth-born Myrmidons:—but here[56]
’Tis mine to threaten, prince, and thine to fear.
Know, if the god the beauteous dame demand,
My bark shall waft her to her native land;
But then prepare, imperious prince! prepare,
Fierce as thou art, to yield thy captive fair:
Even in thy tent I’ll seize the blooming prize,
Thy loved Briseïs with the radiant eyes.
Hence shalt thou prove my might, and curse the hour
Thou stood’st a rival of imperial power;
And hence, to all our hosts it shall be known,
That kings are subject to the gods alone.”
Achilles heard, with grief and rage oppress’d,
His heart swell’d high, and labour’d in his breast;
Distracting thoughts by turns his bosom ruled;
Now fired by wrath, and now by reason cool’d:
That prompts his hand to draw the deadly sword,
Force through the Greeks, and pierce their haughty lord;
This whispers soft his vengeance to control,
And calm the rising tempest of his soul.
Just as in anguish of suspense he stay’d,
While half unsheathed appear’d the glittering blade,[57]
Minerva swift descended from above,
Sent by the sister and the wife of Jove
(For both the princes claim’d her equal care);
Behind she stood, and by the golden hair
Achilles seized; to him alone confess’d;
A sable cloud conceal’d her from the rest.
He sees, and sudden to the goddess cries,
Known by the flames that sparkle from her eyes:

[Illustration: ] MINERVA REPRESSING THE FURY OF ACHILLES

“Descends Minerva, in her guardian care,
A heavenly witness of the wrongs I bear
From Atreus’ son?—Then let those eyes that view
The daring crime, behold the vengeance too.”
“Forbear (the progeny of Jove replies)
To calm thy fury I forsake the skies:
Let great Achilles, to the gods resign’d,
To reason yield the empire o’er his mind.
By awful Juno this command is given;
The king and you are both the care of heaven.
The force of keen reproaches let him feel;
But sheathe, obedient, thy revenging steel.
For I pronounce (and trust a heavenly power)
Thy injured honour has its fated hour,
When the proud monarch shall thy arms implore,
And bribe thy friendship with a boundless store.
Then let revenge no longer bear the sway;
Command thy passions, and the gods obey.”
To her Pelides:—“With regardful ear,
’Tis just, O goddess! I thy dictates hear.
Hard as it is, my vengeance I suppress:
Those who revere the gods the gods will bless.”
He said, observant of the blue-eyed maid;
Then in the sheath return’d the shining blade.
The goddess swift to high Olympus flies,
And joins the sacred senate of the skies.
Nor yet the rage his boiling breast forsook,
Which thus redoubling on Atrides broke:
“O monster! mix’d of insolence and fear,
Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer!
When wert thou known in ambush’d fights to dare,
Or nobly face the horrid front of war?
’Tis ours, the chance of fighting fields to try;
Thine to look on, and bid the valiant die:
So much ’tis safer through the camp to go,
And rob a subject, than despoil a foe.
Scourge of thy people, violent and base!
Sent in Jove’s anger on a slavish race;
Who, lost to sense of generous freedom past,
Are tamed to wrongs;—or this had been thy last.
Now by this sacred sceptre hear me swear,
Which never more shall leaves or blossoms bear,
Which sever’d from the trunk (as I from thee)
On the bare mountains left its parent tree;
This sceptre, form’d by temper’d steel to prove
An ensign of the delegates of Jove,
From whom the power of laws and justice springs
(Tremendous oath! inviolate to kings);
By this I swear:—when bleeding Greece again
Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain.
When, flush’d with slaughter, Hector comes to spread
The purpled shore with mountains of the dead,
Then shalt thou mourn the affront thy madness gave,
Forced to deplore when impotent to save:
Then rage in bitterness of soul to know
This act has made the bravest Greek thy foe.”
He spoke; and furious hurl’d against the ground
His sceptre starr’d with golden studs around:
Then sternly silent sat. With like disdain
The raging king return’d his frowns again.
To calm their passion with the words of age,
Slow from his seat arose the Pylian sage,
Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill’d;
Words, sweet as honey, from his lips distill’d:[58]
Two generations now had pass’d away,
Wise by his rules, and happy by his sway;
Two ages o’er his native realm he reign’d,
And now the example of the third remain’d.
All view’d with awe the venerable man;
Who thus with mild benevolence began:—
“What shame, what woe is this to Greece! what joy
To Troy’s proud monarch, and the friends of Troy!
That adverse gods commit to stern debate
The best, the bravest, of the Grecian state.
Young as ye are, this youthful heat restrain,
Nor think your Nestor’s years and wisdom vain.
A godlike race of heroes once I knew,
Such as no more these aged eyes shall view!
