- Source
- Homer. Homeri Opera, Volumes 1-2. Monro, D. B. (David Binning), editor; Allen, Thomas W. (Thomas William), editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1920.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:20.76-20.148
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Achilles eagerly seeks to clash with Hector, but Apollo inspires Aeneas to stand against him. Hera proposes that the pro-Greek gods directly assist Achilles, but Poseidon persuades them to remain observers for now, leading them to the mounded wall of Heracles.
Ἕκτορος ἄντα μάλιστα λιλαίετο δῦναι ὅμιλον
But Achilles was most of all eager to plunge into the throng of men to meet Hector, son of Priam;
Πριαμίδεω· τοῦ γάρ ῥα μάλιστά ἑ θυμὸς ἀνώγει
for his heart especially urged him
αἵματος ἆσαι Ἄρηα1 ταλαύρινον πολεμιστήν.
to glut with his blood Ares, the stubborn warrior.
Αἰνείαν δʼ ἰθὺς λαοσσόος ὦρσεν Ἀπόλλων
But Aeneas did Apollo, rouser of hosts, urge straight against the son of Peleus,
ἀντία Πηλεΐωνος, ἐνῆκε δέ οἱ μένος ἠΰ·
and he inspired him with great strength;
υἱέϊ δὲ Πριάμοιο Λυκάονι εἴσατο φωνήν·
and he made his voice like that of Lycaon, son of Priam.
τῷ μιν ἐεισάμενος προσέφη Διὸς υἱὸς Ἀπόλλων·
Likening himself to him, Apollo, son of Zeus, addressed him:
Αἰνεία Τρώων βουληφόρε ποῦ τοι ἀπειλαὶ
”Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans, where are now your threats,
ἃς Τρώων βασιλεῦσιν ὑπίσχεο οἰνοποτάζων
which you made to the kings of the Trojans while drinking wine,
Πηλεΐδεω Ἀχιλῆος ἐναντίβιον πολεμίξειν;
that you would fight face to face against Achilles, son of Peleus?”
τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Αἰνείας ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέειπε·
And Aeneas answered him, saying:
Πριαμίδη τί με ταῦτα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα κελεύεις
”Son of Priam, why do you bid me, who have no desire,
ἀντία Πηλεΐωνος ὑπερθύμοιο μάχεσθαι;
to fight against the high-hearted son of Peleus?
οὐ μὲν γὰρ νῦν πρῶτα ποδώκεος ἄντʼ Ἀχιλῆος
For not now for the first time shall I stand against swift-footed Achilles,
στήσομαι, ἀλλʼ ἤδη με καὶ ἄλλοτε δουρὶ φόβησεν
but already ere now did he drive me in flight with his spear from Ida,
ἐξ Ἴδης, ὅτε βουσὶν ἐπήλυθεν ἡμετέρῃσι,
when he came upon our cattle
πέρσε δὲ Λυρνησσὸν καὶ Πήδασον· αὐτὰρ ἐμὲ Ζεὺς
and sacked Lyrnessus and Pedasus; but Zeus saved me,
εἰρύσαθʼ, ὅς μοι ἐπῶρσε μένος λαιψηρά τε γοῦνα.
who aroused strength in me and swift knees.
ἦ κʼ ἐδάμην2 ὑπὸ χερσὶν Ἀχιλλῆος καὶ Ἀθήνης,
Else had I been laid low beneath the hands of Achilles and of Athena,
ἥ οἱ πρόσθεν ἰοῦσα τίθει φάος ἠδʼ ἐκέλευεν
who went before him and set a light, and bade him
ἔγχεϊ χαλκείῳ Λέλεγας καὶ Τρῶας ἐναίρειν.
slay Leleges and Trojans with his bronze spear.
τὼ οὐκ ἔστʼ Ἀχιλῆος ἐναντίον ἄνδρα μάχεσθαι·
Therefore it is not possible for a man to fight against Achilles;
αἰεὶ γὰρ πάρα εἷς γε θεῶν ὃς λοιγὸν ἀμύνει.
for always one of the gods is by him, who wards off destruction.
