- 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-grc2:23.142-23.208
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
Achilles shears his hair and offers grand sacrifices to prepare the funeral pyre for Patroclus, but the pyre fails to burn. Achilles then prays to the winds, and Iris acts as a messenger to deliver his prayers to them.
τήν ῥα Σπερχειῷ ποταμῷ τρέφε1 τηλεθόωσαν·
which he had been growing richly for the river Spercheius;
ὀχθήσας δʼ ἄρα εἶπεν ἰδὼν ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον·
and deeply moved, he spoke, looking out over the wine-dark sea:
Σπερχείʼ ἄλλως σοί γε πατὴρ ἠρήσατο Πηλεὺς
”Spercheius, in vain did my father Peleus make a vow to you,
κεῖσέ με νοστήσαντα φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν
that when I returned thither to my dear native land
σοί τε κόμην κερέειν ῥέξειν θʼ ἱερὴν ἑκατόμβην,
I should shear my hair for you, and offer a holy hecatomb,
πεντήκοντα δʼ ἔνορχα παρʼ αὐτόθι μῆλʼ ἱερεύσειν
and sacrifice fifty uncastrated sheep there at the springs,
ἐς πηγάς, ὅθι τοι τέμενος βωμός τε θυήεις.
where you have your sacred precinct and fragrant altar.
ὣς ἠρᾶθʼ ὃ γέρων, σὺ δέ οἱ νόον οὐκ ἐτέλεσσας.
So the old man vowed, but you did not fulfill his purpose.
νῦν δʼ ἐπεὶ οὐ νέομαί γε φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν
And now, since I am not returning to my dear native land,
Πατρόκλῳ ἥρωϊ κόμην ὀπάσαιμι φέρεσθαι.
I would give my hair to the hero Patroclus to carry with him.”
ὣς εἰπὼν ἐν χερσὶ κόμην ἑτάροιο φίλοιο
So saying, he placed the hair in the hands of his dear companion,
θῆκεν, τοῖσι δὲ πᾶσιν ὑφʼ ἵμερον ὦρσε γόοιο.
and in them all he aroused the desire for lamentation.
καί νύ κʼ ὀδυρομένοισιν ἔδυ2 φάος ἠελίοιο
And now the light of the sun would have set upon them weeping,
εἰ μὴ Ἀχιλλεὺς αἶψʼ Ἀγαμέμνονι εἶπε παραστάς·
had not Achilles quickly stood by Agamemnon and said:
Ἀτρεΐδη, σοὶ γάρ τε μάλιστά γε λαὸς Ἀχαιῶν
”Son of Atreus, for to your words above all the host of the Achaeans
πείσονται μύθοισι, γόοιο μὲν ἔστι καὶ ἆσαι,
will give heed, of lamentation indeed there is a time to have our fill,
νῦν δʼ ἀπὸ πυρκαϊῆς σκέδασον καὶ δεῖπνον ἄνωχθι
but now dismiss the people from the pyre, and bid them prepare
ὅπλεσθαι· τάδε δʼ ἀμφὶ πονησόμεθʼ οἷσι μάλιστα
their meal; but for these things we will busy ourselves, to whom above all
κήδεός3 ἐστι νέκυς· παρὰ δʼ οἵ τʼ ἀγοὶ ἄμμι μενόντων.
the dead is a care; and let the leaders remain with us.”
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τό γʼ ἄκουσεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων,
But when the king of men, Agamemnon, heard this,
αὐτίκα λαὸν μὲν σκέδασεν κατὰ νῆας ἐΐσας,
he straightway dismissed the people to the well-balanced ships,
κηδεμόνες δὲ παρʼ αὖθι μένον καὶ νήεον ὕλην,
but the mourners remained there and heaped up the wood,
ποίησαν δὲ πυρὴν ἑκατόμπεδον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,
and made a pyre of a hundred feet this way and that,
ἐν δὲ πυρῇ ὑπάτῃ νεκρὸν θέσαν ἀχνύμενοι κῆρ.
and on the topmost pyre they laid the dead, grieving in their hearts.
