The Iliad of Home Translated into English Blank Verse

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Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation), Homerus (disambiguation), and Homeric (disambiguation). HomerMarble terminal bust of Homer. Roman copy of a lost Hellenistic original of the 2nd c. BC.Native nameὍμηροςBornc. 8th century BCDiedIos[1]LanguageHomeric GreekGenreEpicSubjectEpic CycleNotable worksIliadOdyssey Homer (/ˈhoʊmər/; Ancient Greek: Ὅμηρος [hómɛːros], Hómēros; born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.[2] Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic.[3][4] Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally.[5] Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.[6] Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor.[7] To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν, tēn Helláda pepaídeuken).[8][9] In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets;[10] in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets".[11] From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.[12] The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author.[13] It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC.[13] Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey.[14] Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.[15] Works attributed to Homer[edit] Homer and His Guide (1874) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau Today, only the Iliad and the Odyssey are associated with the name 'Homer'. In antiquity, a large number of other works were sometimes attributed to him, including the Homeric Hymns, the Contest of Homer and Hesiod, several epigrams, the Little Iliad, the Nostoi, the Thebaid, the Cypria, the Epigoni, the comic mini-epic Batrachomyomachia ("The Frog–Mouse War"), the Margites, the Capture of Oechalia, and the Phocais. These claims are not considered authentic today and were by no means universally accepted in the ancient world. As with the multitude of legends surrounding Homer's life, they indicate little more than the centrality of Homer to ancient Greek culture.[16][17][18] Ancient biographical traditions[edit] Further information: Ancient accounts of Homer Some ancient accounts about Homer were established early and repeated often. They include that Homer was blind (taking as self-referential a passage describing the blind bard Demodocus),[19][20] that he resided at Chios, that he was the son of the river Meles and the nymph Critheïs, that he was a wandering bard, that he composed a varying list of other works (the "Homerica"), that he died either in Ios or after failing to solve a riddle set by fishermen, and various explanations for the name "Homer" (Ὅμηρος, Hómēros).[19] Another tradition from the days of the Roman emperor Hadrian says Epicaste (daughter of Nestor) and Telemachus (son of Odysseus) were the parents of Homer.[21][22] The two best known ancient biographies of Homer are the Life of Homer by the Pseudo-Herodotus and the Contest of Homer and Hesiod.[1][23] In the early fourth century BC Alcidamas composed a fictional account of a poetry contest at Chalcis with both Homer and Hesiod. Homer was expected to win, and answered all of Hesiod's questions and puzzles with ease. Then, each of the poets was invited to recite the best passage from their work. Hesiod selected the beginning of Works and Days: "When the Pleiades born of Atlas ... all in due season". Homer chose a description of Greek warriors in formation, facing the foe, taken from the Iliad. Though the crowd acclaimed Homer victor, the judge awarded Hesiod the prize; the poet who praised husbandry, he said, was greater than the one who told tales of battles and slaughter.[24] History of Homeric scholarship[edit] Further information: Homeric scholarship and Homeric Question Ancient[edit] Part of an eleventh-century manuscript, "the Townley Homer". The writings on the top and right side are scholia. The study of Homer is one of the oldest topics in scholarship, dating back to antiquity.[25][26][27] Nonetheless, the aims of Homeric studies have changed over the course of the millennia.[25] The earliest preserved comments on Homer concern his treatment of the gods, which hostile critics such as the poet Xenophanes of Colophon denounced as immoral.[27] The allegorist Theagenes of Rhegium is said to have defended Homer by arguing that the Homeric poems are allegories.[27] The Iliad and the Odyssey were widely used as school texts in ancient Greek and Hellenistic cultures.[25][27][28] They were the first literary works taught to all students.[28] The Iliad, particularly its first few books, was far more intently studied than the Odyssey during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.[28] As a result of the poems' prominence in classical Greek education, extensive commentaries on them developed to explain parts that were culturally or linguistically difficult.[25][27] During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many interpreters, especially the Stoics, who believed that Homeric poems conveyed Stoic doctrines, regarded them as allegories, containing hidden wisdom.[27] Perhaps partially because of the Homeric poems' extensive use in education, many authors believed that Homer's original purpose had been to educate.[27] Homer's wisdom became so widely praised that he began to acquire the image of almost a prototypical philosopher.[27] Byzantine scholars such as Eustathius of Thessalonica and John Tzetzes produced commentaries, extensions and scholia to Homer, especially in the twelfth century.[29][27] Eustathius's commentary on the Iliad alone is massive, sprawling over nearly 4,000 oversized pages in a twenty-first century printed version and his commentary on the Odyssey an additional nearly 2,000.[27] Modern[edit] Page from the first printed edition (editio princeps) of collected works by Homer edited by Demetrios Chalkokondyles. Florence, 1489. Bibliothèque Nationale de France In 1488, the Greek scholar Demetrios Chalkokondyles published the editio princeps of the Homeric poems.[27] The earliest modern Homeric scholars started with the same basic approaches towards the Homeric poems as scholars in antiquity.[27][26][25] The allegorical interpretation of the Homeric poems that had been so prevalent in antiquity returned to become the prevailing view of the Renaissance.[27] Renaissance humanists praised Homer as the archetypically wise poet, whose writings contain hidden wisdom, disguised through allegory.[27] In western Europe during the Renaissance, Virgil was more widely read than Homer and Homer was often seen through a Virgilian lens.[30] In 1664, contradicting the widespread praise of Homer as the epitome of wisdom, François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac wrote a scathing attack on the Homeric poems, declaring that they were incoherent, immoral, tasteless, and without style, that Homer never existed, and that the poems were hastily cobbled together by incompetent editors from unrelated oral songs.[26] Fifty years later, the English scholar Richard Bentley concluded that Homer did exist, but that he was an obscure, prehistoric oral poet whose compositions bear little relation to the Iliad and the Odyssey as they have been passed down.[26] According to Bentley, Homer "wrote a Sequel of Songs and Rhapsodies, to be sung by himself for small Earnings and good Cheer at Festivals and other Days of Merriment; the Ilias he wrote for men, and the Odysseis for the other Sex. These loose songs were not collected together in the Form of an epic Poem till Pisistratus' time, about 500 Years after."[26] Friedrich August Wolf's Prolegomena ad Homerum, published in 1795, argued that much of the material later incorporated into the Iliad and the Odyssey was originally composed in the tenth century BC in the form of short, separate oral songs,[31][32][26] which passed through oral tradition for roughly four hundred years before being assembled into prototypical versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey in the sixth century BC by literate authors.[31][32][26] After being written down, Wolf maintained that the two poems were extensively edited, modernized, and eventually shaped into their present state as artistic unities.[31][32][26] Wolf and the "Analyst" school, which led the field in the nineteenth century, sought to recover the original, authentic poems which were thought to be concealed by later excrescences.[31][32][26][33] Within the Analyst school were two camps: proponents of the "lay theory", which held that the Iliad and the Odyssey were put together from a large number of short, independent songs,[26] and proponents of the "nucleus theory", which held that Homer had originally composed shorter versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey, which later poets expanded and revised.[26] A small group of scholars opposed to the Analysts, dubbed "Unitarians", saw the later additions as superior, the work of a single inspired poet.[31][32][26] By around 1830, the central preoccupations of Homeric scholars, dealing with whether or not "Homer" actually existed, when and how the Homeric poems originated, how they were transmitted, when and how they were finally written down, and their overall unity, had been dubbed "the Homeric Question".[26] Following World War I, the Analyst school began to fall out of favor among Homeric scholars.[26] It did not die out entirely, but it came to be increasingly seen as a discredited dead end.[26] Starting in around 1928, Milman Parry and Albert Lord, after their studies of folk bards in the Balkans, developed the "Oral-Formulaic Theory" that the Homeric poems were originally composed through improvised oral performances, which relied on traditional epithets and poetic formulas.