καὶ δʼ ἄλλως τοῦ γʼ ἰθὺ βέλος πέτετʼ, οὐδʼ ἀπολήγει
Moreover, even otherwise his missile flies straight, and does not cease
πρὶν χροὸς ἀνδρομέοιο διελθέμεν. εἰ δὲ θεός περ
until it has pierced through the flesh of man. But if a god would stretch the issue of war evenly, not very easily
ἶσον τείνειεν πολέμου τέλος, οὔ κε μάλα ῥέα
would he conquer me,
νικήσειʼ, οὐδʼ εἰ παγχάλκεος εὔχεται εἶναι.
no, not though he boasts to be all of bronze.”
τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπεν ἄναξ Διὸς υἱὸς Ἀπόλλων·
And to him again spoke the lord Apollo, son of Zeus:
ἥρως ἀλλʼ ἄγε καὶ σὺ θεοῖς αἰειγενέτῃσιν
”Hero, come, do you too pray to the ever-living gods;
εὔχεο· καὶ δὲ σέ φασι Διὸς κούρης Ἀφροδίτης
for they say that you too are born of Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus,
ἐκγεγάμεν, κεῖνος δὲ χερείονος ἐκ θεοῦ ἐστίν·
while he is from a lesser goddess.
ἣ μὲν γὰρ Διός ἐσθʼ, ἣ δʼ ἐξ ἁλίοιο γέροντος.
For she is from Zeus, and the other from the old man of the sea.
ἀλλʼ ἰθὺς φέρε χαλκὸν ἀτειρέα, μηδέ σε πάμπαν
But bear your unwearied bronze straight against him, and let him by no means
λευγαλέοις ἐπέεσσιν ἀποτρεπέτω καὶ ἀρειῇ.
turn you back with words of insult and threat.”
ὣς εἰπὼν ἔμπνευσε μένος μέγα ποιμένι λαῶν,
So saying, he breathed great strength into the shepherd of the host,
βῆ δὲ διὰ προμάχων κεκορυθμένος αἴθοπι χαλκῷ.
and he went through the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze.
οὐδʼ ἔλαθʼ Ἀγχίσαο πάϊς λευκώλενον Ἥρην
Nor did the son of Anchises escape the notice of white-armed Hera
ἀντία Πηλεΐωνος ἰὼν ἀνὰ οὐλαμὸν ἀνδρῶν·
as he went through the throng of men against the son of Peleus;
ἣ δʼ ἄμυδις στήσασα θεοὺς μετὰ μῦθον ἔειπε·
and she gathered the gods together and spoke among them, saying:
φράζεσθον δὴ σφῶϊ Ποσείδαον καὶ Ἀθήνη
”Consider well, you two, Poseidon and Athena,
ἐν φρεσὶν ὑμετέρῃσιν, ὅπως ἔσται τάδε ἔργα.
in your minds, how these things shall turn.
Αἰνείας ὅδʼ ἔβη κεκορυθμένος αἴθοπι χαλκῷ
Here is Aeneas gone, harnessed in flaming bronze,
ἀντία Πηλεΐωνος, ἀνῆκε δὲ Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.
against the son of Peleus, and Phoebus Apollo has sent him.
ἀλλʼ ἄγεθʼ, ἡμεῖς πέρ μιν ἀποτρωπῶμεν ὀπίσσω
But come, let us turn him back from here straightway;
αὐτόθεν· ἤ τις ἔπειτα καὶ ἡμείων Ἀχιλῆϊ
or else let some one of us also stand by Achilles’ side,
παρσταίη, δοίη δὲ κράτος μέγα, μηδέ τι θυμῷ
and give him great strength, and let him not fail in heart at all;
δευέσθω, ἵνα εἰδῇ ὅ μιν φιλέουσιν ἄριστοι
so that he may know that the best of the immortals love him,
ἀθανάτων, οἳ δʼ αὖτʼ ἀνεμώλιοι οἳ τὸ πάρος περ
and that those are of no account who hitherto
Τρωσὶν ἀμύνουσιν πόλεμον καὶ δηϊοτῆτα.
ward off war and battle from the Trojans.
πάντες δʼ Οὐλύμποιο κατήλθομεν ἀντιόωντες
And we have all come down from Olympus to take part in this battle,
τῆσδε μάχης, ἵνα μή τι μετὰ Τρώεσσι πάθῃσι
so that he may suffer no harm among the Trojans today;
σήμερον· ὕστερον αὖτε τὰ πείσεται ἅσσά οἱ αἶσα
though hereafter he shall suffer whatever Fate
γιγνομένῳ ἐπένησε λίνῳ3 ὅτε μιν τέκε μήτηρ.
spun for him with her thread at his birth, when his mother bore him.
