March of the Achaeans and Invocation of the Muses — Homer, Iliad Book 2 (lines 427–501), Greek & English

427

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ μῆρε κάη καὶ σπλάγχνα πάσαντο,

But when the thigh-pieces were burned quite away and they had tasted the inner parts,

μίστυλλόν τʼ ἄρα τἆλλα καὶ ἀμφʼ ὀβελοῖσιν ἔπειραν,

they sliced the rest and spitted it,

ὤπτησάν τε περιφραδέως, ἐρύσαντό τε πάντα.

and roasted it carefully, and drew it all off the spits.

430

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ παύσαντο πόνου τετύκοντό τε δαῖτα

But when they had ceased from their labor and had made ready the feast,

δαίνυντʼ, οὐδέ τι θυμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης.

they feasted, nor did their hearts lack anything of the equal feast.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,

But when they had put away from them the desire for drink and food,

τοῖς ἄρα μύθων ἦρχε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ·

among them Gerenian horseman Nestor was the first to speak:

Ἀτρεΐδη κύδιστε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγάμεμνον,

”Son of Atreus, most glorious, lord of men Agamemnon,

435

μηκέτι νῦν δήθʼ αὖθι λεγώμεθα,¹ μηδʼ ἔτι δηρὸν

let us no longer talk together here, nor let us any longer

ἀμβαλλώμεθα ἔργον ὃ δὴ θεὸς ἐγγυαλίζει.

delay the work that the god puts into our hands.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε κήρυκες μὲν Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων

Come, let the heralds of the bronze-clad Achaeans

λαὸν κηρύσσοντες ἀγειρόντων κατὰ νῆας,

summon the people with their cry and gather them at the ships,

ἡμεῖς δʼ ἀθρόοι ὧδε κατὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν

and let us go in a body, just as we are, through the wide camp of the Achaeans,

440

ἴομεν ὄφρα κε θᾶσσον ἐγείρομεν ὀξὺν Ἄρηα.

so that we may the more quickly rouse sharp war.”

ὣς ἔφατʼ, οὐδʼ ἀπίθησεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων.

So he spoke, and lord of men Agamemnon did not disobey.

αὐτίκα κηρύκεσσι λιγυφθόγγοισι κέλευσε

Straightway he commanded the clear-voiced heralds

κηρύσσειν πόλεμον δὲ κάρη κομόωντας Ἀχαιούς·

to summon to battle the long-haired Achaeans;

οἳ μὲν ἐκήρυσσον, τοὶ δʼ ἠγείροντο μάλʼ ὦκα.

and they summoned them, and the men gathered full quickly.

445

οἳ δʼ ἀμφʼ Ἀτρεΐωνα διοτρεφέες βασιλῆες

And the kings, nurtured by Zeus, who were about the son of Atreus,

θῦνον κρίνοντες, μετὰ δὲ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη

busied themselves in marshalling the men, and with them went flashing-eyed Athena,

αἰγίδʼ ἔχουσʼ ἐρίτιμον ἀγήρων² ἀθανάτην τε,

holding the priceless aegis, that knows no age nor death,

τῆς ἑκατὸν θύσανοι παγχρύσεοι ἠερέθονται,

from which wave a hundred tassels of pure gold,

πάντες ἐϋπλεκέες, ἑκατόμβοιος δὲ ἕκαστος·

all well-woven, and each worth a hundred oxen.

450

σὺν τῇ παιφάσσουσα διέσσυτο λαὸν Ἀχαιῶν

With this she sped dazzlingly through the host of the Achaeans,

ὀτρύνουσʼ ἰέναι· ἐν δὲ σθένος ὦρσεν ἑκάστῳ

urging them to go forward; and in the heart of each man she roused strength

καρδίῃ ἄλληκτον πολεμίζειν ἠδὲ μάχεσθαι.

to war and battle without ceasing.

τοῖσι δʼ ἄφαρ πόλεμος γλυκίων γένετʼ ἠὲ νέεσθαι

And to them straightway war became sweeter than to return

ἐν νηυσὶ γλαφυρῇσι φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.

in their hollow ships to their dear native land.