[34][33][26] This theory found very wide scholarly acceptance[34][33][26] and explained many previously puzzling features of the Homeric poems, including their unusually archaic language, their extensive use of stock epithets, and their other "repetitive" features.[33] Many scholars concluded that the "Homeric Question" had finally been answered.[26] Meanwhile, the 'Neoanalysts' sought to bridge the gap between the 'Analysts' and 'Unitarians'.[35][36] The Neoanalysts sought to trace the relationships between the Homeric poems and other epic poems, which have now been lost, but of which modern scholars do possess some patchy knowledge.[26] Neoanalysts hold that knowledge of earlier versions of the epics can be derived from anomalies of structure and detail in the surviving versions of the Iliad and Odyssey. These anomalies point to earlier versions of the Iliad in which Ajax played a more prominent role, in which the Achaean embassy to Achilles comprised different characters, and in which Patroclus was actually mistaken for Achilles by the Trojans. They point to earlier versions of the Odyssey in which Telemachus went in search of news of his father not to Menelaus in Sparta but to Idomeneus in Crete, in which Telemachus met up with his father in Crete and conspired with him to return to Ithaca disguised as the soothsayer Theoclymenus, and in which Penelope recognized Odysseus much earlier in the narrative and conspired with him in the destruction of the suitors.[37] Contemporary[edit] Most contemporary scholars, although they disagree on other questions about the genesis of the poems, agree that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not produced by the same author, based on "the many differences of narrative manner, theology, ethics, vocabulary, and geographical perspective, and by the apparently imitative character of certain passages of the Odyssey in relation to the Iliad."[38][39][40][26] Nearly all scholars agree that the Iliad and the Odyssey are unified poems, in that each poem shows a clear overall design, and that they are not merely strung together from unrelated songs.[26] It is also generally agreed that each poem was composed mostly by a single author, who probably relied heavily on older oral traditions.[26] Nearly all scholars agree that the Doloneia in Book X of the Iliad is not part of the original poem, but rather a later insertion by a different poet.[26] Some ancient scholars believed Homer to have been an eyewitness to the Trojan War; others thought he had lived up to 500 years afterwards.[41] Contemporary scholars continue to debate the date of the poems.[42][43][26] A long history of oral transmission lies behind the composition of the poems, complicating the search for a precise date.[44] At one extreme, Richard Janko has proposed a date for both poems to the eighth century BC based on linguistic analysis and statistics.[42][43] Barry B. Powell dates the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey to sometime between 800 and 750 BC, based on the statement from Herodotus, who lived in the late fifth century BC, that Homer lived four hundred years before his own time "and not more" (καὶ οὐ πλέοσι), and on the fact that the poems do not mention hoplite battle tactics, inhumation, or literacy.[45] Martin Litchfield West has argued that the Iliad echoes the poetry of Hesiod, and that it must have been composed around 660–650 BC at the earliest, with the Odyssey up to a generation later.[46][47][26] He also interprets passages in the Iliad as showing knowledge of historical events that occurred in the ancient Near East during the middle of the seventh century BC, including the destruction of Babylon by Sennacherib in 689 BC and the Sack of Thebes by Ashurbanipal in 663/4 BC.[26] At the other extreme, a few American scholars such as Gregory Nagy see "Homer" as a continually evolving tradition, which grew much more stable as the tradition progressed, but which did not fully cease to continue changing and evolving until as late as the middle of the second century BC.[42][43][26] "'Homer" is a name of unknown etymological origin, around which many theories were erected in antiquity. One such linkage was to the Greek ὅμηρος (hómēros 'hostage' or 'surety'). The explanations suggested by modern scholars tend to mirror their position on the overall Homeric Question. Nagy interprets it as "he who fits (the song) together". West has advanced both possible Greek and Phoenician etymologies.[48][49] Historicity of the Homeric epics and Homeric society[edit] Main article: Historicity of the Iliad Greece according to the Iliad Scholars continue to debate questions such as whether the Trojan War actually took place – and if so when and where – and to what extent the society depicted by Homer is based on his own or one which was, even at the time of the poems' composition, known only as legends. The Homeric epics are largely set in the east and center of the Mediterranean, with some scattered references to Egypt, Ethiopia and other distant lands, in a warlike society that resembles that of the Greek world slightly before the hypothesized date of the poems' composition.[50][51][52][53] In ancient Greek chronology, the sack of Troy was dated to 1184 BC. By the nineteenth century, there was widespread scholarly skepticism that the Trojan War had ever happened and that Troy had even existed, but in 1873 Heinrich Schliemann announced to the world that he had discovered the ruins of Homer's Troy at Hisarlik in modern Turkey. Some contemporary scholars think the destruction of Troy VIIa c. 1220 BC was the origin of the myth of the Trojan War, others that the poem was inspired by multiple similar sieges that took place over the centuries.[54] Most scholars now agree that the Homeric poems depict customs and elements of the material world that are derived from different periods of Greek history.[33][55][56] For instance, the heroes in the poems use bronze weapons, characteristic of the Bronze Age in which the poems are set, rather than the later Iron Age during which they were composed;[33][55][56] yet the same heroes are cremated (an Iron Age practice) rather than buried (as they were in the Bronze Age).[33][55][56] In some parts of the Homeric poems, heroes are described as carrying large shields like those used by warriors during the Mycenaean period,[33] but, in other places, they are instead described carrying the smaller shields that were commonly used during the time when the poems were written in the early Iron Age.[33] In the Iliad 10.260–265, Odysseus is described as wearing a helmet made of boar's tusks. Such helmets were not worn in Homer's time, but were commonly worn by aristocratic warriors between 1600 and 1150 BC.[57][58][59] The decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris and continued archaeological investigation has increased modern scholars' understanding of Aegean civilisation, which in many ways resembles the ancient Near East more than the society described by Homer.[60] Some aspects of the Homeric world are simply made up;[33] for instance, the Iliad 22.145–56 describes there being two springs that run near the city of Troy, one that runs steaming hot and the other that runs icy cold.[33] It is here that Hector takes his final stand against Achilles.[33] Archaeologists, however, have uncovered no evidence that springs of this description ever actually existed.[33] Style and language[edit] See also: Homeric Greek Detail of The Parnassus (painted 1509–1510) by Raphael, depicting Homer wearing a crown of laurels atop Mount Parnassus, with Dante Alighieri on his right and Virgil on his left The Homeric epics are written in an artificial literary language or 'Kunstsprache' only used in epic hexameter poetry. Homeric Greek shows features of multiple regional Greek dialects and periods, but is fundamentally based on Ionic Greek, in keeping with the tradition that Homer was from Ionia. Linguistic analysis suggests that the Iliad was composed slightly before the Odyssey, and that Homeric formulae preserve features older than other parts of the poems.[61][62] The poems were composed in unrhymed dactylic hexameter; ancient Greek metre was quantity-based rather than stress-based.[63][64] Homer frequently uses set phrases such as epithets ('crafty Odysseus', 'rosy-fingered Dawn', 'owl-eyed Athena', etc.), Homeric formulae ('and then answered [him/her], Agamemnon, king of men', 'when the early-born rose-fingered Dawn came to light', 'thus he/she spoke'), simile, type scenes, ring composition and repetition. These habits aid the extemporizing bard, and are characteristic of oral poetry. For instance, the main words of a Homeric sentence are generally placed towards the beginning, whereas literate poets like Virgil or Milton use longer and more complicated syntactical structures. Homer then expands on these ideas in subsequent clauses; this technique is called parataxis.[65] The so-called 'type scenes' (typische Szenen), were named by Walter Arend in 1933. He noted that Homer often, when describing frequently recurring activities such as eating, praying, fighting and dressing, used blocks of set phrases in sequence that were then elaborated by the poet. The 'Analyst' school had considered these repetitions as un-Homeric, whereas Arend interpreted them philosophically. Parry and Lord noted that these conventions are found in many other cultures.[66][67] 'Ring composition' or chiastic structure (when a phrase or idea is repeated at both the beginning and end of a story, or a series of such ideas first appears in the order A, B, C ... before being reversed as ... C, B, A) has been observed in the Homeric epics. Opinion differs as to whether these occurrences are a conscious artistic device, a mnemonic aid or a spontaneous feature of human storytelling.[68][69] Both of the Homeric poems begin with an invocation to the Muse.