εἰ δʼ Ἀχιλεὺς οὐ ταῦτα θεῶν ἐκ πεύσεται ὀμφῆς
But if Achilles does not learn this from the voice of the gods,
δείσετʼ ἔπειθʼ, ὅτε κέν τις ἐναντίβιον θεὸς ἔλθῃ
he will be afraid when some god comes face to face against him
ἐν πολέμῳ· χαλεποὶ δὲ θεοὶ φαίνεσθαι ἐναργεῖς.
in battle; for the gods are terrible to look upon when they appear in manifest form.”
τὴν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων·
Then Poseidon, the earthshaker, answered her:
Ἥρη μὴ χαλέπαινε παρʼ ἐκ νόον·4 οὐδέ τί σε χρή.
”Hera, be not angry beyond reason; it is not at all necessary.
οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγʼ ἐθέλοιμι θεοὺς ἔριδι ξυνελάσσαι
I would not wish to clash the gods in strife—
ἡμέας τοὺς ἄλλους, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτεροί εἰμεν·
we who are the others—since we are far stronger.
ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς μὲν ἔπειτα καθεζώμεσθα κιόντες
Rather let us go and sit down out of the path,
ἐκ πάτου ἐς σκοπιήν, πόλεμος δʼ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει.
upon a watch-place, and the war shall be for men.
εἰ δέ κʼ Ἄρης ἄρχωσι μάχης ἢ Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,
But if Ares or Phoebus Apollo begins battle,
ἢ Ἀχιλῆʼ ἴσχωσι καὶ οὐκ εἰῶσι μάχεσθαι,
or if they hold Achilles back and do not suffer him to fight,
αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτα καὶ ἄμμι παρʼ αὐτόθι νεῖκος ὀρεῖται
then straightway among us too will the strife of battle arise;
φυλόπιδος· μάλα δʼ ὦκα διακρινθέντας ὀΐω
and right quickly, I think, they will be parted,
ἂψ ἴμεν Οὔλυμπον δὲ θεῶν μεθʼ ὁμήγυριν ἄλλων
and go back to Olympus to the assembly of the other gods,
ἡμετέρῃς ὑπὸ χερσὶν ἀναγκαίηφι δαμέντας.
vanquished perforce beneath our hands.”
ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἡγήσατο κυανοχαίτης
So saying, the dark-haired god led the way
τεῖχος ἐς ἀμφίχυτον Ἡρακλῆος θείοιο
to the mounded wall of divine Heracles,
ὑψηλόν, τό ῥά οἱ Τρῶες καὶ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη
which the Trojans and Pallas Athena had made for him,
ποίεον, ὄφρα τὸ κῆτος ὑπεκπροφυγὼν ἀλέαιτο,
that he might escape and avoid the monster
ὁππότε μιν σεύαιτο ἀπʼ ἠϊόνος πεδίον δέ.
whenever it chased him from the shore to the plain.
- 20.78αἵματος ἆσαι Ἄρηα
The infinitive ἆσαι (aorist active of ἄω, 'to glut') takes Ἄρηα (accusative of Ἄρης) as its object. Literally 'to glut Ares with blood,' it serves as a poetic metaphor meaning to satisfy Achilles' warlike spirit or the god of war with Hector's blood.
- 20.94ἦ κʼ ἐδάμην
The particle κʼ (κε = ἄν) with the past indicative ἐδάμην (first-person singular aorist passive of δάμνημι) forms the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, indicating that Aeneas would have been vanquished but for Zeus's intervention.
- 20.128ἐπένησε λίνῳ
The verb ἐπένησε (aorist of ἐπινήθω, 'to spin onto') paired with the dative of instrument λίνῳ ('with thread') within the relative clause. This reflects the Homeric conception of Fate, where the Moirai spin the thread of a man's destiny at the moment of his birth.
- 20.133παρʼ ἐκ νόον
A composite adverbial or prepositional phrase. Literally meaning 'beyond what is fitting' or 'out of reason,' it is used here by Poseidon to admonish Hera for her excessive, irrational anger.