455

ἠΰτε πῦρ ἀΐδηλον ἐπιφλέγει ἄσπετον ὕλην

Even as a ravaging fire lights up a boundless forest

οὔρεος ἐν κορυφῇς, ἕκαθεν δέ τε φαίνεται αὐγή,

on the mountain peaks, and its glare is seen from afar,

ὣς τῶν ἐρχομένων ἀπὸ χαλκοῦ θεσπεσίοιο

so from the bronze of those as they marched, the dazzling gleam

αἴγλη παμφανόωσα διʼ αἰθέρος οὐρανὸν ἷκε.

went up through the upper air even to heaven.

τῶν δʼ ὥς τʼ ὀρνίθων πετεηνῶν ἔθνεα πολλὰ

And as the many tribes of winged birds,

460

χηνῶν ἢ γεράνων ἢ κύκνων δουλιχοδείρων

of geese or cranes or long-necked swans,

Ἀσίω ἐν λειμῶνι Καϋστρίου ἀμφὶ ῥέεθρα

in the Asian meadow about the streams of Caystrius,

ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα ποτῶνται ἀγαλλόμενα πτερύγεσσι

fly here and there glorying in their wings,

κλαγγηδὸν προκαθιζόντων, σμαραγεῖ δέ τε λειμών,

and settle screaming, and the meadow rings again;

ὣς τῶν ἔθνεα πολλὰ νεῶν ἄπο καὶ κλισιάων

so their many tribes poured forth from ships and tents

465

ἐς πεδίον προχέοντο Σκαμάνδριον· αὐτὰρ ὑπὸ χθὼν

into the plain of Scamander, and the earth beneath

σμερδαλέον κονάβιζε ποδῶν αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἵππων.

echoed terribly under the feet of men and horses.

ἔσταν δʼ ἐν λειμῶνι Σκαμανδρίῳ ἀνθεμόεντι

So they took their stand in the flowery meadow of Scamander,

μυρίοι, ὅσσά τε φύλλα καὶ ἄνθεα γίγνεται ὥρῃ.

countless, as are the leaves and flowers in their season.

ἠΰτε μυιάων ἁδινάων ἔθνεα πολλὰ

Even as the many tribes of thick-clustering flies

470

αἵ τε κατὰ σταθμὸν ποιμνήϊον ἠλάσκουσιν

that hover about the herdsman’s steading

ὥρῃ ἐν εἰαρινῇ ὅτε τε γλάγος ἄγγεα δεύει,

in the season of spring, when the milk drenches the pails;

τόσσοι ἐπὶ Τρώεσσι κάρη κομόωντες Ἀχαιοὶ

even so many long-haired Achaeans stood

ἐν πεδίῳ ἵσταντο διαρραῖσαι μεμαῶτες.

in the plain against the Trojans, eager to rend them.

τοὺς δʼ ὥς τʼ αἰπόλια πλατέʼ αἰγῶν αἰπόλοι ἄνδρες

And as goatherds easily separate

475

ῥεῖα διακρίνωσιν³ ἐπεί κε νομῷ μιγέωσιν,

the wide-ranging flocks of goats when they have mingled in the pasture,

ὣς τοὺς ἡγεμόνες διεκόσμεον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα

so did their leaders marshal them on this side and on that

ὑσμίνην δʼ ἰέναι, μετὰ δὲ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων

to enter into the battle, and among them lord Agamemnon,

ὄμματα καὶ κεφαλὴν ἴκελος Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ,

with eyes and head like Zeus who hurls the thunderbolt,

Ἄρεϊ δὲ ζώνην, στέρνον δὲ Ποσειδάωνι.

and his waist like Ares, and his breast like Poseidon.

480

ἠΰτε βοῦς ἀγέληφι μέγʼ ἔξοχος ἔπλετο πάντων

Even as a bull in a herd is far the chiefest of all,

ταῦρος· ὃ γάρ τε βόεσσι μεταπρέπει ἀγρομένῃσι·

for he stands out conspicuous among the gathering kine;

τοῖον ἄρʼ Ἀτρεΐδην θῆκε Ζεὺς ἤματι κείνῳ

even such did Zeus make the son of Atreus on that day,

ἐκπρεπέʼ ἐν πολλοῖσι καὶ ἔξοχον ἡρώεσσιν.

pre-eminent among many, and chiefest among heroes.