[70] In the Iliad, the poet beseeches her to sing of "the anger of Achilles",[70] and, in the Odyssey, he asks her to tell of "the man of many ways".[70] A similar opening was later employed by Virgil in his Aeneid.[70] Textual transmission[edit] A Reading from Homer (1885) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema The orally transmitted Homeric poems were put into written form at some point between the eighth and sixth centuries BC. Some scholars believe that they were dictated to a scribe by the poet and that our inherited versions of the Iliad and Odyssey were in origin orally-dictated texts.[71] Albert Lord noted that the Balkan bards that he was studying revised and expanded their songs in their process of dictating.[72] Some scholars hypothesize that a similar process of revision and expansion occurred when the Homeric poems were first written down.[73][74] Other scholars hold that, after the poems were created in the eighth century, they continued to be orally transmitted with considerable revision until they were written down in the sixth century.[75] After textualisation, the poems were each divided into 24 rhapsodes, today referred to as books, and labelled by the letters of the Greek alphabet. Most scholars attribute the book divisions to the Hellenistic scholars of Alexandria, in Egypt.[76] Some trace the divisions back further to the Classical period.[77] Very few credit Homer himself with the divisions.[78] In antiquity, it was widely held that the Homeric poems were collected and organised in Athens in the late sixth century BC by Pisistratus (died 528/7 BC), in what subsequent scholars have dubbed the "Peisistratean recension".[79][27] The idea that the Homeric poems were originally transmitted orally and first written down during the reign of Pisistratus is referenced by the first-century BC Roman orator Cicero and is also referenced in a number of other surviving sources, including two ancient Lives of Homer.[27] From around 150 BC, the texts of the Homeric poems seem to have become relatively established. After the establishment of the Library of Alexandria, Homeric scholars such as Zenodotus of Ephesus, Aristophanes of Byzantium and in particular Aristarchus of Samothrace helped establish a canonical text.[80] The first printed edition of Homer was produced in 1488 in Milan, Italy. Today scholars use medieval manuscripts, papyri and other sources; some argue for a "multi-text" view, rather than seeking a single definitive text. The nineteenth-century edition of Arthur Ludwich mainly follows Aristarchus's work, whereas van Thiel's (1991, 1996) follows the medieval vulgate.[clarification needed] Others, such as Martin West (1998–2000) or T. W. Allen, fall somewhere between these two extremes.[80] See also[edit] Ancient Greece portalPoetry portalLiterature portal Achaeans (Homer) Bibliomancy Catalogue of Ships Creophylus of Samos Cyclic Poets Deception of Zeus Geography of the Odyssey Greek mythology Homeric psychology Homer's Ithaca List of Homeric characters Sortes Homericae Tabulae Iliacae Telemachy The Golden Bough Trojan Battle Order Trojan War in literature and the arts Venetus A manuscript Notes[edit] ^ a b Lefkowitz, Mary R. (2013). The Lives of the Greek Poets. A&C Black. pp. 14–30. ISBN 978-1472503077. ^ "Learn about Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 August 2021. ^ Hose, Martin; Schenker, David (2015). A Companion to Greek Literature. John Wiley & Sons. p. 445. ISBN 978-1118885956. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2013). Ancient Greek Dialects and Early Authors: Introduction to the Dialect Mixture in Homer, with Notes on Lyric and Herodotus. Walter de Gruyter. p. 351. ISBN 978-1614512950. Retrieved 23 November 2016. ^ Ahl, Frederick; Roisman, Hanna (1996). The Odyssey Re-formed. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801483356. Retrieved 23 November 2016. ^ Bell, Robert H. "Homer’s humor: laughter in the Iliad." hand 1 (2007): 596. ^ Rutherford, R. B. (2010). Homer: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide. Oxford University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-19-980510-5. ^ Too, Yun Lee (2010). The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World. OUP Oxford. p. 86. ISBN 978-0199577804. Retrieved 22 November 2016. ^ MacDonald, Dennis R. (1994). Christianizing Homer: The Odyssey, Plato, and the Acts of Andrew. Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0195358629. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016. ^ Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto IV, 86–88 (Longfellow's translation): Him with that falchion in his hand behold, ⁠Who comes before the three, even as their lord. That one is Homer, Poet sovereign; ^ Alexander Pope's Preface to his translation of the Iliad:"Homer is universally allowed to have had the greatest invention of any writer whatever. The praise of judgment Virgil has justly contested with him, and others may have their pretensions as to particular excellencies; but his invention remains yet unrivalled. Nor is it a wonder if he has ever been acknowledged the greatest of poets, who most excelled in that which is the very foundation of poetry." ^ Latacz, Joachim (1996). Homer, His Art and His World. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472083534. Retrieved 22 November 2016. ^ a b Croally, Neil; Hyde, Roy (2011). Classical Literature: An Introduction. Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 978-1136736629. Retrieved 23 November 2016. ^ Daisy Dunn (22 January 2020). "Who was Homer?". British Museum. Retrieved 7 March 2024. ^ Wilson, Nigel (2013). Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Routledge. p. 366. ISBN 978-1136788000. Retrieved 22 November 2016.Romilly, Jacqueline de (1985). A Short History of Greek Literature. University of Chicago Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0226143125. Retrieved 22 November 2016.Graziosi 2002, p. 15 ^ Kelly, Adrian D. "Homerica". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0606 ^ Graziosi, Barbara; Haubold, Johannes (2005). Homer: The Resonance of Epic. A&C Black. pp. 24–26. ISBN 978-0715632826. ^ Graziosi 2002, pp. 165–168. ^ a b Graziosi 2002, p. 138 ^ Odyssey, 8:64ff.[full citation needed] ^ "Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica" (Contest of Homer and Hesiod) ^ Parke, Herbert William (1967). Greek Oracles. pp. 136–137 citing the Certamen, 12. ^ Kelly, Adrian D. "Biographies of Homer". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0243 ^ West, M. L. Theogony & Works and Days. Oxford University Press. p. xx. ^ a b c d e Dickey, Eleanor. "Scholarship, Ancient". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1307 ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa West, M. L. (December 2011). "The Homeric Question Today". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 155 (4): 383–393. JSTOR 23208780. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lamberton, Robert (2010). "Homer". In Grafton, Anthony; Most, Glenn W.; Settis, Salvatore (eds.). The Classical Tradition. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 449–452. ISBN 978-0-674-03572-0. ^ a b c Hunter, Richard L. (2018). The Measure of Homer: The Ancient Reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 4–7. ISBN 978-1-108-42831-6. ^ Kaldellis, Anthony. "Scholarship, Byzantine". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1308 ^ Heiden, Bruce. "Scholarship, Renaissance through 17th Century". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1310 ^ a b c d e Heiden, Bruce. "Scholarship, 18th Century". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1311 ^ a b c d e Heiden, Bruce. "Scholarship, 19th Century". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1312 ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Taplin, Oliver (1986). "2: Homer". In Boardman, John; Griffin, Jasper; Murray, Oswyn (eds.). The Oxford History of the Classical World. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 50–77. ISBN 978-0198721123. ^ a b Foley, John Miles (1988). The Theory of Oral Composition: History and Methodology. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253342607. ^ Heiden, Bruce. "Scholarship, 20th Century". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1313 ^ Edwards, Mark W. "Neoanalysis". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0968 ^ Reece, Steve. "The Cretan Odyssey: A Lie Truer than Truth". American Journal of Philology 115 (1994) 157–173. The_Cretan_Odyssey ^ West, M. L. (1999). "The Invention of Homer". Classical Quarterly. 49 (2): 364–382. doi:10.1093/cq/49.2.364. JSTOR 639863. ^ West, Martin L. "Homeric Question". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0605 ^ Latacz, Joachim; Bierl, Anton; Olson, S. Douglas (2015). "New Trends in Homeric Scholarship" in Homer's Iliad: The Basel Commentary. De Gruyter. ISBN 978-1614517375. ^ Saïd, Suzanne (2011). Homer and the Odyssey. OUP Oxford. pp. 14–17. ISBN 978-0199542840. ^ a b c Graziosi 2002, pp. 90–92 ^ a b c Fowler 2004, pp. 220–232 ^ Burgess, Jonathan S. (2003). The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle. JHU Press. pp. 49–53. ISBN 978-0801874819. ^ Powell, Barry B. (1996). Homer and the Origins of the Greek Alphabet. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 217–222. ISBN 978-0-521-58907-9. ^ Hall, Jonathan M. (2002). Hellenicity: Between Ethnicity and Culture. University of Chicago Press. pp. 235–236. ISBN 978-0226313290. ^ West, Martin L. "Date of Homer". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0330 ^ Graziosi 2002, pp. 51–89. ^ West, M. L. (1997). The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 622. ^ Raaflaub, Kurt A. "Historicity of Homer". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0601 ^ Finley, Moses I. (1991). The World of Odysseus. Penguin. ISBN 978-0140136869. ^ Wees, Hans van (2009). War and Violence in Ancient Greece. ISD LLC. ISBN 978-1910589298. ^ Morris, Ian (1986). "The Use and Abuse of Homer". Classical Antiquity. 