πολλὰ δὲ ἴφια μῆλα καὶ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς
And many fat sheep and sleek, shambling oxen
πρόσθε πυρῆς ἔδερόν τε καὶ ἄμφεπον· ἐκ δʼ ἄρα πάντων
they flayed and dressed before the pyre; and from them all
δημὸν ἑλὼν ἐκάλυψε νέκυν μεγάθυμος Ἀχιλλεὺς
great-hearted Achilles took the fat and wrapped the corpse
ἐς πόδας ἐκ κεφαλῆς, περὶ δὲ δρατὰ σώματα νήει.
from head to foot, and heaped the flayed bodies around it.
ἐν δʼ ἐτίθει μέλιτος καὶ ἀλείφατος ἀμφιφορῆας
And therein he set jars of honey and oil,
πρὸς λέχεα κλίνων· πίσυρας δʼ ἐριαύχενας ἵππους
leaning them against the bier; and four strong-necked horses
ἐσσυμένως ἐνέβαλλε πυρῇ μεγάλα στεναχίζων.
he cast swiftly upon the pyre, groaning aloud.
ἐννέα τῷ γε ἄνακτι τραπεζῆες κύνες ἦσαν,
Nine dogs had the prince that fed at his table,
καὶ μὲν τῶν ἐνέβαλλε πυρῇ δύο δειροτομήσας,
and of them he cut the throats of two and cast them upon the pyre,
δώδεκα δὲ Τρώων μεγαθύμων υἱέας ἐσθλοὺς
and twelve noble sons of the great-hearted Trojans
χαλκῷ δηϊόων· κακὰ δὲ φρεσὶ μήδετο ἔργα·
he slew with the bronze; and evil deeds he devised in his heart;
ἐν δὲ πυρὸς μένος ἧκε σιδήρεον ὄφρα νέμοιτο.
and he let loose the iron strength of fire that it might feed.
ᾤμωξέν τʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα, φίλον δʼ ὀνόμηνεν ἑταῖρον·
Then he wailed aloud, and called on his dear companion:
χαῖρέ μοι ὦ Πάτροκλε καὶ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισι·
”Hail, my Patroclus, even in the house of Hades;
πάντα γὰρ ἤδη τοι τελέω τὰ πάροιθεν ὑπέστην,
for all things now I fulfill for you which I promised before,
δώδεκα μὲν Τρώων μεγαθύμων υἱέας ἐσθλοὺς
twelve noble sons of the great-hearted Trojans
τοὺς ἅμα σοὶ πάντας πῦρ ἐσθίει· Ἕκτορα δʼ οὔ τι
all these together with you the fire devours; but Hector, son of Priam,
δώσω Πριαμίδην πυρὶ δαπτέμεν, ἀλλὰ κύνεσσιν.
I will not give to the fire to feed upon, but to the dogs.”
ὣς φάτʼ ἀπειλήσας· τὸν δʼ οὐ κύνες ἀμφεπένοντο,
So he spoke threatening; but the dogs did not beset him,
ἀλλὰ κύνας μὲν ἄλαλκε Διὸς θυγάτηρ Ἀφροδίτη
but Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, kept off the dogs
ἤματα καὶ νύκτας, ῥοδόεντι δὲ χρῖεν ἐλαίῳ
by day and by night, and anointed him with rose-sweet oil,
ἀμβροσίῳ, ἵνα μή μιν ἀποδρύφοι ἑλκυστάζων.
divine, so that Achilles might not tear his skin as he dragged him.
τῷ δʼ ἐπὶ κυάνεον νέφος ἤγαγε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων
And over him Phoebus Apollo brought a dark cloud
οὐρανόθεν πεδίον δέ, κάλυψε δὲ χῶρον ἅπαντα
from heaven to the plain, and covered all the place
ὅσσον ἐπεῖχε νέκυς, μὴ πρὶν μένος ἠελίοιο
whereon the corpse lay, lest the power of the sun before its time
σκήλειʼ4 ἀμφὶ περὶ χρόα ἴνεσιν ἠδὲ μέλεσσιν.
should dry the skin around his sinews and limbs.
