The Valor of Menelaus and the Fall of Peisandrus — Homer, Iliad Book 13 (lines 559–627), Greek & English

559

ἤ τευ ἀκοντίσσαι, ἠὲ σχεδὸν ὁρμηθῆναι.

whether to cast his spear at someone, or to rush in close.

560

ἀλλʼ οὐ λῆθʼ Ἀδάμαντα τιτυσκόμενος καθʼ ὅμιλον

But he did not escape the notice of Adamas, son of Asius, as he aimed through the throng,

Ἀσιάδην, ὅ οἱ οὖτα μέσον σάκος ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ

who rushed close from nearby and struck his shield in the middle with sharp bronze;

ἐγγύθεν ὁρμηθείς· ἀμενήνωσεν δέ οἱ αἰχμὴνκυανοχαῖτα Ποσειδάων βιότοιο μεγήρας.¹

but dark-haired Poseidon made his spear-point powerless for him, grudging him his life.

καὶ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ μεῖνʼ ὥς τε σκῶλος πυρίκαυστος

And one part of it remained there like a fire-hardened stake in the shield of Antilochus,

565

ἐν σάκει Ἀντιλόχοιο, τὸ δʼ ἥμισυ κεῖτʼ ἐπὶ γαίης·

and the other half lay on the ground;

ἂψ δʼ ἑτάρων εἰς ἔθνος ἐχάζετο κῆρʼ ἀλεείνων·

and he shrank back into the throng of his companions, avoiding death;

Μηριόνης δʼ ἀπιόντα μετασπόμενος βάλε δουρὶ

but Meriones followed him as he retreated and struck him with his spear

αἰδοίων τε μεσηγὺ καὶ ὀμφαλοῦ, ἔνθα μάλιστα

between the private parts and the navel, where most of all

γίγνετʼ Ἄρης ἀλεγεινὸς ὀϊζυροῖσι βροτοῖσιν.

painful death comes to wretched mortals.

570

ἔνθά οἱ ἔγχος ἔπηξεν· ὃ δʼ ἑσπόμενος περὶ δουρὶ

There he fixed his spear; and he, bending over the spear,

ἤσπαιρʼ ὡς ὅτε βοῦς τόν τʼ οὔρεσι βουκόλοι ἄνδρες

writhed as an ox which herdsmen in the mountains

ἰλλάσιν οὐκ ἐθέλοντα βίῃ δήσαντες ἄγουσιν·

bind with ropes and lead away by force against its will;

ὣς ὃ τυπεὶς ἤσπαιρε μίνυνθά περ, οὔ τι μάλα δήν,

so he, when struck, writhed for a little while, not very long,

ὄφρά οἱ ἐκ χροὸς ἔγχος ἀνεσπάσατʼ ἐγγύθεν ἐλθὼν

until the hero Meriones came near and drew the spear out of his flesh;

575

ἥρως Μηριόνης· τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψε.

and darkness covered his eyes.

Δηΐπυρον δʼ Ἕλενος ξίφεϊ σχεδὸν ἤλασε κόρσην

And Helenus struck Deipyrus on the temple from close at hand with a great Thracian sword,

Θρηϊκίῳ μεγάλῳ, ἀπὸ δὲ τρυφάλειαν ἄραξεν.

and knocked off his helmet.

ἣ μὲν ἀποπλαγχθεῖσα χαμαὶ πέσε, καί τις Ἀχαιῶν

It was knocked off and fell to the ground, and one of the fighting Achaeans

μαρναμένων μετὰ ποσσὶ κυλινδομένην ἐκόμισσε·

gathered it as it rolled among their feet;

580

τὸν δὲ κατʼ ὀφθαλμῶν ἐρεβεννὴ νὺξ ἐκάλυψεν.

and dark night covered his eyes.

Ἀτρεΐδην δʼ ἄχος εἷλε βοὴν ἀγαθὸν Μενέλαον·

And grief seized the son of Atreus, Menelaus, good at the war-cry;

βῆ δʼ ἐπαπειλήσας Ἑλένῳ ἥρωϊ ἄνακτι

and he went, threatening the hero prince Helenus,

ὀξὺ δόρυ κραδάων· ὃ δὲ τόξου πῆχυν ἄνελκε.

brandishing his sharp spear; and the other drew the horn of his bow.