5 (1): 81–138. doi:10.2307/25010840. JSTOR 25010840. ^ Dowden, Ken; Livingstone, Niall (2011). A Companion to Greek Mythology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 440. ISBN 978-1444396935. ^ a b c Sacks, David; Murray, Oswyn; Brody, Lisa R. (2014). Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World. Infobase Publishing. p. 356. ISBN 978-1438110202. ^ a b c Morris & Powell 1997, pp. 434–435 ^ Wood, Michael (1996). In Search of the Trojan War. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-520-21599-3. Retrieved 1 September 2017. ^ Schofield, Louise (2007). The Mycenaeans. Los Angeles, California: The J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-89236-867-9. Retrieved 1 September 2017. ^ Everson, Tim (2004). Warfare in Ancient Greece: Arms and Armour from the Heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-0-7524-9506-4. Retrieved 1 September 2017. ^ Morris & Powell 1997, p. 625. ^ Willi, Andreas. "Language, Homeric". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0792 ^ Bakker, Egbert J. (2010). A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language. John Wiley & Sons. p. 401. ISBN 978-1444317404. ^ Edwards, Mark W. "Meter". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0913 ^ Nussbaum, Gerry B. (1986). Homer's Metre: A Practical Guide for Reading Greek Hexameter Poetry. Bristol Classical Press. ISBN 978-0862921729. ^ Edwards, Mark W. "Style". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1377 ^ Reece, Steve T. "Type-Scenes". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1488 ^ Edwards, Mark W. (1992). "Homer and Oral Tradition: The Type-Scene". Oral Tradition. 7: 284–330. ^ Stanley, Keith (2014). The Shield of Homer: Narrative Structure in the Illiad. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1400863372. ^ Minchin, Elizabeth. "Ring Composition". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1287 ^ a b c d Adler, Eve (2003). Vergil's Empire: Political Thought in the Aeneid. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-7425-2167-4. ^ Steve Reece, "Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: From Oral Performance to Written Text", in Mark Amodio (ed.), New Directions in Oral Theory (Tempe: Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2005) 43–89. ^ Albert B. Lord, The Singer of Tales (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1960). ^ Kirk, G. S. (1976). Homer and the Oral Tradition. Cambridge University Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0521213097. ^ Foley, John Miles. "Oral Dictated Texts". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1029 ^ Nagy, Gregory (1996). Poetry as Performance: Homer and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521558488. ^ U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Homerische Untersuchungen (Berlin, 1884) 369; R. Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship (Oxford, 1968) 116–117. ^ West, Martin L. "Book Division". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0253; S. West, The Ptolemaic Papyri of Homer (Cologne, 1967) 18–25. ^ P. Mazon, Introduction à l'Iliade (Paris, 1912) 137–140.C. H. Whitman, Homer and the Heroic Tradition (Cambridge [Massachusetts], 1958) 282–283G. P. Goold (1960). "Homer and the Alphabet". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 91: 272–291. doi:10.2307/283857. JSTOR 283857.K. Stanley, The Shield of Homer (Princeton, 1993) 37, 249ff. ^ Jensen, Minna Skafte (1980). The Homeric Question and the Oral-formulaic Theory. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-8772890968. ^ a b Haslam, Michael. "Text and Transmission". In Finkelberg (2012). doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1413 Sources[edit] Finkelberg, Margalit, ed. (2012). The Homer Encyclopedia. Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781444350302. ISBN 9781405177689. Fowler, Robert, ed. (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Homer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-01246-1 – via Internet Archive. Graziosi, Barbara (2002). Inventing Homer: The Early Perception of Epic. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521809665. Morris, Ian; Powell, Barry B., eds. (1997). A New Companion to Homer. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09989-0. Selected bibliography[edit] Editions[edit] Texts in Homeric Greek Demetrius Chalcondyles editio princeps, Florence, 1488 the Aldine editions (1504 and 1517) 1st ed. with comments, Micyllus and Camerarius, Basel, 1535, 1541 (improved text), 1551 (incl. the Batrachomyomachia) Th. Ridel, Strasbourg, c. 1572, 1588 and 1592. Wolf (Halle, 1794–1795; Leipzig, 1804 1807) Spitzner (Gotha, 1832–1836) Bekker (Berlin, 1843; Bonn, 1858) La Roche (Odyssey, 1867–1868; Iliad, 1873–1876, both at Leipzig) Ludwich (Odyssey, Leipzig, 1889–1891; Iliad, 2 vols., 1901 and 1907) W. Leaf (Iliad, London, 1886–1888; 2nd ed. 1900–1902) William Walter Merry and James Riddell (Odyssey i–xii., 2nd ed., Oxford, 1886) Monro, D. B. (Odyssey xiii–xxiv. with appendices, Oxford, 1901) Monro, D. B. and Allen, T. W. (Iliad), and Allen (Odyssey, 1908, Oxford). D. B. Monro and T. W. Allen 1917–1920, Homeri Opera (5 volumes: Iliad=3rd edition, Odyssey=2nd edition), Oxford. ISBN 0-19-814528-4, 0-19-814529-2, 0-19-814531-4, 0-19-814532-2, 0-19-814534-9 H. van Thiel 1991, Homeri Odyssea, Hildesheim. ISBN 3-487-09458-4, 1996, Homeri Ilias, Hildesheim. ISBN 3-487-09459-2 P. von der Mühll 1993, Homeri Odyssea, Munich/Leipzig. ISBN 3-598-71432-7 M. L. West 1998–2000, Homeri Ilias (2 volumes), Munich/Leipzig. ISBN 3-598-71431-9, 3-598-71435-1 M. L. West 2017, Homerus Odyssea, Berlin/Boston. ISBN 3-11-042539-4 Interlinear translations[edit] The Iliad of Homer a Parsed Interlinear, Handheldclassics.com (2008) Text ISBN 978-1-60725-298-6 English translations[edit] Main article: English translations of Homer This is a partial list of translations into English of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985) The Iliad, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004) ISBN 0-374-52905-1 The Odyssey, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998) ISBN 0-374-52574-9 Robert Fagles (1933–2008) The Iliad, Penguin Classics (1998) ISBN 0-14-027536-3 The Odyssey, Penguin Classics (1999) ISBN 0-14-026886-3 Stanley Lombardo (b. 1943) Iliad, Hackett Publishing Company (1997) ISBN 0-87220-352-2 Odyssey, Hackett Publishing Company (2000) ISBN 0-87220-484-7 Iliad, (Audiobook) Parmenides (2006) ISBN 1-930972-08-3 Odyssey, (Audiobook) Parmenides (2006) ISBN 1-930972-06-7 The Essential Homer, (Audiobook) Parmenides (2006) ISBN 1-930972-12-1 The Essential Iliad, (Audiobook) Parmenides (2006) ISBN 1-930972-10-5 Barry B. Powell (b. 1942) Iliad, Oxford University Press (2013) ISBN 978-0-19-932610-5 Odyssey, Oxford University PressI (2014) ISBN 978-0-19-936031-4 Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: The Essential Books, Oxford University Press (2014) ISBN 978-0-19-939407-4 Samuel Butler (1835–1902) The Iliad, Red and Black Publishers (2008) ISBN 978-1-934941-04-1 The Odyssey, Red and Black Publishers (2008) ISBN 978-1-934941-05-8 Emily Wilson (b. 1971) The Odyssey, W. W. Norton (2017) ISBN 978-0-393-08905-9 The Iliad, W. W. Norton (2023) ISBN 9781324001805 General works on Homer[edit] Carlier, Pierre (1999). Homère (in French). Paris: Les éditions Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-60381-0. de Romilly, Jacqueline (2005). Homère (5th ed.). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 978-2-13-054830-0. Latacz, J. (2004). Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery. Translated by Windle, Kevin; Ireland, Rosh. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-926308-0. In German, 5th updated and expanded edition, Leipzig, 2005. In Spanish, 2003, ISBN 84-233-3487-2. In modern Greek, 2005, ISBN 960-16-1557-1. Monro, David Binning (1911). "Homer" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). pp. 626–39. Powell, Barry B. (2007). Homer (2nd ed.). Malden, Massachusetts; Oxford, UK; Carlton, Victoria: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-5325-6. Vidal-Naquet, Pierre (2000). Le monde d'Homère (in French). Paris: Perrin. ISBN 978-2-262-01181-9. Wace, A. J. B.; F. H. Stubbings (1962). A Companion to Homer. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-07113-7. Influential readings and interpretations[edit] Auerbach, Erich (1953). "Chapter 1". Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11336-4. (orig. publ. in German, 1946, Bern) de Jong, Irene J. F. (2004). Narrators and Focalizers: the Presentation of the Story in the Iliad (2nd ed.). London: Bristol Classical Press. ISBN 978-1-85399-658-0. Edwards, Mark W. (1987). Homer, Poet of the Iliad. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-3329-8. Fenik, Bernard (1974). Studies in the Odyssey. Hermes, Einzelschriften 30. Wiesbaden: Steiner. Finley, Moses (2002). The World of Odysseus. New York: The New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1-59017-017-5. Nagy, Gregory (1979). The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry. Baltimore; London: Johns Hopkins University Press. Nagy, Gregory (2010). Homer: the Preclassic. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95024-5. Reece, Steve. The Stranger's Welcome: Oral Theory and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. Commentaries[edit] Iliad: P.V. Jones (ed.) 2003, Homer's Iliad. A Commentary on Three Translations, London. ISBN 1-85399-657-2 G. S. Kirk (gen. ed.) 1985–1993, The Iliad: A Commentary (6 volumes), Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-28171-7, 0-521-28172-5, 0-521-28173-3, 0-521-28174-1, 0-521-31208-6, 0-521-31209-4 J. Latacz (gen. ed.) 2002 Homers Ilias. Gesamtkommentar. Auf der Grundlage der Ausgabe von Ameis-Hentze-Cauer (1868–1913) (6 volumes published so far, of an estimated 15), Munich/Leipzig. ISBN 3-598-74307-6, ISBN 3-598-74304-1 N. Postlethwaite (ed.) 2000, Homer's Iliad: A Commentary on the Translation of Richmond Lattimore, Exeter. ISBN 0-85989-684-6 M. W. Willcock (ed.) 1976, A Companion to the Iliad, Chicago. ISBN 0-226-89855-5 Odyssey: A. Heubeck (gen. ed.) 1990–1993, A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey (3 volumes; orig. publ. 1981–1987 in Italian), Oxford. ISBN 0-19-814747-3, ISBN 0-19-872144-7, ISBN 0-19-814953-0 P. Jones (ed.) 1988, Homer's Odyssey: A Commentary based on the English Translation of Richmond Lattimore, Bristol. ISBN 1-85399-038-8 I. J. F. de Jong (ed.) 2001, A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-46844-2 Dating the Homeric poems[edit] Janko, Richard (1982). Homer, Hesiod and the Hymns: Diachronic Development in Epic Diction. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-23869-4. Further reading[edit] Buck, Carl Darling (1928). The Greek Dialects. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hesiod, the Homeric hymns and Homerica. The Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Evelyn-White, Hugh Gerard. London; New York: Heinemann; MacMillen. 1914. Ford, Andrew (1992). Homer : the poetry of the past. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-2700-8. Kirk, G. S. (1962). The Songs of Homer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon (revised ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press; Perseus Digital Library. Murray, Gilbert (1960). The Rise of the Greek Epic (Galaxy Books ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Schein, Seth L. (1984). The Mortal Hero : An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05128-7. Silk, Michael (1987). Homer: The Iliad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83233-5. Smith, William, ed. (1876). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. I, II & III. London: John Murray. Thurman, Judith (18 September 2023). "Mother Tongue: How Emily Wilson makes Homer modern". The New Yorker (Long-form article on Emily Wilson's Homer translations). pp. 46–53. External links[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Homer. Wikiquote has quotations related to Homer. Wikisource has original works by or about:Homer Library resources about Homer Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries By Homer Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Works by Homer at Perseus Digital Library Works by Homer in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by Homer at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Homer at Internet Archive Works by Homer at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Homer; Murray, Augustus Taber (1925). The Iliad with an English Translation (in Ancient Greek and English). Vol. I, Books I–XII. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons – via Internet Archive. The Chicago Homer Homer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Heath, Malcolm (4 May 2001). "CLAS3152 Further Greek Literature II: Aristotle's Poetics: Notes on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey". Department of Classics, University of Leeds. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2014. Bassino, Paola (2014). "Homer: A Guide to Selected Sources". Living Poets: a new approach to ancient history. Durham University. Retrieved 18 November 2014. vteWorks related to Homer in antiquityAttributed to Homer Batrachomyomachia Cercopes Cypria Epigoni Epigrams ("Kiln") Homeric Hymns Iliad Little Iliad Margites Nostoi Odyssey Capture of Oechalia Phocais Thebaid About Homer Ancient accounts of Homer Contest of Homer and Hesiod Life of Homer vteHomer's OdysseyCharactersHouse of Odysseus Penelope (wife) Telemachus (son) Ctimene (sister) Anticlea (mother) Laertes (father of Odysseus) (father) Autolycus (grandfather) Eurycleia (chief servant) Mentor (advisor) Phemius (musician) Eumaeus (swineherd) Philoetius (cowherd) Melanthius (goatherd) Melantho (maid) Medon (herald) Argos (pet dog) Other monarchs and royals Alcinous of Phaeacia Antiphates, king of the Laestrygones Aretus Arete of Phaeacia Deucalion of Crete Echetus Nestor of Pylos Echephron Perseus Stratichus Peisistratus Menelaus of Sparta Helen Princess Nausicaa of Phaeacia Laodamas Agamemnon of Mycenae Idomeneus Mentes Thrasymedes Gods Aeolus Athena Calypso Circe Helios Hermes Leucothea Poseidon Zeus Oceanus Old Man of the Sea Suitors Agelaus Amphimedon Amphinomus Antinous Ctesippus Demoptolemus Eurymachus Leodes Perimedes Others Achilles Ajax Anticlus Antiphus Cyclopes Polyphemus Demodocus Dolius Elpenor Eupeithes Euryalus Eurylochus Halitherses Heracles Irus Kikonians Laestrygones Mesaulius Polites Polydamna Scylla Charybdis Sirens Tiresias Theoclymenus Odyssean gods Athena Poseidon Calypso Circe Ino Hermes Zeus Heracles Films L'Odissea (1911 Italian) Ulysses (1954 Italian) The Return of Ringo (1965 Italian) Nostos: The Return (1989 Italian) Ulysses' Gaze (1995 Greek) Sans plomb (2000 French) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) Keyhole (2012) The Return (2024) TV The Odyssey (1968) Ulysses 31 (1981) The Odyssey (1997) Mission Odyssey (2002-2003) Odysseus and the Isle of the Mists (2007) Star Trek: Odyssey (2007) Literature A True Story (2nd century AD) Les Aventures de Télémaque (1699) The World's Desire (1890) Ulysses (1922) The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938) The Human Comedy (1943) Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions (1998) Trojan Odyssey (2003) The Penelopiad (2005) The Lost Books of the Odyssey (2010) Circe (2018) Poems "Ulysses" (1842) The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938) The Cantos (1962) Pagan Operetta (1998) Stage Current Nobody (play) Cyclops (play) Ithaka (play) Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (opera) The Golden Apple (musical) Glam Slam Ulysses (musical) Home Sweet Homer (musical) Odysseus, Verbrecher (play) Penelope (play) Song "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (song) "The Odyssey" (song) The Odyssey (symphony) Paintings Jar with Odysseus and Elpenor (c. 440 B.C.) Odysseus on the Island of the Phaecians (c. 1635) Telemachus and the Nymphs of Calypso (1782) The Sorrow of Telemachus (1783) Odysseus at the Court of Alcinous (1816) The Apotheosis of Homer (1827) Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (1829) The Sirens and Ulysses (1837) Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses (1891) Ulysses and the Sirens (1891) Odysseus and Polyphemus (1896) Ulysses and the Sirens (1909) Study Homeric scholarship Homeric Laughter Homeric Question Chorizontes Jørgensen's law Geography of the Odyssey Historicity of the Homeric epics Odysseus Unbound Homer's Ithaca On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey Rediscovering Homer "Odysseus' Scar" Hermoniakos' Iliad Hysteron proteron Epithets in Homer Dactylic hexameter Translations "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" On Translating Homer Video games Odyssey: The Search for Ulysses Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey Phrases In medias res Between Scylla and Charybdis Related Telemachy Nekyia Trojan Horse Suitors of Penelope The Odyssey Old Man of the Sea The Apotheosis of Homer Contempt Cold Mountain (novel) Cold Mountain (film) Homer's Daughter Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey vteHomer's Iliad (8th century BC)CharactersAchaeans Acamas Achilles Agamemnon (king of Mycenae) Agapenor Ajax the Greater (king of Salamis) Ajax the Lesser Alcimus Anticlus Antilochus Arcesilaus Ascalaphus Automedon Balius and Xanthus Bias Calchas (prophet) Diomedes (king of Argos) Elephenor Epeius Eudoros Euryalus Eurybates Eurydamas Eurypylus Guneus Helen (queen of Sparta) Ialmenus Idomeneus (king of Crete) Iphigenia (princess of Mycenae) Leitus Leonteus Lycomedes Machaon Medon Meges Menelaus (king of Sparta) Menestheus Meriones Neoptolemus Nestor (king of Pylos) Nireus Odysseus (king of Ithaca) Palamedes Patroclus Peneleos Philoctetes Phoenix Podalirius Podarces Polites Polypoetes Promachus Protesilaus Prothoenor Schedius Sinon Stentor Sthenelus Talthybius Teucer Thersites Thoas Thrasymedes Tlepolemus Trojans Aeneas (royal demigod) Aesepus Agenor Alcathous Amphimachus Anchises Andromache Antenor (king's brother-in-law) Antiphates Antiphus Archelochus Asius Asteropaios Astyanax Atymnius Axylus Briseis Calesius Caletor Cassandra (princess of Troy) Chryseis Chryses (priest of Apollo) Clytius Coön Dares Phrygius Deiphobus (prince of Troy) Dolon Epistrophus Euphemus Euphorbus Glaucus Gorgythion Hector (prince of Troy) Hecuba (queen of Troy) Helenus Hyperenor Hypsenor Iamenus Ilioneus Imbrius Iphidamas Kebriones Laocoön Lycaon (prince of Troy) Melanippus Memnon (King of Ethiopia) Mentes Mydon Mygdon of Phrygia Othryoneus Pandarus Panthous Paris (prince of Troy) Pedasus Peirous Penthesilea (Queen of the Amazons) Phorcys Podes Polites Polydamas Polybus Polydorus (prince of Troy) Polyxena (princess of Troy) Priam (king of Troy) Pylaemenes Pylaeus Pyraechmes Rhesus of Thrace Sarpedon (king of Lycia) Scamandrius Theano Ucalegon Gods Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Dionysus Eris Hades Helios Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hypnos Iris Leto Poseidon Scamander Thanatos Thetis Zeus Major deities Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Poseidon Zeus Minor deities Deimos Eris Iris Leto Phobos Proteus Scamander Thetis Sections Catalogue of Ships Deception of Zeus Judgment of Paris Trojan Battle Order Trojan Horse Study Dactylic hexameter Homeric scholarship Homeric Laughter Homeric Question Chorizontes Jørgensen's law Historicity of the Iliad "The Iliad or the Poem of Force" (1939 