Lives there a chief to match Pirithous’ fame,
Dryas the bold, or Ceneus’ deathless name;
Theseus, endued with more than mortal might,
Or Polyphemus, like the gods in fight?
With these of old, to toils of battle bred,
In early youth my hardy days I led;
Fired with the thirst which virtuous envy breeds,
And smit with love of honourable deeds,
Strongest of men, they pierced the mountain boar,
Ranged the wild deserts red with monsters’ gore,
And from their hills the shaggy Centaurs tore:
Yet these with soft persuasive arts I sway’d;
When Nestor spoke, they listen’d and obey’d.
If in my youth, even these esteem’d me wise;
Do you, young warriors, hear my age advise.
Atrides, seize not on the beauteous slave;
That prize the Greeks by common suffrage gave:
Nor thou, Achilles, treat our prince with pride;
Let kings be just, and sovereign power preside.
Thee, the first honours of the war adorn,
Like gods in strength, and of a goddess born;
Him, awful majesty exalts above
The powers of earth, and sceptred sons of Jove.
Let both unite with well-consenting mind,
So shall authority with strength be join’d.
Leave me, O king! to calm Achilles’ rage;
Rule thou thyself, as more advanced in age.
Forbid it, gods! Achilles should be lost,
The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host.”
This said, he ceased. The king of men replies:
“Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise.
But that imperious, that unconquer’d soul,
No laws can limit, no respect control.
Before his pride must his superiors fall;
His word the law, and he the lord of all?
Him must our hosts, our chiefs, ourself obey?
What king can bear a rival in his sway?
Grant that the gods his matchless force have given;
Has foul reproach a privilege from heaven?”
Here on the monarch’s speech Achilles broke,
And furious, thus, and interrupting spoke:
“Tyrant, I well deserved thy galling chain,
To live thy slave, and still to serve in vain,
Should I submit to each unjust decree:—
Command thy vassals, but command not me.
Seize on Briseïs, whom the Grecians doom’d
My prize of war, yet tamely see resumed;
And seize secure; no more Achilles draws
His conquering sword in any woman’s cause.
The gods command me to forgive the past:
But let this first invasion be the last:
For know, thy blood, when next thou darest invade,
Shall stream in vengeance on my reeking blade.”
At this they ceased: the stern debate expired:
The chiefs in sullen majesty retired.
Achilles with Patroclus took his way
Where near his tents his hollow vessels lay.
Meantime Atrides launch’d with numerous oars
A well-rigg’d ship for Chrysa’s sacred shores:
High on the deck was fair Chryseïs placed,
And sage Ulysses with the conduct graced:
Safe in her sides the hecatomb they stow’d,
Then swiftly sailing, cut the liquid road.
The host to expiate next the king prepares,
With pure lustrations, and with solemn prayers.
Wash’d by the briny wave, the pious train[59]
Are cleansed; and cast the ablutions in the main.
Along the shore whole hecatombs were laid,
And bulls and goats to Phœbus’ altars paid;
The sable fumes in curling spires arise,
And waft their grateful odours to the skies.
The army thus in sacred rites engaged,
Atrides still with deep resentment raged.
To wait his will two sacred heralds stood,
Talthybius and Eurybates the good.
“Haste to the fierce Achilles’ tent (he cries),
Thence bear Briseïs as our royal prize:
Submit he must; or if they will not part,
Ourself in arms shall tear her from his heart.”
The unwilling heralds act their lord’s commands;
Pensive they walk along the barren sands:
Arrived, the hero in his tent they find,
With gloomy aspect on his arm reclined.
At awful distance long they silent stand,
Loth to advance, and speak their hard command;
Decent confusion! This the godlike man
Perceived, and thus with accent mild began:
“With leave and honour enter our abodes,
Ye sacred ministers of men and gods![60]
I know your message; by constraint you came;
Not you, but your imperious lord I blame.
Patroclus, haste, the fair Briseïs bring;
Conduct my captive to the haughty king.
But witness, heralds, and proclaim my vow,
Witness to gods above, and men below!
But first, and loudest, to your prince declare
(That lawless tyrant whose commands you bear),
Unmoved as death Achilles shall remain,
Though prostrate Greece shall bleed at every vein:
The raging chief in frantic passion lost,
Blind to himself, and useless to his host,
Unskill’d to judge the future by the past,
In blood and slaughter shall repent at last.”

[Illustration: ] THE DEPARTURE OF BRISEIS FROM THE TENT OF ACHILLES

Patroclus now the unwilling beauty brought;
She, in soft sorrows, and in pensive thought,
Pass’d silent, as the heralds held her hand,
And oft look’d back, slow-moving o’er the strand.