τὼ δʼ ἄρʼ ὁμαρτήδην ὃ μὲν ἔγχεϊ ὀξυόεντι

So the two at the same time, the one with his sharp spear was eager to cast,

585

ἵετʼ ἀκοντίσσαι, ὃ δʼ ἀπὸ νευρῆφιν ὀϊστῷ.

and the other to shoot an arrow from the string.

Πριαμίδης μὲν ἔπειτα κατὰ στῆθος βάλεν ἰῷ

Then the son of Priam struck him with an arrow on the chest,

θώρηκος γύαλον, ἀπὸ δʼ ἔπτατο πικρὸς ὀϊστός.

on the plate of his corselet; but the bitter arrow leapt away.

ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἀπὸ πλατέος πτυόφιν μεγάλην κατʼ ἀλωὴν

And as when from a broad shovel on a great threshing-floor

θρῴσκωσιν κύαμοι μελανόχροες ἢ ἐρέβινθοι

black-skinned beans or chickpeas leap

590

πνοιῇ ὕπο λιγυρῇ καὶ λικμητῆρος ἐρωῇ,

under the whistling wind and the sweep of the winnower;

ὣς ἀπὸ θώρηκος Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο

so from the corselet of glorious Menelaus,

πολλὸν ἀποπλαγχθεὶς ἑκὰς ἔπτατο πικρὸς ὀϊστός.

rebounding far away, the bitter arrow flew.

Ἀτρεΐδης δʼ ἄρα χεῖρα βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος

And then Menelaus, good at the war-cry, struck the hand

τὴν βάλεν ᾗ ῥʼ ἔχε τόξον ἐΰξοον· ἐν δʼ ἄρα τόξῳ

with which he was holding his well-polished bow;

595

ἀντικρὺ διὰ χειρὸς ἐλήλατο χάλκεον ἔγχος.

and in the bow, straight through his hand, the bronze spear was driven.

ἂψ δʼ ἑτάρων εἰς ἔθνος ἐχάζετο κῆρʼ ἀλεείνων

And he shrank back into the throng of his companions, avoiding death, letting his hand hang down;

χεῖρα παρακρεμάσας· τὸ δʼ ἐφέλκετο μείλινον ἔγχος.

and the ashen spear trailed after him.

καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐκ χειρὸς ἔρυσεν μεγάθυμος Ἀγήνωρ,

And great-souled Agenor drew it from his hand,

αὐτὴν δὲ ξυνέδησεν ἐϋστρεφεῖ οἰὸς ἀώτῳ

and bound up the hand itself with a well-twisted band of sheep’s wool,

600

σφενδόνῃ, ἣν ἄρα οἱ θεράπων ἔχε ποιμένι λαῶν.

a sling, which a squire held for him, the shepherd of the host.

Πείσανδρος δʼ ἰθὺς Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο

And Peisandrus went straight against glorious Menelaus;

ἤϊε· τὸν δʼ ἄγε μοῖρα κακὴ θανάτοιο τέλος δὲ

but an evil fate was leading him to the end of death,

σοὶ Μενέλαε δαμῆναι² ἐν αἰνῇ δηϊοτῆτι.

to be vanquished by you, Menelaus, in the dread conflict.

οἳ δʼ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦσαν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοισιν ἰόντες

And when they were come near as they advanced against each other,

605

Ἀτρεΐδης μὲν ἅμαρτε, παραὶ δέ οἱ ἐτράπετʼ ἔγχος,

the son of Atreus missed, and his spear was turned aside;

Πείσανδρος δὲ σάκος Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο

but Peisandrus struck the shield of glorious Menelaus,

οὔτασεν, οὐδὲ διὰ πρὸ δυνήσατο χαλκὸν ἐλάσσαι·

yet he could not drive the bronze clean through;

ἔσχεθε γὰρ σάκος εὐρύ, κατεκλάσθη δʼ ἐνὶ καυλῷ

for the broad shield held it off, and the spear was broken at the shaft;

ἔγχος· ὃ δὲ φρεσὶν ᾗσι χάρη καὶ ἐέλπετο νίκην.

and he rejoiced in his heart and hoped for victory.