essay) Interpretation of Achilles' and Patroclus' relationship Milawata letter Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey Rediscovering Homer Manuscripts Ambrosian Iliad Codex Nitriensis Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 20 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 21 Uncial 098 Venetus A Venetus B Alternate versions Ilias Latina (60–70 CE) Dictys Cretensis Ephemeridos belli Trojani (c. 4th century) Daretis Phrygii de excidio Trojae historia (5th century) Hermoniakos' Iliad (14th century) Men in Aida (1983) Translation English translations of Homer "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" On Translating Homer LiteratureVerse Aeneid (19 BC) Priapea 68 (c. 100) Roman de Troie (1155) De bello Troiano (1183) Troilus and Criseyde (c. 1380s) The Rape of the Lock (1712) The Shield of Achilles (1952) War Music (1959) Omeros (1990) Novels The Firebrand (1987) Black Ships Before Troy (1993) Troy (2000) Ilium (2003) Ransom (2009) The Song of Achilles (2011) Starcrossed (2011) The Silence of the Girls (2018) Stage Rhesus (5th century BC play) Troilus and Cressida (1602) The Trojan War Will Not Take Place (1935) The Golden Apple (1954 musical) Films Helena (1924) Helen of Troy (1956) The Trojan Horse (1961) Troy (2004) Television The Myth Makers (1965) In Search of the Trojan War (1985) Helen of Troy (2003 miniseries) Troy: Fall of a City (2018 miniseries) Music King Priam (1961 Tippett opera) The Triumph of Steel (1992 album) "And Then There Was Silence" (2001 song) The Odyssey (Smith symphony) Art Tabulae Iliacae Achilles and Briseis Andromache Mourning Hector The Anger of Achilles The Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the tent of Achilles The Apotheosis of Homer Jupiter and Thetis The Loves of Paris and Helen Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus Orestes Pursued by the Furies The Revelers Vase Thetis Receiving the Weapons of Achilles from Hephaestus Statue of Zeus at Olympia Phrases "Achilles' heel" "Ever to Excel" "Hold your horses" "In medias res" "Noblesse oblige" Other Warriors: Legends of Troy (video game) Age of Bronze (comics) Sortes Homericae Heraclitus Weighing of souls Where Troy Once Stood Blood rain Links to related articles vteTheban CyclePoems Oedipodea Thebaid Epigoni Alcmeonis Nominal authors Cinaethon (Oedipodea) Homer (Thebaid, Epigoni) Antimachus of Teos (Epigoni) vteEpic Cycle Cypria (Stasinus) Iliad (Homer) Aethiopis (Arctinus of Miletus) Little Iliad (Lesches) Iliupersis (Arctinus of Miletus) Nostoi (Agias/Eumelus of Corinth) Odyssey (Homer) Telegony 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So was Menœtius' gallant son employ'd Healing Eurypylus. The Greeks, meantime, And Trojans with tumultuous fury fought. Nor was the foss ordain'd long time to exclude The host of Troy, nor yet the rampart built Beside it for protection of the fleet; For hecatomb the Greeks had offer'd none, Nor prayer to heaven, that it might keep secure Their ships with all their spoils. The mighty work As in defiance of the Immortal Powers Had risen, and could not therefore long endure. While Hector lived, and while Achilles held His wrathful purpose; while the city yet Of royal Priam was unsack'd, so long The massy structure stood; but when the best And bravest of the Trojan host were slain, And of the Grecian heroes, some had fallen And some survived, when Priam's towers had blazed In the tenth year, and to their native shores The Grecians with their ships, at length, return'd, Then Neptune, with Apollo leagued, devised Its ruin; every river that descends From the Idæan heights into the sea They brought against it, gathering all their force. Rhesus, Caresus, Rhodius, the wide-branch'd Heptaporus, Æsepus, Granicus,
Scamander's sacred current, and thy stream Simöis, whose banks with helmets and with shields Were strew'd, and Chiefs of origin divine; All these with refluent course Apollo drove Nine days against the rampart, and Jove rain'd Incessant, that the Grecian wall wave-whelm'd Through all its length might sudden disappear. Neptune with his tridental mace, himself, Led them, and beam and buttress to the flood Consigning, laid by the laborious Greeks, Swept the foundation, and the level bank Of the swift-rolling Hellespont restored. The structure thus effaced, the spacious beach He spread with sand as at the first; then bade Subside the streams, and in their channels wind With limpid course, and pleasant as before, Apollo thus and Neptune, from the first, Design'd its fall; but now the battle raved And clamors of the warriors all around45 The strong-built turrets, whose assaulted planks Rang, while the Grecians, by the scourge of Jove Subdued, stood close within their fleet immured, At Hector's phalanx-scattering force appall'd. He, as before, with whirlwind fury fought. As when the boar or lion fiery-eyed Turns short, the hunters and the hounds among, The close-embattled troop him firm oppose, And ply him fast with spears; he no dismay Conceives or terror in his noble heart, But by his courage falls; frequent he turns Attempting bold the ranks, and where he points Direct his onset, there the ranks retire; So, through the concourse on his rolling wheels Borne rapid, Hector animated loud His fellow-warriors to surpass the trench. But not his own swift-footed steeds would dare That hazard; standing on the dangerous brink They neigh'd aloud, for by its breadth the foss
Deterr'd them; neither was the effort slight To leap that gulf, nor easy the attempt To pass it through; steep were the banks profound On both sides, and with massy piles acute Thick-planted, interdicting all assault. No courser to the rapid chariot braced Had enter'd there with ease; yet strong desires Possess'd the infantry of that emprize, And thus Polydamas the ear address'd Of dauntless Hector, standing at his side. Hector, and ye the leaders of our host, Both Trojans and allies! rash the attempt I deem, and vain, to push our horses through, So dangerous is the pass; rough is the trench With pointed stakes, and the Achaian wall Meets us beyond. No chariot may descend Or charioteer fight there; strait are the bounds, And incommodious, and his death were sure. If Jove, high-thundering Ruler of the skies, Will succor Ilium, and nought less intend Than utter devastation of the Greeks, I am content; now perish all their host Inglorious, from their country far remote. But should they turn, and should ourselves be driven Back from the fleet impeded and perplex'd In this deep foss, I judge that not a man, 'Scaping the rallied Grecians, should survive To bear the tidings of our fate to Troy. Now, therefore, act we all as I advise. Let every charioteer his coursers hold Fast-rein'd beside the foss, while we on foot, With order undisturb'd and arms in hand, Shall follow Hector. If destruction borne On wings of destiny this day approach The Grecians, they will fly our first assault. So spake Polydamas, whose safe advice Pleased Hector; from his chariot to the ground All arm'd he leap'd, nor would a Trojan there
(When once they saw the Hero on his feet) Ride into battle, but unanimous Descending with a leap, all trod the plain. Each gave command that at the trench his steeds Should stand detain'd in orderly array; Then, suddenly, the parted host became Five bands, each following its appointed chief. The bravest and most numerous, and whose hearts Wish'd most to burst the barrier and to wage The battle at the ships, with Hector march'd And with Polydamas, whom follow'd, third, Cebriones; for Hector had his steeds Consign'd and chariot to inferior care. Paris, Alcathoüs, and Agenor led The second band, and, sons of Priam both, Deïphobus and Helenus, the third; With them was seen partner of their command; The Hero Asius; from Arisba came Asius Hyrtacides, to battle drawn From the Selleïs banks by martial steeds Hair'd fiery-red and of the noblest size. The fourth, Anchises' mighty son controll'd, Æneas; under him Antenor's sons, Archilochus and Acamas, advanced, Adept in all the practice of the field. Last came the glorious powers in league with Troy Led by Sarpedon; he with Glaucus shared His high control, and with the warlike Chief Asteropæus; for of all his host Them bravest he esteem'd, himself except Superior in heroic might to all. And now (their shields adjusted each to each) With dauntless courage fired, right on they moved Against the Grecians; nor expected less Than that beside their sable ships, the host Should self-abandon'd fall an easy prey. The Trojans, thus with their confederate powers, The counsel of the accomplish'd Prince pursued,
Polydamas, one Chief alone except, Asius Hyrtacides. He scorn'd to leave His charioteer and coursers at the trench, And drove toward the fleet. Ah, madly brave! His evil hour was come; he was ordain'd With horse and chariot and triumphant shout To enter wind-swept Ilium never more. Deucalion's offspring, first, into the shades Dismiss'd him; by Idomeneus he died. Leftward he drove furious, along the road By which the steeds and chariots of the Greeks Return'd from battle; in that track he flew, Nor found the portals by the massy bar Secured, but open for reception safe Of fugitives, and to a guard consign'd. Thither he drove direct, and in his rear His band shrill-shouting follow'd, for they judged The Greeks no longer able to withstand Their foes, but sure to perish in the camp. Vain hope! for in the gate two Chiefs they found Lapithæ-born, courageous offspring each Of dauntless father; Polypœtes, this, Sprung from Pirithöus; that, the warrior bold Leonteus, terrible as gore-tainted Mars. These two, defenders of the lofty gates, Stood firm before them. As when two tall oaks On the high mountains day by day endure Rough wind and rain, by deep-descending roots Of hugest growth fast-founded in the soil; So they, sustain'd by conscious valor, saw, Unmoved, high towering Asius on his way, Nor fear'd him aught, nor shrank from his approach Right on toward the barrier, lifting high Their season'd bucklers and with clamor loud The band advanced, King Asius at their head, With whom Iämenus, expert in arms, Orestes, Thöon, Acamas the son Of Asius, and Oenomäus, led them on