ἔσπετε νῦν μοι Μοῦσαι Ὀλύμπια δώματʼ ἔχουσαι·

Tell me now, you Muses who have dwellings on Olympus—

485

ὑμεῖς γὰρ θεαί ἐστε πάρεστέ τε ἴστέ τε πάντα,

for you are goddesses, and are present, and know all things,

ἡμεῖς δὲ κλέος οἶον ἀκούομεν οὐδέ τι ἴδμεν·

while we hear only a rumor and know nothing—

οἵ τινες ἡγεμόνες Δαναῶν καὶ κοίρανοι ἦσαν·

who were the leaders and lords of the Danaans.

πληθὺν δʼ οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι⁴ οὐδʼ ὀνομήνω,

But the multitude I could not tell or name,

οὐδʼ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι, δέκα δὲ στόματʼ εἶεν,

not even if I had ten tongues and ten mouths,

490

φωνὴ δʼ ἄρρηκτος, χάλκεον δέ μοι ἦτορ ἐνείη,

and a voice untiring, and a bronze heart within me,

εἰ μὴ Ὀλυμπιάδες Μοῦσαι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο

unless the Muses of Olympus, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus,

θυγατέρες μνησαίαθʼ ὅσοι ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἦλθον·

should bring to my mind how many came beneath Ilium.

ἀρχοὺς αὖ νηῶν ἐρέω νῆάς τε προπάσας.

Now will I tell the captains of the ships and all the ships together.

Βοιωτῶν μὲν Πηνέλεως καὶ Λήϊτος ἦρχον

Of the Boeotians, Peneleos and Leitus were captains,

495

Ἀρκεσίλαός τε Προθοήνωρ τε Κλονίος τε,

and Arcesilaus and Prothoenor and Clonius;

οἵ θʼ Ὑρίην ἐνέμοντο καὶ Αὐλίδα πετρήεσσαν

these were they who dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis,

Σχοῖνόν τε Σκῶλόν τε πολύκνημόν τʼ Ἐτεωνόν,

and Schoenus and Scolus and mountain-walled Eteonus,

Θέσπειαν Γραῖάν τε καὶ εὐρύχορον Μυκαλησσόν,

Thespeia, and Graia, and spacious Mycalessus,

οἵ τʼ ἀμφʼ Ἅρμʼ ἐνέμοντο καὶ Εἰλέσιον καὶ Ἐρυθράς,

and they who dwelt about Harma and Eilesium and Erythrae,

500

οἵ τʼ Ἐλεῶνʼ εἶχον ἠδʼ Ὕλην καὶ Πετεῶνα,

and they who held Eleon and Hyle and Peteon,

Ὠκαλέην Μεδεῶνά τʼ ἐϋκτίμενον πτολίεθρον,

Ocalea and Medeon, the well-built city,

Syntax notes4 items

2.435λεγώμεθα
λεγώμεθα and ἀμβαλλώμεθα in line 436 are both first-person plural present subjunctives, functioning as hortatory subjunctives ("let us...").
2.447ἀγήρων
Accusative feminine singular of the adjective ἀγήραος (ageless), modifying the feminine noun αἰγίδα. It is a two-termination adjective that is contracted to ἀγήρων in the Attic declension, sharing the same form for masculine and feminine.
2.475διακρίνωσιν
Present subjunctive without the particle ἄν (or κε) in a simile clause introduced by ὥς τε. This is a characteristic Homeric usage of the subjunctive alone to express a general, repeated action within a comparison (subjunctive of comparison).
2.488οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι
The apodosis to the condition in line 489 (εἴ μοι ... εἶεν, optative). The combination of the particle ἄν with the future indicative (μυθήσομαι) or a short-vowel aorist subjunctive expresses potentiality or a future possibility ("I could not tell..."), a characteristic epic usage.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-23)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.427-2.501