οὐδὲ πυρὴ Πατρόκλου ἐκαίετο τεθνηῶτος·
Yet the pyre of dead Patroclus would not burn;
ἔνθʼ αὖτʼ ἀλλʼ ἐνόησε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς·
then again another thing did Achilles, swift of foot, devise:
στὰς ἀπάνευθε πυρῆς δοιοῖς ἠρᾶτʼ ἀνέμοισι
standing apart from the pyre, he prayed to the two winds,
Βορέῃ καὶ Ζεφύρῳ, καὶ ὑπίσχετο ἱερὰ καλά·
Boreas and Zephyrus, and promised fair offerings;
πολλὰ δὲ καὶ σπένδων χρυσέῳ δέπαϊ λιτάνευεν
and pouring many a libation from a golden cup, he besought them
ἐλθέμεν, ὄφρα τάχιστα πυρὶ φλεγεθοίατο νεκροί,
to come, that the corpses might quickly burn with fire,
ὕλη τε σεύαιτο καήμεναι. ὦκα δὲ Ἶρις
and the wood make haste to be consumed. And swift Iris,
ἀράων ἀΐουσα μετάγγελος ἦλθʼ ἀνέμοισιν.
hearing his prayers, came as a messenger to the winds.
οἳ μὲν ἄρα Ζεφύροιο δυσαέος ἀθρόοι ἔνδον
They were gathered together inside the house of the hard-blowing Zephyrus,
εἰλαπίνην δαίνυντο· θέουσα δὲ Ἶρις ἐπέστη
feasting at a banquet; and Iris running stood
βηλῷ ἔπι λιθέῳ· τοὶ δʼ ὡς ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσι
upon the stone threshold; and when they saw her with their eyes,
πάντες ἀνήϊξαν, κάλεόν τέ μιν εἰς ἓ ἕκαστος·
they all sprang up, and each one called her to himself;
ἣ δʼ αὖθʼ ἕζεσθαι μὲν ἀνήνατο, εἶπε δὲ μῦθον·
but she refused to sit, and spoke her word:
οὐχ ἕδος· εἶμι γὰρ αὖτις ἐπʼ Ὠκεανοῖο ῥέεθρα
”No seat for me; for I must go back to the streams of Oceanus,
Αἰθιόπων ἐς γαῖαν, ὅθι ῥέζουσʼ ἑκατόμβας
to the land of the Ethiopians, where they offer hecatombs
ἀθανάτοις, ἵνα δὴ καὶ ἐγὼ μεταδαίσομαι ἱρῶν.
to the immortals, so that I too may share in the offerings.
ἀλλʼ Ἀχιλεὺς Βορέην ἠδὲ Ζέφυρον κελαδεινὸν
But Achilles prays Boreas and clanging Zephyrus...”
- 23.142τήν ῥα ... τρέφε
The relative pronoun τήν refers to χαίτην (hair) in the previous line (141). The imperfect verb τρέφε denotes a continuous or habitual action in the past (growing his hair for the river god).
- 23.154καί νύ κʼ ὀδυρομένοισιν ἔδυ
The combination of καί νύ κ(ε) with the indicative aorist (ἔδυ), followed by εἰ μὴ... εἶπε (line 155), forms a past counterfactual condition ('and now the light of the sun would have set... if Achilles had not spoken...').
- 23.160κήδεος
The genitive κήδεος (from κῆδος, meaning care, mourning, or kinship) functions as a predicate genitive with the dative relative pronoun οἷσι, meaning 'those to whom the dead is most a care' or 'who have the closest relationship to the deceased'.
- 23.191σκήλειʼ
The conjunction μὴ introduces a negative purpose clause ('lest ... should dry'). Since the main verbs are in the past tense (ἤγαγε, κάλυψε), the verb in the subordinate clause, σκήλειʼ (elided from σκήλειε, 3rd person singular active aorist optative of σκέλλω), is in the optative mood.