Till now, the warlike pair, exhorting loud The Grecians to defend the fleet, had stood Within the gates; but soon as they perceived The Trojans swift advancing to the wall, And heard a cry from all the flying Greeks, Both sallying, before the gates they fought Like forest-boars, which hearing in the hills The crash of hounds and huntsmen nigh at hand, With start oblique lay many a sapling flat Short-broken by the root, nor cease to grind Their sounding tusks, till by the spear they die; So sounded on the breasts of those brave two The smitten brass; for resolute they fought, Embolden'd by their might who kept the wall, And trusting in their own; they, in defence Of camp and fleet and life, thick battery hurl'd Of stones precipitated from the towers; Frequent as snows they fell, which stormy winds, Driving the gloomy clouds, shake to the ground, Till all the fertile earth lies cover'd deep. Such volley pour'd the Greeks, and such return'd The Trojans; casques of hide, arid and tough, And bossy shields rattled, by such a storm Assail'd of millstone masses from above. Then Asius, son of Hyrtacus, a groan Indignant utter'd; on both thighs he smote With disappointment furious, and exclaim'd, Jupiter! even thou art false become, And altogether such. Full sure I deem'd That not a Grecian hero should abide One moment force invincible as ours, And lo! as wasps ring-streaked,or bees that build Their dwellings in the highway's craggy side Leave not their hollow home, but fearless wait The hunter's coming, in their brood's defence, So these, although two only, from the gates
Move not, nor will, till either seized or slain. So Asius spake, but speaking so, changed not The mind of Jove on Hector's glory bent. Others, as obstinate, at other gates Such deeds perform'd, that to enumerate all Were difficult, unless to power divine.220 For fierce the hail of stones from end to end Smote on the barrier; anguish fill'd the Greeks. Yet, by necessity constrain'd, their ships They guarded still; nor less the Gods themselves, Patrons of Greece, all sorrow'd at the sight. At once the valiant Lapithæ began Terrible conflict, and Pirithous' son Brave Polypœtes through his helmet pierced Damasus; his resplendent point the brass Sufficed not to withstand; entering, it crush' The bone within, and mingling all his brain With his own blood, his onset fierce repress'd. Pylon and Ormenus he next subdued. Meantime Leonteus, branch of Mars, his spear Hurl'd at Hippomachus, whom through his belt He pierced; then drawing forth his falchion keen, Through all the multitude he flew to smite Antiphates, and with a downright stroke Fell'd him. Iämenus and Menon next He slew, with brave Orestes, whom he heap'd, All three together, on the fertile glebe. While them the Lapithæ of their bright arms Despoil'd, Polydamas and Hector stood (With all the bravest youths and most resolved To burst the barrier and to fire the fleet) Beside the foss, pondering the event. For, while they press'd to pass, they spied a bird Sublime in air, an eagle. Right between Both hosts he soar'd (the Trojan on his left) A serpent bearing in his pounces clutch' Enormous, dripping blood, but lively still And mindful of revenge; for from beneath
The eagle's breast, updarting fierce his head, Fast by the throat he struck him; anguish-sick The eagle cast him down into the space Between the hosts, and, clanging loud his plumes As the wind bore him, floated far away. Shudder'd the Trojans viewing at their feet The spotted serpent ominous, and thus Polydamas to dauntless Hector spake. Ofttimes in council, Hector, thou art wont To censure me, although advising well; Nor ought the private citizen, I confess, Either in council or in war to indulge Loquacity, but ever to employ All his exertions in support of thine. Yet hear my best opinion once again. Proceed we not in our attempt against The Grecian fleet. For if in truth the sign Respect the host of Troy ardent to pass, Then, as the eagle soar'd both hosts between, With Ilium's on his left, and clutch'd a snake Enormous, dripping blood, but still alive, Which yet he dropp'd suddenly, ere he reach'd His eyry, or could give it to his young, So we, although with mighty force we burst Both gates and barrier, and although the Greeks Should all retire, shall never yet the way Tread honorably back by which we came. No. Many a Trojan shall we leave behind Slain by the Grecians in their fleet's defence. An augur skill'd in omens would expound This omen thus, and faith would win from all. To whom, dark-louring, Hector thus replied. Polydamas! I like not thy advice; Thou couldst have framed far better; but if this Be thy deliberate judgment, then the Gods Make thy deliberate judgment nothing worth, Who bidd'st me disregard the Thunderer's firm
Assurance to myself announced, and make The wild inhabitants of air my guides, Which I alike despise, speed they their course With right-hand flight toward the ruddy East, Or leftward down into the shades of eve. Consider we the will of Jove alone, Sovereign of heaven and earth. Omens abound, But the best omen is our country's cause. Wherefore should fiery war thy soul alarm? For were we slaughter'd, one and all, around The fleet of Greece, thou need'st not fear to die, Whose courage never will thy flight retard. But if thou shrink thyself, or by smooth speech Seduce one other from a soldier's part, Pierced by this spear incontinent thou diest. So saying he led them, who with deafening roar Follow'd him. Then, from the Idæan hills Jove hurl'd a storm which wafted right the dust Into the fleet; the spirits too he quell'd Of the Achaians, and the glory gave To Hector and his host; they, trusting firm In signs from Jove, and in their proper force, Assay'd the barrier; from the towers they tore The galleries, cast the battlements to ground, And the projecting buttresses adjoin'd To strengthen the vast work, with bars upheaved. All these, with expectation fierce to break The rampart, down they drew; nor yet the Greeks Gave back, but fencing close with shields the wall, Smote from behind them many a foe beneath. Meantime from tower to tower the Ajaces moved
Exhorting all; with mildness some, and some With harsh rebuke, whom they observed through fear Declining base the labors of the fight, Friends! Argives! warriors of whatever rank! Ye who excel, and ye of humbler note!325 And ye the last and least! (for such there are, All have not magnanimity alike) Now have we work for all, as all perceive. Turn not, retreat not to your ships, appall'd By sounding menaces, but press the foe; Exhort each other, and e'en now perchance Olympian Jove, by whom the lightnings burn, Shall grant us to repulse them, and to chase The routed Trojans to their gates again. So they vociferating to the Greeks, Stirr'd them to battle. As the feathery snows Fall frequent, on some wintry day, when Jove Hath risen to shed them on the race of man, And show his arrowy stores; he lulls the winds, Then shakes them down continual, covering thick Mountain tops, promontories, flowery meads, And cultured valleys rich; the ports and shores Receive it also of the hoary deep, But there the waves bound it, while all beside Lies whelm'd beneath Jove's fast-descending shower, So thick, from side to side, by Trojans hurl'd Against the Greeks, and by the Greeks return'd The stony vollies flew; resounding loud Through all its length the battered rampart roar'd. Nor yet had Hector and his host prevail'd To burst the gates, and break the massy bar, Had not all-seeing Jove Sarpedon moved His son, against the Greeks, furious as falls The lion on some horned herd of beeves. At once his polish'd buckler he advanced With leafy brass o'erlaid; for with smooth brass The forger of that shield its oval disk Had plated, and with thickest hides throughout
Had lined it, stitch'd with circling wires of gold. That shield he bore before him; firmly grasp'd He shook two spears, and with determined strides March'd forward. As the lion mountain-bred, After long fast, by impulse of his heart Undaunted urged, seeks resolute the flock Even in the shelter of their guarded home; He finds, perchance, the shepherds arm'd with spears, And all their dogs awake, yet can not leave Untried the fence, but either leaps it light, And entering tears the prey, or in the attempt Pierced by some dexterous peasant, bleeds himself; So high his courage to the assault impell'd Godlike Sarpedon, and him fired with hope To break the barrier; when to Glaucus thus, Son of Hippolochus, his speech he turn'd. Why, Glaucus, is the seat of honor ours, Why drink we brimming cups, and feast in state? Why gaze they all on us as we were Gods In Lycia, and why share we pleasant fields And spacious vineyards, where the Xanthus winds? Distinguished thus in Lycia, we are call'd To firmness here, and to encounter bold The burning battle, that our fair report Among the Lycians may be blazon'd thus- No dastards are the potentates who rule The bright-arm'd Lycians; on the fatted flock They banquet, and they drink the richest wines; But they are also valiant, and the fight Wage dauntless in the vanward of us all. Oh Glaucus, if escaping safe the death That threats us here, we also could escape Old age, and to ourselves secure a life Immortal, I would neither in the van Myself expose, nor would encourage thee To tempt the perils of the glorious field. But since a thousand messengers of fate Pursue us close, and man is born to die- E'en let us on; the prize of glory yield, If yield we must, or wrest it from the foe.