Not so his loss the fierce Achilles bore;
But sad, retiring to the sounding shore,
O’er the wild margin of the deep he hung,
That kindred deep from whence his mother sprung:[61]
There bathed in tears of anger and disdain,
Thus loud lamented to the stormy main:
“O parent goddess! since in early bloom
Thy son must fall, by too severe a doom;
Sure to so short a race of glory born,
Great Jove in justice should this span adorn:
Honour and fame at least the thunderer owed;
And ill he pays the promise of a god,
If yon proud monarch thus thy son defies,
Obscures my glories, and resumes my prize.”
Far from the deep recesses of the main,
Where aged Ocean holds his watery reign,
The goddess-mother heard. The waves divide;
And like a mist she rose above the tide;
Beheld him mourning on the naked shores,
And thus the sorrows of his soul explores.
“Why grieves my son? Thy anguish let me share;
Reveal the cause, and trust a parent’s care.”
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Next - The Iliad - 06
  • Parts
  • The Iliad - 01
    Total number of words is 4668
    Total number of unique words is 1603
    41.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    62.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    72.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 02
    Total number of words is 4753
    Total number of unique words is 1455
    40.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    68.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 03
    Total number of words is 4954
    Total number of unique words is 1407
    44.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    66.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    75.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 04
    Total number of words is 4976
    Total number of unique words is 1361
    44.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    64.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    74.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 05
    Total number of words is 4798
    Total number of unique words is 1577
    42.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    62.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    73.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 06
    Total number of words is 4676
    Total number of unique words is 1557
    38.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 07
    Total number of words is 4582
    Total number of unique words is 1722
    33.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    51.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    61.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 08
    Total number of words is 4667
    Total number of unique words is 1607
    37.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    66.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 09
    Total number of words is 4757
    Total number of unique words is 1626
    40.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    60.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    71.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 10
    Total number of words is 4731
    Total number of unique words is 1555
    36.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 11
    Total number of words is 4659
    Total number of unique words is 1625
    37.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    56.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    66.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 12
    Total number of words is 4638
    Total number of unique words is 1623
    38.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    66.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 13
    Total number of words is 4783
    Total number of unique words is 1552
    41.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    61.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    71.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 14
    Total number of words is 4712
    Total number of unique words is 1562
    38.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 15
    Total number of words is 4703
    Total number of unique words is 1621
    40.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    60.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 16
    Total number of words is 4749
    Total number of unique words is 1564
    41.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 17
    Total number of words is 4760
    Total number of unique words is 1555
    44.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    64.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    74.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 18
    Total number of words is 4689
    Total number of unique words is 1596
    37.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    55.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    64.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 19
    Total number of words is 4693
    Total number of unique words is 1697
    37.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 20
    Total number of words is 4688
    Total number of unique words is 1595
    37.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 21
    Total number of words is 4737
    Total number of unique words is 1588
    37.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 22
    Total number of words is 4719
    Total number of unique words is 1661
    37.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    56.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    66.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 23
    Total number of words is 4700
    Total number of unique words is 1612
    38.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 24
    Total number of words is 4805
    Total number of unique words is 1600
    37.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    68.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 25
    Total number of words is 4715
    Total number of unique words is 1614
    39.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 26
    Total number of words is 4698
    Total number of unique words is 1523
    36.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    56.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    68.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 27
    Total number of words is 4774
    Total number of unique words is 1527
    40.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 28
    Total number of words is 4811
    Total number of unique words is 1548
    41.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 29
    Total number of words is 4721
    Total number of unique words is 1677
    38.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 30
    Total number of words is 4718
    Total number of unique words is 1636
    39.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 31
    Total number of words is 4754
    Total number of unique words is 1521
    37.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    56.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    65.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 32
    Total number of words is 4749
    Total number of unique words is 1674
    37.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    58.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 33
    Total number of words is 4785
    Total number of unique words is 1570
    41.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    60.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    70.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 34
    Total number of words is 4763
    Total number of unique words is 1596
    39.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    69.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 35
    Total number of words is 4773
    Total number of unique words is 1631
    39.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    59.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    68.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 36
    Total number of words is 4822
    Total number of unique words is 1564
    42.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    63.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    71.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 37
    Total number of words is 4620
    Total number of unique words is 1834
    37.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    54.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    61.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 38
    Total number of words is 4464
    Total number of unique words is 1749
    37.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    53.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    63.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 39
    Total number of words is 4401
    Total number of unique words is 1798
    35.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    53.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    63.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 40
    Total number of words is 4490
    Total number of unique words is 1699
    37.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    57.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    67.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.
  • The Iliad - 41
    Total number of words is 161
    Total number of unique words is 114
    65.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words
    83.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words
    84.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
    Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.