610

Ἀτρεΐδης δὲ ἐρυσσάμενος ξίφος ἀργυρόηλον

But the son of Atreus, drawing his silver-studded sword,

ἆλτʼ ἐπὶ Πεισάνδρῳ· ὃ δʼ ὑπʼ ἀσπίδος εἵλετο καλὴν

leapt upon Peisandrus; and he from beneath his shield took

ἀξίνην εὔχαλκον ἐλαΐνῳ ἀμφὶ πελέκκῳ

a beautiful battle-axe of fine bronze, on a long, well-polished shaft of olive wood;

μακρῷ ἐϋξέστῳ· ἅμα δʼ ἀλλήλων ἐφίκοντο.

and at the same time they reached each other.

ἤτοι ὃ μὲν κόρυθος φάλον ἤλασεν ἱπποδασείης

Now the one struck the horn of the horsehair-crested helmet right under the crest itself,

615

ἄκρον ὑπὸ λόφον αὐτόν, ὃ δὲ προσιόντα μέτωπον

but the other struck him, as he came on, on the forehead

ῥινὸς ὕπερ πυμάτης· λάκε δʼ ὀστέα, τὼ δέ οἱ ὄσσε

above the base of the nose; and the bones cracked, and his two eyes

πὰρ ποσὶν αἱματόεντα χαμαὶ πέσον ἐν κονίῃσιν,

fell bloody on the ground in the dust beside his feet;

ἰδνώθη δὲ πεσών· ὃ δὲ λὰξ ἐν στήθεσι βαίνων

and he bowed and fell; and the other, setting his foot upon his breast,

τεύχεά τʼ ἐξενάριξε καὶ εὐχόμενος ἔπος ηὔδα·

stripped off his armor and spoke boasting words:

620

λείψετέ θην οὕτω γε νέας Δαναῶν ταχυπώλων

”Thus surely at last you will leave the ships of the Danaans of swift steeds,

Τρῶες ὑπερφίαλοι δεινῆς ἀκόρητοι ἀϋτῆς,

you overweening Trojans, insatiable of the dread battle-cry,

ἄλλης μὲν λώβης τε καὶ αἴσχεος οὐκ ἐπιδευεῖς

not lacking in any other outrage and shame

ἣν ἐμὲ λωβήσασθε³ κακαὶ κύνες, οὐδέ τι θυμῷ

with which you outraged me, you evil dogs; nor did you fear at all in your hearts

Ζηνὸς ἐριβρεμέτεω χαλεπὴν ἐδείσατε μῆνιν

the heavy wrath of loud-thundering Zeus, the god of hospitality,

625

ξεινίου, ὅς τέ ποτʼ ὔμμι διαφθέρσει πόλιν αἰπήν·

who will one day destroy your steep city;

οἵ μευ κουριδίην ἄλοχον καὶ κτήματα πολλὰ

you who carried off my wedded wife and many possessions

μὰψ οἴχεσθʼ ἀνάγοντες, ἐπεὶ φιλέεσθε παρʼ αὐτῇ·

in wantonness, leading them away, though you had been welcomed by her;”

Syntax notes3 items

13.563βιότοιο μεγήρας
The verb μεγαίρω (to grudge, refuse to grant) takes the genitive case, which is here βιότοιο (life). It can be interpreted either as Poseidon "grudging (the loss of Antilochus') life" or "refusing (to grant Adamas Antilochus') life."
13.603δαμῆναι
The second aorist passive infinitive of δάμνημι (to subdue). It expresses the result or purpose brought about by the preceding subject μοῖρα κακὴ (evil fate). It is syntactically connected with the sudden apostrophe to Menelaus in the second person (σοὶ Μενέλαε).
13.623ἣν ἐμὲ λωβήσασθε
The relative pronoun ἣν functions as a cognate accusative referring back to the antecedent λώβης (outrage) in the preceding line. Since the verb λωβάομαι (to outrage) can take a double accusative (person and cognate object), the phrase means "the outrage (ἣν) with which you outraged me (ἐμὲ)."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-23) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:13.559-13.627