He said, nor cold refusal in return Received from Glaucus, but toward the wa Their numerous Lycian host both led direct. Menestheus, son of Peteos, saw appall'd Their dread approach, for to his tower they bent; Their threatening march. An eager look he cast, On the embodied Greeks, seeking some Chief Whose aid might turn the battle from his van: He saw, where never sated with exploits Of war, each Ajax fought, near whom his eye Kenn'd Teucer also, newly from his tent; But vain his efforts were with loudest To reach their ears, such was the deafening din Upsent to heaven, of shields and crested helms, And of the batter'd gates; for at each gate They thundering' stood, and urged alike at each Their fierce attempt by force to burst the bars. To Ajax therefore he at once dispatch'd A herald, and Thöotes thus enjoin'd. My noble friend, Thöotes! with all speed Call either Ajax; bid them hither both; Far better so; for havoc is at hand. The Lycian leaders, ever in assault Tempestuous, bend their force against this tower My station. But if also there they find Laborious conflict pressing them severe, At least let Telamonian Ajax come, And Teucer with his death-dispensing bow. He spake, nor was Thöotes slow to hear; Beside the rampart of the mail-clad Greeks Rapid he flew, and, at their side arrived, To either Ajax, eager, thus began. Ye leaders of the well-appointed Greeks, The son of noble Peteos calls; he begs With instant suit, that ye would share his toils, However short your stay; the aid of both
Will serve him best, for havoc threatens there The Lycian leaders, ever in assault Tempestuous, bend their force toward the tower His station. But if also here ye find Laborious conflict pressing you severe, At least let Telamonian Ajax come, And Teucer with his death-dispensing bow. He spake, nor his request the towering son Of Telamon denied, but quick his speech To Ajax Oïliades address'd. Ajax! abiding here, exhort ye both (Heroic Lycomedes and thyself) The Greeks to battle. Thither I depart To aid our friends, which service once perform'd Duly, I will incontinent return. So saying, the Telamonian Chief withdrew With whom went Teucer, son of the same sire, Pandion also, bearing Teucer's bow. Arriving at the turret given in charge To the bold Chief Menestheus, and the wall Entering, they found their friends all sharply tried. Black as a storm the senators renown'd And leaders of the Lycian host assail'd Buttress and tower, while opposite the Greeks Withstood them, and the battle-shout began. First, Ajax, son of Telamon, a friend And fellow-warrior of Sarpedon slew, Epicles. With a marble fragment huge That crown'd the battlement's interior side, He smote him. No man of our puny race, Although in prime of youth, had with both hands That weight sustain'd; but he the cumberous mass Uplifted high, and hurl'd it on his head. It burst his helmet, and his batter'd skull Dash'd from all form. He from the lofty tower Dropp'd downright, with a diver's plunge, and died. But Teucer wounded Glaucus with a shaft Son of Hippolochus; he, climbing, bared
His arm, which Teucer, marking, from the wall Transfix'd it, and his onset fierce repress'd; For with a backward leap Glaucus withdrew Sudden and silent, cautious lest the Greeks Seeing him wounded should insult his pain. Grief seized, at sight of his retiring friend, Sarpedon, who forgat not yet the fight, But piercing with his lance Alcmaon, son Of Thestor, suddenly reversed the beam, Which following, Alcmaon to the earth Fell prone, with clangor of his brazen arms. Sarpedon, then, strenuous with both hands Tugg'd, and down fell the battlement entire; The wall, dismantled at the summit, stood A ruin, and wide chasm was open'd through. Then Ajax him and Teucer at one time Struck both; an arrow struck from Teucer's bow The belt that cross'd his bosom, by which hung His ample shield; yet lest his son should fall Among the ships, Jove turn'd the death aside. But Ajax, springing to his thrust, a spear Drove through his shield. Sarpedon at the shock With backward step short interval recoil'd, But not retired, for in his bosom lived The hope of glory still, and, looking back On all his godlike Lycians, he exclaim'd, Oh Lycians! where is your heroic might? Brave as I boast myself, I feel the task Arduous, through the breach made by myself To win a passage to the ships, alone. Follow me all-Most laborers, most dispatch. So he; at whose sharp reprimand abash'd The embattled host to closer conflict moved, Obedient to their counsellor and King. On the other side the Greeks within the wall Made firm the phalanx, seeing urgent need;
Nor could the valiant Lycians through the breach Admittance to the Grecian fleet obtain, Nor since they first approach'd it, had the Greeks With all their efforts, thrust the Lycians back. But as two claimants of one common field, Each with his rod of measurement in hand, Dispute the boundaries, litigating warm Their right in some small portion of the soil, So they, divided by the barrier, struck With hostile rage the bull-hide bucklers round, And the light targets on each other's breast. Then many a wound the ruthless weapons made. Pierced through the unarm'd back, if any turn'd, He died, and numerous even through the shield. The battlements from end to end with blood Of Grecians and of Trojans on both sides Were sprinkled; yet no violence could move The stubborn Greeks, or turn their powers to flight. So hung the war in balance, as the scales Held by some woman scrupulously just, A spinner; wool and weight she poises nice, Hard-earning slender pittance for her babes Such was the poise in which the battle hung Till Jove himself superior fame, at length, To Priamëian Hector gave, who sprang First through the wall. In lofty sounds that reach'd Their utmost ranks, he call'd on all his host. Now press them, now ye Trojans steed-renown'd Rush on! break through the Grecian rampart, hurl At once devouring flames into the fleet. Such was his exhortation; they his voice All hearing, with close-order'd ranks direct Bore on the barrier, and up-swarming show'd On the high battlement their glittering spears.
But Hector seized a stone; of ample base But tapering to a point, before the gate It stood. No two men, mightiest of a land (Such men as now are mighty) could with ease Have heaved it from the earth up to a wain; He swung it easily alone; so light The son of Saturn made it in his hand. As in one hand with ease the shepherd bears A ram's fleece home, nor toils beneath the weight, So Hector, right toward the planks of those Majestic folding-gates, close-jointed, firm And solid, bore the stone. Two bars within Their corresponding force combined transvere To guard them, and one bolt secured the bars. He stood fast by them, parting wide his feet For 'vantage sake, and smote them in the midst. He burst both hinges; inward fell the rock Ponderous, and the portals roar'd; the bars Endured not, and the planks, riven by the force Of that huge mass, flew scatter'd on all sides. In leap'd the godlike Hero at the breach, Gloomy as night in aspect, but in arms All-dazzling, and he grasp'd two quivering spears. Him entering with a leap the gates, no force Whate'er of opposition had repress'd, Save of the Gods alone. Fire fill'd his eyes; Turning, he bade the multitude without Ascend the rampart; they his voice obey'd; Part climb'd the wall, part pour'd into the gate; The Grecians to their hollow galleys flew Scatter'd, and tumult infinite arose.

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Word Lists:

Incommodious : causing inconvenience or discomfort.

Dauntless : showing fearlessness and determination

Rampart : a defensive wall of a castle or walled city, having a broad top with a walkway and typically a stone parapet

Chariot : a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle used in ancient warfare and racing.

Clangor : a continuous loud banging or ringing sound

Hector : talk to (someone) in a bullying way

Host : a person who receives or entertains other people as guests

Incontinent : having no or insufficient voluntary control over urination or defecation

Onset : the beginning of something, especially something unpleasant

Barrier : a fence or other obstacle that prevents movement or access

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Additional Information:

Rating: Words in the Passage: 4288 Unique Words: 1,424 Sentences: 143
Noun: 1389 Conjunction: 379 Adverb: 196 Interjection: 3
Adjective: 395 Pronoun: 386 Verb: 482 Preposition: 532
Letter Count: 19,567 Sentiment: Positive / Positive / Positive Tone: Neutral Difficult Words: 986
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